The Last of Us and Bioshock: Infinite - The games that matter today.

Usually when one thinks of videogames, they believe it's "just for kids" or an interactive waste of time. The past few years of the Halo, Call of Duty, and even the Grand Theft Auto games tend to prove this ideology for some since it's main objective is just to entertain the player with a basic and less thought provoking storyline that relies more on "plot twists" and "shock factor" rather than the complex and underlying themes that are mostly only found in novels and books these days.



A few years ago, we bought a Sony Playstation 3 and we have played a lot of amazing exclusives and really had so much fun with them. But I can't help but think that something has been missing since the days back when videogames weren't just about shooting people around and exploring a vast landscape collecting "loot". They had fantastic stories, dialogues that truly had you root for the characters and wondered when they will triumph over their conflicts and well, save the world at the same time. Games like Secret of Evermore, Final Fantasy VII, Xenogears and Silent Hill 2 had stories that you felt what each character was going through. How they would get past their inner conflicts and save the people they love and come out on top as the silent hero.

Bioshock: Infinite and The Last of Us truly revitalizes the whole game narrative. Not relying only on visuals but also creating believable, relatable and understandable characters, these games have proved that story matters, and stories are what we people intake to cope with our own lives. Stories are what make us understand that we are not alone.

You may ask why these two were chosen for this blog post. Well, in a sense these two are very related to each other and even have similar themes as the player reaches the ending. Well, I won't spoil that for you but it's not just about the endings of these games, but the journey they went through together. In Bioshock, Booker and Elizabeth started out as Booker needing Elizabeth to pay a debt. In a sense, the Last of Us, Joel and Ellie also had the whole "just for the mission" theme going on. Both stories evolved their relationships and they bonded to be more than just two people on a mission but started to be more like "Father and Daughter" or let's say "Best of Friends".

Some would say "escort the package" based games are a pain to play because you need to protect your partner, but both games made your sidekick more reliable than just being a thorn to deal with. Elizabeth hands you ammo, elixirs, health potions. Ellie tends to do the same from time to time, but she can take care of herself fine when given a pistol. But these games aren't "escort her from a to b". These games develop these characters in order for people to understand that relationships don't need to be formed on a sunny beautiful day, but also they can be formed through the toughest of times. An even stronger bond forms throughout their stories.

Now, why do they matter today? Because most games today show the hero "sacrificing" themselves to save the world. Or even show that "nothing can stop the good from prevailing" or for some games, "The needs of the few don't matter to the needs of the many". Most games just give you one goal, and that goal is exactly the outcome. The Last of Us asks the question "Will you save the world to sacrifice the people you love?". The Last of Us shows, that the world isn't all black and white. The whole apocalyptic theme is just a facade of what makes the title. The Last of Us doesn't mean "the last of human kind". It goes much, much deeper than that.

Bioshock: Infinite's theme is about conflict within one's self. It's not post-apocalyptic but it is tremendously dark even with the colorful visuals. It's more of Booker's story and how his decisions have affected every single person he meets. His decisions indirectly affect the world around him and the ending will truly explain why and makes you ask yourself. If you were in his shoes, would you have done the same?

Now both games aren't choice based games where it would affect the ending. Both games only have one ending and for me, as much as I love collecting all the endings of a game, one ending fits both games. This is a good practice because for one, the writer's story drives the game, not the story the players want to achieve. It makes these characters more believable because they don't bend to our liking and they evoke emotion in us asking ourselves "did we do the right thing?". Most videogames give you the obvious choice to have a different ending. Some games give you a different ending because you missed something that you wish you had noticed beforehand. But these two games, they don't give you a choice at most times and usually, we tend to get into the same situation as they do and instinctively, we would have reacted the same way.

The Last of Us and Bioshock: Infinite may not be for everyone. Most gamers tend to look for escapist entertainment they get from Hollywood Blockbusters and even just want some dumb fun. TLoU, and Bioshock: Infinite makes you think, feel and brings us back to the days where we love talking about the game endings and the characters. These days most gamers talk about the "Cool" factor and the "Gameplay rules! I just want to have fun!".

These games provide us with what matters most in life: The realization that we are all human beings and we make mistakes. We aren't perfect. We just do what we have to do to live and be happy with what we have and strive for a better life.