Recently, the "melon" about celebrity couples has simply eaten up. Pure love seems to be getting rarer and rarer in reality, but the depiction of love in video games is still pleasant. Those quality stories not only attract players to stare at the monitor while playing, but also often have a significant impact on the overall narrative structure, but also greatly guarantee the satisfaction of "snorting sugar or knife".
Christmas has just passed, and video games connect us to the same article with or without someone to accompany us, which is not another definition of "love". As players, we may be able to recall the plot of those games, lest similar "melons" one day also happen to us. So, today I will take stock of a few couples in the game, and perhaps these "model of my generation" stories will enlighten you on how to fall in love.
>>> Silent Hill 2 by James & Mary
Released in 2002, Silent Hill 2 has become a classic that all players should not miss, and the story of the protagonist James Sandaland and his wife Mary Shepar Sandald is indispensable. The plot of this game takes place in Silent Hill as in the previous game. One day, James received a letter from his wife Mary, but what is extremely frightening is that Mary has died three years ago...
The letter reads: "In my uneasy dream, I saw the town again, Silent Hill. You promised to take me one day, but never acted. Well, now I'm here alone... In our land of memories, waiting for you to come and see me. In search of the truth and the thought of his deceased wife, James decided to return to Silent Hill, where they had been on their honeymoon.
On the way, James continued his search after arriving at Silent Hill, as everyone knows, the atmosphere of this town is as terrifying as a nightmare, and there are all kinds of terrible monsters. But James' love for his wife was so intense that he desperately searched for mary, who was already dead, and hoped she would somehow continue to exist.
Although the game has multiple endings, it is a pity that Mary did not survive all the ifs. The heartbroken James is either disheartened enough to leave Silent Hill, or he goes to Yellow Springs with his deceased wife... In the process, we can learn that Mary fell seriously ill after returning from that honeymoon trip, and spent the next three years in the hospital bed, while James took care of her for three years, but unfortunately, her wife's condition not only did not improve but deteriorated. Gradually James began to doubt himself, so that no matter how hard it went, did Mary really have any hope of recovery? A demonic whisper seemed to emerge in his mind: Kill her, and you will be relieved when she dies!
Later in the story, Mary died before James could do anything, but the death of his wife caused James to fall into a deep self-blame, and he began to suspect that he had killed Mary. Day after day of mental torture, James almost broke down, just when he received the letter at the beginning of the story...
Although the plot of this work is a complete tragedy, we can still read about love from it. James's inner struggles, and his attitude toward his ailing wife, ostensibly question the existence of eternal love, but personally believe that his series of actions after Mary's death set the tone. Going to Silent Hill again was not just a matter of self-blame, that honeymoon time was not only remembered by Mary, but also the most beautiful memory of James's life, and a "wordless letter" was enough to be the reason for his departure.
In James's perspective, the letter displaces the position of reality and illusion (Silent Hill), and he erases his own memory. In that world Mary did not die, their love did not change qualitatively, finding her and then saving happiness became a "happy principle" for his survival, and he undoubtedly received great satisfaction in the process of traveling to Silent Hill. Compared with the dark and terrifying game atmosphere, we can feel a kind of love that is very different from reality, it is warm and simple and at the same time morbid, in which the exposition of human kindness is deeply touching, and the monsters that symbolize the subconscious also present a sense of confrontation between the two parties in love.
Just as the Portuguese writer Luis De Camense wrote in the poem "Love is Burning, Invisible Fire": "Love is burning Invisible fire, pain and insensible wounds, fullness without fullness, painless pain through the lungs." "Maybe James and Mary are a fire about love, in the story they and in reality we are attracted by the jumping fire, close to the tragic story "burned", the taste is indescribable, although this game has been released nearly a decade ago, but James and Mary are still my most impressive love story in video games." 」
(PS: So, what about our new Silent Hill game? Does Konami understand the gold content of this IP? ）
>>> "Home" Sammy & Lannie
Gone Home is an interactive fiction game developed by Fullright Studios in 2013 with elements of puzzle solving and horror.
The game depicts a bittersweet love story that takes place in the United States in the 1990s. We will control a young girl named Katie Greenbryel, who, although she is not one of the protagonists of love, will explore the house at her own pace and act as a narrator similar to a "detective" by examining the objects, diaries and other items in various rooms to determine what is happening.
When Katie returns home in rural Oregon from overseas, she finds the house empty, with a note on the door from her 17-year-old sister Sami: "Don't look for me," wondering what really happened during this time, only to piece together the truth in the clues in the house.
Not long after the Katie family moved to Oregon, her sister Sami was not comfortable with the new environment and the new school, so the lonely Sami wrote down her complaints and experiences in her diary. Due to the prejudice of transfer students and the suspected haunted history of the new home, Sami was ostracized by her classmates and was happy to be dependent on each other, and she did not make friends in the class, but she met Lonnie, a rebellious girl with red hair and a camouflage military uniform. The two of them formed a deep relationship because of video games and rock music. Perhaps Sami would not have thought that her life had changed dramatically as a result.
After sneaking off to a concert, Sammy and Lonnie fall in love. But apparently the story didn't go smoothly with Happying, and when Sammy's parents discovered their relationship, they could barely accept the fact that their daughter was gay and locked Sami in her room.
Later, Laney prepares to leave Oregon, while Sami is too distraught to make up her mind. On the day Katie returns home, Sami's parents decide to go on vacation for a week (it's actually a counseling trip, but they advertise it as camping. Fortunately, the development team did not skimp on their kindness, and Lonnie called Sammy on the public phone and told her that she hoped they would be together. We learn from Sammy's last diary that she finally made up her mind to finally pack up her things and drive to Find Laney, who would start a new life outside of Oregon.
In 2013, "Homecoming" was very avant-garde, there were not many interactive items in the entire game flow, Fullbright Studios also received a lot of criticism for non-standard gameplay formats, and there were voices outside that they focused on LGBT themes and ignored other story elements, which later led to the derogatory term "walking simulator" being used to describe the lack of interactive exploration games. But looking back at it from today's perspective, the proliferation of walking simulator games has said a lot. "Stanley Fables", "Watching The Fireman", "Eddie Finch's Memory" and many other works of artistic expression and player reputation do not need to be repeated by me, obviously in addition to playability, a good story is also very important to the player group, the art form of video games may not have to stick to the gameplay or picture, its story content or spiritual core is the more important one.
The game depicts an unrecognized LGBT romance, with Sammy and Lonnie trying to escape gay phobia in rural America in the '90s, and families who don't understand or accept them, and the development team also says That Home is designed around the family. I don't want to stress the importance of respecting LGBT people here, after all, equality may only really come when we don't need to talk about equality. Returning to the pair of mandarin ducks themselves, although Sami's family is not poor, the sudden change in living environment has still brought a great impact on this little girl. She does not have a good relationship with the new environment around her, and thus becomes a marginal figure in the school, which in itself carries a melancholy background, but Lannie's appearance brings a new color to her world. In the time of low pain, they can think more deeply and soberly than ordinary people, and it can be said that the progression of their relationship is extremely natural. The game process also reflects the bridge section about the cognition of self-existence, love is love, and has nothing to do with gender, age, and appearance. The production team did not spend any more time to explain that their new life is a flattering technique, the two little girls want to live a calm life in the future, the pressure is undoubtedly very large, but the overall upward tone makes the players naturally believe that love will overcome those difficulties, I think this is also the reason why "Homecoming" feels healing.
(PS: Fullbright's new work "Open Roads" also jumped to 2022, and it is said that this time it will focus on family affection, looking forward to ing... ）
>>> Uncharted Drake & Elena
If I had to find a pair of "love is mutual support" paradigms in video games I've played, Nathan Drake and Elena Fisher in Uncharted would be the perfect choice. However, after 4 games, the story of the two of them really did not know where to start for a while.
Drake as an explorer? Jiangyang Thief? Well, he's a "lucky one" who goes where he goes. From childhood, Drake was convinced that he was a descendant of the British explorer Francis Drake, so he grew up and chose to start his own adventure. On a "journey" to a South American island, Drake meets Elena, a female journalist who often travels to war-torn areas in search of news. Although initially he only wanted to use Elena, after experiencing life-and-death adventures together, it is not too understandable to fall in love with this strong, brave and beautiful girl.
We all know the story later on, although Drake didn't have a relationship with the mature responsible person and even occasionally lied. But Elena was always by his side and used her wit and talent to remind Drake not to underestimate her. By the way, complementary personalities are really one of the best medicines for maintaining love, and compared to Drake's impulsive recklessness, Elena is a girl who has never been interested in getting into trouble. She was cheerful, stubborn, and tenacious, and because of this, she chose to be a personal journalist who didn't depend on anyone as a profession. Although Elena is as interested in adventure as Drake, because "he is likely to die in a place where no one knows, without anyone knowing", she often gives opinions on Drake's plans, but the girlfriend Who finally decides to embark on an adventure with her boyfriend is simply not too charming.
The "unreliable" Drake at the end of the story does not disappoint us, and the so-called "end" in Uncharted 4: The End of thieves is not a tragedy, but a family. Three years after the timeline of the previous game, Drake finally decided to marry Elena, who had been with him for a long time, and has since retired from adventure. Although the loss of not being able to venture with Drake in the future has made countless players, including the author, regret, seeing Elena as the starting point of the series has also become the end of Drake's adventure, and left us with a long, long romantic story. I think those players who have witnessed the couple's growth along the way should also be relieved. Yes, family and love are the graves of every adventurer, but also everyone's most basic understanding of happiness, two "adventurers" gave up their favorite adventures to choose to live smoothly, what reason do we have not to offer sincere blessings?
(PS: Although I'm not very optimistic about the film adaptation, the PS5 version of Uncharted Sea: Thieves' Legacy Collection can still be experienced again.) )
>>> Halo, Master Officer & Cortana
Xbox's top IP "Halo" series not only has an excellent shooting feel, rich and diverse gameplay, and excellent picture quality... I think what is even more talked about is the story of the Sergeant Major. My friends and I have discussed the relationship between the Sergeant Major and the intelligent ARTIFICIAL Intelligence Cortana more than once over the years, and bungie's classic trilogy cleverly tells the special emotions of the two, although Cortana is just an AI, in the hearts of players and Sergeant Major, she has long since become a flesh and blood character, a well-deserved heroine of the series.
In Halo 4, which 343 took over, the special relationship between the Sergeant Major and Cortana is more inked, and at the beginning of the plot we have to complete the mission to repair Kotana. That is to say, from this work onwards, they are no longer just cold war machines and intelligent AI, and their own thoughts and feelings are bursting out. At the end, Cortana is lost in space, which is a layer of space opera-style tragedy for the "Halo" series.
It can be said that the relationship between the two of them has long since surpassed that of ordinary couples and entered the realm of divine intercourse, with Cortana inserted behind the head of the sergeant major, and Kotana can read all the biological data of the sergeant major. Between the Sergeant's training as Spartan warriors, it is clear that they have spent a lot of time with each other learning human emotions than being an AI Kotana, accepting the fact that they can feel love. But this mode of getting along is harmonious, they will not promise to last forever, nor will they talk about unwavering love until death because of one look. However, the American philosopher Robert Nozick once said that "love" is the union of two people of different sexes into one. Expanding the boundaries of the self, so that you have me and I have you, thus forming a new intimate community or a new common identity, "we", obviously the sergeant major and Cortana have long been this "we".
Oh, by the way, when you ask Cortana in the Microsoft app: Is the Sergeant Major okay? She would say, "I am his shield, I am his blade." I know him well, along with his past and future. "I love him as much as I love you." Good yay ~ official sugar! It can be said that they are not only staunch comrades-in-arms, but also soul mates. This hardcore and romantic "cyber love" forced me to include the commander and Cortana in this inventory.
(PS: Although 343 made us lose Cortana, Halo: Infinity should be played... ）
>>> The Legend of Zelda, Link & Zelda
After experiencing many "The Legend of Zelda" series, whether Link and Zelda's relationship is love has always been a question that players are keen to discuss. Until the release of The Legend of Zelda: Sword in the Sky in 2011, Nintendo officials almost dispelled all doubts.
The game is set at the very beginning of all zelda Legends timelines, where the three creation gods left behind powerful triangular powers after creating the world, and anyone who gets it can fulfill any of their wishes. Zelda is the reincarnation of the goddess Heliah, who guarded humanity in ancient times, and Link is the prophesied hero. Like all fairy tales, saving Princess Zelda, kidnapped by the forces of darkness, is the fateful duty of Link the Brave.
"Growing up, every time you slept late, I woke you up... But this time, when it's all over... Will you come and wake me up? This passage of Zelda's words to Link when she was about to sleep in the Sealed Temple, I believe that friends who have played this game must still remember it vividly. The small detail of calling out the bed, which exudes love, makes Zelda change the posture of the princess in the work, and the emotional link of the green plum bamboo horse, accompanied by the cry of the sealed lover opposite Link, instantly depicts a touching and profound love story. Of course, at the end of the story, Link returns to sky Loft and finds the Triangular Divine Power, and then uses his power to destroy the Sealed One, and Zelda is also liberated from the Crystal. After Link finally defeats the resurrected Demon Lord, the Terminator, in the final duel, the two decide to stay in the Terrestrial World to guard the Triangular Divine Force and create the Kingdom of Hellaru.
By the time of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wilderness, Link and Zelda's love affair has apparently developed further, with the two even reaching the point where they are willing to give their lives for each other, and the game is one of the most gorgeous story arcs in the Zelda series to date. As for what kind of sparks will collide with the love between the two, the answer to the question may require you to find out in the sequel to Breath of the Wilderness released next year.
(PS: "Old Ren" mouth is too strict, the wilderness breath sequel is not new news now...)
>>>尾声
OK, that's all there is to it for couples in this game. In addition, there are of course many love stories in the game that are worth remembering, such as Ellie & Riley in "The Last Of Us", Deacon & Sarah in "Once Upon a Time", Dom & Maria in "War Machine", Isaac & Nicole in "Dead Space", Tida & Yuna in Final Fantasy X...
So which couple of games do you remember the most? What to expect from sweet love? Remember to leave a message in the comment area to share it. If you think we're doing a good job, you can like and follow. Of course, comments and suggestions are also welcome, so let's see you in the next article. Meow ~ !!!