The Garden of Humanity: The Manifestation of Hope in (Post) Apocalyptic Video Games

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to explore the juxtaposition of hope before and after cataclysms in apocalyptic video games. Specifically, I will be exploring why hope is found either after the apocalyptic scenario has happened (post mortem) or just before (prope mortem). The cause of these scenarios, usually a form of human invention and/or creation, always result in a return to the natural in the aftermath of their removal, the core theme for my analysis. Considering our current environmental emergency and technological paranoia surrounding AI and other technologies, these games perpetuate the false pretense that action is not necessary, as humanity will endure. The methodology I will use for my MRP is a close reading of three games that constitute my object texts. These games are: Jak II (2003), Horizon: Zero Dawn (2017), and Final Fantasy XIII (2009). To complete this project, I will need to investigate and analyze the function of the core theme in the games, individually and as a genre by understanding their narrative structure through a closer reading with an ecocritical and hauntological lens. The major research goal of this project is therefore to understand why hope is found post-mortem. A secondary goal will be to understand why the environmental and the technological are intertwined and why games are the perfect avenue to analyze this connection. A third goal will be to postulate whether this is correlated to current day attitudes towards the environmental emergency and technological paranoia by using games as a medium from which to make cultural commentaries.