“Loss” has always been a negative word to me, maybe because of my culture or upbringing. There is always a stigma around it—especially permanent loss, such as death.
I didn’t really think about it at the time, but losses such as death were always taken for granted in games, particularly in MMOs and RPGs. The character would die, but it would always come back, or if it was a permanent death, the only loss was losing the game. Death didn’t have any meaning.
When I was going through Eye of Eden for the first time, I felt that true pain at the prospect of inevitable death of my character. I fought so hard to try and keep my wings. I became dreadfully upset every time I would lose one. Yes, I even cried. But when I woke up in that dark empty space that lies just after the storm, I realized there was nothing I could do but embrace the situation. With that acceptance, my death in the game became meaningful. My character was reborn but it didn’t feel like I’d lost the game and had to restart. I felt, in a deeper sense, that my character had lived a full life in the game, and I was ready to live the next one.
It made me think about my own life. Would I be like that too? Fighting until the very end, my only choice being to accept my fate? I don’t know what my future holds, or how I will feel, but Sky made me think about it.
For me at least, that stigma surrounding permanent “loss” is a little lighter. I am grateful that this game has such a different take on loss and death and I look forward to continuing to relive in the Sky Kingdom.
