It's a bit of a shame that video games are not appreciated as a true art form. The medium has evolved exponentially over the past 20 years. Yes, graphics have gotten better, but more importantly, so has the storytelling of the creators. Video games give their creators a way to provoke thought that no other medium has the ability to do. In paintings, movies, and music, you are an observer (or listener). In video games, you are part of the piece. You are the protagonist. And the creator can put you into the art.
I spent the past few months playing through NieR:Automata. A game which released in 2017. On the surface, it's a game that pits you, an android, fighting on behalf of humans against a horde of machines fighting on behalf of aliens. The game's story seems like a classic save the world situation.
However, once you get ~20 or so hours in the game, you begin to realize that the war you're fighting has no meaning. The humans are dead, as are the aliens. The androids and machines are fighting for no reason at all. The war is pointless. In fact, the only reason you're fighting is because a person holding a video game controller picked it up and turned on their Xbox. Throughout the game, countless nihilistic topics are explored. Gods are demystified. The meaning of life is depressingly written out for you. And you start to see how different parts of human society, from relationships to a 9-5 job, are only created to get you through the suffering that we call a day.
Once you get to the final battle, you choose one character or another. One to live and one to die. But not even that matters. They both die. All that work you did, all 40 hours of fighting a war, goes away. Everyone dies, and there is nothing to show for it.
Then, in the credits, something happens. Your character tries to hack itself out of the game. You start shooting, and destroying, each of the credits, effectively killing the gods who created this cycle of despair. But you can't do it. You can't finish the game. And each time you die, a message pops up…
- "You really wanted them to live too didn't you?"
- “Is it all pointless?”
- "Do you think video games are silly little things?"
Finally, you're joined by other players from around the world. And you work together to kill off the gods and free your avatars. They can go on living.
Then, after you've put 40-50 hours of your life into this game, you are posed one final question…
"You have faced crushing hardship and suffered greatly for it. Do you have any interest in helping the weak? Selecting this option allows you to save someone somewhere in the world. However, in exchange, you will lose all of your save data. Do you wish to rescue someone, a total stranger, in spite of this?"
NieR has had a ton of financial success, selling over 5 million copies. But the sad part is that the game will never be seen as art. Art is hard to describe, but all art is supposed to make you feel something. NieR:Automata does just that. It makes you feel many things… confused, depressed, joyful, and connected.
I invite more people to explore what the medium has to offer. Over the coming years, video games and the popular "Metaverse" may become much more commonly seen as true mediums of art.