Is "The Path" true Video Game Art?
Video games. Most of them involve shooting people, driving like a maniac, slashing swords, or some combination of all of the above. But how many test your curiosity and make you face your fears in a truly mature way? Until quite recently almost every video game has been the equivalent of a summer movie blockbuster; fun to watch, but intensely insipid in its depth. And though almost every video game involves art in its basic sense (the design of the worlds, the audio), very few games approach the level of artistic storytelling that The Path has achieved.
After choosing from one of nine characters (all seem like different versions of the archetypal Little Red Riding Hood character, albeit at different ages) the game throws the player into the titular "path", and a cryptic message briefly shows on the screen: "Go to Grandmother's house... and stay on the path..." Follow the game's only direction and you find a "You Failed" screen as soon as you find your granmother's room in her house, all akin to a game over. In a stark contrast to almost every other video game I have played, this was pretty disorienting at first. I did what the directions told me to do, and yet I "failed" the game. In this sense, The Path is parodying the way every video game always sifts the player through unquestioned directions. The first challenge in the game is an actual challenge of convention. You have to stray from the path to start experiencing the game.
As cliche as it sounds, once you start thinking outside the box is when you start to experiment the genius in this game. The game has bright, colorful graphics when you're in the path, but once you venture out into the forest the colors start to dilute and the game takes on a much darker tone. The farther you go into the forest, the darker and scarier the game turns. All the other aspects of this game follow this theme. The music is a simple piano tune while you are on the path, but once you go inside the forest the music fades away and random, creepy noises gradually fill your ears (growls, whispers, footsteps, a blackboard scratching). It can be genuinely scary to venture really deep into the forest, which is where you start seeing the fable unfold.
In your life you may choose to take a safe path to the end, experiencing very few unique moments but being generally safe throughout. This can lead to a life of regret, where you may wish you had taken more risks and lamented the opportunities you let get away. On the other hand, you may try to lead a life of adventure and risk, experiencing unique moments that will forever stay in your mind, though at the risk of also experiencing some horrible moments that will be hard to erase from your head.
This is what I believe The Path is trying to convey. The notion that curiosity has both advantages and disadvantages is nothing new, but playing this game made me reflect on how I personally lead my life. Roger Ebert once commented that "art is a medium that makes you reflect on your own life, even if it's not a positive perspective of it". This game is not always fun, and in some cases it can be quite disturbing, but you will have its imagery and messages stuck in your head for a long long time.
Chris Crawford suggests that static mediums, like video games, are usually not considered the best examples of interactive art since the participant only experiences a set storyline that cannot be interacted with. But my argument for this game's place as a prime example of interactive art is that the story itself can be interpreted in several ways. The user decides what to take from this story, and his inputs in the game directly reflect on the outcome of the experience.
After choosing from one of nine characters (all seem like different versions of the archetypal Little Red Riding Hood character, albeit at different ages) the game throws the player into the titular "path", and a cryptic message briefly shows on the screen: "Go to Grandmother's house... and stay on the path..." Follow the game's only direction and you find a "You Failed" screen as soon as you find your granmother's room in her house, all akin to a game over. In a stark contrast to almost every other video game I have played, this was pretty disorienting at first. I did what the directions told me to do, and yet I "failed" the game. In this sense, The Path is parodying the way every video game always sifts the player through unquestioned directions. The first challenge in the game is an actual challenge of convention. You have to stray from the path to start experiencing the game.
As cliche as it sounds, once you start thinking outside the box is when you start to experiment the genius in this game. The game has bright, colorful graphics when you're in the path, but once you venture out into the forest the colors start to dilute and the game takes on a much darker tone. The farther you go into the forest, the darker and scarier the game turns. All the other aspects of this game follow this theme. The music is a simple piano tune while you are on the path, but once you go inside the forest the music fades away and random, creepy noises gradually fill your ears (growls, whispers, footsteps, a blackboard scratching). It can be genuinely scary to venture really deep into the forest, which is where you start seeing the fable unfold.
In your life you may choose to take a safe path to the end, experiencing very few unique moments but being generally safe throughout. This can lead to a life of regret, where you may wish you had taken more risks and lamented the opportunities you let get away. On the other hand, you may try to lead a life of adventure and risk, experiencing unique moments that will forever stay in your mind, though at the risk of also experiencing some horrible moments that will be hard to erase from your head.
This is what I believe The Path is trying to convey. The notion that curiosity has both advantages and disadvantages is nothing new, but playing this game made me reflect on how I personally lead my life. Roger Ebert once commented that "art is a medium that makes you reflect on your own life, even if it's not a positive perspective of it". This game is not always fun, and in some cases it can be quite disturbing, but you will have its imagery and messages stuck in your head for a long long time.
Chris Crawford suggests that static mediums, like video games, are usually not considered the best examples of interactive art since the participant only experiences a set storyline that cannot be interacted with. But my argument for this game's place as a prime example of interactive art is that the story itself can be interpreted in several ways. The user decides what to take from this story, and his inputs in the game directly reflect on the outcome of the experience.
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