Continuing on the spicy path that this blog has taken lately, today I am going to elaborate a bit on the dark romantic aspect of relationships between characters, something that, surprisingly, is not a new thing in video games. As early as in 1995, Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within was maybe the first game to include such an element in its plot, which back then was particularly radical and innovative, given that the technical means were very few, and the ways to accompany a game with cutscenes were also rather limited. Regardless this didn't prevent the game's developing team to come up with a captivating story involving characters that since became iconic. The element of desire is quite prominent in the story, as I will analyze in a bit, and in a rather complex form, for that matter. I have also picked a few more select cases of characters who, like Gabriel, are not simply involved in the theme of desire, but are also deeply and dramatically affected by it in their attitude and mentality.

Desire disguised as confusion (Gabriel Knight in Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within)

Like I mentioned above, Gabriel's case can be considered an archetypical story involving the theme of desire, as it belongs to a video game that was most probably the first one to address such a subject and in such a radical way. Gabriel is a consciously straight ladies' man, and his self-confidence on that matter is particularly high. All this is doomed to change when, while investigating of a series of murders, he meets the charming and mysterious Friedrich Von Glower, typically a Baron but in reality a werewolf of more than one hundred years old. Friedrich is instantly attracted by Gabriel who initially seems to be unaware of the situation, but as the story progresses, he gets smitten with Friedrich although this is something that he cannot even acknowledge at first.

At a crucial turning point, however, he comes across Baron Von Zell, Friedrich's ex-lover whom Friedrich had turned into a werewolf during a moment of passion. Von Zell is the one responsible for the aforementioned murders, and while being hunted by Gabriel and Friedrich, he is shot dead, but not before managing to attack and bite Gabriel. Soon after, Gabriel starts to feel the effects, as he is slowly turning into a werewolf himself, something that he realizes and tries very hard to control and suppress. In a rather revealing scene, we can see him struggling with himself in physical and emotional pain as his inner werewolf struggles to prevail as well. In reality, what Gabriel is truly trying to suppress is the desire that he is actually developing towards Friedrich which, allegorically, found a way to the surface after Friedrich's ex bit him. Gabriel is in deep confusion because he is unable to admit and accept this unprecedented feeling, which also happens to be very strong and difficult to handle. Gabriel's inner struggle is in fact a battle with his own feelings and that part of himself that has awakened all of a sudden without him being able to control it at all. At the same time, however, he is struggling to persuade himself that all this turmoil has to do with him slowly becoming a werewolf, but in his attempt to focus on that, he is merely highlighting more what is truly going on inside him.

Desire suppressed by denial (Jill Valentine in Resident Evil 3 Remake)

The romantic aspect may not be particularly present in Resident Evil 3, but there still is a degree of electricity between Jill and Carlos, mostly filtered through admiration from his part, while Jill is rather prejudiced at first because Carlos belongs to a company that she knows is evil. As the story progresses, however, it becomes quite clear that Jill and Carlos are attracted to each other, something that Carlos shows almost directly, what with his attitude towards Jill and his choice of words when it comes to flirting her, albeit a bit awkwardly, and also given the tense circumstances they find themselves in. But for Jill, things are not that simple; although Jill is a very "raw" character, in that she is honest, sincere and crystal-clear, she is quite secretive when it comes to expressing her feelings. As the events in the story develop and she starts to see that Carlos is honest and she actually begins to like him, it is not very easy for her to admit it, let alone express it with words to him. Moreover, Jill is a person who puts duty above all and who values her partners very highly; this is something that becomes very clear during her brief dialogue with Carlos after she leaves the power plant, when Carlos calls her "partner" and she replies with a rather bitter and cold "Not your partner", because, for her, comradeship is something sacred. Carlos, on the other hand, is always laid back, and doesn't seem to take anything else into account except for the fact that he likes her, and he is very specific and clear about this. After Jill witnesses Nikolai betraying his team and leaving Mikhail and her to die, her prejudice against Carlos disappears completely and it slowly becomes clear that she does care for him. Chances are, if she didn't know that he was a soldier of Umbrella, she would have allowed herself to realize that she actually did like him from the beginning, both as a person and as a man. 

Even after all this happens, however, she is still in denial; being faithful to her mission and because her priority is the elimination of evil, she refuses to give room to her feelings while, subconsciously, trying to control them. After she is treated with the antidote and just as she is about to wake up, she has a nightmare during which Carlos gets in her room to inform her that everything is fine, but just then he begins to turn and he asks her to kill him. Jill cannot do it, of course, and a zombified Carlos attacks her, which is when she abruptly wakes up in anguish and confusion. The fact that, among all the people that she met in the course of the story, her subconscious decided to make Carlos attack her in a zombified state in her dream, can have a dual interpretation: on the one hand, being forced to work with Carlos had brought her closer to him, putting him inevitably in the position of a temporary partner, and subsequently someone whom she could trust, at least to a degree. The fear of losing a partner, and more so in such a violent way, had been with Jill from the start of the story, after the unfortunate incident with Brad; so now her nightmare reminds her that fear by presenting Carlos as a victim with Brad's fate. On the other hand, however, this subconscious choice indicates that Jill is attracted to Carlos but she refuses to allow herself the luxury of enjoying this feeling because if she does so, she will betray her mission. Her subconscious puts the man that she likes in the position of a dangerous enemy because she feels both enchanted and threatened by his presence.

Desire masked as guilt (Joseph Oda in The Evil Within)

Joseph's case is quite similar to that of Gabriel Knight in that, for both of them, desire takes the form of something considered forbidden and subsequently both of them experience a devastating inner struggle with their wild, primitive self through which they channel that feeling. But whereas for Gabriel all this was mainly due to confusion (Gabriel found himself in a situation that was unexpected and unfamiliar, and which he was unable to handle), for Joseph everything is pretty clear and conscious, which is why he is primarily led by guilt for what he experiences. Joseph is emotionally vulnerable, which is why being trapped in Ruvik's memories affects him so much. After unwillingly entering the STEM system, Joseph comes face to face with his most secret and suppressed fears and emotions, something that weakens his will and his resistances and results in him not being able to control himself and thus turning into a Haunted.

Soon after Sebastian finds him in STEM, Joseph experiences his first transformation during which he violently attacks Sebastian while struggling to take control of his monstrous self. The fact that this first transformation happens while he is with Sebastian is not random; since Sebastian is, unbeknownst to him, the receiver of Joseph's forbidden feelings. The next time he turns is when, due to Ruvik's control of his mind, he instinctively catches that Juli's presence is threatening, since in reality she is there as a spy on behalf of Mobius, and he attacks her in an attempt to push her out of the way and, eventually, to prevent her from affecting Sebastian. Later on, while still with Sebastian, he attempts to kill himself because he realizes that not only he is unable to control this transformation, but moreover a part of himself yearns to become a Haunted. Part of himself, that is, is ready to accept and embrace the feeling of that forbidden desire, but his conscious self, most probably having grown up in a strict, heavily traditional environment that forced him to follow all the expected norms and stereotypes, brings forward the feeling of guilt in order to make him suppress whatever it is that makes him revolt both emotionally and physically. Joseph becoming a Haunted then reverting back to his human form with even more guilt each time stands as an allegory for his struggle to come to terms with himself and break the restrains that keep him imprisoned.

Desire leading to self-destruction (Derek Simmons in Resident Evil 6)

Derek Simmons expresses probably one of the most straightforward forms of desire, given that he is not particularly complex himself, at least at the beginning. Originally the typical power-hungry villain with a Messiah complex, he developed an obsessive paranoia after falling in love with Ada. Of course for a man like him, "love" is not exactly the word we should use; he clearly cannot feel anything positive for anyone but himself, and what truly pushes him to extremes is not so much his feelings for Ada, but the fact that she rejected him. By rejecting him, Ada in fact challenged his power, something that, for him, is impossible to accept. After Derek crossed the line by coming up with the idea to create Ada's clone, his mania grew bigger, and his malicious acts shifted from general to very specific. At this point, it was desire that drove his actions, but also blinded him so much that he didn't realize that, by succumbing to this feeling and letting it take control, he got tangled in a peculiar and marginally twisted triangle, with two depictions of the same woman at its two points: Ada, the real one, and Carla, her clone. Subsequently, Derek's actions caused Carla's actions because she, in turn, realized that he had turned her into a lab rat when it was already too late for her to reverse the effects, while at the same time she felt deeply betrayed, not only as a scientist but also as a woman. It is hinted that the real Carla, for her part, had feelings for Derek but he would only see a potential Ada in her, so the realization of this added more fuel to Carla's already unstable psyche.

When Carla took her revenge on Derek by turning him into a monster, Derek's inner monstrosity also came to the surface and literally found a face. Not only he lost any sense of humanity but he also lost himself, and this was a path that he had in fact taken much earlier, when he first came up with the idea to create Ada's clone because he could not have the real one. His paranoia grew stronger after the clone was actually created, when he began to refer to and address the clone as if she was the real Ada. Such a sick situation, of course, could not drag on for too long, and would inevitably lead to his own destruction, aided also by Carla's thirst for revenge. From the moment when Derek was transformed into a monster, and seeing, in his paranoia, how powerful he could actually be in that state, he literally killed his human self, giving room to his inner monster.

Desire as obsession (Stefano Valentini in The Evil Within 2)

Although Stefano's murderous instincts can easily be mistaken for those of a typical serial killer, in fact they have much more depth, like he does as well, both as a character overall and specifically as an artist. Stefano's psyche is in turmoil, but there are two main conflicting emotions inside him: the extreme love that he feels for his own creations, and the venomous hate that he directs towards every other living soul around him. In fact Stefano is obsessed with his art, in a most twisted and unhealthy manner, and views everyone and everything through the distorted prism of his camera's eye. Stefano has given life to his camera by creating the hideous monster Obscura, which is also the depiction of his inner, normally unperceivable self. Moreover, Obscura represents his own feminine side, which he has embraced to a degree but still resents and feels contempt for. Stefano could be easily labelled a killer of women, but this would only be a shallow and superficial characterization for such a complex mentality. In reality he hates all human beings, independently of sex or age. In the real world, he started killing female models because, as a fashion photographer, he could very easily approach them as potential victims. Progressively, killing women became some kind of ritual, as through them he would every time attempt to eliminate his female side. In the reality of STEM, however, where he could act completely out of control, his "gallery" of victims grew bigger and richer. Male citizens and soldiers were also "honored" to become part of his installations, with some of them even getting to have their own personal exhibition room, like Turner, Hayes and Baker, and of course Sebastian for whom Stefano had prearranged a dedicated gallery hall in order to place the installation that he had conceived and which would feature him as a "protagonist".

For Stefano, desire is a very complex, dark feeling and notion; he hates Sebastian on the surface, but in the essence he yearns for that aspect of his that Stefano feels will make him an ideal model / victim. Sebastian combines two things that Stefano seems to deem as essential for the creation of his morbid art: innocence and sexual appeal. In his artwork, Stefano always depicts these two elements together, either directly or through symbols. Although he sees Lily as the ideal "blank canvas" for his future inspirations due to her innocence, he would still need victims to actually create art. Sebastian has Lily's pure heart, but he also has the sexuality that Stefano seeks so ardently for his disturbing creations. The sequence where Sebastian confronts and finally kills Stefano looks and feels like a twisted sex hunt, which becomes more than evident in case Stefano manages to catch Sebastian and stab him with lustful rage. At this stage, Stefano's obsession with his own art identifies both with the attraction that he feels for Sebastian on a physical level, and his desire to create "his masterpiece" which will incorporate all the perfection that he believes he has achieved: the perfect canvas, which is Lily, the perfect human material that would be Sebastian, and the perfect concept, which however he eventually lost the chance to create.

 

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Special thanks to afterdarkmysweet for providing info for Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within.

Resident Evil 6 In Restrospect

 

Now that the classic Resident Evil saga - that is, from the very first game until the sixth, including the side games - has seemingly come to a halt, for the time being at least, it looks like a good time to view the highly underrated Resident Evil 6 in retrospect, and under a different light. I had written an extensive review several years ago, but now that it's been almost a decade since it's initial release, and taking the remake of Resident Evil 2 into consideration - since this is very important, as I will explain in the article that follows - I feel that I have more specific feedback to offer, seeing how I also came to realize a few things which did bug me from the start that I couldn't exactly distinguish back then, although I loved the game and it still is one of my favorites of the series.

 

Resident Evil 6 is, on first look, an impressive game with a stellar cast, featuring four characters that belong to its classic core: Leon, Chris, Ada and Sherry come from the long past of the series, each one of them being connected to some of the most memorable stories of the saga. We could also include Ingrid Hunnigan in this dream team, since she is also a character who has appeared in Resident Evil 4 alongside Leon and established herself as a memorable part of the cast. But the four aforementioned characters, since they are protagonists in their own plotlines, are the ones who star, and inevitably attract most of the limelight. Each of them has a different story to tell, although at certain points their paths cross and they experience the same things from a slightly different aspect. Technically, this has its pros and its cons, but I am not going to go there in this article, since I will focus exclusively on the story from a "literary", so to speak, point of view.

 

What happens in the game plot-wise is that we have one main story which is split in four parts. Its core is a linear development of a series of events, while the additional storylines offer extra insight concerning certain characters and sub-plots. The very essence of the game's plot revolves around Jake Muller and Sherry Birkin, who find themselves stranded in war-torn Edonia after Sherry tracks Jake down among other mercenaries that are fighting in the civil war that is gradually devastating the region. Jake is Albert Wesker's son, and thanks to this heritage he has antibodies that can help fight the C-virus. Sherry has been sent to find him and bring him to her boss, Derek Simmons, naively believing that the latter wants Jake so as to use his blood for the development of an antidote for the virus. At some point they fall in a trap set by Carla Radames, a mad scientist who has cloned herself into an Ada Wong lookalike and whose intent is to use Jake's antibodies in order to make the virus stronger for her own gain. After spending six months imprisoned in a luxurious facility in China, Jake and Sherry manage to escape, at which point Sherry finds out the evil plans of her boss and decides to ignore all orders so as to save Jake and prevent the bad guys from taking advantage of his precious blood. 

 

In their long journey, Jake and Sherry come across Chris and his men, first in Edonia and later in China, Leon with his partner Helena and Ada who, however, never reveals herself to them. The campaigns of Chris, Leon and Ada explain how the three of them got involved in Jake and Sherry's story, each one of them following a very different path up to the point of each reunion. 

Stripping Resident Evil 6 off its many plotlines and focusing on the core of its story, all loose ends basically lead to Jake: he is Albert Wesker's son, which automatically makes him an extremely intriguing character, and he carries the antibodies that can help eliminate the virus. Simmons wants him in order to kill him or maybe keep him under control so as to prevent the discovery of a potential cure, Carla wants him so as to experiment on his antibodies and make the virus stronger and Sherry has been tasked to accompany him throughout his dangerous journey, putting her own life into great risk. All the surrounding stories eventually lead up to Jake one way or the other; Carla has even created a specially trained monster, Unstanak, that is able to sniff out and locate him. People die and sacrifice their lives for him, even unbeknownst to them. Chris himself crosses paths with him many times, helping him out on several occasions and eventually rescuing him from Carla's underwater facility. Ada literally watches over him, intervening whenever it is necessary to offer a hand. Leon, with his valuable intel, provides information about him that helps push the story forward, and he as well aids him in practice at a certain point. Jake is the leading key character in the game, he is essentially its driving force. His part of the story is the most important, and in my opinion it deserved more screen time and needed to be more complex and elaborate than the others. Leon's story is great and brings back memories of the older games, Chris's story is powerful, touching and heart-breaking, Ada's story has a mildly interesting plot with excellent gameplay - all of them have something to offer to the main story, but it is actually Jake's campaign that is to the point, it is the one where the "hot-stuff" happens, and Jake is the character who basically leads almost everyone's steps, although most of the times he is unaware of it and the game is structured in such a way as to (un)intentionally conceal it. When there is so much to do in the other three campaigns, it is inevitable that the main focus is lost, and Jake's story is considered on the same level of importance as the others - or less, even.

I could perfectly see an extended version of Jake's campaign, maybe with flashbacks of his childhood, his mercenary past and memories of his father, as the main game with all the other three stories as accompanying DLCs; and moreso since now we have more insight concerning certain of the characters involved.

 

 

The release of Resident Evil 2 remake put Leon and Claire's relationship in a new path. The emergence of a more than notable amount of fanart featuring the two of them as a "couple" after the remake, is on its own a strong proof of the impact that this unexpected but welcome change had. I don't know if this was done intentionally by the developers or it just happened randomly in the making of the game, but it looks like the remake simply highlighted what has always been there but the creators ignored, for some mysterious reason: Claire has always been the perfect choice of a female love interest for Leon, and not only because they look so good together on screen: Claire is the sister of Chris Redfield, a character as strong, charming and fascinating as Leon, and she has gone through a series of extremely dangerous adventures that she has carried out with impressive bravery and skill. So she is pretty much like Leon on that matter, their only difference being, up to a point, their social status: before Claire joins Terra Save, she is a civilian, while Leon is introduced to her as a police officer before he becomes a government agent. 

 

As much as I like Ada, I always felt that, excluding Resident Evil 2 where she made her first appearance, she was thrown in the stories mainly as a plot device and much less as an independent character. Although she did have her separate plots in Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 6 plus a small part in The Umbrella Chronicles, her mysterious and constantly vaguely explained (if at all) intentions seemed to be simply a cover-up for her real role: she was there as a distraction for Leon, acting the same way towards him every single time, secretly helping him in a way (although, in practice, her help was not really of much use, unless you take the infamous Rocket Launcher drop into consideration), and always disappearing in the end. Even in Damnation, the second of the CGI movies starring Leon, her role, albeit seemingly crucial, was in fact nothing more than a series of expected stunts; and although there is a mention at some point of "something" that she and Leon started but never finished, this stays in the air and, considering that Damnation took place just before Resident Evil 6, we cannot even be sure that it was indeed the real Ada in the movie, or if it was Carla, her evil "clone"; on the contrary, the story focused discreetly on Leon's connection with Alexander, something that became more and more obvious as the movie progressed, and especially in the finale.

Claire has always been there by Leon's side, obviously the ideal companion for him but constantly ignored by her own creators. Just think of Degeneration, the first CGI movie: Leon would flirt with Angela as if this was the only expected prospect for him, while Claire would again be his "buddy". Not surprisingly, this changed in the brand new series, Infinite Darkness, which came right after the Resident Evil 2 remake: you can definitely catch the undertones in the interactions between Leon and Claire, and although there is another female character in the story, Shen May, Leon has no romantic interest in her, nor her in him;  she seems to be quite smitten with the ill-fated Jason, although she expresses it a bit too late; and in fact the one who ends up fascinated with Leon is Patrick, the young agent whom Leon saves early on from the attack of a bloodthirsty zombie.

 

 

I have the impression that in their attempt to establish Ada as a main character in Resident Evil 6, the developers came up with the whole part involving Simmons's obsession with her which eventually led to the creation of her evil twin and his own tragic fate. Because this way, Ada would be essential for the story, and where she would simply appear and disappear again as a supporting character, like so many times before, instead she became the one who actually caused the evil mastermind's outrageous actions (albeit without her knowing), gaining more power as a character compared to her co-protagonists. This could have been an interesting standalone plotline, had Ada a game of her own. But in the whole context of Resident Evil 6, it is as if this specific story is there to minimize the importance of Jake's part and shift to Ada the focus that should have been all on him. In a different context, had the whole story been more elaborate and differently structured, Ada's "interlude" with Simmons could have been an ideal red herring. This basically means that if Simmons was "just" an evil guy without any interest in Ada, there would have been no need to create her clone; Carla would have simply been a genious-turned-crazy scientist (like Sherry's father), aiming at taking over the world (like Jake's father); and if Ada still appeared in the game, her role would have been very limited, and additionally Helena's story in the game would also have been unnecessary, at least as far as her sister's part was concerned. 

Chris's story, on the other hand, was more than strong enough to get a separate game on its own. For what it's worth, Chris deserved it. We have witnessed instances showing the strong bond that he shared with his comrades - like in the first game with Richard, for instance, but never before have we seen our beloved marksman in action with a group of soldiers under his command, until Resident Evil 6.

This was the first time that we saw him as a leader of his team, and his relationship with Piers was very intriguing, to say the least. Most of us have noticed the desperate subtle confession that Piers mutters to Chris at the tragic finale of the story, and how sad and devastated Chris is in the concluding scenes. It would have been extremely interesting if the ending was extended, and we, as Chris, could get to choose between two possible endings a-la Life is Strange with a dramatic "Save Piers or Save the world" kind of moral dilemma. I confess I would have chosen to save Piers without the slightest remorse.

Speaking of which - and this is something I have mentioned also in my review - I love the character development in this game, although now, after having replayed it recently, I wish it stood out a bit more. We see Helena becoming more compassionate thanks to Leon's influence; Jake ends up far less cynical thanks to Sherry, and Sherry gains more confidence in herself because of Jake; Chris gradually frees himself from the ghosts that haunt him thanks to Piers's support, while his unexpected meeting with Leon seems to play a highly important role in him admitting that he was indeed trying to hide from his past: Leon somehow connected him with his "original" self, the "legendary Chris Redfield" like Piers calls him, since Leon came from a time in his life when everything was different. It is not random that it is after this specific encounter that he comes completely to his senses; and then bumping onto Jake, his archenemy's son, brings out his real, heroic and just character. Piers and Leon, for their own part, are by default positive and balancing characters, with their sense of duty and kind heart always showing, never losing their nerve and constantly being ready to face any situation with calm and insight. Only Ada seems to be totally detached throughout the whole story, just momentarily showing a hint of emotion during her meeting with Leon, and then going back again to her cold self. The sole moment when she really seems emotionally overwhelmed is at the end when she destroys Carla's lab; but this is probably due to the fact that Carla stealing her identity was something that personally affected her deeply.

What is more interesting, however, is that in spite of the presence of so many known characters, it is actually Leon who represents the spirit and essence of Resident Evil (the whole first chapter of his story is a tribute to classics like Resident Evil 2 and Nemesis), while at the same time being the link that connects all main characters: he personally knows Sherry, Chris and Ada and he is the one who sends Chris to rescue Jake and Sherry. Leon functions as an invariant in the Resident Evil saga, much more than the other classic characters, and this is something that becomes much more evident in Resident Evil 6, if you view the game with the distance of time and taking into consideration the power and gravity of Leon's presence and his emotional and intellectual development throughout the games.

 

Related articles: 

» Resident Evil 6 Review

» A Love Undercover

Resident Evil Easter Eggs in Life Is Strange 2 - Rules

The second episode of Life Is Strange 2 looks like it is an extended tribute to the Resident Evil saga. I don't know whether this is intentional or random (although I'm pretty sure that some of the references were included on purpose), but still it is very interesting to point out those elements that seem to connect Rules with Resident Evil: Code Veronica in particular. Additionally there are several other easter eggs that nod to more games of the saga, always in direct or indirect relation to Code Veronica and its references in Rules.

The grandparents

Noticing something about Sean and Daniel's grandparents was what triggered my Resident Evil radar and then I started discovering all the other things. The grandparents are Claire and Stephen Reynolds, and as soon as I saw them together, it struck me.

Stephen and Claire are a loving couple

I immediately thought about Claire Redfield and Steve Burnside from Resident Evil: Code Veronica, which is the game where they also met. They are way younger than the grandparents of course, but apart from the names, they have a few other things in common with them. Their hair color is similar - well, at least when Stephen actually had hair and Claire's wasn't white, as we can tell from their wedding photo that is found in their bedroom. They also have the same eye color - all four have blue eyes. Moreover, the grandparents' surname starts with RE, just like Claire's. RE also could reference the Resident Evil initials, often used as an abbreviation for the series. A long shot this last one, but it makes sense nonetheless.

Steve and Claire's romance tragically ended before it even had the chance to bloom

Captain Chris

In the same episode, we get to meet Daniel's future buddy, little Chris from the house next door. Chris has an impressive creative imagination and likes to think he has super powers, having adopted the secret identity of his own imaginary super hero, Captain Spirit.

Chris is a Captain in his own merit

Claire's brother in the Resident Evil games is named Chris; and in Resident Evil 6, he is the Captain of his team. He also makes an appearance in Code Veronica, alongside his sister Claire and Steve.

Captain Chris Redfield could sometimes use a little help from Captain Spirit Chris

Raccoons

In his sketchbook, where he likes to depict people as animals, Sean draws Chris as a raccoon.

Chris is the raccoon and Daniel is the little wolf

One of the most memorable Resident Evil games is Resident Evil 2, which takes place in Raccoon City; one of the main protagonists there is Claire, who is looking for her brother, Chris. Chris Redfield was an elite cop in the Raccoon City police department during that time.

Chris Redfield has the Raccoon police badge on his sleeve

Moreover, if you take the time to explore the Reynolds house, Sean can find a paper with Claire's drawings on the table where Daniel is studying (obviously Sean's talent is a hereditary gift). One of her sketches depicts a raccoon.

Claire has drawn a raccoon among other things

Claire Redfield's first appearance in the Resident Evil world was in Resident Evil 2, during the Raccoon City outbreak.

Claire Redfield arrives at the ominously dark Raccoon City

Zombies

While in the Christmas market, Sean has the chance to sit down and draw. As he does so, Chris shows up and asks him to add something cool in his sketch. One of the options for Sean then is to draw zombies for Chris.

A zombie attack on Beaver Creek

Zombies are a standard enemy in the Resident Evil world, and wherever Chris Redfield is, there are naturally zombies.

Chris Redfield is always chased by zombies

All that snow

The whole episode 3 of Life Is Strange 2 takes place in the heart of winter, and there is snow and frost everywhere: from the secluded mountain where Sean and Daniel are hiding at the start to the quaint town of Beaver Creek where they find refuge for a short while.

The snowy playground sets the mood in Beaver Creek

You can never have enough snow in Antarctica, the place where the second part of Code Veronica takes place after the plane that Steve and Claire are driving crashes there. It is also the place where Chris and Claire reunite.

Steve is trying not to think about all that snow in Antarctica

The Christmas season

Rules takes place during the Christmas season and there is a festive atmosphere in the grandparents' house, and the town as well.

The Reynolds decorated their tree in time

It is Christmas time in Code Veronica too (27 December marks the starting day of the events at Rockfort Island), although everyone is too busy trying to survive while killing zombies to get in the mood. Naturally there are no decorations, and the only reminder that we get about the season is while witnessing the villain Alfred Ashford's anticipation of the year to come.

Christmas is just a date in Rockfort Island

The hunting trophies

There are a few hunting trophies on the high walls of the Reynolds, specifically a deer head and a moose head.

There is a moose head in the living room

And a deer head next to the mezzanine

Several hunting trophies can be seen in almost all Resident Evil games, the most popular ones being the deer and moose head trophies. You can see them here.

A moose head decorates the Dean's office in Resident Evil 6

The guitar player

In the Christmas market, Sean meets Cassidy, one of the drifters that he will later befriend. Cassidy is an errant singer and plays the guitar.

Cassidy plays the guitar and sings pretty well

Chris, Claire's sister in the Resident Evil games, plays the guitar as a hobby. We never had the chance to see him in artistic action up to now, but there is an electric guitar at the side of his desk in the S.T.A.R.S. office at the Raccoon Police Department, as can be seen in Resident Evil 2.

Chris likes to play the electric guitar in his free time

Finn

One of the most important characters in Life Is Strange 2 makes his first appearance in Rules, and he is no other than Finn, the other drifter who will later become Sean's close friend. Finn's full name is Finnegan McNamara and he is obviously of Scottish heritage.

Finn McNamara is smart, handsome and charming

In Resident Evil 6, one of Chris Redfield's soldiers is called Finn McAuley, sharing the same first name (or at least the abbreviation of it) and the same heritage with Finn from Life Is Strange 2; although he has neither his wit nor his looks.

Finn McAuley is naif, recreant and dull

The screenshots for Code Veronica were taken from The Darkside Chronicles - Game of Oblivion

The screenshots for Resident Evil 2 were taken from Resident Evil 2 Remake

The screenshots for Resident Evil 1 were taken from Resident Evil HD Remastered

Vintage Elements in Video Games: The Banker's Lamp

If you have played enough video games of all genres, you must have noticed in many of them the presence of a special kind of lamp that can be seen standing on desks, tables or benches. It is that characteristic old-style lamp with the green shade, that usually has a metallic body and a chain on the side with which it can be turned on and off, and it is called the banker's lamp.

The banker's lamp is an actual item that was first designed in 1909 by Harrison McFaddin and subsequently produced in large numbers to fill the needs of offices, companies but also civilian homes. As its green light was both bright and soothing, it became particularly popular in financial institutions, such as banks - which is where its name came from eventually. Its initial name, however, was a direct reference to its color and its function. It was called Emeralite - a blend of "emerald" and "light". Most banker's lamps are made with the same green shade that the original ones used to feature, but there are also blue, orange, even white ones.

Like most vintage objects that appear in video games, the banker's lamp is usually just a part of the decoration, adding to the overall atmosphere with its bright green light, if it is lit, or simply its stylish design, if it is turned off. The list of games that feature banker's lamps could go forever, as they can be seen in all kinds or genres. I have compiled just a few notable examples from action games that I have played, and afterdarkmysweet contributed with four samples from adventure games.

In Bioshock: Infinite, we can see several banker's lamps in their "natural" environment: in the Bank of the Prophet:

But we can also spot some others in various places, like in Elizabeth's tower, where the banker's lamp has a more elaborate shade design:

Random ones can be spotted on desks in other places:

In Murdered: Soul Suspect, there are banker's lamps in the back rooms of the church:

In Rise of the Tomb Raider, there is one sitting on Lord Croft's desk in the Manor:

There is one more on his study desk in the Library:

As well as on a side table in the same room, where he used to keep several items, papers and books:

In Resident Evil 6, there is one banker's lamp on the dean's desk in the Campus building:

There is one more in the same room, on a small table next to the entrance:

In the remake of Resident Evil 2, many banker's lamps can be seen in the RPD Library:

There is also a lone one on the desk of Chief Irons' private office:

In Devil May Cry 5, there are several ones in the Red Grave Library:

In Inmates, there is a banker's lamp on a bench in the Prison:

And one more on another bench in the same place:

In True Fear: Forsaken Souls 2, there is one in the doctor's office in the Asylum:

In What Never Was there is one in the grandfather's house:

As contemporary culture digs more and more into the past for inspiration and ideas, it is only natural that the game developing teams do the same. Digital art can recreate literally everything and breathe new life into elements that come from the past, more so since items like the banker's lamps are still perfectly usable today, although it's been over a century since their original creation.

Heroes Of The Afterlife: Why Do Video Games Kill Their Good Guys?

While not exactly rare, the general tendency of modern video game developers to kill their heroes is still very interesting from many aspects. As video games became more and more elaborate in both their gameplay construction and - most importantly - their stories, the lead characters subsequently became more complex and realistic; and if we take into consideration the inclusion of cutscenes which add a high cinematic value to the projects, a notable number of the contemporary video games are almost like movies which, most of the times, are of the dramatic kind.

Although several times there are secondary characters which play a key role in the plots and are extremely important in general, the lead characters are the ones which carry the stories on their shoulders. Juli Kidman's role may be essential in The Evil Within 2, but it is Sebastian Castellanos who goes through all the trials and pushes the storyline forward with his decisions. Chloe Price is surely a character of critical importance in Life Is Strange, but it is Max Caulfield's actions that have consequences on everyone around her. Steve Burnside may affect certain developments with what he does in Resident Evil: Code Veronica, but it is Claire Redfield who will be forced to take the final decisions.

In that sense, the lead characters are the ones who, somehow, form the story as it goes, shining a light on all the potential possibilities and routes. Their personality defines the outcome of each event and everything is viewed through their eyes - which also happens to be literal as the player's experience of the game is through them. That said, when you play as a specific character, it is as if you are called to get inside his/her mind. As a player, you make your heroes interact with people and objects, you lead them to directions that may prove either good or bad decisions, and although you can't always empathize with them, you end up seeing them as some sort of companions.

Although you can always replay a game and thus 'revive' your hero/heroine as many times as you want, seeing them die at the end of the road is like having to part forever with a dear friend. Going through an epic adventure with a hero whose fate is bleak, is very different from playing with one who triumphs and enjoys his/her happy ending. Equally different may be the reasons why a hero's fate grants him with an unfortunate end. To make this analysis more specific, I will use the examples of Miasmata, Bioshock Infinite, Murdered: Soul Suspect, Resident Evil 6 and Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea 2.

In Miasmata, a wonderful independant adventure game by IonFX, you play as Robert Hughes, a guy who wakes up on the shore of a mysterious island overwhelmed with beautiful plants and flowers. His boat is broken so he cannot leave, he seems to have lost part of his memory and his health is in a really bad state. As he starts exploring the place, he discovers several labs where obviously a research was taking place. However all the scientists involved are dead - he finds the corpses as he goes - and all that is left is their notes which reveal many interesting details about the research and all the dark background behind it. As it turns out, said scientists were gifted people working on finding a cure for a lethal plague, and were sent on that island as all its vegetation obviously was hiding vital medical secrets. However, each one of them who was reaching the conclusion of the research, therefore discovering the cure, was eventually killed without being able to transport the medicine to the rest of the world. Robert starts wandering around the island, discovering peculiar plants some of which are particularly useful for boosting up his health, while his main quest is, following the notes left by the scientists, to locate a series of rare flowers which will form the cure for the plague.

Soon he finds out that he is not completely alone on the seemingly abandoned island. There is a strange creature wandering about - something like hybrid between a bull and a cat - which is generally identified as 'the creature' and which will relentlessly chase him in case that it spots him. The creature, although it can be outsmarted, is extremely vicious in its attacks, and moreover it cannot be fought. Robert's alternatives are to run like mad away from it, or carefully hide so as to disappear from it's vision's range. As soon as he forms the cure and drinks it however, the creature magically disappears. Finally cured, Robert has all the strength that he needs to swim to the boat landing that awaits out in the open on a smaller island and leave with an injection containing the cure. But this is when the twist happens. When Robert gets in the boat, he sees a bottle of whiskey and a dagger waiting for him. On the floor of the boat, several other injections containing the cure are lying about. The game ends as Robert drinks the whiskey and we can assume that he used the dagger to commit suicide while watching the beautiful island in the distance.

The boat will probably never leave the island

It is largely hinted - if not clearly pointed out - that the lethal creature is either a figment of Robert's imagination (which is why it disappears when he is cured) or it represents his own dark side. Some of the scientists obviously managed to get to the boat but they never left; others were killed on the island by the creature. So was it Robert who actually killed them? Was the creature a hallucination caused by the illness from which all those people - including Robert - were, apparently, suffering?

The notion of utopia is very prominent in this game, and also the general idea that people are trapped in a vicious circle that prevents them from moving forward. Next to the boat landing, there is a table with a copy of Milton's "Paradise Lost" on it, which serves as some sort of reminder that people are always looking for something more, for their own Paradise, but then all is vain and mundane and there really is no cure - in this sense, metaphorical - for the fate of humanity. All that remains is the beauty of nature, as it is depicted on the island.

If Robert was to depart happily on his boat with the injection, carrying his positive message to the world, the game would have its happy ending but then the whole atmosphere that was being created up to then would have been completely ruined. Moreover, the deep philosophical side of the story would have been extremely limited and superficial. By giving its hero a tragic ending, the game gave boost to its philosophical side, remained faithful to its overall feel and offered several issues for discussion and thought.

The creature's appearance has various interpretations

On a completely different pace, Resident Evil 6 by Capcom is a pure action / adventure game, comprised of four interwined stories, with several interesting heroes in its cast. Its main plot is centered around an evil man, Derek Simmons, an even more evil woman, Carla Radames, and a young mercenary, Jake Muller, who happens to be the host of a rare antibody that could cure or boost the destructive C-virus, depending on the use. Jake Muller, who is the son of the notorious Albert Wesker, teams up with Sherry Birkin, the daughter of the equally infamous scientist, when Sherry, ignorant about her boss's nasty plans, sets on her mission to bring Jake to Simmons. Meanwhile, Leon Kennedy is on a race against time to stop Simmons, aided by agent Helena Harper, whose sister was one of the evil guy's victims. Ada Wong, whose image, name and personality was used by Carla Radames due to a scientific trap set by Simmons, begins her own personal war to finish him. At the same time, Chris Redfield with his second-in-command, Piers Nivans, is determined to stop Carla Radames, who was responsible for the cruel killing of several members of his team some months ago.

All the stories in the game receive a well-deserved happy ending - except for Chris Redfield' story. His desperate mission ends in an incredibly tragical scene where Piers, after being severely injured by Carla's most vicious monster, injects himself with a dose of the C-virus and half his body gets mutated. This is most heart-breaking when you realise that he does this so as to save his captain's life: the monster, having thrown Piers onto a metallic construction, impaling him, grabs Chris and is about to kill him. Just then Piers, knowing that in his current condition he will be unable to help Chris, decides to sacrifice himself for the sake of his captain. In the end, he manages to stay behind, sending Chris off to the escape route alone, obviously dying soon after the story concludes.

Piers's decision to sacrifice his life signifies his devotion to Chris and their cause

The death of Piers in Resident Evil 6 is very much different from Robert's in Miasmata. Here we have the sacrifice of a hero, of a soldier whose priority is his duty and the devotion to his captain. If you play Chris's story as Piers, you have the chance to go through this first-hand, and control Piers as he drags himself towards the injection and subsequently takes the dose. You get to see how he struggles with the mutation rapidly taking control over him, and how his stellar personality gets shattered within minutes. He is unable to talk or even walk properly, while his mutated arm becomes even more powerful and dangerous as the minutes pass.The fact that Piers is so young (27 years of age) makes his demise even more dramatic. Ironically enough, for all these reasons Chris's story - and, in consequence, the whole game - gains its extra touch of realism mixed with cinematic melodrama.

The last glimpse of Piers that we get is as heartbreaking as his tragic end

When it comes to Bioshock Infinite, things become more complex. This amazing steampunk adventure by Irrational Games is set in a world where there are cities floating in the air and others sitting at the bottom of the sea. There is a mix of eras and multiple realites where people exist in various versions of themselves. You play as Booker DeWitt, a war veteran who participated in a series of historical battles in which he committed several atrocities. Later on, overwhelmed by guilt, he sought peace of mind by approaching a man who promised salvation through baptism. In one version of reality, he changed his mind and was never baptised, and lived on with his guilt as Booker DeWitt. In another version, he accepted the baptism and was reborn as a new man, the ruthless Zachary Comstock. As Comstock, he collaborated with an ingenious scientist, Rosalind Lutece, who had invented a technology that could create a floating city. With her help, he founded Columbia, a colourful Paradise in the sky, where he, taking advantage of Rosalind's discovery of the Tears - floating slots that allowed time travel - posed to his people as some sort of prophet. In an attempt to keep this "fairy tale" going, and knowing that he was sterile, Comstock bought a baby girl from a man who owed a huge debt. That man was Booker DeWitt - his original self from another reality.

Rosalind, with the help of Robert, a man who looked like her twin brother but was, in fact, her male version from another reality, having helped Comstock kidnap Booker's baby, wanted to make up for it and ordered Booker to "bring back the girl" in exchange for his debt. The truth was that Rosalind actually brought Booker in Comstock's reality so as to help him get his baby back from his other self. The baby was now the 20-year-old Elizabeth. Initially unaware of their blood connection, Booker and Elizabeth passed through thick and thin until the truth was finally revealed to both of them (although it is hinted at some point that Elizabeth might have understood much earlier that Booker was in fact her father). When Booker came to the realization that he was actually Zachary Comstock, several versions of Elizabeth, including the ones he already met, drowned him in a symbolic act of baptism.

As cruel as Booker's murder may seem, it is the only way to save his daughter's life

Booker's death is not a simple one. Additionally, it is not a definitive death. After the credits roll, we get a bonus scene where Booker comes to his senses in his office and opens the door of the nearby bedroom where the baby's crib is. The scene closes before we are able to see if there is a baby in there or not, but what matters is that, in our version of Bioschock Infinite's reality, as far as its standard story was concerned, our hero died in the end.

People are multi-dimensional, and this is something that the game depicts literally. However Booker, in any of his versions, had strong remorses torturing him from which he was unable to escape. Even when he became a different man he could not find peace, only this time he was in control of the world around him - something that, naturally, led to his destruction. It is characteristic that when Booker confronts Zachary - that is when the two versions of the same man face each other - the former kills the latter and, not randomly, by first smashing his head on the baptism bowl and then drowning him in it. Later, the several versions of his daughter again drown him in the bowl of baptism. This means that no matter how much "cleansing" he goes through, no matter how many times he is reborn, he will always be the same person in the essence and whatever bad things he had done will never be forgiven. In that sense, Booker's dramatic end is a catharsis, and much less a punishment.

In an alternate reality, Booker died as a hero of the revolution

Although Elizabeth seemingly thriumphs at the end of the game by killing Booker, thus making sure that he will not cause her harm, everything changes for her in the extra episode Burial at Sea 2. In this story, you play as a more grown version of Elizabeth who begins her adventure in an idyllic Paris with children playing, young men flirting her, everyone greeting her joyfully and "La vie on rose" playing in the background. Elizabeth's dream has always been to go to Paris, and by the looks of it she managed it in this version of reality. Soon it turns out though that this was just an illusion. In reality, she is found half-dead near Booker's dead body, after both of them had been brutally hit by a Big Daddy in Rapture, the underwater city known from the previous Bioshock games, at the end of Burial at Sea 1. The Big Daddy killed them both, but Elizabeth managed to revive an alternate version of herself, again with the help of the Luteces, so as to end the cycle of violence in Rapture.

Subsequently, she gets captured by Atlas, a cruel man who is planning an attack in Rapture and who forces her to carry out specific quests in exchange for her liberation. During said quests, she is accompanied by an imaginary version of Booker who talks to her and advices her over the radio. Her main concern is to save Sally, a little girl who had been used by Dr Suchong, a dangerous man in charge of brutal experiments in which little girls are genetically altered so as to be able to collect a special substance from corpses and store it in their own body. Although she is quite efficient in giving Atlas what he wants, he ends up killing her after he has all that he needs in his hands.

Elizabeth's end is one of the saddest scenes in video game history

Elizabeth's death in Burial at Sea 2 has a far more symbolic character than Booker's. Being a victim right from the beginning of her life, she always lived in a fake world. When Booker first located her in the main game, she was locked inside the Monument Tower, a huge golden construction shaped like an angel, where she was reading books all day, dreaming about going to Paris and having the Songbird, a huge mechanical bird, as her sole companion. Then at the beginning of Burial at Sea 2, again she is seen living in an imaginary world, in an idealized version of Paris which soon becomes a nightmare.

Elizabeth is, in fact, living in the margins of reality in all of its versions. Even in the reality where she is a vital part, in Columbia, she is far too smart, far too gifted, far too complex for the world around her. People want to take advantage of her powers, but they essentially view her as some kind of freak. In her more mature and femme-fatale version of the extra episodes, she initially seems to be in control but as it turns out, she is much more a victim now, especially in her part of the story, where she is, moreover, derpived of her special powers and she cannot open Tears anymore. In Burial at Sea 2, she is as lost as Booker was in the original game. She is brave but helpless, exactly like him. Close to the end of her story, Booker himself appears and takes her by the hand, leading her to an important revelation, in a scene that is like a reversed version of one of the last scenes of the main game, where Elizabeth took Booker by the hand and guided him towards the truth about his identity. Elizabeth's alternate self in Burial at Sea 2 somehow identifies with Booker's in the main game. We could even go as far as to think that maybe it is not really Elizabeth in Burial at Sea 2, but it is actually Booker who was brought back to life in the form of Elizabeth. Just like Rosalind Lutece was reborn in another reality as Robert. There is a dominant metaphysical element in Elizabeth's death, which also makes her character even more legendary.

Booker is taking Elizabeth by the hand - or is she just one more version of himself?

There is nothing more distinctly metaphysical, however, than a ghost who is wandering among the living. In Murdered: Soul Suspect by Airtight Games and Square Enix, you play as Ronan O'Connor, a young man who gets killed right at the beginning of the story while chasing a serial killer. The story of the game takes place in Salem, a town connected with the Witch Trials centuries ago. This alone is an element that puts you in the right chilling mood from the start. Ronan was a rogue as a young boy, but things changed when he got married and was aided by his brother-in-law, who was the police chief, to become a detective. After his wife's death, Ronan devoted all his time to his work and started investigating the case of a serial killer who was murdering teenage girls. Although Ronan managed to track the killer in the apartment of a potentional victim, the guy attacked him and subsequently killed him.

On his way to the Afterlife, Ronan is greeted by his wife who informs him that he has to go back to the world of the living as he has issues to solve. Back at his murder scene, Ronan is able to watch his body lying in the street and the police team, including his brother-in-law, examining the elements. He begins his own investigation, which leads him to several unexpected revelations. The mastermind behind the murders is proved to be the evil spirit of Abigail Williams, a real-life puritan who was responsible for the executions of several women in Salem, having accused them as witches. After the dramatic period of the Witch Trials was over, Abigail was imprisoned and executed for her actions. Now her spirit floats around Salem, thirsty for blood. She possesses unaware people, preferably men, and makes them track down and brutally murder young girls who happen to be mediums - therefore, in her eyes, witches. What is most riveting however is that, as the story concludes, Abigail reveals to Ronan that she also used him to kill one of those girls.

Ronan watches his own dead body lying in the street

Ronan's death itself is on a clearly realistic basis, but everything connected to it is largely metaphysical. Ronan became a murderer without realizing it and he obviously had no memory of this action even before his death. When he first encounters the ghost of Sophia, his own victim, the girl runs away screaming in pain. There is absolutely no clue about their true connection however, and when Ronan finally manages to approach her and asks her who killed her and Sophia points at him, we are tricked to think - because her finger points to his police badge - that she means her killer was a cop like Ronan, which makes both the player and Ronan suspect a sly colleague of his. I have to say that the revelation about Ronan being the killer of Sophia was one of the most shocking gaming moments I ever had.

Every time Ronan meets Sophia, the scene is extremely tense and compelling

However we cannot view Ronan's death as a punishment for the murder that he committed, as it was something that he did without being really him. Furthermore, it turns out that Abigail had possessed Ronan's brother-in-law as well. It was him who killed Ronan while being possessed, and, just like Ronan, neither he had any memory of this action. All these powerful elements and interconnections intensify Ronan's tragic fate and although we can play as him from start to finish in his faded ghostly form and in the end watch the happy reunion with his deceased wife in the Afterlife, the fact that he is yet one more dead hero remains and it is something that, combined with the general dramatic and spooky tune of the game, adds an extra undertone of melancholy that inevitably follows the protagonist through the whole course of his adventure.