NARRATIVE VIDEO GAME AS METAMODERN ART

Abstract

The article is dedicated to understanding narrative video games as a form of metamodern media. It seeks to identify the distinctive elements and strategies within such games that would classify them as artistic artifacts of a new cultural era. The research is based on several theoretical works that focus on the characteristics of metamodernism. The article employs the concept of metamodernism proposed by Robin van den Akker and Timotheus Vermeulen. They describe this new cultural reality as a departure from the prevailing cynicism and detachment of postmodernism. It reflects a yearning for neoromanticism, characterized by sincerity, openness, and oscillation between opposing concepts or phenomena (such as sincerity and irony, seriousness and naïveté). This involves an attempt to blend postmodernist and modernist elements, appealing to the mythological and sensory. Additionally, the conceptualization of metamodernist techniques in art by H. Dember is theoretically significant for this article. Dember identifies several key concepts, including empathetic reflection, “double framing”, oscillation, eccentricity, metamodern minimalism and maximalism, constructive pastiche, irony-resistance, normcore, anthropomorphism, and metasympathy. Together, these elements create a complex and multifaceted structure within contemporary artistic texts. Using this methodology, the article analyzes narrative video games and series from the 21st century, such as Death Stranding, Kena: Bridge of Spirits and others. The article highlights common and frequently recurring metamodern elements within the contemporary gaming environment. By examining several game titles, it illustrates mechanisms of emotional oscillation, ambivalence, and sincerity. These mechanisms not only enhance player engagement with the cybertextual narrative of the game but also vividly express metamodernist concepts. Significant metamodern elements increasingly reflected in the video game space include the pursuit of collective action and social interaction. This can be expressed through the incorporation of communication mechanisms with other players into the individual gaming experience. Moreover, there is a tendency towards the reconstruction of mythical tropes and narratives, which are not merely read but primarily experienced by players.