Undertale Analysis

Tom Bissell, in his essay, “Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter” has described video games and how they are unique and different from movies, books, or even interactive films. Bissell says “I came to accept that games were incompetent with almost every aspect of what I would call traditional narrative.” This is showing the readers that even though there is a plot and story line, as characters can control and alter the story line or outcome by what you do or see throughout the game.

Children seeing and being exposed to these violent actions committed on video games are more likely to be influenced by them and make wrong decision. These video games are giving children the misunderstanding that these actions are legally.Parents should intervene as much as possible to prevent their children from being influenced by these violent actions and letting these games take their children down the wrong path.Furthermore Rod also uses ethos to further persuade the reader in why they need to intervene.He talks about that

From the time we are born, we are immediately introduced to influences that will shape and develop our character for the rest of our lives. Our character can be affected in a positive or a negative way by various influences that we encounter on a daily basis. We need to be aware of how much we absorb and let those influences change our behavior. External influences, such as video games, movies, and television shows impact our everyday lives, even when we are not conscious of them.

Moral codes are controversial, diverse, and defining. Everyone lives with a standard measure of ethics that tells them right from wrong. In the stories “R.M.S. Titanic”, “Into Thin Air”, “The Dark Side of Everest”, and “Explorers Say There’s Still a lot to Look For”, one or more characters are faced with one decision; save another man and risk their life, or stay safe and leave the others.

Tom Bissell’s, a teacher at Portland State University, main idea was to indicate to his audience why video games matter to him by using various argumentative appeals. One must ask themselves, can this author be worthy of respect? Can he give his readers enough facts to get his argument across? Will he try to give us a soft story to buy his way into in his argument? Throughout most of Bissell’s book, he uses the logical appeal by describing, in great detail, Fallout 3. Sadly he lacks the Emotional appeal to complete this argument and he loses my credibility throughout the article.

Guilt is a powerful emotion that can greatly affect the course of a person’s life. Dunny’s character, in Robertson Davies’ Fifth Business, first experienced guilt at an early age due to a tragic accident. A snowball that was meant for Dunny hit a pregnant woman, Mrs. Dempster, causing her to go into premature labour. Although her child, Paul Dempster, survived, the guilt that Dunny experienced from his part in the situation would stay with him for the rest of his life. Guilt stayed with Dunny’s character throughout his life, and continually affected all of his actions.

A very common theme in classical literature is guilt, and the ways that it manifests itself in a character. Guilt is the feeling of remorse or responsibility for a crime or moral offence, whether it is real or hypothetical. Every person on Earth will have a run in with guilt, and it impacts each person in a different manner. The different impacts of guilt are strikingly visible when comparing Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In The Scarlet Letter, we see Arthur Dimmesdale’s struggle with internalized guilt, while the titular character and his lady in Macbeth continually feel guilt due to their actions that affect many people around them, but the couple does not strive to change their ways. The

     The first argument that arose out of the video game world was the debate of video game violence. Still unresolved, this debate has actually allowed for the video game industry to come fully into the main stream. As the din over violence quieted the fans of the game society began to focus on issues more akin to their own style. So then began the debate of game play vs. the video game narrative. The question arose; can a game also be a story? While the semantics would suggest that, no, a game cannot be a story, we do realize that a game can contain a story. However,

Throughout life, one might observe the different ways that people act. Even though every individual might have his or her own interpretation of the word ethics, it is commonly referred to as a set of morals for people to live by. Every individual has the choice to make ethical or unethical decisions when reacting to a situation. In William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, a noble Scottish general acts unethically when he makes the decision to kill his own king (Macbeth 54). The Count of Monte Cristo, written by Alexandre Dumas, contains many characters who decide to act unethically for a plethora of reasons. What most people forget when acting unethically are the consequences that are soon to follow.

Gotterbarn points out many methods for integrating better ethics into e-games. First Gotterbarn recommends that games allow the player to see the affects their actions are having (374). This is significant because without knowing the results of action players would not be able to learn from them. Take for example stealing in Grand Theft Auto, you can steal from a shop and the money will reappear, thus stealing in the GTA world is no problem, however in the real world someone has to pay for that stolen item. Gotterbarn also recommends allowing players to decide for themselves what is the right thing to do in any situation, which is only available ludological design, a non-fixed storyline (375). This is important because a users choice should be his own, indoctrination of quote "correct" choices like in Fable offer the user no chance for learning. Choices should also be murky, not black and white good or bad because this allows the player to decide for himself what is the correct choice. One difficult problem presented in a videogame called Banished is allowing nomads into your town so that they don’t starve, but allowing them in could allow diseases and parasites into your pristine town. There is no right or wrong answer to many of these question, which is why they are so great. Players must decide what is more important to them, without having predefined rewards or consequences for their

Under a general character-based approach, decisions result from a tendency to act in way that is virtuous. When faced with the moral decisions of daily life, a person of good character usually decides to do what is morally and socially acceptable without much consideration to the specifics of their situation because they are inclined to take action through a strong consideration of their character, as opposed to the consideration of the possible consequences and repercussions. The actions that are made are not dependent on the ever changing environment of the agent, but instead on the agent himself, whose character is evident through his tendencies and usual mannerisms. As a result, one following a character-based approach is consistent and

The game by Telltale known as, “The Walking Dead”, places the player in morally ambiguous situations where the player thinks their actions are responsible (inter(re)activity) and feel that exact responsibility (empathy). An article by Smethurst, Toby, and Stef Craps, “Playing with Trauma: Inter(re)activity, Empathy and Complicity in The Walking Dead Video Game.”, suggests this morel conundrum on how “games [have the] ability to involve the player in the game world through inter(re)activity” (Smethurst and Craps). There lyes a misconception in the game “The Walking Dead” where the player is introduced to believe the players decisions effect a different outcome to how the storyline will turn out.

Ethical game simulation presents some ethical issues in an innovative manner that encourages people to think far and wide through the different spheres in the society. In trying to find solutions one must understand that people look at situations differently usually brought about by the different backgrounds that we come from, identify the most natural lenses or perspective to each individual as everybody is entitled to an opinion and follow a given decision making procedure so as to arrive

An ethical dilemma is a conflict between two moral imperatives. There are five basic moral principles: the value of life, goodness/rightness, justice/fairness, honest/truth-telling, and individual freedom/autonomy. When a person is faced with an ethical dilemma, he or she is forced to choose the lesser violation of the two. Not only does this occur in everyday life, but authors also use this plot line in their novels. An example of an ethical dilemma novel is “The Hunger Games.” In fact, “The Hunger Games” contains several ethical dilemmas.

“In video games, the category of “first person shooters” has been controversial with critics concerned about what that means to players who actually perform acts of violence within the games. Instead of merely watching a character perpetrate a violent act, the player is actively encouraged to participate. Gamers will often refer to their characters as “he” or even “I.” “This suggests some confusion is brought on by the intense identification players sometimes feel towards their avatars. Players typically remain attached to a single character they can control; thus they have a very strong following pattern. Game designer, Will Wright, has argued that games may have a unique ability to make players experience guilt for the choices their characters have made in the course of action. Because players are making choices, they feel some degree of responsibility” (242-243).