Have you considered the narrative & psychological substructures of other games? You describe the impact of that narrative moment in Silent Hill for you... and this brings to mind the equivalent moment for me: the penultimate cinematic sequence in the Soul Reaver series. The conclusion of Raziel's quest (and Kain's, for that matter) stands as one of the greatest story moments I've ever experienced, for reasons that I'm not entirely clear on. [SPOILER ALERT!] How does the psychology of a destroyed, betrayed (and yet very powerful) vengance seeker, who then sacrifices himself for/to the very creature who doomed him, fit into existing psychoanalytic structures?
I must say, I wholeheartedly enjoyed your article. I found it to be very well thought out, well-argued, and just yummy.;)
Your topic was well-chosen. It has always seemed to me that if you are going to lever the boom of psychoanalysis on any part of the gaming body o' work, Resident Evil and Silent Hill are your best initial candidates. No other games carry their Freudian complexes quite so close to the surface as those games, and their long-standing success speaks, I think, to how effective the combination of complex underlying psychology and outstanding gameplay can be.
I think, too, the outspoken vitrol of this thread is testament to how touchy of a subject all this is... and always has been. Regardless, I, for one, found your analysis (and your writing, academic or not) refreshing, marvelous, and tasty. Do it again!
Slashdot Mirror
*Larry* Probst.
Agreed.
Have you considered the narrative & psychological substructures of other games? You describe the impact of that narrative moment in Silent Hill for you... and this brings to mind the equivalent moment for me: the penultimate cinematic sequence in the Soul Reaver series. The conclusion of Raziel's quest (and Kain's, for that matter) stands as one of the greatest story moments I've ever experienced, for reasons that I'm not entirely clear on. [SPOILER ALERT!] How does the psychology of a destroyed, betrayed (and yet very powerful) vengance seeker, who then sacrifices himself for/to the very creature who doomed him, fit into existing psychoanalytic structures?
/crosses fingers
;)
I must say, I wholeheartedly enjoyed your article. I found it to be very well thought out, well-argued, and just yummy. ;)
Your topic was well-chosen. It has always seemed to me that if you are going to lever the boom of psychoanalysis on any part of the gaming body o' work, Resident Evil and Silent Hill are your best initial candidates. No other games carry their Freudian complexes quite so close to the surface as those games, and their long-standing success speaks, I think, to how effective the combination of complex underlying psychology and outstanding gameplay can be.
I think, too, the outspoken vitrol of this thread is testament to how touchy of a subject all this is... and always has been. Regardless, I, for one, found your analysis (and your writing, academic or not) refreshing, marvelous, and tasty. Do it again!