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Let's discuss symbolism in games
- Thread starter ronito
- Start date
cooljeanius
Member
Except for the Portal gun (it makes vaginas!)travisbickle said:
I've always interpreted Rule of Rose as being a metaphor for playing a video game. It's about a girl who finds herself in a patently implausible environment being commanded by a group of unassailable, capricious tormentors to complete increasingly dangerous and impossible tasks for the purpose of collecting useless macguffins, which she dutifully collects and turns in because who knows. Every attempt at expressing agency or subverting the rules is rebuffed or mocked. What decisions she is permitted to make are ultimately meaningless. There is a last boss at the end.
Regulus Tera
Romanes Eunt Domus
ITT: Most of GAF demonstrates that they don't know what symbolism means.
TheFLYINGManga_Ka
Member
Probably tons. But I don't understand most of them. I mean, just play Deadly Premonition!
Square Triangle
Member
Bioshock.
lolez2matt
Member
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Shattered Memories' entire plot is conveyed through symbolism of puzzles, characters, and events.
I thought about Majora's Mask before clicking in the thread, I was pleasantly surprised it was mentioned in the OP.
The game is completely insane and full of odd symbols all around, and once you get inside the moon and start talking with the kids things get unreal. The main topic about friendship, rejection and isolation is so nicely portrayed in the game.
It's really fascinating and enjoyable, most games when they try to get philosophical the hit you with it so bluntly that it turns out being just ridiculous.
The game is completely insane and full of odd symbols all around, and once you get inside the moon and start talking with the kids things get unreal. The main topic about friendship, rejection and isolation is so nicely portrayed in the game.
It's really fascinating and enjoyable, most games when they try to get philosophical the hit you with it so bluntly that it turns out being just ridiculous.
Scalpel Knight
Member
Anyone remember this ad?
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Yeah, I thought about contributing, but I couldn't think of a lot of actual symbolism. A lot of themes though.Regulus Tera said:
The Spoony Hou
Member
Don't compare Xenogears with that crappy animemugwhump said:
.But yeah, all the Xeno games have too much symbolism to even list.
One I learnt recently (I think it was here): the four URTVs in Xenosaga symbolize the four horsemen of the apocalypse.
Metroid Killer
Member
Ikaruga has a lot of symbolism to Buddhism. I couldn't find it, but there's a website dedicated to the symbolism in the game.
Just a suggestion, but maybe people could discuss what some of these images are symbolic of rather than just posting a picture or mentioning a games title.
The faceless, stockinged, minidressed nurses in Silent Hill 2 seem to be representative of James's sexual frustrations after the loss of his wife. Likewise, Maria is the version of Mary he has built from his sexual desires.
The faceless, stockinged, minidressed nurses in Silent Hill 2 seem to be representative of James's sexual frustrations after the loss of his wife. Likewise, Maria is the version of Mary he has built from his sexual desires.
McBradders
NeoGAF: my new HOME
Ferga said:
I was serious
Shinto symbolism in Zelda
http://popularsymbolism.wordpress.c...-link-to-the-past-shintoism-at-play-spoilers/
But my favorite...
http://popularsymbolism.wordpress.c...-link-to-the-past-shintoism-at-play-spoilers/
But my favorite...
Trent Strong
Banned
The Spoony Hou said:Don't compare Xenogears with that crappy anime
:/
I think you have to distinguish between the movement in art and the very act of employing symbols/allusions/references/etc.. Obviously the OP intended to refer to the latter, but I can understand why someone would believe 'symbolism' to refer to the common or most correct use (the former).jarosh said:
I NEED SCISSORS
Banned
What the hell :lolJerk 2.0 said:
Tricky I Shadow
Banned
Shenmue II. 
Tale of Tales' The Path operates pretty much entirely on the level of symbolism and allegory.
It's very open to interpretationthere's no single "key" for you to discover that explains things. Some people see the sisters as aspects of a single personality. Some people think that it's about sexual vulnerability or the patriarchy, and that every time a girl meets her wolf she is being raped.
I read the game as a meditation on the fact that bad things happen to people, and that sometimes good things can come after a period of darkness. The aesthetics of the game are very gothic, and so I suppose that there's a message about finding beauty in dark and decay as well. If you're interested in doing close readings of games, The Path will make a great subject for you.
There's also some snide commentary about game design and player motivation built into the game's interface, but that's not symbolism per se.
More of my bloviating about the game is here, if anyone's interested.
It's very open to interpretationthere's no single "key" for you to discover that explains things. Some people see the sisters as aspects of a single personality. Some people think that it's about sexual vulnerability or the patriarchy, and that every time a girl meets her wolf she is being raped.
I read the game as a meditation on the fact that bad things happen to people, and that sometimes good things can come after a period of darkness. The aesthetics of the game are very gothic, and so I suppose that there's a message about finding beauty in dark and decay as well. If you're interested in doing close readings of games, The Path will make a great subject for you.
There's also some snide commentary about game design and player motivation built into the game's interface, but that's not symbolism per se.
More of my bloviating about the game is here, if anyone's interested.
Regulus Tera
Romanes Eunt Domus
The words in this post are symbols. That doesn't mean this post is symbolic.Lime said:
badcrumble
Member
More on this note - I really suspect that Ueda intends to engage rather heavily with the whole Tower of Babel myth in his games. Certainly Shadow of the Colossus contains more direct allusions, but the story of Ico is precisely about two people connecting with one another despite not speaking the same language, nor speaking the same language as the player. Ueda's said that he's very concerned with how to establish connections via touch and gesture (within the game, I'm not talking about interface methods), and I think that Ico, in part, is about using empathy and interaction to overcome the language barrier that the Babel legend is all about.Zerokku said:
This may sound like reading too much into it, but it's precisely the same stuff that Charlie Chaplin did in Modern Times and City Lights, which were made well into the age of talkies but remained almost entirely silent. In Modern Times, the one time we hear the voice of the classic Tramp character, he sings a nonsense song rather than anything intelligible; Charlie Chaplin saw silent film as a means to tell stories that could cross the language barrier, and he saw talkies as being fundamentally in opposition to that goal (because they were, by nature, localized). I suspect that Ueda sees video games similarly to the way Charlie Chaplin saw silent film.
On this overall topic, I'd be interested to see if someone could successfully make a truly Brechtian video game. Several of the necessary ingredients (gesturality, self-awareness, the highlighting of points at which choices are made) are actually pretty common to the form
Fimbulvetr
Member
Regulus Tera said:
I'm kinda surprised how tame the over-analysis is though.
I interpret Gears of War 1 & 2 to be social commentary on our modern male dominated society which often glorifies violence, quantity, patriotism and total disregard of the environment. And on human nature in general.
Everything in GoW is huge. The characters look like they've been roiding since age 3, the cars are massive enough for rhinos to drive, and even the architecture of the buildings reminds me of some ancient time when the only way to the top was through brute force. Their hospitals look like fucking coliseums.
The entire human population of the planet has done nothing but wage war, even before E-Day, they fought each other over land and resources. Now they unite as a single military ruled society and wage war against the locusts.
As Marcus Fenix, we see the ultimate macho C.O.G's valiantly battling the bad guys, with their massive weapons and cool military jargon mixed with one liners and occasional drama (Maria nooooooo). Even the Chariman is a tall broad shouldered man with awe inspiring speeches delivered in a booming voice.
What we only get hints of is the fascism. The treatment of the stranded, the punishment for free thinking, the strange experiments on human beings. Also, the evil locust horde, while also huge beefy males, are ruled by a matriarch.
Or, maybe it's just a fun game about shooting monsters. GoW 3 can't come any sooner.
Everything in GoW is huge. The characters look like they've been roiding since age 3, the cars are massive enough for rhinos to drive, and even the architecture of the buildings reminds me of some ancient time when the only way to the top was through brute force. Their hospitals look like fucking coliseums.
The entire human population of the planet has done nothing but wage war, even before E-Day, they fought each other over land and resources. Now they unite as a single military ruled society and wage war against the locusts.
As Marcus Fenix, we see the ultimate macho C.O.G's valiantly battling the bad guys, with their massive weapons and cool military jargon mixed with one liners and occasional drama (Maria nooooooo). Even the Chariman is a tall broad shouldered man with awe inspiring speeches delivered in a booming voice.
What we only get hints of is the fascism. The treatment of the stranded, the punishment for free thinking, the strange experiments on human beings. Also, the evil locust horde, while also huge beefy males, are ruled by a matriarch.
Or, maybe it's just a fun game about shooting monsters. GoW 3 can't come any sooner.
When I saw the thread title, I knew it had to be a started by a GAF writer.
Can people go into more detail, please? Put spoiler tags if you need to. I see a lot of "Sure X game has A TON of symbolism" and not much beyond that. This could be a very fruitful thread.
I think all games are heavy with symbolism because they are the product of human psyches. Whether many of these symbols are conscious is something to debate - of course, that would tailspin this thread into "are games art" debate.
Mario definitely has become a symbol, despite the mundane intentions of his design.
One game series that is thick with symbolism that I don't think people are even conscious of - though its all right in front of our faces - is the SoulCalibur series. Every character is derived from ancient themes. Check out the name of Zasasalamel's (?) movelist from SoulCalibur 4:
*note*
Eh, can't find a movelist online. Still, the character has move names such as "Enkindu's Flood" (off the top of my head). Most of his moves have names of this nature.
Here's a Wiki:
http://soulcalibur.wikia.com/wiki/Zasalamel
Can people go into more detail, please? Put spoiler tags if you need to. I see a lot of "Sure X game has A TON of symbolism" and not much beyond that. This could be a very fruitful thread.
I think all games are heavy with symbolism because they are the product of human psyches. Whether many of these symbols are conscious is something to debate - of course, that would tailspin this thread into "are games art" debate.
Mario definitely has become a symbol, despite the mundane intentions of his design.
One game series that is thick with symbolism that I don't think people are even conscious of - though its all right in front of our faces - is the SoulCalibur series. Every character is derived from ancient themes. Check out the name of Zasasalamel's (?) movelist from SoulCalibur 4:
*note*
Eh, can't find a movelist online. Still, the character has move names such as "Enkindu's Flood" (off the top of my head). Most of his moves have names of this nature.
Here's a Wiki:
http://soulcalibur.wikia.com/wiki/Zasalamel
I agree. Let's do more in the way of deep analysis. Summaries of specific games or scenes and the symbolism therein, not just a single sentence.Kimosabae said:
I disagree with this. Allusion by itself is not symbolism. Soul Calibur has characters themed after ancient myths, but there's nothing deeper than that as far as I recall.Kimosabae said:
badcrumble
Member
Let's just have an allusion thread.
The Spoony Hou
Member
Trent Strong said:
Yeah, I don't like Evangelion. I thought the story was really lacking. Then again, I played Xenogears before watching it, so of course it looked crappy, storywise.