Our eighth week brought with it the novel Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson, and the exploration of how gaming has been affected by and is affecting the genre of fantasy. Gaming in the recent decade or so has risen to become one of the leading industries worldwide. A lot of new games coming out have, in one way or another, been influenced by the genre.
In the novel Warbreaker, we find the story of princess Vivenna and princess Siri. One of them, Vivenna, was arranged to marry the king of a rival nation called Hallendren. After princess Siri is sent as her substitute, Vivenna goes on a journey towards Hallendren in order to save her, and through the novel they become involved in the development of events that pointed towards a war between Hallendren and their home kingdom Idris in a near future. An interesting, and innovative game-like aspect of the novel was a magical system created by the author dubbed “Bio-Chromatic Breath” where sorcerers breathed life into objects, depending on their colors. Being that color was such a fundamental part of the story, having characters even express aspects of their mood through changes in their hair colors, it created a very visual experience for the reader. This is something that could easily be translated into a gaming platform where current technologies could expand on the imaginative idea created by Sanderson. In the time of Tolkien for example, they wouldn’t have imagined the capabilities of modern technology nowadays. What used to only be viewed in the individual reader’s mind is now something that can be brought to life through artists working with computer generated images. The fantasy genre’s niche for inspiring the creation of new worlds has spread through all kinds of media, not only in console gaming, but also music, art, and modern creative writing.
I guess a big reason that the intertwining of games and fantasy is something that has been long in the making. From the first fan of The Hobbit, to Narnia, to Warbreaker, who hasn’t been wanting to explore those worlds. Part of the whole mystique of fantasy is exploring something never before seen. That’s why there will be, as long as it doesn’t become repetitive, a bright future for games that introduce aspects of fantasy into their experience.
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