Hmm, I'm not sure if I saw the link in some topic here in the TIGForums, but I was reading a
review of an interesting japanese PS1 game called Moon. The premise of the game is that you have to fix the problems a typical RPG hero causes and to help people in peaceful ways. I never actually played it, but it got me interested.
That sounds like a pretty cool idea. Reminds me of the "act like a hero" stage of
Synopsis Quest. Is there an English patch?
I tried Lack of Love, but I didn't like it because I couldn't figure out exactly what I was even doing most of the time.
Heavy Rain
Loved Indigo Prophecy, gotta try this.
Man, I played Mario once, and before I knew what was happening, I was physically ejected from Thrifty foods for stomping on all their mushrooms.
Violence begets violence.
Hehe, I thought it was a funny example. I don't really have a problem with Mario, and the game is still fun in a pacifist run. I just find it interesting that it gives you points for squishing those little guys, and how pervasive this sort of thing is.
You know how at the end of every Megaman X game, X monologues about how he'd rather not have to fight / destroy other robots? I think it would be interesting to have a game where your score decreases if you kill the enemies. Though I'd be much more interested in using them to my advantage, like in Wario Land, or other ways.
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Wasn't aimed at you specifically. It's just as applicable for any one of many "Mature games for mature gamers such as myself," tracts.
Your original post is bizarre though. Leaving aside the sociopath remarks and the fact that it has been noted many times that disproportionate amounts of problems are solved by killing in games vs real life. Mario's 'violence' is only a reaction to hostile aggression. It's a similar situation with Snake in MGS. Knytt and VVVVVV have a lot of 'violence', often advocating suicide as a means to easily correct mistakes. The only difference between Beyond Good & Evil and your other cited works of carnage aand desruction seems to be that you say it is good.
Could it be that you have come to your conclusion first and only later tried to build up supporting evidence?
I know Beyond Good and Evil is not a shining example of nonviolent play. I was just struck by how they portrayed the main character as caught up in a war she'd rather not take part in, but given reasons that are rather universally motivating. Also how the story focuses on social influence, through taking pictures and distributing propaganda, instead of just running in to the enemy base and killin their doods like some kind of juggernaut. Sure this isn't really gameplay, but it's a big part of the experience.
But the fact that this surprised me is what surprised me, so to speak. There are so many violent games that even deviating from the norm a little bit feels novel. Besides, being unable to think of a good example was one of the motivations for this post. The Mario example was a bit of a hyperbole I know. I just thought it was a funny way to bring up the subject. In reality, I don't care if a game has cartoon violence in it.
Yeah I guess VVVVVV is not really a role playing game. The respawn points and spikes are largely unexplained in the story, just there to make it play like a game. Though it does tally up your deaths and reward you for dying less.
Also, you're right. Internet Forum is a great game! I can play however I want, without some pre-determined objective. And it's entirely made of user-generated content! The PVP is pretty fun too, and it operates with nonviolent game mechanics. I'll have to play more of this.
Edit: You're right, I did a pretty terrible job of choosing non-sociopath games. The ones I listed just skirt the issue by being totally unrealistic. Meanwhile, I've actually played a lot of indie games that aren't about violence at all. The mostly fall in the category of mood-generating exploration, investigation, collection, etc.
I guess I didn't have a very good reason for starting this thread, sorry.
Player
