Pearl Kyaw 15 - It's Raining Somewhere Else
(https://medium.com/permanent-nerd-network/undertale-healing-items-and-love-f5f8964a7913)
Video games have been an integral part of my life—since I was younger to now. Which is funny, because I don’t even really play video games. However, like many children, I was given unsupervised internet access where I was able to peruse the vastness of Youtube and such as I liked. This lead me to find interest in youtubers known as “Let’s Players,” who make a living on playing video games in front of a camera. Beyond watching grown adults crash out over being unable to beat a level on a silly game, this discovery changed my life. I spent all my free time watching these videos, discovering new games as my interest in storytelling grew.
As a child, I loved reading. Not that I don’t anymore, but I used to actually have time to read books. I loved writing too, exploring the craft of putting together words to form a beautiful story and shaping characters like real people from just my brain. Reading comics created a visual for these stories, and cartoons brought those comics to life. In video games, you are able to play a role in the story itself and make an impact. This revelation brought me endless fascination. “Choose your own adventure” games and open world RPGs were a treasure I didn’t know how to cherish. As a fan of art and visual creativity as well, being able to see both a compelling story along with breathtaking visuals enfolding before my eyes was something I knew I’d never tire of.
One game in particular is one that I’ll never forget. It is quite a popular indie game, so you might have heard of it before. A game with such a well thought out story, gorgeous visuals, characters with depth, creative use of music, and so much more—Undertale by Toby Fox. It feels a little silly to say a simple game made such an impact on my life, but it holds true for many others too. Undertale when it first released was unique and fun. It is a game where your choices as the player really do matter, leading to countless different outcomes, details, and endings.The writers did an insanely amazing job on creating a story that the player can really get absorbed into and characters with so much emotion that hurting them made people cry. It changed the way games were viewed and continued to change the way games in the future were made.
For me personally, Undertale was just another fun game to watch people play. I often go back and rewatch gameplays of it. Thinking about it now, it really changed my perspective on gaming and the way a story is told. Without it, I doubt that I would be able to use creative thinking the way I do now. Similarly, without Undertale, I would never have bonded with a weird kid on a school field trip with this similar interest and become best friends with them.
Aside from Undertale, I grew to love many other games due to their narrative skill as well, some favorites being Sally Face and Little Nightmares, although they are somewhat horror games. Theorizing about plot points and daydreaming about character dynamics quickly became a part of my life, whether it be about a game I’ve discovered or a story that I myself put together.
As a game I actually play (because I’m terrible at real gaming), is Roblox. I’ve made so many memories with that game, I could write an essay on it… which is why I won’t be diving into that today! Roblox was a peak game which I loved to play almost every day of my life, and I still love playing it today, especially with friends. It deepened my bonds with many of the people I know now and was also a crazily huge part of my life, so I wanted to give it a quick shoutout!
Video games don’t always create violence, but also a spark for a creative mind.
Hi Pearl! I was drawn to your blog as soon as I saw the title since I love video games too! I’ve loved playing all kinds of video games just as you have even if it wasn’t that many. I remember the time when Roblox was really popular when we were younger and I’m glad it still is. Although I’ve never played Undertale myself, I do remember how popular it was. I have vivid memories of you and our other friends mentioning Undertale when we were younger. The way you described the game really made it seem interesting and I wonder how it goes since I have no experience playing it. One game I do have experience and much fun playing is Roblox which I still thoroughly enjoy to this day. I thought the last sentence of your blog was really cool since you highlighted something important in it. Too often people, even me, think of violent games such as Fortnite, Valorant, or Call of Duty when someone mentions video games and because of this I forget things such as Roblox also count as video games too. Like you, I enjoy other games as well that are less violent such as Mario Kart, The Legend of Zelda, Super Smash Bros, Minecraft, etc. I hope that one day I get to play Undertale or Roblox with you!
ReplyDeleteHey Pearl! I just loved reading your post—it was so genuine and heart-wrenching an assessment of video game creative potential. Your account of finding Let's Players on YouTube and how it worked its way into narrative games such as Undertale was just so clear and so eloquently said. I especially loved your commentary on the way that games such as Undertale change the way we engage with storytelling—how characters, choices, even graphics can affect us as much as books or movies. It was great hearing how your game passion brought about a real friendship. That sweet little detail made your post extremely personal. I also most totally agree with the last statement that you wrote—and video games can do so much more than entertainment; they might promote imagination, too, as well as cause people to converge.
ReplyDeleteHi Pearl! Upon reading the first little bit of your blog, I was hooked, as video games have also been a significant part of my life up to now. I think that it was my brother who got me into video games, rather than YouTubers, but I did grow up watching a lot of Lets Play series. I can definitely relate to loving reading when I was a kid, but not so much the writing part. I would always read for hours every day when I was in elementary school, but instead of enjoying writing, it was frankly the bane of my early adolescent existence. Honestly, it still probably is. But to this day, I still love good storytelling, albeit not as much from books anymore, but more shows and movies. I never really stopped to consider the depth of storytelling in video games, but now that you point it out, some of them really do have beautiful stories. When you brought up Undertale, it reminded me that I even had the game, and that I should probably go finish it sometime, as I had always meant to complete it but never made the time to, especially with AP tests coming up soon. I've heard so many good things about it and with the reputation it has, it's probably worth the hype.
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ReplyDeleteHey Pearl! I really enjoyed reading your blog post today. It felt like a very important heartfelt reflection on how video games shape us beyond just entertaining. For some people it's their career, for some it's their satisfaction, for some it's the stress burner. I have been a gamer for the last couple years and I have been in so many tournaments and experiencing different kinds of people talking to different kinds of people and it's more like a stress Buster for me. I especially loved how your thoughts on undertable your passion for its narrative and emotional depth really came through and made me want to experience it myself right now. Your shout out to roblox also made me smile although I never really enjoyed that game but it was very incredible on how games can bring people together across time. Thank you for Reminding us that games can inspire creativity, empathy and connection.