Philosophical games?
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I would suggest the "Legacy of Kain" series.
I was thinking others, but they have more to do with Mythology than philosophy.
I was thinking others, but they have more to do with Mythology than philosophy.
Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2 deal with Religious philosophy quite well. DA2 does it especially well when they discuss the Qun. Like it or not, that shit makes sense. It's just a shame that the Qunari force it on people.
Fallout: New Vegas does political philosophy well by pulling down the proverbial pants of Democracy and Autocracy, thus exposing their merits and flaws for all to gawk at.
Fallout: New Vegas does political philosophy well by pulling down the proverbial pants of Democracy and Autocracy, thus exposing their merits and flaws for all to gawk at.
Philosophical shitstorm ala <link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remember_11:_The_Age_of_Infinity>Remember 11: The Age of Inifinity.
Fuyukawa Kokoro, a third-year sociology major, boards a plane bound for Hokkaido to meet a research subject in the Specified Psychiatric Hospital for Isolation and Aegis, or SPHIA. For unknown reasons, her plane crashes in the mountains in the middle of a snowstorm. Of the 31 passengers, only she, Kusuda Yuni, Yomogi Seiji, and Mayuzumi Lin survive unharmed. Unable to establish communication with the outside world due to the fierce snowstorm, the four decide to take shelter in an empty cabin and wait until the storm passes.
Yukidoh Satoru, a graduate student in the field of quantum physics, falls from the SPHIA clock tower. He later awakens with some memory loss and the realization that someone is out to kill him. Unable to leave the SPHIA facility due to a snowstorm, Satoru's only chance at living is to find that person among the three other residents (or perhaps the hidden culprit) of SPHIA.
Shortly after, Kokoro and Satoru realize that they are somehow exchanging bodies and Yuni appears to be at both of their locations... (from: http://vndb.org/v13)
<youtube=0agpDmjogBA>
It has references to psychology, metaphysics, quantum mechanics, the Bible etc. etc. IT's A GOD DAMN MIND SCREW!
Fuyukawa Kokoro, a third-year sociology major, boards a plane bound for Hokkaido to meet a research subject in the Specified Psychiatric Hospital for Isolation and Aegis, or SPHIA. For unknown reasons, her plane crashes in the mountains in the middle of a snowstorm. Of the 31 passengers, only she, Kusuda Yuni, Yomogi Seiji, and Mayuzumi Lin survive unharmed. Unable to establish communication with the outside world due to the fierce snowstorm, the four decide to take shelter in an empty cabin and wait until the storm passes.
Yukidoh Satoru, a graduate student in the field of quantum physics, falls from the SPHIA clock tower. He later awakens with some memory loss and the realization that someone is out to kill him. Unable to leave the SPHIA facility due to a snowstorm, Satoru's only chance at living is to find that person among the three other residents (or perhaps the hidden culprit) of SPHIA.
Shortly after, Kokoro and Satoru realize that they are somehow exchanging bodies and Yuni appears to be at both of their locations... (from: http://vndb.org/v13)
<youtube=0agpDmjogBA>
It has references to psychology, metaphysics, quantum mechanics, the Bible etc. etc. IT's A GOD DAMN MIND SCREW!
Would I be wrong in saying Braid? It's a puzzle game sure, but deals with the consequences of distorted time, etc. Haven't actually played it, but got it for someone as a present and he said it made him think anyway.
I'd take a look at Jade Empire, for the original Xbox. Done by Bioware in between Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2, it takes place in a Pseudo made up Chinese Empire, so you have some basis of knowledge to frame it with, but it's got a fair bit of originality (magic, floating rocks, demons and whatnot)
This game took the Good/Evil morality and turned it on it's head. Changed it to The Ways of the Open Palm, and Closed Fist. It wasn't about good or evil. The points ended up the same, do shitty things, get bad points, but they talked quite often about the theory behind them. Open Palm is just straight up do unto others as you would have done unto you, so not much looked into that, but they did a great deal of focusing on how the Closed Fist isn't necessarily evil.
To paraphrase the game, Consider this. A Man is walking down a road when he finds another man injured. An evil man would walk by him, because he didn't care, but a follower of the Closed Fist would walk by because he believes the injured man should have the power to help himself. Conversely, a follower of the Closed Fist might help the man, if he felt it would be beneficial to him in the long run. Closed Fist being the thought that Power is in the individual, helping others weakens them.
Bioware dealt more with this, and other subjects in KotOR II, as well. Kreia went really deep into certain theories and philosophies there, too many to enumerate here.
This game took the Good/Evil morality and turned it on it's head. Changed it to The Ways of the Open Palm, and Closed Fist. It wasn't about good or evil. The points ended up the same, do shitty things, get bad points, but they talked quite often about the theory behind them. Open Palm is just straight up do unto others as you would have done unto you, so not much looked into that, but they did a great deal of focusing on how the Closed Fist isn't necessarily evil.
To paraphrase the game, Consider this. A Man is walking down a road when he finds another man injured. An evil man would walk by him, because he didn't care, but a follower of the Closed Fist would walk by because he believes the injured man should have the power to help himself. Conversely, a follower of the Closed Fist might help the man, if he felt it would be beneficial to him in the long run. Closed Fist being the thought that Power is in the individual, helping others weakens them.
Bioware dealt more with this, and other subjects in KotOR II, as well. Kreia went really deep into certain theories and philosophies there, too many to enumerate here.
I would say the Deus Ex games, which deal with a myriad of things.
Shin Megami Tensei series deals with Law and Chaos, and Nocturne deals with solipsism, nihilism and social darwinism. Digital Devil Saga has massive Hinduism and Buddhism influences.
The Legacy of Kain series deals with time travel and paradoxes, and also the morality of vampirism, in terms of what deserves to live.
The Metal Gear Solid series deals with the nature of virtual reality, the nature of being a soldier, morality of war, nuclear weapons, and the meaning of ones existence.
Zone of the Enders deals with the loss of innocence, the morality of war and killing.
Okami is deeply deeply routed in Shinto mythology, and the philosophy comes out of that.
Silent Hill 2 deals with Freudian themes of guilt. The rest deal with similar things.
Killer7 has the conflict between the philosophies of East and West.
Shin Megami Tensei series deals with Law and Chaos, and Nocturne deals with solipsism, nihilism and social darwinism. Digital Devil Saga has massive Hinduism and Buddhism influences.
The Legacy of Kain series deals with time travel and paradoxes, and also the morality of vampirism, in terms of what deserves to live.
The Metal Gear Solid series deals with the nature of virtual reality, the nature of being a soldier, morality of war, nuclear weapons, and the meaning of ones existence.
Zone of the Enders deals with the loss of innocence, the morality of war and killing.
Okami is deeply deeply routed in Shinto mythology, and the philosophy comes out of that.
Silent Hill 2 deals with Freudian themes of guilt. The rest deal with similar things.
Killer7 has the conflict between the philosophies of East and West.
Bioshock touches on Communism vs Capitalism, as well as the morality of modifying your body with genetic therapy. Along with human experimentation and a handful of others.Nenad said:
Halo touches on Racial Supremacy and religious extremism. Really any game touches on philosophy. Look for any game that's story heavy and you'll get what you're looking for.
I would consider thinking about some of the more 'art' focused games. By that i mean stuff like '4 minutes and 33 seconds of uniqueness'. It has only one very simple mechanic. Its just a bar that moves across the screen for 4 minutes and 33 seconds. It checks to see if anyone else starts the 'game'. If someone else starts the game, you 'lose' and are no longer unique. I thought this was awesome.Nenad said:
Or check out:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/111200-Haste-Literally-Makes-Waste-In-Receipt-Racer
These are two games that have specific artistic statements to make. Idk if that is the kind of thing you are into thinking about, but i got a lot of enjoyment out of pondering both of these statements made into games.
Planescape: Torment
Deus Ex
Deus Ex Invisible War- This game may be inferior but the story isn't quite as silly and there is more philosophy as less crazy ass conspiracy silliness and more pseudo philosophical silliness.
Nier You can't really tell unitl you start playing the second half of the game a second time but this game probably challenges the accepted tropes in a fantasy action rpg better than most of what you really are in them.
Xenogears
Xenosaga games- only played 1 and 3
Star Wars Knights of the Republic 2 which someone else has mentioned. Especially reccomend this to people who liked Planescape: Torment
NWN2 Mask of the Betrayer may be since it has been compared to Planescape: Torment a lot. (haven't played the expansion yet, just made sure it worked still on original campaign. )
Jade Empire had an interesting philososphy exposition at the begiing of hte game of a selifshness that wasn't evil but it pretty much ended up being an evil jackass when you chose this path.
Arcanum
Bioshock
Deus Ex
Deus Ex Invisible War- This game may be inferior but the story isn't quite as silly and there is more philosophy as less crazy ass conspiracy silliness and more pseudo philosophical silliness.
Nier You can't really tell unitl you start playing the second half of the game a second time but this game probably challenges the accepted tropes in a fantasy action rpg better than most of what you really are in them.
Xenogears
Xenosaga games- only played 1 and 3
Star Wars Knights of the Republic 2 which someone else has mentioned. Especially reccomend this to people who liked Planescape: Torment
NWN2 Mask of the Betrayer may be since it has been compared to Planescape: Torment a lot. (haven't played the expansion yet, just made sure it worked still on original campaign. )
Jade Empire had an interesting philososphy exposition at the begiing of hte game of a selifshness that wasn't evil but it pretty much ended up being an evil jackass when you chose this path.
Arcanum
Bioshock
I would like a game of being Socrates and just having to figure out what questions to ask people to make them fucking hate me by how annoying I am. The whole point of the game is how long you can last while annoying people without them trying to kill you. Not annoy them enough even if you last a long time then you lose but annoy them too much and die too early you also lose.WaReloaded said:
I finished both DA 1 and 2, and really, really like the whole Qun thing, too bad there was so little of it. I always wanted more of that story line.GrizzlerBorno said:
Woah, wth is this? Never heard of it. It's PS3 isn't it? I only got a PC T_Tdarkmind35 said:
Will do when it comes on the PC ^^Monxerot said:
There's quite a lot of philosophical outlook to be found in art-type flash games. I'm thinking of "Today I Die", "Everyday the same dream", etc. "Company of Myself" even has some narration meant to evoke a deeper thought process about "the self". There's quite a lot of this kind of stuff out there to find, I'm just naming the best-known ones here.Nenad said:
Since you're going to be studying philosophy you might already know this, but I thought I should point out that quite a lot of philosophy majors end up being critics (of which a fair few of art), simply because both fields deal with creative outlook in a very similar way. So when you talk about games and philosophy, I find it's best to talk about games and art.
Like I said, try looking around for some art-type games. They usually help provoke ideas and inspirations.
I wouldn't call KOTOR 2 philosophical, as much as it was a deconstruction of the themes of the first game, Star Wars and role playing games in general. Still had an amazing story though.Babitz said:
As for contributing to the topic, I think Tales of the Abyss had some pretty interesting philosophical elements to it. If you can get through the initial cliche storm and initially dickish main character, the game pretty much turns everything on it's head and I do believe that they pretty much put a bullet into the head of idea of destiny and the "Chosen One" trope itself.
What kind of philosophy?
There's quite a few flash games that deal with all kinds of philosophy, and I'm not even going to bother mentioning Bioshock.
There's quite a few flash games that deal with all kinds of philosophy, and I'm not even going to bother mentioning Bioshock.
Final Fantasy VI's character Kefka sees life as absurd and meaningless, his quest to destroy existence as a monument to non existence serves as the main conflict in the game. All of the characters find meaning in their lives and the final battle is one of Nihilism (Kefka) vs people who create their own meaning (the party)
Metal Gear Solid 2 is a postmodern interpretation of Metal Gear Solid games where the player takes on the role of Raiden in order to explore the nature of the players free will. If you've never played it I don't want to give anything away but the game explores philosophical concepts such as free will and questioning one's values.
Bioshock deals directly with Objectivism but this was already mentioned and explained in this thread.
Metal Gear Solid 2 is a postmodern interpretation of Metal Gear Solid games where the player takes on the role of Raiden in order to explore the nature of the players free will. If you've never played it I don't want to give anything away but the game explores philosophical concepts such as free will and questioning one's values.
Bioshock deals directly with Objectivism but this was already mentioned and explained in this thread.
"I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" is not exactly philosophical-based but there are a lot of ideas for it. I recommend watching the walkthrough instead of playing it though XD because can be confusing to work with (it's quite short on youtube.) It deals with man relationship with technology among other things and it's based on a short story too.
Some have already mentioned the more obvious titles: Bioshock (which I would say goes beyond Objectivism satire to an examination of free will), Braid, The Void, The Path, and the host of small indie 2D games (look up The Museum of Broken Memories sometime).
But I'll also add one that surprised me: Mass Effect 2. I remember the whole Mordin subplot, and dropping my jaw over some of the dialog. It's an reductio ad absurdum of Utilitarianism, and doesn't even take sides, for all of Mordin's tragic mixed feelings. Heck, the whole game is basically variations on the theme of parentage and its implications (down to the feelings of Reapers towards humans). Not what I was expecting from a Space Opera, and a very pleasant surprise it was.
But I'll also add one that surprised me: Mass Effect 2. I remember the whole Mordin subplot, and dropping my jaw over some of the dialog. It's an reductio ad absurdum of Utilitarianism, and doesn't even take sides, for all of Mordin's tragic mixed feelings. Heck, the whole game is basically variations on the theme of parentage and its implications (down to the feelings of Reapers towards humans). Not what I was expecting from a Space Opera, and a very pleasant surprise it was.