Platypus Plays Chrono: Part III

No School like the old school. I miss old school video games. *insert cranky rant voice here* Back in my day, we didn't have any of this "first person shooter" nonsense. There was rules, and codes, and regulations! *end cranky rant voice* Ok, so there was Operation Wolf and Hogan's Ally. Video games have always struggled to come to grips with the boundary between entertainment and sadism via proxy. Still, about fifteen years back, a threshold was crossed in the area of how much violence is allowable in video games. My trip down memory lane drove this home to me.

All but two of the enemies in Chrono Trigger aren't human. Some of them, like the mystics and the reptites are sentient, but bear little outward resemblence to us. We are also encouraged to empathize with them and humans and mystics can be reconciled at the completion of one of the side quests. Beyond that, when enemies are killed, they disapear; no blood or guts. Of the two human opponents, players are encouraged to spare one of them, Magus, in an act of mercy that opens up the posability of his redemption. The second character, Queen Zeal, divests herself of her humnaity by giving her being over to the creature Lavos. Even after defeating her, it is pretty clear that she isn't "dead" in any traditional sense of the word. Compare this with Halo or Medal of Honor.

What does this mean? I'm not sure; but playing Chrono Trigger presents itself to me not so much as part of the "good old day," but as a sign post pointing down a path not taken. Halo was fun, but after San Andreas, maybe that line of development has hit its end, and to what point? We know what's down that road. What about the one we passed by?

Postscript: For what you can do with an even less violent video game, see the Myst series.