Extra Thoughts and Wrap-up
If you’ve been keeping score at home, then that would mean that the blue ribbon goes to — ding ding ding — Muramasa: The Demon Blade! Congrats to Dragon’s Crown as well – both games are remarkable in that they are impactful enough to spur such extended analysis.
Just like the end of any lengthy debate, discourse, or even comment-section brawl, there’s the awkward “what now?” moment when it comes to a close. So, what now? Nothing, that’s what. Nothing now. Discussion for the sake of discussion is enough. If videogames want to make the jump to being seen as an art form (which, for all intents and purposes, it seems the industry as whole would very much like), people need to start embracing this ideology. We spend years of our lives comparing great novels in school, don’t we? What about that ten page paper you wrote on David Lynch films? There’s no reason why this article couldn’t be some kid’s final paper his senior year of high school, and it wouldn’t have to be a gaming class either. That’s how close we are – the industry just needs that one final push.
What do you think? Whatever it is, share it – it can be about the games in this article, or the feasibility of the above example, or anything you want. Challenge yourself to think about videogames in a light akin to how society views a great painting, or a classic novel, or a musical masterpiece. And once you do, start talking about it. There’s no doubt that videogames are headed toward their critical mass, and eventually, widespread societal acceptance. Whether we get there in five years or twenty-five is entirely up to us. So do your part!
Or, if I’m just an overblown optimist who somehow found a soapbox to stand on, feel free to go full flame-war and defend your Vanillaware game of choice to the death. As fun as it is to dream about where our beloved industry may go, I love it for what it is now, too. If it never ever changes, I might be a little disappointed, yes. But I don’t think there’s a thing in the world that would ever make me leave.
