Can video games be regarded as high art, much like literary classics or paintings? The question remains unanswered, despite stirring heated debate among art lovers and gamers. But if we are to trust E.A. Bucchianeri in believing that art is essentially in the eye of the beholder, there is no denying that several gaming masterpieces have firmly established themselves as a distinct mode of artistic expression.
TV series like Fallout and Arcane masterfully highlight the visual storytelling potential of video games, where creators tackle complex themes in ways that sometimes outshine their slightly less bold cinematic counterparts. And many games take clear inspiration from other artistic mediums to feed into their own creativity. So, let’s navigate the tight relationship between art and gaming.
The influence of literature on video games
Gaming has a storied history of blending with other mediums, and many creators have drawn significant inspiration from literature. From fantasy epics to sci-fi classics, books have offered developers a foundation to expand on established lore or build new narratives.
The Witcher series has reached broader audiences through its video game adaptations, all grounded in the works of fantasy author Andrzej Sapkowski. More recently, world-famous novelist George RR Martin made key contributions to the characters and worldbuilding of the fantasy epic Elden Ring, which was crowned Game of the Year in 2022.
Gaming developers have also turned to poetry to refine their narration. Exploration-based games like Elegy For a Dead World focus on writing stories while visual novels like Doki Doki Literature club! use poems as crucial narrative elements. Action-oriented RPGs also incorporate poetry as a gameplay mechanic. In Ghost of Tsushima, players can compose a haiku to break away from the battlefield. Other titles take a more direct approach, like Dante’s Inferno, which turns the first part of Dante’s Divine Comedy into an grueling odyssey through the nine circles of hell.
The influence of paintings on video games
A decade ago, photorealism appeared to be the future of gaming visuals. While countless games have embraced hyper-realistic graphics, just as many developers favor aesthetics inspired by the works of real-life artists to stir players’ imagination and conjure up a sense of beauty – either surreal or figurative – sometimes found lacking in overly realistic titles.
Influenced by Japanese ukiyo-e artists like Katsushika Hokusai, the vintage action-adventure game Ōkami incorporates traditional elements like an in-game mechanic drawing from the Sumi-e brush painting style. Fumito Ueda channels the style of Italian surrealist painter Giorgio de Chirico to give his minimalist puzzle-platformer Ico a recognizable touch.
The Art Nouveau artistry of Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt is equally tangible in the sci-fi RPG Transistor. Meanwhile, the engravings of German painter Albrecht Dürer have inspired the unique art style of the point-and-click adventure Apocalipsis.
The influence of cinema on video games
The movie industry has been attempting to tap into the popularity of gaming’s most iconic franchises, with mixed results. However, this creative exchange goes in both directions. Some of the most significant pop culture moments in cinema have inspired gaming franchises, such as the sci-fi action-adventure series Metroid carrying over the legacy of Ridley Scott’s Alien onto the gaming medium.
The influence of Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki can be seen as plainly in games such as Ni No Kuni. Fans might also catch references to Studio Ghibli in independent gems like The Wandering Village or Spiritfarer. Similarly, the indie run-and-gun game Cuphead beautifully invokes the nostalgic charm of early Disney movies through its rubber hose animation style.
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Regardless of their artistic merits, many video games derive inspiration from other art forms to push the boundaries of creative expression – sometimes quite unexpectedly. Adventure titles like Kentucky Route Zero draw from performing arts for their interactive screenplay, while echoes of classical music can be heard in period capers like Card Shark or shooters like Halo 3. Long story short, the gaming field attracts exceptional talent eager to pay tribute to artistic giants of old while putting an immersive spin on their creations.
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