Death is not the end...except when it is

[vovat]

Video game characters tend to be much harder to kill than real people. Well, harder to kill permanently, that is. Real people don't tend to die simply from touching turtles, but they also don't have extra lives or the ability to save the game. Terry Pratchett's Thief of Time actually gives an interesting idea as to how saving games might work in a somewhat more realistic (albeit still magical) setting, with a yeti that can record the state of its life at some point, and then regenerate in that condition after dying.

In addition to saving, role-playing games tend to include magical items and spells that can bring your characters back to life. The prominence of such items varies somewhat, with World Tree Leaves being rather rare in the Dragon Quest games, while Phoenix Down is all over the Final Fantasy series. Also interesting is that the DQ series actually has the party dragging along the coffins of fallen members (although they were replaced by blob-shaped ghosts in the earlier American releases, which really didn't make too much sense), while the FF games merely say that they've fainted or "swooned" or something. FF1 might well be the only one where you can't revive fallen characters simply by staying at an inn. And Chrono Trigger and Mystic Quest have slain characters coming back with one hit point after the battle ends (provided the entire party isn't wiped out). But the main question I have is why, when people die for the sake of the story, someone can't just give them a Phoenix Down? I mean, okay, I can see Tellah wearing himself out by casting powerful spells, but why does a sword in the back do in Aeris for good when being stabbed and shot at usually only does a minimal amount of damage? It's never all that clear. Neither is why the characters don't get any weaker when they lose hit points, at least in all the games I've played.

Speaking of death, this might well be the end of the weekly video game posts. That certainly doesn't mean I won't still be addressing video games on this journal, but I've pretty much run out of ideas for the time being.

Comments

[alicornmoon.livejournal.com]

Because if they did the story would be too easy ;). Or, not have as much drama...
In a way it is like saying the deaths in battle don't really count, because you are always suppose to have lived through them for the sake of the story :3. So to the characters, the game side isn't really 'real' like it is to us :)

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Maybe RPG battles take place in an alternate dimension, where the physical laws are even weirder than in the normal game worlds.

[alicornmoon.livejournal.com]

And the healing items to them, don't really take them back from real death :)

[auronsgirl.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered why Phoenix Downs worked on Auron. Or zombie, for that matter.

[vilajunkie.livejournal.com]

"Zombie" (as in the status ailment) Auron is a total wtf, I just realized.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Is it possible to be a double-zombie?

[speciesof1.livejournal.com]

Well, in the Final Fantasy games at least, the Fenix Downs aren't reviving the dead. They're reviving people who are "unconscious" or "knocked out" or whatever phrases are used. Heh.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I remember playing an early computer RPG where a character who lost all of their hit points would be considered "disabled." You could actually have an entire disabled party, but they'd die instantly if they ran into any monsters.

[vilajunkie.livejournal.com]

In the newer FFs, there are actually accessories that allow characters to get stronger when at low HP. How's that for mind-blowing excitement!

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Sounds like the programmers have been reading Nietzsche. Whatever doesn't kill them makes them stronger!