Soul

Let’s start off with I have no reflexes. The only video games I’ve ever been decent at are Rock Band (as the singer…that I can do), Tetris, Contra (love that Konami code), and Bubble Bobble.

That said, I love video games. My other half plays and I’m sort of a navigator and observer. I would stay up late to watch the story being played out on the console, without the burden of having to hit the right button at the right time. Love them all: the original Legend of Zelda, Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy VII and X, Fallout…all those amazing stories written by real storytellers.

We haven’t done that together in a while, mostly because video games have devolved into shooter fests with no real beefy plot.

Until the arrival of a game called Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

“We” have been playing since the game came out and just finished the first play-through. Not going to do a review here since gamers far more competent than I have done a beautiful job.

I will say that the world building is amazing, and the character animations (down to a slight crease in the forehead) are more expressive than I’ve ever seen.

The story is so deep, you could spend hours discussing the nuances of the plot. Putting a link here to one I found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou49qDJGYTo&t=570s. The analysis is amazing if you’d like to check it out.

What struck me most about Expedition 33 is the game’s concept that an artist leaves a part of his soul in everything he creates. It’s a small part of the character Verso’s soul that gives valuable info to the party about the world they are traversing.

It struck me hard. And as I’ve gotten more involved in my writing and art, I’ve realized that when my words or ink fall flat, I can feel in my jellies that I’ve put no soul in it. And when my words or drawings hit me with a feels-bomb, they express something in my soul, even if it’s just a deep love of coffee, whether I knew I was doing it at the time or not.

What’s the next step? I need to work on leaving that soul behind more intentionally. I’m not big on sharing emotions even face to face, let alone on a blank piece of paper. I feel raw and naked. but maybe that’s the part that makes it real. Time to let the ink flow.