I am at an age now where its expected to have children or be in the process. Many of my friends and family have crossed that bridge already , but here I stand terrified to to even think of it.
I don't really think of myself as a good person and I don't like the way I was raised or some of the things I've done, for the most part. A lot of my adulthood has been about peeling away behaviors and ideas that I learned growing up. Behaviors and ideas that I just don't believe anymore or have found to be harmful. It has been a difficult process. One that I would neer wish on anybody. What I am scared of the most is inadvertently inflicting any of this on a child of my own. Or worse, creating some new kind of fucked up while trying to avoid the old kind of fucked up.
I really didn't expect to be looking into a mirror while playing this videogame.
God of War (2018) is a marvelous experience. That is all you really need to know. If you are interested in videogames as a medium at all, this is a must play title. And while it is excellent in many ways, what I needed to talk about is the writing. Often times, videogames aren't really known for their writing. Some of the best games don't even have any writing all! But God of War pulls off a real magic trick with characterization. (Spoilers.)
They made Kratos, the testosterone rage machine, into a human being.
Kratos is a god. He does not like himself or what he has done. He finds a woman that will put up with it and they have a child. Kratos loves his son. He loves him. He loves Atreus from the start of the game. But he also hates him. He hates him because a part of himself is in there and he cannot resolve these two things. He hides all of it away, the love and the hate, until he has nothing to give at all, in some vain way to save his son from himself.
Atreus doesn't any of know this, but he feels it. And it fucks him up. Kratos inflicts the pain he was trying to avoid. It happened anyway. The only way he can fix it is to return to his past, and embrace all that he was. Good and bad. Its the firsts step towards a real relationship with this son. I think even Kratos is surprised he is able to do that. (And all this is reflected with actual new gameplay elements and new actions to progress the story. Amazing design.)
I'm not sure where on this path I'm at right now. Maybe my path doesn't go this way all. But its nice to know somebody else was also thinking about it. And put their thoughts to text. And made that text into a video game. I think it is a masterpiece.
I don't really think of myself as a good person and I don't like the way I was raised or some of the things I've done, for the most part. A lot of my adulthood has been about peeling away behaviors and ideas that I learned growing up. Behaviors and ideas that I just don't believe anymore or have found to be harmful. It has been a difficult process. One that I would neer wish on anybody. What I am scared of the most is inadvertently inflicting any of this on a child of my own. Or worse, creating some new kind of fucked up while trying to avoid the old kind of fucked up.
I really didn't expect to be looking into a mirror while playing this videogame.
God of War (2018) is a marvelous experience. That is all you really need to know. If you are interested in videogames as a medium at all, this is a must play title. And while it is excellent in many ways, what I needed to talk about is the writing. Often times, videogames aren't really known for their writing. Some of the best games don't even have any writing all! But God of War pulls off a real magic trick with characterization. (Spoilers.)
They made Kratos, the testosterone rage machine, into a human being.
Kratos is a god. He does not like himself or what he has done. He finds a woman that will put up with it and they have a child. Kratos loves his son. He loves him. He loves Atreus from the start of the game. But he also hates him. He hates him because a part of himself is in there and he cannot resolve these two things. He hides all of it away, the love and the hate, until he has nothing to give at all, in some vain way to save his son from himself.
Atreus doesn't any of know this, but he feels it. And it fucks him up. Kratos inflicts the pain he was trying to avoid. It happened anyway. The only way he can fix it is to return to his past, and embrace all that he was. Good and bad. Its the firsts step towards a real relationship with this son. I think even Kratos is surprised he is able to do that. (And all this is reflected with actual new gameplay elements and new actions to progress the story. Amazing design.)
I'm not sure where on this path I'm at right now. Maybe my path doesn't go this way all. But its nice to know somebody else was also thinking about it. And put their thoughts to text. And made that text into a video game. I think it is a masterpiece.