Video Games as Myths

I began this piece by toying with the idea of writing it in a hypertext environment using StorySpace. As you can notice, now that I am writing it here, that version was largely unsuccessful. Mostly because it was only a demo version which made it difficult to use as all of the options were not available for easy linking. I decided to go with a blog because it will allow for me to easily input pictures and links to relevant information that would be out of place in a scribal paper. There are a number of links in this paper which will allow you to read more into what I am trying to say, but feel free to skip over them.

The question that I am attempting to answer here is whether or not video games are a new myth form of Digital Culture. To answer this question I think it is important to first define what a 'myth' is. In a general sense, a myth is a story, person, or thing, usually involving a hero. Bob Bates states that myths "convey the values of society and that myths are how we teach each other who we are and how we should behave." Therefore, any video game that has a story will include some sort of myth. Video games are a relatively new medium that relies on myths in order to gain a successful narrative structure. Much like how myths can organize a society, they can also be used as a tool for control in a game. Within video games, new myths are not being presented, but rather old myths are being recycled in a more modern environment. The focus of this blog will be looking at the role playing game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion developed by Bethesda Softworks in 2006, and released on the Xbox 360 and Windows PC.

It is strange, but even in today's 'digital society' video games are not taken very seriously, thus how could they present a new myth form? Perhaps because video games, as in any other form of media, tell stories? It would be quite difficult to deconstruct any myths out of Pong however. As mentioned before, I do not think that games present new myths, but rather a new platform to present these myths. Oblivion is a prime example for displaying this as it runs with the most classic myth, good versus evil. While there may be other myths inside the game, the storyline is based largely upon the good character triumphing over the evil one.



As you can see from the trailer of the game the myth of good versus evil is intertwined into the plot. In the trailer it explicitly states "in the shadow of evil, from the ashes of an empire, a hero will rise, the gates have been opened, the battle has begun, the fate of the world, rests in the hands of one."

Oblivion follows Bates' nine step template for building a proper storyline in video games to a tee. These steps, known as the Hero’s Journey include:

1) Pick your premise
2) Create your hero
3) Create a great villain
4) Show the hero's regular world
5) Disrupt the heros world
6) Enter the mythological woods
7) Confront the evil one
8) Acquire the prize
9) The heros return

In The Elder Scrolls IV you begin with character creation, which is quite detailed. You are offered a number of choices on your race, from Altmer (high elf), to Khajiit (humanlike cat), to an Orsimer (orc), etc. But it does not just stop there, the player gets to pick their birthsign, skills, and class. The player is engaged as they can pick whatever hero suits them the most and the story, or myths will be attentively reaffirmed during the play through. I am not going to individually mentioned all nine steps that are present in Oblivion as you could imagine there are, but each step allows for the myth (of good triumphing over evil) to be reinforced.

A video game offers a unique experience of presenting myths. Especially in an almost limitless world like that of the RPG (role-playing game) Oblivion. By this I mean, you are often given agency over the storyline. Unlike reading a script, or watching a movie, your interactions with the text will have an effect on what is taking place. Also if we were to analyse a game such as Fable, there are different endings, allowing for different myths to be chosen depending on the gamers preference, now that is a new myth form. While you cannot change the main storyline in oblivion, the player is given a lot of freedom. Oblivion often offers the player a number of choices, based on a particular players gaming style, or beliefs portrayed through the avatar (myths guiding the avatars action) they could potentially go through a quest differently, but with the same end result. For example, if you needed to take a book from a certain NPC (non player character) in the game you could:

1) Sneak up behind them and pickpocket them
2) Persuade them into giving it to you
3) Wait till they set it down then steal it
4) Kill them

The player is now able to reinforce their own myths as they see fit. For this reason the medium has a significant effect on the story and myths that are being received. A player in a game builds up an emotion connection throughout the storyline with their avatar which allows for the myths to be reinforced through satisfying gameplay. Rollo May believes that "myths give us our sense of personal identity, answering the question, Who am I." This is true, how we define ourselves is through our stories or experiences. Within oblivion, there are number of factions or guilds you can join, by completing quests within each guild you can level up to higher ranks. For instance, in the mages guild, you start out as an associate, but can move on to higher ranks like apprentice, journeyman, evoker, warlock, archmage, etc.


When you meet other citizens of Tamriel, they will often address your avatar by one of your factions ranks. For instance, you could be running through the Imperial City and a townsfolk would be like "good day master-wizard". In Oblivion and in RL (real life) the stories and myths that you have been through determine your identity.

As long as there is a story in a game and whether it was the developers intention or not, a game is always going to be educational. I am not sure if games such as Oblivion are didactic however, I think that they are more concerned with artistic qualities and techniques than with conveying a message. A great storyline in a game is a bonus, but remains only a bonus, not a crucial component of whether a game fails or not. While the value of a storyline is based upon preference and opinion, a number of the top selling games have weak storylines or no storylines at all. This goes back to why the medium plays a significant role into how a myth is received. If anything, I would argue that Oblivion is non-didactic, even though a myth does exist. While the trailer I linked earlier may work against my point, I think the theme of good versus evil is not as important as classes, environment, and quests. Good versus evil is a subconscious reasoning for explaining why you are killing certain creatures in the game. It gives you motif or an explanation, but is not instructional. In Oblivion you are defeating Mythic Dawn from conquering your land, but the premise could be changed to you saving your princess. If this was the case, because it is in the environment of a game, I do not think anyone would learn anything different. However, I do think that video games offer a new myth form that is unique to their medium.