The Stories of Games

NieR & NieR: Automata The Stories of Games

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What Does It Mean To Be a Gamer?

Aaron Suduiko

INTRODUCTION In Mr. Suduiko’s speech at Harvard, he tells of how he first chose to study the philosophy of video games after playing an obscure game called Nier. Created by game developer and writer Yoko Taro, who is known for his unconventional approach towards game design and storytelling, the game became a cult classic due to its compelling characters and story.

Nier: Automata was released in 2017 as a sequel to Nier, set millenia after the first game. Unlike the original Nier, the sequel was an immediate success: its narrative, thematic elements, gameplay, and usage of the game mechanics itself to tell its story being met with critical acclaim.

One such element of storytelling in Automata is the weapon stories that accompany every piece of equipment the player picks up, which are uncovered piece by piece throughout the game. Some of these stories serve as details of the world left after the events of Nier, parables of the themes of both games, and others are simply lonely tales of the people who once wielded these forgotten weapons.

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What are video games good for?

I study the stories of video games, so I worry about that question a lot. I want to share one way I think the special stories of video games, and the way we engage them, teach gamers to learn from one another.

We often try to communicate with one another by referencing our experiences. We argue about aspects of society that offend us; we talk about aspects of our identities that other people lack direct knowledge of—if you are a woman and feel that your employer treats female employees worse than men, you might want me to understand what that is like, although I am a man. We want to convey to others what it is like to be us—but how can we, when others have no way of standing in our shoes?

Video games can help us share who we are.

Let me explain why.

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When I was in high school, I played a little-known video game called Nier. The game tells the story of a man, Nier, who will stop at nothing to save his daughter, Yonah, from a deadly plague. The emotional depth and complexity of this game were what first motivated me to study and analyze video games in school. If you haven’t yet, you owe it to yourself to play it some day.

At the same time that I dove into analyzing Nier, I also felt compelled to share the game with two of my closest high school friends, Dan and Nate.

Just as I wanted everyone I knew to read The Catcher in the Rye after I first encountered the classic in middle school, I now wanted Dan and Nate to experience this game. One after the other, I passed my copy of the game along to Dan and then Nate in the hall between classes.

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But when I spoke with them both after they handed the game back to me, I discovered something I hadn’t expected: although they had played the same game as I had, we each made different choices in the game—

something that couldn’t have happened if we’d all seen the same movie or read the same book.

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I had focused on exploring the secrets of the game’s world, digging through virtual basements for classified government records to learn what had caused the apocalypse.

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Dan focused instead on exploring the relationship between Nier—the player’s character—and Yonah.

He completed quests collecting food for Yonah, and she surprised him by making him a cake to thank him.

“Dad, if you're cold, I can give you my hat. You're the best father in the world, after all.”

“Dad, if you're hungry, you can have my cookie. You're my favourite person in the world, after all.”

“Dad, if you’re scared, I can sleep by your side. You’re my closest friend in the world, after all.”

“So please don’t go anywhere. All right, Dad? Don’t leave your Yonah all alone. ...Okay?”

—IRON PIPE: WEAPON STORY A common iron pipe.

It is covered in the vital fluids of machine lifeforms.

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Nate found the desolate wasteland of the game depressing, so he completed it once and moved on.

“I never quite realized...how beautiful this world is.

I'm coming, everyone...I'm coming...

—UNIT A2: LAST WORDS Upon giving her life to save the remnants of humanity, A2 mourns the time she spent wandering the world in anger and finds peace as she waits for her life to end.

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FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH MY LOVER FAILED TO CONNECT WITH MY LOVER FAR AWAY WENT MY LOVER WITH DEATH WENT MY LOVER TO ETERNITY —VIRTUOUS TREATY: WEAPON STORY A white katana kept by samurai of the East. Its pure white blade is not yet sullied by a single drop of blood.

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As I discussed Nier with my friends over lunches and in between classes, I learned about my friends and myself through the choices that we each made.

We talked about how a single story prompted us to act differently from one another, and we accounted for our actions.

Through these conversations, I learned how much Dan valued the intimacy fathers share with their daughters; I learned that Nate wanted to be excited about the environments of video game worlds, so that he could jump at the opportunity to explore them. Through these conversations, I began to articulate to my friends my desire to unravel mysteries.

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Video games allow players to share their experiences with one another by grounding them in a common story.

Games invite players to enter a single world, chart their own course through it, and compare their journeys with their friends. By giving us a special position in an artistic world, our choices become part of the work of art—

something we can discuss and make meaning out of with others.

"I'll never forget the first time we met.

I knew our love would last for an eternity."

—CRUEL BLOOD OATH: WEAPON STORY LEVEL 1 A katana held by warrior monks of the East. Its blade has been stained jet black with the blood of years of conflict.

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When I think about video games’ practical value, I always reflect on the degree to which they can unify people and allow them to understand and share their way of being. This invitation to share ourselves with others is the hidden utility of the engaging, epic stories waiting in the many worlds of video games.

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But be warned, it can take a lot of work to get to know someone else—so you may just need to spend many hours playing video games.

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This book was designed by Mia Zhao in Typography II at the Sam Fox School of Art and Design at Washington University in St. Louis.

This book is set in EB Garamond, designed by Claude Garamont, Robert Granjon, Georg MayrDuffner, and Octavio Pardo, published by Open Font License, and Rodin, designed by Shigenobu Fujita and Akiko Ochi, published by Fontworks.

Image credits: Page 2, 3, 8, 17 © Amei Zhao Page 5 © yueko Page 18, 19 © Mec

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