Back with another video essay. Worked really hard on this one.
I was considering a lot of different opening lines when I began writing the script for this video. Like, a lot. But I think the best possible way to start this, and really describe a fact of life, is Sans words to you at the end of undertale. He mentions in his speech to you a quote that was so powerful yet so obvious, I often wondered why no other game or book I had read had put it into words. (show video) “The more you kill, the easier it is to distance yourself.” In other words, the more you hurt, the easier it will be to hurt others. Today I will be talking about The Choice of Empathy in games. Remember, if you like these videos and you want to see more, make sure to like and subscribe, it really helps me out. Additionally, feel free to leave a comment, I will probably respond to you. Be warned, there will be spoilers for the following games. And when I say spoilers, I mean I might spoil some of like the biggest moments in the games. Seriously this time.
I was considering a lot of different opening lines when I began writing the script for this video. Like, a lot. But I think the best possible way to start this, and really describe a fact of life, is Sans words to you at the end of undertale. He mentions in his speech to you a quote that was so powerful yet so obvious, I often wondered why no other game or book I had read had put it into words. (show video) “The more you kill, the easier it is to distance yourself.” In other words, the more you hurt, the easier it will be to hurt others. Today I will be talking about The Choice of Empathy in games. Remember, if you like these videos and you want to see more, make sure to like and subscribe, it really helps me out. Additionally, feel free to leave a comment, I will probably respond to you. Be warned, there will be spoilers for the following games. And when I say spoilers, I mean I might spoil some of like the biggest moments in the games. Seriously this time.
SPOILED GAMES:
-Undertale
-Fallout New Vegas
You can’t really effectively discuss empathy and peace in video games without discussing Undertale, which made waves in the game world for its deeply insightful and often fourth-wall-breaking gameplay. For those of you who haven’t played the game, Undertale finds you playing as a mysterious human child who falls into a magical world of whimsical monsters. No, like, literally falls down a hole. This game functions very similarly to games such as Mother on the darker end but presents itself as a pokemon game. You find out quickly though, that you don’t have to kill everything in front of you in order to proceed. No, in fact, you don’t have to kill anyone. For me, playing this game for the first time it came as a shock, since my whole gaming career, killing and leveling up was rewarded. Killing wasn’t simply a function in the game, it was necessary often to proceed. Kill a room of bad guys, wipe a battlefield, defile Hercules in a manner I would not wish upon my worst enemies. It’s all the same. But Undertale introduces something you don’t often see in games: The human factor. Undertale introduces the option to keep a certain tenderness in your heart as you journey onwards and encounter new creatures. Undertale rewards the player for finding the alternate angle. You are rewarded with a fair few easter eggs for being an idiot or a smartass. These creatures present one of the greatest illusions and one of the hardest things to do as a creator: seem human. I remember I originally started killing things in the game, but then I saw the “act” and “mercy” buttons, and those seemed to reward my play style better. It’s the goofy and compassionate alternative angle. These characters seem so believable they actually feel like they exist, which makes the game so special. The game allows you to choose. If you want to buy into the senseless violence that many games use as a metric for success, you can, but you can also choose to leave this world a better place. I remember the first Halo game I played, Reach, it was so much killing. It’s sort of embarrassing how little you think of the creatures that inhabit this world. In fact, you would often mull them down with a machine gun from a helicopter. This is the physical distance provided, but it also serves as a distance emotionally. It distances you from the suffering. I loved undertale because it provided you the choice to be a smartass, but also be kind to the world.
Speaking of characters that pop out at you and seem like they have a genuine mind of their own, is the Fallout series. I mean, there’s 5 of them, but they all have a similar pretense of you being trapped in a vault full of people who have survived an atomic war going on outside, finally exiting and wandering the wasteland. Now, often games present you with one path: a warpath. Call of Duty, Halo, any one of those. You are deadset on annihilation. And for your bloodthirsty violence you will be fashioned a hero. Your deeds, legendary. Yet, the fallout series gives you the choice to buy into this brutalization of all who come your way, or, you could choose one of peace. Well, actually, lying your way through the wastelands, but tomato tomahto. I think one of the best examples of this can be found in one of the endings for Fallout New Vegas, where you need to stop one of the factions, the Legion, from taking over Hoover Dam. Another thing I love about Fallout New Vegas is the option for multiple endings, but I want to focus on one in specific. If you choose to side with the NCR, you will be forced to negotiate with the leader of the Legion. In Fallout, you can upgrade several different abilities, and one of those is speech. If you choose to fully upgrade your ability to win over conversations with your charm and suave reasoning, you can sweet-talk your way out of a messy battle with the Legion. Many of the Fallout games encourage you to upgrade non-violent abilities if you want to, but I think New Vegas does it very well. One of the most wonderful things about the Fallout series, is that you play as you want to. If you want to go about and brutalize every living thing in the wasteland, nobody is stopping you. But if you like being a cheeky diplomat in games? You can do that. Fallout offers you the choice for empathy. You are often faced with difficult decisions, and you can react to them in many ways. And anyways, I personally love intimidating robbers in my underpants, don’t you? (play clip)
Well, you’ve reached the end of the video. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for watching this, and I hope you enjoyed it. This has been The Choice of Empathy in video games, as I discussed two of my very favorite games, and how they allow the player to interact in a non-violent manner with their worlds. Last video got to 8 likes, and I was wondering if we could get this one to 10, that would be excellent. Additionally, if you want to help support the channel, all it takes is a like or a subscribe, or both. If you want to interact with me and give me video ideas, I would be more than happy to hear your thoughts in the comments below or on my discord. Until next time, this is Justin, signing off.
Hope you liked it. This took hours of work.
Thanks for reading!
-Justin
-Undertale
-Fallout New Vegas
You can’t really effectively discuss empathy and peace in video games without discussing Undertale, which made waves in the game world for its deeply insightful and often fourth-wall-breaking gameplay. For those of you who haven’t played the game, Undertale finds you playing as a mysterious human child who falls into a magical world of whimsical monsters. No, like, literally falls down a hole. This game functions very similarly to games such as Mother on the darker end but presents itself as a pokemon game. You find out quickly though, that you don’t have to kill everything in front of you in order to proceed. No, in fact, you don’t have to kill anyone. For me, playing this game for the first time it came as a shock, since my whole gaming career, killing and leveling up was rewarded. Killing wasn’t simply a function in the game, it was necessary often to proceed. Kill a room of bad guys, wipe a battlefield, defile Hercules in a manner I would not wish upon my worst enemies. It’s all the same. But Undertale introduces something you don’t often see in games: The human factor. Undertale introduces the option to keep a certain tenderness in your heart as you journey onwards and encounter new creatures. Undertale rewards the player for finding the alternate angle. You are rewarded with a fair few easter eggs for being an idiot or a smartass. These creatures present one of the greatest illusions and one of the hardest things to do as a creator: seem human. I remember I originally started killing things in the game, but then I saw the “act” and “mercy” buttons, and those seemed to reward my play style better. It’s the goofy and compassionate alternative angle. These characters seem so believable they actually feel like they exist, which makes the game so special. The game allows you to choose. If you want to buy into the senseless violence that many games use as a metric for success, you can, but you can also choose to leave this world a better place. I remember the first Halo game I played, Reach, it was so much killing. It’s sort of embarrassing how little you think of the creatures that inhabit this world. In fact, you would often mull them down with a machine gun from a helicopter. This is the physical distance provided, but it also serves as a distance emotionally. It distances you from the suffering. I loved undertale because it provided you the choice to be a smartass, but also be kind to the world.
Speaking of characters that pop out at you and seem like they have a genuine mind of their own, is the Fallout series. I mean, there’s 5 of them, but they all have a similar pretense of you being trapped in a vault full of people who have survived an atomic war going on outside, finally exiting and wandering the wasteland. Now, often games present you with one path: a warpath. Call of Duty, Halo, any one of those. You are deadset on annihilation. And for your bloodthirsty violence you will be fashioned a hero. Your deeds, legendary. Yet, the fallout series gives you the choice to buy into this brutalization of all who come your way, or, you could choose one of peace. Well, actually, lying your way through the wastelands, but tomato tomahto. I think one of the best examples of this can be found in one of the endings for Fallout New Vegas, where you need to stop one of the factions, the Legion, from taking over Hoover Dam. Another thing I love about Fallout New Vegas is the option for multiple endings, but I want to focus on one in specific. If you choose to side with the NCR, you will be forced to negotiate with the leader of the Legion. In Fallout, you can upgrade several different abilities, and one of those is speech. If you choose to fully upgrade your ability to win over conversations with your charm and suave reasoning, you can sweet-talk your way out of a messy battle with the Legion. Many of the Fallout games encourage you to upgrade non-violent abilities if you want to, but I think New Vegas does it very well. One of the most wonderful things about the Fallout series, is that you play as you want to. If you want to go about and brutalize every living thing in the wasteland, nobody is stopping you. But if you like being a cheeky diplomat in games? You can do that. Fallout offers you the choice for empathy. You are often faced with difficult decisions, and you can react to them in many ways. And anyways, I personally love intimidating robbers in my underpants, don’t you? (play clip)
Well, you’ve reached the end of the video. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for watching this, and I hope you enjoyed it. This has been The Choice of Empathy in video games, as I discussed two of my very favorite games, and how they allow the player to interact in a non-violent manner with their worlds. Last video got to 8 likes, and I was wondering if we could get this one to 10, that would be excellent. Additionally, if you want to help support the channel, all it takes is a like or a subscribe, or both. If you want to interact with me and give me video ideas, I would be more than happy to hear your thoughts in the comments below or on my discord. Until next time, this is Justin, signing off.
Hope you liked it. This took hours of work.
Thanks for reading!
-Justin