Mythology in games.
All games need to have a vast world. That's basically the point of games. You create a world to disappear into, and modern games have become much better at this than their predecessors. Today I'm talking about one aspect of these virtual worlds. Their mythology.
I have always been interested in mythology and I probably always will be. Myths and legend are often the basis of truly great stories. Who doesn't know about Zeus or Hercules or especially Aries?
All games use mythology to some extent. It may come in as simple as calling a sword Excalibur or calling a hell hound Cerberus, but some games take this further, much further. Some games go as far as to rewrite these characters stories or even to create their own myths and legends.
Myths are a grand addition to any game. After all when it comes to world building it's all about the little details. Naming a city is great and all. So is giving it a king and government, but what really makes it pop is giving the inhabitants a personality and a schedule. And one way to give people personality. Is by having them revere ancient heroes such as Hercules.
Which approach is better then? Making up your own myth or using the familiar old myths? There's two sides to that story. On one hand you can evoke powerful emotions bound to the familiar. On the other hand you get to try your hand at crafting truly grand myths and legends.
Think of how much fun it is to find the legendary sword Excalibur and immediately think back to the sword of our legends. You have a nice "Ah hah!" Moment and enjoy your surprise. Or when you find a three headed dog named Cerberus. You smile because all of a sudden this fight is even more important. Even more meaningful and epic especially if you don't like that particular entity. Extra Credits did an entire episode on this about tangential learning being facilitated thorough borrowing mythology.
But let's assume that for whatever reason you don't want to borrow mythological creatures or legends? Then, your possibilities are endless! Think of the possibilities. Warrior race of dogs? Why not. A fish saving the world? Why not. Was the world in danger of being destroyed but was saved at the last minute by a magical baby cat named Anny? Sure, if that's your world but here's where we run into the real problem with creating legends.
Legends that are just too weird or strange will not be accepted. A lot of it comes down to your own discretion but just stop and think no matter how good the context is some things jus will not be accepted by your average gamer. Great warrior saves the world? Fine. Floating fish kills a town? Now, we're drifting off into an extreme absurdity.
That being said some of the greatest and most fondly remembered games are absurd games like Earthbound. But those are the exception not the rule. For most people they need legends to be grounded in our world to some degree, and it isn't hard to comply with that especially when that's the difference between a good game and a great game.
Myths add a whole layer of depth to games and people spend days months and years deconstructing the myths of the worlds. Of course that only happens when you make a good game. That being said go out and make something that people want to spend years talking about.
My name Is Keith Conley. I've been playing video games for as long as I've been alive. Come on by to me website and see what else I've written.
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