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Most people play role-playing games for the fun gameplay and the (sometimes) great story. That's not surprising since those attributes are what attracts the wider audience. However, by concentrating solely on those features, the average gamer is likely to miss the subtle political messages within the game. Henceforth, I will attempt to prove this thesis with several examples that I hope will do justice to the cause of politics.
In Final Fantasy VII, one must stop the evil being Sephiroth from destroying the planet with a big meteor from outer space. The message isn't about reviving a defunct space program that hasn't seen lift off (symbolically and realistically speaking) in so many years. No, the message is more close to home for green-hearted liberals. Specifically, I am referring to the Greenpeace organization and its various affiliates.
As you know, Greenpeace will stop at nothing to stop big, bad organizations from polluting the planet. In fact, this organization indirectly helped initiate the demise of Enron by stopping a project that led to the dismissal of an honest (though foolhardy) senior executive. The very green political message of the game is conveyed through the actions of the organization Avalanche. This organization's goal is to stop and prevent Shin-Ra from destroying the planet by draining its "Lifeforce" or Mako. They perform acts of sabotage to further their agenda, such as destroying energy reactors. Likewise, Greenpeace allegedly achieves its goals through acts of sabotage as well. They are currently under investigation for funneling funds to eco-terrorist groups by European opposition groups that want to classify the organization as terrorist. One could thus conclude from this flimsy evidence that Greenpeace served as the model for Avalanche and that the underlying political message of the game is to "save nature."
Another rousing example that comes to mind is Final Fantasy Tactics, a game filled with political soap opera. From what I can garner from the events in the game, the Church is castigated as a hypocritical and downright fraudulent organization. That's right. The great old Glabados Church, led by High Priest Funeral, is guilty of misleading its parishioners. Hmmm, seems to mirror an organization that is losing millions by the masses.
Now, one must ask: how does the game castigate the church? Well, look at the actions of the individuals involved and how the whole church is built around a false deity, Saint Ajora. The Church furthers its influence within the lands by promoting war between two powers through political subterfuge, using individuals like Delita and Vormav in the process. By promoting war, albeit through political pawns, one can draw comparisons to the church of Machiavellian times or the ones that promulgated the Crusades. Both organizations sought to increase their power by either using pawns (Machiavellian Times) or through brute force (the Crusades). Both hid their ambitions through public double-speak, claiming that "heathens" residing within the lands of their desire were not of god. Strangely, the Glabados church almost achieves its goals with political double-speak, but it was double-crossed in the process. The underlying political message here is that the church is a political tool overshadowed by a massive edifice of government.
Of course, these are only my ruminations from events that have occurred in present times. My only wish is to spark discussion and interest those about events that have occurred in the past. More importantly, however, I hope that people who read this editorial take a more detailed look at history and come up with their own conclusions about the politics involved, wherever they may occur.
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