I have these dreams. Dreams where my body gets out of the way, dreams where Iâm not restricted by the natural limitations of bone, sinew and gravity. The dreams are not always the same. Sometimes I glide. Sometimes I float.
Sometimes, I fly.
And then reality clips my wings, and Iâm thrust back down onto my bed. Awake. It wasnât real.
Whatever I felt while I was dreamingâthrill, excitement, aweâis replaced with ache. Ache for something thatâs not possible, ache for something beyond my reach that nonetheless I felt palpably just moments ago. The best I can do is to dreamâŠor to pick up a controller.
Ever since I learned about proper running formâthe way your body is supposed to move to run optimallyâIâve become obsessed with movement. The motion of our bodies is a fascinating thing; downright mesmerizing, at times. Watch a runner. Watch a pole dancer. How long before you start wondering what moving like that feels like?
We canât all experience that sort of thing. Thatâs where games come in. Much like dreaming, games are capable of making you feel like youâre in motion even if youâre actually sitting in place.
My intrigue probably isnât helped by the fact that I donât play soccer like I used to, back when I first learned about proper running form. Now I make a mental compendium of sorts for the way games let me move instead. Because sometimes, the yearning comes back and I need to boot up a game just to feel that elusive thing againâwhatever it may be.
Iâll tell you about some of my favorites.
Freedom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yucx-ZS4SKY
Maybe falling feels scaryâimagine tumbling from a high place with no hope of surviving. Sometimes falling feels thrilling, thatâs why we seek out roller coasters and sky diving. But in Gravity Rush, falling feels like freedom. Press a button and suddenly the axis that everyone else is glued to doesnât apply to you.
Down is wherever you choose; the ground, meanwhile, can wait. You fall at high speeds, rushing toward a surfaceâsideways. Youâre falling, but youâre falling sideways. This is freedom, not just because youâre free-falling, but because you choose how.
https://lastchance.cc/falling-in-love-with-falling-in-games-5917468%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Ambition
Who doesnât want to reach for more? Thereâs the double-jump, sureâIâm particularly fond of Smash Bros.â double jump for those moments in which reality would dictate that you canât quite make it, but, aha! Your body extends beyond its natural reach, you pump out a new jump, and it allows you to barely grab onto the edge of a stage. Phew.
Then thereâs Marioâs double jump in Super Mario 64. You have to build your momentum through smaller jumps, and when you get to the final oneâwhen Mario goes yahoo! after his yah, hoo-hoo, that moment is like ambition personified for me.
Like Icarus not being halted by the sun, like the moment in which Adamâs finger finally touches Godâs finger in Michelangeloâs The Creation of Adam. Itâs not supposed to happen, but you made it happen, damnit. Weâre taught all our lives that some things will never come true because reality prevents wild, unexplainable things from happening. But the double jump spits in the face of all of that; dares to reach for more. Yahoo!
Serenity
Believe it or not, Far Cry 3âs Jason Brody is, at times, bearable. But only when heâs up in the sky, arms outstretched, with his wingsuit on. Iâm reminded of going fast in a car, hand out the window, breaking through the wind. Only instead of your hand, itâs your entire body up in the sky.
No animals. No pirates. Not outposts. No becoming a warrior. Just you and your thoughts. If the wind is strong enough, the world seems to stand still.
The Rush
So many games have a âboostâ button, but one of the best has to be the one in Vanquish. Itâs all in how your character positions himself, tilting his body nearly completely verticallyâwith just one hand keeping him from fully hitting the ground. Itâs like youâre on those wheelie shoes, only intense enough that sparks fly everywhere.
If your meter didnât run out, most of us would probably play the entire game like this. Not quite upright, not quite falling: on a threshold.
Grace
Dustforce is a game about cleaningâon the surface. In actuality, itâs about elegance and refinement. The music sets the mood: peaceful, calm. Itâs your job to dust every surface, and youâre going to do it through kinetic eloquence and a feather duster.
You naturally move smoothly, yes: but you have to chain that with combos and dashing, all in the name of never pausing your stride. The more you can clean up in one swoop, the better the score. Youâd better be graceful about it.
Potential
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDUmcRbtwzQ
Dishonored does not tell you how to approach killing a target, or how to traverse its levels. Itâs up to you; the possibilities are many. So, too, is the case with one of the best mechanics weâve seen in years: blink. I was constantly surprised by what this ability let me reachâyes, not everywhere, but nearly. And in that blink, in that second in which I was teleporting from one place to another, I felt a great sense of potential.
This was especially true if I was in a pickle and I had to find a quick way to move about. If I could see it, I could go there. Anything is possible. I just had to decide what I wanted.
Density
Finesse is not always this froofy, airy thing. Sometimes, it is heavy. Such is the case with my favorite space marines in Gears of War. The men in Marcus Fenixâs squad (or enemies!) are not ballerinas, they are not graceful in a traditional sense.
The Gears language is one of force, and so any time you move, you feel it in your chest. A thud punctuates the search for cover. Your ferocity finds release in a curb stomp. When you roll, you feel the weight of your soldier. This is why Gears is so gratifying to play.
(Unless murder ballerinas are a thing. In which case they are totes ballerinas.)
Here is the beauty of a video game, then: the dreams do not have to end until we say so. Until then, we are free to move as we please.
