Dark imagery and themes in games isn’t a new concept by any means. There have always been games that take a step out of the lighthearted whimsy of games like Mario and try to explore the shadows in order to appeal to a more grim audience. The graphic fidelity of the last few generation has begun to bring that all to a head for major franchises that previously edged towards the side of whimsy however, attempting at drawing a more “mature” mannerism from their main characters to explore a different side of their personality. Turning heroes into anti-heroes, bringing them to a morally grey realm, or sometimes just a matter of grittier cosmetics often comes along when popular franchises move into a sequel. Michael Abbott of The Brainy Gamer explores this with side-by-side comparisons between sequels of popular franchises like Uncharted and Prince of Persia to show what changes the main characters and overall theme have taken as the series progressed. The big question that Abbott poses is what does this trend all mean and why does this even happen, and it is with a growing number of franchises taking this turn it is something that is worth exploring.

Some franchises in games have lent themselves to such an evolution. When your game involves gunning down terrorists, attacking monsters hell-bent on world domination or saving the princess from a fire-breathing dragon, there is often room for the more negative connotations of the enemies to translate over to the game’s protagonist. We saw this concept lived out even in a franchise that usually is the pinnacle of whimsy and fantasy in dark situations, The Legend of Zelda with the latest installation The Twilight Princess. The light versus dark theme was very much a focus in what Nintendo considered a more mature title for their long-time audience, but still had the same levity and familiarity to fit well within the rest of the series. The reason this works for the series is that while the atmosphere around the protagonist changes, the character’s personality remains in tact and allows people to relate to the scenario in the same way they have always been able to. On the flipside games like Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, the sequel to the ever-popular Sands of Time, tried to make a broodier and more tortured character of the once innocent and high-flying Prince. While the merits of the gameplay itself may have been in question, people just did not connect to the more charming Prince that wasn’t lost in his own anguish and channeling more Kratos than Aladdin.

It’s a bit hard to discuss much on the topic of Uncharted 2 with the game still way down the road, and very little information being released besides the considerably more depressing outlook in a recent trailer compared to the young Indiana Jones style of the first game. Given that we don’t know much about the protagonist’s situation, the fact that he is put into a far more grim scenario and all depictions of him are much darker and more depressing. Another odd example is Sonic, who has seen better days, and was recently turned into a half-hedgehog, half-wolf creature in his most recent adventure as he decimated his enemies. These examples demonstrate either side of the darker-game coin, with Uncharted representing a more logical evolution in a series where the character feels like they still fit in the more sinister scenario they’ve been placed in, whereas Sonic Unleashed comes off as more of a gimmick or re-invention of the character’s situation in order to re-invigorate a franchise that could use life when gameplay ideas and plotlines are relatively stagnant.

Two reason I can see why series take these leaps into the shadows have a lot to do with the culture of gaming and our overall consumption of media. With gamers, storied franchises are often the last bastion of the disenfranchised player who would lump themselves into the “hardcore” territory, picking up mature titles due to their focus on action-oriented gameplay and shreds of angst-ridden story. As the consumption for this group has continually shown a penchant for the mature themes moving into this generation, whether it be through the success of games like Gears of War in a saturated shooter market or a more realistic approach to tried and true franchises like Metroid, companies that understand this to be their audience may try and lure them in with a new hook or promises of a more in-depth and depressingly understandable avatar who trudges through the odds with grit and fervour. The other big shift that I’ve noticed is the general consumption of darker media by the younger generation, as well, on the success of series like Harry Potter, children are thrown into wild-fantasy that has evil twists on a more regular basis. Youth that flock to see a love story between vampires may also get a kick out of a whimsical yet brooding adventure in the gaming world, so the trend is heading there anyway.

While Abbott does lament the muscle-bound transformation that becomes characters as their series develops into something more dark, it is worth noting that characters can evolve and remain as charming as before. Successful movie franchises have also pushed out sequels that explored a more depressing outlook for characters that may have otherwise shown promise, to demonstrate their psyche when thrown into a less-than-ideal situation. While it can be lazy work on the part of some writers to simply slap a frowny face on a character and call it psychological, there is room for more character exploration through changes in circumstances, be it positive or negative, and it will be exciting to see if it can extend past marketing hype and create three-dimensional characters that we can still route for in the worst situations.