Video games over the past decades have been a source of entertainment for millions of people around the world, and not just in the US. But also over during this time we see video games not just being fun and times killers, we see them standing out from the crowd of the usual cookie cutter games we usually see. These games have stretched the boundaries of what separates them from video games to pieces of art that can been enjoyed for not just their game play but also their scenery, music, and overlying message that are trying to present.
The first example of these pieces of art is the game "Shadow of the Colossus". First released on PlayStation 2 back in 2005, this game has the player going against 16 unique bosses all so that he can bring back his dead lover, or girl friend, it doesn't really explain in the game who exactly she is any who, but I digress. These bosses that the player goes against a massive monolithic entities that just seem to be creatures that are minding their own business until the player comes along and starts stabbing them in their vulnerable spots. These boss fights are also quite challenging for the player in this regard as well, because the player must sometimes climb these giant beasts just to get to their vulnerable areas. Then it is when you defeat the bosses we come to something that games hadn't yet done before. The music that plays as you defeat the boss is not what you would usually expect. Instead of robust chorus of horns crying out in victory, the music that plays is more low tempo and sounds almost like a sad church song for a funeral. This and the fact as the game progresses and you defeat more colossi, the character's skin becomes paler and also is not able to hold on to ledges and climb as easily as he did in the beginning; this is explained by the fact that once a colossus has been defeated, these dark tendrils erupt from the colossus and force themselves into the character. But this is only the first game.
Now we have a more recent game titled "Undertale". "Undertale" follows and unnamed character that the player progresses through a bit styled dungeon game. The world that the character is stuck in is the underground world of monsters that were banished there by early humans. But what makes this game so artistic in a way is how the main character can go about beating the game. In "combat" the player has two options. To fight and kill the monster or to try and talk, flirt, etc. to the monster. In the game as well there are several bosses that can be dealt with the same way. This affects the end of the game entirely, because there are three different endings that are based on the decisions you make on through the game and the bosses you kill or not kill. This aspect kinda goes against what most RPGs do in this day in age where the objective is to kill everything or be killed. But this game definitely goes against that type of game because of how before every boss battle you have a long moment of when you get to "hangout" with the boss, this is a chance for the character to become attached to them and then have a had time when it comes to the point where you must fight the boss as well.
These of course are only a few examples of games that could be considered art, but like they say "Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder." So where others see a video games others see fantastic pieces that can be only defined as their own pieces of art.
