Get Lost

I’ve always liked video games. When I was younger I became the proud owner of a Sega Megadrive 2, Sonic being the game of choice in the household. I had so many games on that console and I still own the device today (still in perfect working order!). The gameplay was so simplistic, yet satisfying, in fact playing the game on an updated console today doesn’t have quite the same, or quite the right execution as its older, dated technology (there always appears to be the tiniest delay from button pressing to action, most infuriating). However, due to overuse and a telling off from my dad when I got overly irate at losing on the final level one day, I became put off and didn’t touch a video game again until years later when my then boyfriend, now husband, convinced me to go halvesies on a soon to be discontinued, heavily discounted Nintendo Gamecube bundle that included Resident Evil 4. So we did it, and it went unplayed with for months, because consumer generation, amirite?!

One lonely, sunny summers day, instead of venturing outside, I decided to see what all this Resident Evil fuss was about and when I did my life changed forever! What a game! Third person gameplay, targeted shooting, rocket launchers, a corny script, scary and so long a game that it required 2 discs! Furthermore, and what brings me to write this post, the setting and game world design left a lasting impression. Never have I wanted to immerse myself in a gloomy rural Spanish village infested with pitchfork and chainsaw wielding zombies in my life, or a gothic castle run by a cult of zombifying virus worshippers. There’s even a garden maze guarded by ferocious zombie doggies to navigate through. Heaven!

Yet it isn’t just nightmarish, cyber, fantasy lands by which I take comfort in. Numerous game worlds have stolen my heart. I wouldn’t say I am a pro gamer, who can go for 12 hours straight, or who has the skills and expertise to manage more complex games, but it doesn’t have to be all about that.

I like the aspect of puzzles within a game and nothing holds the perfect combination of puzzles and design better than The Witness. The great mind that is Jonathan Blow created an extraordinary, complex game with stunning visuals, predominantly accentuated through use of colour. You navigate your way on an island solving mind blowing, intricate enigmas by which to progress, to the point of which my husband was having to use graph paper to work them out, or, as I preferred, to look online for cheats - tee hee!

There are also a set of similarly designed spaces among games, such as: We Happy Few, Ether, The Occupation and Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture, the latter of which give a sense of residential abandonment with no signs of life apparent, the result of mysterious fleeing, or a wiping out of humanity. With regards to the former, those that remain create a foreboding sense of threat to the player, whereby you have to stealthily maneuver around the area, lest you be spotted and ejected, or hunted down (god I hate playing in stealth mode, just let me play and fight!!). Sounds kinda lonely and threatening no? Well, yeah, but maybe my penchant for isolation and introvertedness finds that appealing.

But if you don’t want to fall into a deep dark depression from it all, immerse yourself in the colourful, bonkers world of Astro Bot Rescue Mission. When the PS4 VR system arrived, we were graced with an incredibly colourful, cute and detailed world in outer space. Playing a lone bot, your mission is to set free your other tiny space cadets through several different themed levels, using your booster jet pack and tiny fists that hold mighty impact to fend off more aggressive bots and big bosses. In VR, you are indeed immersed, but heed caution – you won’t want to leave! Then there is Astro Playroom for the PS5, a launchpad game coinciding with the console release, each level is a different component of the inside of the device. Not only is the visual side gorgeous and adorable, but you will appreciate the fine details of incorporating PS5 specific games and even lush sound and motion effects (try out the ice skating, it is ASMR for your ears AND your hands).

What if you want to be a bit more laid back? Why not play an infinitely jam packed, graphics card burning game like Planet Zoo? The possibilities are endless and along with a serene tune playing in the background, whilst you build your zoo from the ground up, you get to endure changes in weather and watch as your animals procreate (well, not watch them go at it, but before long a new addition to your animal family will spontaneously arrive)!

The ever increasing, creative industry that is gaming has come a long way over the decades and whilst classics and popular titles dominate, there is thankfully a thriving indie game division that allows the likes of me to spend time soaking in a game's setting in cohesion with (or even solely from) gameplay and narrative. The Stillness of the Wind requires that you simply move around at a calm pace in the surrounding land of a tiny farmhouse, greeting and tending to farm animals and carrying out menial tasks. Even the likes of Everybody's Gone to the Rapture only expect of you to move around a village following a tiny beam of light by which to view the recorded secrets and events that led to the town's total abandonment.

Currently I am playing Stray, where you embody an adorable kitty encountering robotic members of society living in a Chinese slum. The enclosed spaces and remnants of dilapidated and messy building interiors feel oddly comforting and cozy.

So, don't misconstrue the nature of gaming as just shoot em ups and dopamine overloading platform pieces. If you need to, you can give your brain a bit of a challenge, your senses some exercise and your well-being some attention.

*other notable games for the feels:

• The Curse of Monkey Island

• Gris

• The Gardens Between

• Ori And The Blind Forest

• Horizon Zero Dawn

• Zelda: Link's Awakening