Key Takeaways
- Peace achieved through fear shouldn’t be true peace, as seen on this planet peace themes in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.
- Flower and Max Payne 2 explore inner peace and emotional growth as players progress through their stories.
- Final Fantasy 10-2 depicts Yuna’s journey of finding peace after losing Tidus, with a hidden ending complicating her progress.
The definition and standard of what peace is – each inner and world peace – changes from individual to individual. Is peace really peace whether it is acheived through brutal means? The games below explore each types, and never all of them provide you with a definitive answer.
Sometimes, video game characters trying to find peace don’t even find it. Though genres are more diverse than ever before, people still mostly engage in violent activities in games, even when it shouldn’t be outright killing virtual enemies. This makes the thought of peace in gaming a sophisticated topic, even when discussing inner peace and solace.
It shouldn’t be a spoiler to see what games are on this list, but inside the text of every entry, there are definitely spoilers for every game being discussed.
World Peace Through Fear Of Destruction
World peace is a relentless theme within the Metal Gear Solid series, but it surely is essentially the most prevalent in Peace Walker. The sport specifically deals with nuclear deterrence, the concept that nations won’t engage in mutually assured destruction. The titular machine Big Boss ultimately fights is controlled by an AI that might control the USA’ nuclear arsenal.
Peace Walker ultimately argues that this shouldn’t be a real peace; it is a world where everyone lives in fear. On a grand level, it’s tragic to take into consideration a world where countries need to fear one another versus one where they will freely exchange ideas.
Though it deals with heavy themes,
Peace Walker
shouldn’t be as dark, violent, or grim as 2015’s
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
.
4 Flower
Take The Time To Find Inner Peace, No Matter How Busy Life Gets
Nowhere in the sport is it explicitly written that Flower is about finding peace. In actual fact, nothing is explicitly written anywhere in Flower. That is precisely the sport’s magic. The gameplay is relaxing, peaceful, and meditative, and the goal is to easily fly through the environment because the wind picks up more flower petals and brings more color to the world.
The sport’s six levels follow a subtle arc, with each stage bringing players closer to an urban environment. By the tip of the sport, color is brought back to the previously gray and dreary city. Flower will remind players of the importance of finding peace within the fast-paced modern world that always doesn’t give people time to reflect and convey color into their lives.
3 Max Payne 2
What Is Max’s Life After Bringing His Family’s Killers To Justice?
Treatment’s legendary Max Payne is a vengeful journey through a heightened-reality Latest York City. Max Payne 2 picks up just a few years later, seeing the detective living a standard but empty life. Here, he stumbles upon one other conspiracy that brings old characters back into the fray. The sport gives players a glimpse at Max’s extreme loneliness, including a recorded phone call where he phones a service normally reserved for more steamy conversations simply to discuss with someone. Through the complicated narrative and trail of dead bodies, he falls in love with Mona Sax.
By the tip of the sport, Max has more clarity and seems to have found his emotional footing. The last line is “I had a dream of my wife. She was dead, but it surely was alright,” indicating that he has accepted the unspeakable tragedy and that he’s able to move forward together with his life.
Max Payne 3
, developed by Rockstar Games, seemingly ignores any of the emotional growth Max underwent in
Max Payne 2
.
2 Final Fantasy 10-2
Tidus Was Not A Real Person, But It Still Hurt Yuna To See Him Go
By the tip of Final Fantasy 10, players know the whole world of Spira like their very own backyard. This makes going back to it within the direct sequel feel like visiting an old friend. Final Fantasy 10-2 is a more lighthearted affair, but it surely still has emotional weight. It starts off more jolly – Yuna performs an earworm of a pop song rather than a futuristic city being pulverized – however the stakes ramp up eventually.
All throughout the sport, Yuna remains to be coping with losing the love of her life, Tidus. She continuously holds onto the hope that she will bring him back in a roundabout way. By the tip of a non-100% playthrough, though, she lets him go and is in a position to move on and find inner peace.
There may be a hidden ending that really brings Tidus back, somewhat undoing Yuna’s inner journey and the entire message of the sport.
1 Silent Hill 2
James Sunderland Travels To A Terrifying Town In The Hope Of Finding Peace
James Sunderland travels to the town of Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his recently deceased wife saying she is waiting for him there. What starts off as a seemingly run-of-the-mill survival horror title quickly dives into an exploration of guilt as James’ truth slowly reveals itself to the player.
Whether one is playing the influential 2001 title or the 2024 remake, Silent Hill 2‘s psychological terror doesn’t tap into the fear of death; it examines the fear of what people might find inside their very own hearts and souls. It shouldn’t be just James’ story, either. The supporting characters that he runs into are coping with their very own trauma, and it sadly doesn’t at all times end well for them. Depending on what ending the player gets, it will possibly be left up for debate whether James actually finds peace or not.