Blogpost # 2: Mythologies in Video Games

Mythology has become widespread nowadays. We cannot just read it in literature, saw it in arts, and watch it in and big screens but also we can play it in video games. Mythology is the stories of gods and goddesses, and supernatural heroes and human in different cultures. It may be a Greek, Roman, Olympian, Norse or Egyptian Mythology. It inspired the video games to enrich their narrative world. They are such a good source to draw upon as they are culturally recognizable and this is no less true now than it was at the time of Homer.   

Characters play a big role in video games beside the rules of the games. They capture the imagination of the gamers, add spice and create stories on the games.

Some mythology-inspired video games are God of War, Valkyrie, Heroes of the Might and Magic, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Age of Mythology and even the well-known game here in the Philippines, the Defense of the Ancient. It is quite fascinating that the video game programmers think of the best way to introduce the different gods and goddesses in form of these games. 

Aside from those examples above, there is also a game which has a characters come from Norse Mythology, the Ragnarok. Ragnarok means "dooms of the gods" an "end of the world". In this game, the gamer will create his own character and choose what will be his job. A player choice of job will determine his or her strengths and weaknesses both in a party and outside of one. The characters are: Thor,the god of thunder. Hela, god, queen of Nifleim, Jormundgand, god, the world serpent. Loki, god, mischievous troublemaker. Balder, fair god murdered by Loki. Mjollnir, Thor's hammer. Gungnir, Odin's spear. Mimming, Freyr's sword. Gjall, Heimdall's Horn. Skidbladnir, a boat belonging to the gods. Ravens, benevolent monsters, messengers of Odin Nidhogg, monster, a dragon-like being who chews on the roots of Yggdrasil .

As I was going through different articles regarding Mythologies inspired video games, I found an article "Best Games Inspired by the Greek Mythology" by Miguel Rojas in a site entitled "Game Tweeps". It talks about top three examples of video games which characters are based on  Greek Mythology.

The author started his article on how the video games give life to mythologies, how video games make mythologies still popular these days and on how game designers re-tell the stories on how they want it to be. They develop the stories and give more spice on the characters. 

According to the article, the 'Age of Mythology' is one of the mythology-based video game and it is obvious on its title. This game is a combination of different mythologies, from Greece, Egypt and Scandinavia. This game is played by defeating your enemy and destroying their units and towns and building your own towns. From the Trojan War and culminating with the the fall of Atlantis, it allows the players to  fight as Hydra supported by Centaurs.

As you can see on the picture, there are three major gods presented, the Pharaoh, Zeus, the god of thunder, and Thor, a hammer-wielding god, which these gods represent the three myths as what I said on the preceding paragraph. 

For the author, it is true that having heroes and gods in this video game such Odysseus, Loki, Achilles, and Osiris, we can get our fill in mythology in an epic way. 

The article also mentioned the 'God of War'. It depicts extreme violence and brutal way of murdering, where the gamer will face bunch of demons and evils. The player will play the role of Kratos, a demigod who serves the Olympian Gods. Athena assigned Kratos to kill Ares, the God of War, who is responsible for Kratos killing his family accidentally. As Ares attack the Athens out of hatred for Athena, Kratos embarks on a quest to find the one object capable of stopping the god: the legendary Pandora's Box. After an epic quest, Kratos is successful and replaces the defeated Ares as the new God of War.

Throughout the game, the player will kill and defeat several Greek mythology like gorgons, cyclops, minotaur, satyrs, centaurs, and harpies that really portrays violence and combats. On the contrary, not all in this game is violence it also shows good doses of puzzle solving and platforms. 

The author also stated in this article, the adventurous aspect of Greek gods, the 'Titan Quest'. The players take the role of the hero, defeating the monsters in three ancient, classical world setting, the Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt and Silk Road. M. Rojas indicated that the Greek mythology characters in these games were brought to life. The player will control a hero who has to fight his or her way through hordes of centaurs, undead, and alligator people in order to restore balance to a world apparently abandoned by the gods. Random historical figures pop up as well such as Leonidas, who gives the player his main quest.

Rojas stated, "Whether you have already launched yourself into the world of mythology within video games, or are yet to experience it, you can’t deny the timeless quality that historical Greek Mythology and Greek key design portray. It has, and surely will continue to inspire future generations to come, through the field of design."

I agree with him that mythology has a big part in inspiring, expanding, and developing the gaming industry and at the same time video game has also a role in maintaining the existence of mythology.

Another article I found regarding mythologies and video games is in website "Highline Community College" with an article entitled "Mythology in Videogames" written by Jackson Hardman. It presented here some video games' connection in mythology. It also show here the mythic beasts.

According to this article, in the game 'Jade Empire', we will observe how the Japanese Mythology depicted. The Ogre in this game is similar to oni or 'tengu' which means a tormenting spirit,  which collects the souls of the wicked on their deathbed. The character will travel form earth to heaven crossing the bridges. Based on Japanese mythology, bridge is connection between earth and heaven.  Cannibal Spirits of 'Jade Empire' are Jikninki in Japanese mythology which means a spirit that eats dead bodies. 

Aside from this information, the author also detailed the different beasts in mythology that may appear in games. The werewolf, based on the reference of the author, Encyclopedia Mythica, "The concept of werewolves, or lycanthropes, is possibly based on the myth of Lycaon. He was the king of Arcadia, and in the time of the ancient Greeks notorious for his cruelty. He tried to buy the favor of Zeus by offering him the flesh of a young child. Zeus punished him for this crime and turned him into a wolf. The legends of werewolves have been told since the ancient Greeks and are known all over the world." 

The manticore, a monstrous creature which inhabits the forests in Asia, especially in Indonesia, Malaysia and India. The manticore, considered to be the most dangerous predator in these regions, has the body of a lion and a head with human resemblance. The mouth is filled with three rows of razor-sharp teeth and the scaled tail ends in a ball with poisonous darts.

"Mythology is such a fascinating subject, it is easy for anyone who happens to be playing a game to be entranced by it and their suspension of disbelief is readily activated in order to find out what will happen in the end," said by a blogger named Kei. 

As for me, video games need a story line to entertain the gamers and players. That ability to relate to someone else is one that is apparent in all of us and human culture. Most of video games lose their story line, but there is hope due to the characters' story of the game will be build again. Character creation is very important in this element as it is what drives lore.