For the longest time, I've been wishing for a certain type of whimsical fantasy in video games. The kind of fantasy that is neither the Lord of the Ring's high fantasy nor Dungeons and Dragons' realistic fantasy. There's only one movie that perfectly portrays the type of fantasy I desire, and that is "
The Last Unicorn".
Keep reading to learn a bit more about a unique type of fantasy and why I'd love to see it be done in a video game.
Skyrim, Dragon Age, Witcher 3, Drakensang and many more – when western developers make fantasy-games, it's always the same kind of fantasy. It is either closely following the Lord of the Rings or it's going for a more down-to-earth, realistic approach. I like these games, I've played them all, so this is not a rant against those titles that already exist. I want more of them, too.
However, all of these games fall into the same type. A fantasy where combat is the core of the gameplay, where fantasy plays out by dialogue with quest giving npcs and where everything comes down to loot, better equipment or checking some box in a quest menu. I understand that this is a convenient way to make a video game. Let players slash away at monsters, reward them with swords and armor that have a higher attack/defense value, and highlight the quest giver so the player can quickly continue on to the next mission. And yet there ought to be more. And there is.
While he's not the main attraction of the movie, it can be claimed that Schmendrick the magician is the protagonist of "The Last Unicorn". He's who the audience is introduced to properly first and he's the one who's responsible both for good and bad and he's present at most of the important story developments. But
Schmendrick is not a hero. Not even a reliable magician. He's weak, he's not handsome, all he has going for him is his determination to become a better magician, something that pushes him forward even when he's scared – and there's a lot to be scared of in the world he lives in. He tries his best, sometimes that works out, sometimes it's not enough. That is what makes Schmendrick such a likeable "hero" to me: He's not badass, he's traditionally brave. He's just someone seeking his place in the world, making mistakes and slowly, but surely learning more about both his passion as well as the things around him.
Even though there is a lot to be scared of in this world, it doesn't come in the form of goblins, skeleton warriors or other monster.
The dangers in "The Last Unicorn" present themselves as mysteries and riddles, as situations that need to be figured out. The movie is really old, so let me tell you about some examples of dangers that Schmendrick must overcome in its course: When he frees the title-giving unicorn, he also sets free a deadly harpy (a large, bird-like monster). Instead of fighting it, the unicorn tells him to not look back, to slowly keep walking away. And s he does and the harpy cannot see them, instead kills the other people who originally captured her. In another scene, the group wants to pass a secret way, but it's guarded the remains of a skeleton that loves alcohol. He doesn't have wine, but then realizes: The skeleton doesn't have eyes. So takes an empty bottle, acts like it was filled with fine wine and gives it the skeleton – that accepts the empty bottle, starts "drinking", even gets drunk from the non-existing wine, and opens the way for the hero group. And then, of course, there's the scene where the unicorn is hunted by the scary, giant red bull who's tasked by his master to hunt all unicorns in the world. The only solution that Schmendrick eventually came up with: Transform the unicorn into a human woman. The red bull doesn't hunt humans, so it saved her. For the price of her true nature.
It's all these whimsical, creative, non-combative ideas that make the fantasy in "The Last Unicorn" feel so different. Heck, we need more talking door locks!
Now that I think about it, there is one video game that I played that comes pretty close to this type of fantasy: "The Last Guardian" from Ueda-san's Team ICO. That game featured similarly whimsical ideas and a hero that wasn't actively fighting, but making the best use of the situation that presented itself to him and his big four-legged friend. Don't get me wrong: It's not combat per se that ruins this type of fantasy that I'm describing. But when combat becomes the main focus, the whimsical side suffers.
What's also at least as important as the gameplay side of things is the presentation. I mentioned it above: Schmendrick is not handsome. Not strong. And often times a little cowardly. Other
characters have their good and bad sides, too. Even the oh-so-awe-inspiring unicorn isn't beyond flaws. And then you have the fantastic, poetic writing that somehow manages to avoid sounding pretentious. No, every line in this movie is memorable as it is befitting. I just rewatched it and what is true for the characters is true for the world design itself, too: It's unique, but not too much, not abstract, although it ventures dangerously close. You know that I always talk about Monolith Soft as the master of world design – "The Last Unicorn"'s world is totally different, but just as masterful.
Whereas Monolith Soft-worlds make me want live there, "The Last Unicorn"'s world makes me want to explore its myths and secrets. One game that disappointed me in that regard was "The Witcher 3" that's world was so big, but also so empty and whenever you found something interesting, it came down to fighting monsters. However, there's also one example in the Witcher 3 that takes the whimsical route: The Red Baron's quest where you explore about three witches. How that quest went down was fantastic – well, until you had to fight them, but as I said, fighting is okay, too, as long as it isn't the focus.
I feel like I could keep writing about how much I love the special type of whimsical fantasy in "The Last Unicorn", but I also feel like you either get it at this point or won't get it no matter how many more lines I add to this text. In any case, I needed to talk about it, because that movie and its characters remain special even to this day. And
maybe some day there'll be a developer that says "hey, let's make a game with that kinda atmosphere". And I'll be overjoyed then.
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