Games to Play at the End of the World

Ah yes, the apocalypse, a favorite setting for game developers of all generations. While we waste away in our homes awaiting the end of days, we really should be playing some appropriate games for the situation, don't you think? But appropriate for one person may not be appropriate for another, so I have compiled below two lists for two completely different purposes. The first is a list of games to play if you are preparing to face the apocalypse head-on. The second is a list of games to play if you wish to shut out all bad in the world and ignore the rising flames around you (Yes, this dramatic nature of mine got me into big trouble when I took journalism in high school). You decide which type of game is appropriate for your needs.

Games to Prepare You for the Apocalypse:

The obvious first choice for this list is The Last of Us, a game that takes us through the first moments of a deadly pandemic, then shows us what the world looks like approximately 20 years later. We see the perspectives of two protagonists: one is a man who survived those first moments and has continued to survive over the years, and the other is a young girl/growing woman who never knew the world before the pandemic devastated humanity. The Last of Us is a thoughtful look at the events of precisely the type of tragedy the world is currently facing (though it may be a small relief that the dead remain dead in our case). There are moments when the protagonists must navigate still-contaminated areas and need to wear gas masks to protect themselves -- this scene may seem very familiar to modern-day players. By strange coincidence, the sequel is scheduled to release during the current pandemic, though like many other games it may end up being delayed. The Last of Us is available on PS3 and PS4.

When any gamer thinks of the apocalypse, it's very likely they picture a scene from the Fallout series. This series takes place many years after a nuclear apocalypse, meaning that society is ended through war (war never changes) and not through disease, but disease abounds after the destruction of modern society as we know it. By the way, am I the only one who really wants to see a Fallout game set in another country -- not just in America? While the series has often made commentary on American culture and politics specifically, I really want to know what is happening around the world during the events of Fallout. If you want to play Fallout with friends, I hear Fallout 76 has gotten better with recent patches, but if you want to play the best of the series, I recommend Fallout: New Vegas. The Fallout series is available on most major platforms.

A game I have mentioned before and will likely write about again is Bastion, a popular indie title from developer Supergiant Games. Bastion is another game that takes place post-war, but this time there are very few living people left in the vicinity. The hero of the story must find these last survivors and lead them to the Bastion, a place of hope in an otherwise dying world. This game is beautiful and will probably make you cry. Bastion is available on most major platforms.

A trusty game that is a little different from the AAA fare already mentioned is Fallen London, a browser-based game that has spawned two spin-offs: Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies. Fallen London is set in a steampunk world and is a little difficult to describe. The following is a description directly from the developer's website:

Thirty years ago, London was stolen. Now it rests on the shore of the Unterzee, that old dark ocean under the world. Hell is close, immortality is cheap, and the screaming has largely stopped… (Failbetter Games)

This story is apocalyptic in a very -fantasy- sense and makes a decent bridge between escapism and realism for the purposes of this list.

I want to include some "honorable mentions" that have a post-apocalyptic feel but did not otherwise make my list:
Borderlands, a science fiction series that takes place on another planet, yet has a similar setting to other games in the post-apocalyptic genre.
Aladdin, a seemingly straight-forward Disney game with a very popular fan theory that suggests the setting may be post-apocalyptic (read more about the theory here).
The Wasteland Series, a spin-off of sorts from the Fallout series, which I personally haven't played yet and therefore can't review or recommend.

Games to Play When You Want to Block Out the World:

This list is going to be a little more obvious, as there seems to be a genre of games specifically intended to help you ignore the real world. Get ready to do a lot of farming.

First and foremost, of course, is Nintendo's Animal Crossing franchise. When you wake up in the morning, you immediately start playing Animal Crossing. After catching some fish, planting some flowers, and identifying some fossils, you realize you never went to the bathroom, so you put the game down. On the way to the bathroom you realize it's oddly dark and your clock says it's already after supper time. Your psychiatrist might call this an unhealthy addiction, but gamers call it a day well spent. Animal Crossing is available on every major Nintendo console/handheld since the GameCube.

The next franchise on the list is a little confusing: Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons. The confusing part involves a change in North American publishers which led to a copyright battle over the name "Harvest Moon." I won't be able to tell you which exact games are good and which are the "fake" Natsume games, but fortunately other people have already compiled a list for you (see that list here). The Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons franchise tends to focus more on farming than on any other activity, but you will still find plenty to do! And of course, there are always a variety of bachelors and bachelorettes available and hoping to marry you! The Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons franchise is available on many, many consoles and handheld systems (though most are on Nintendo systems).

The Rune Factory series is essentially a spin-off from the Harvest Moon franchise, but a lot of activities are added to the roster in these games. While you can still farm, Rune Factory adds dungeon crawling, world exploration, and Pokemon-style beast raising. My favorite game in this series is also one of my favorite games of all time: Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny (also known as Rune Factory: Oceans). The Rune Factory series can be found on Nintendo DS, 3DS, Wii, Switch, and PS3!

I'm going to give a brief mention to Stardew Valley, a delightful indie game that is very similar to Rune Factory, but its developer, ConcernedApe, listens to fans and regularly makes improvements to the game! Stardew Valley improves on the Rune Factory formula in several ways, including allowing same sex dating and marriage along with character customization. Stardew Valley is available on most modern platforms.

Last but not least is the old classic, The Sims. While you can have your Sims do some farming, this franchise is more about doing everyday things... like going to the bathroom and remembering to wash your hands. One might think that a game about telling virtual people to use the toilet would get boring very quickly, but somehow that is not the case. I, personally, have spent hours at a time in front of a computer simply micromanaging the minuscule details of my virtual citizens' lives. And in an age of uncertainty, a game about ordinary, every day actions might be just what we need. The Sims franchise can be played on PC, or you can play The Sims 4 on PS4 and X-Box One.

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Exploring New Forms of Narrative with Bastion

   Bastion: one of my favorite games of all time. I first played the game a few years ago when it was sold in one of the early Humble Indie Bundles. Now that the game is also available for PS4 and PS Vita I've decided that it's finally time to write about it.

     I immediately fell in love when I heard the narrator and realized that he was narrating everything that happens, because it's all part of the story. The narrator begins the story with "Proper story's supposed to start at the beginning. Ain't so simple with this one." The narrator then goes on to describe everything that happens; everything that the player causes the character she is controlling to do. The narrative can fluctuate based on the choices that the player makes. If you lead the PC, called simply "The Kid," to stay in one area and destroy all of the objects in sight, the narrator will say, "The kid just rages for a while." In a sense one could say that this narrator is telling the story in a stream-of-consciousness style. That style is highly unusual for a third-person narrator as he is narrating something that another person is doing, as opposed to narrating his own actions. Dictionary.com has several good definitions of "stream-of-consciousness"; here's a good one: "Of, relating to, or characterized by a manner of writing in which a character's thoughts or perceptions are presented as occurring in random form, without regard for logical sequences, syntactic structure, distinctions between various levels of reality, or the like." As the narrator himself says at the beginning of the game, he is not telling this story in a chronological or linear order. Instead, players experience the story from a point after the vague "calamity" that has occurred. Through finding objects and dusty remains of townsfolk we learn a bit about the world in which The Kid lived before said calamity. Certain things are never fully explained; for instance, players can never truly grasp what exactly the calamity was (Just that an act of war went horribly awry, as they tend to do) or why the paltry remains of the town are elevated in the sky. Even so, the story that is given is beautiful and heart-wrenching. Likely the vagueness of certain elements of the story are as ambiguous as they are because the player is gleaning information that only the narrator and The Kid know. These characters were not directly involved in the events that caused the calamity and through their own confusion and post-traumatic stress players must put together the pieces of the story.

     In some ways the delivery of this heart-wrenching story depends on the beautiful music and painted scenery in the game. Most of the few characters found in the game have their own vocalized theme song. Even if you don't listen to the lyrics (which are often surprisingly aggressive) the songs can bring a tear to your eye. The beauty of the world that has been destroyed by the calamity is still evident when The Kid visits various locations, and sadness can be found in the narrator's description of how the world once was, and the fact that this new world through which The Kid trudges is, though beautiful, no match for the pre-calamity world.

At the end of the game, the player is presented with a hard choice. The player's own moral perspective is invoked here, as there is no clearly right choice. Arguments are made for each possible outcome, and the player's choice affects the future of the world in which she has just likely spent approximately 10 or so hours. I won't say any more on the topic for fear of spoiling the game, but I will say that after you, the player, make this choice, you will likely wish to re-start the game in New Game Plus just so you can re-enter the world of Bastion and see what happens when you make the other possible decision.

For any of you who have already played Bastion, which version did you play? If you've played multiple versions, which did you prefer? I will admit that I preferred the PC version over the PS Vita version (which is what I have most recently played). The graphics seemed to have been scaled down a tad for the Vita version (I haven't played the game on PS4 yet, so I don't know if this statement applies there, as well), though it has been a few years since I first played Bastion on the PC. 

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