Meghan Wagner

LTM 611
Essence
Essence is an open concept role-playing video game where players control their character from a
third person perspective. The player can choose to be either male or female and customize their
character. They are able to interact with people and objects as well as battle foes. The goal of Essence is
to complete the games eight quests and reach one of many conclusive endings. With each successfully
completed quest the player gains one of the eight virtues that advance the game's plot. The game also
includes a multitude of side quests.
Essence takes place in the fictional nation of Skaldia, a state that is composed of numerous semiautonomous city-states with vast areas of countryside or wilderness in between. The player begins the
game as an orphan of the city-state Montrieve. Based on the interactive system the choices the player is
able to change the world around them, for the greater good or their own personal gain. They may be
called upon to rally and fight alongside their people, ascend to the seat of power, or experience the true
meaning of love and loss while defending their throne. Who will you become? The choice is yours. A
rebel without a cause, the tyrant you rebelled against, or the greatest ruler to ever live?
Each quest corresponds to a scenario that covers each of the subsequent psychosocial stages of
Erik Erikson. They individual is undergoing a series of crises where the needs of themselves conflict
with those of society. According to the theory, successful completion of each stage results in a
wholesome personality and the obtainment of basic virtues. Basic virtues are characteristic assets, which
the ego can use to resolve ensuing crises. For example if the player failed to acquire the virtue of hope in
the first quest it is because they chose to mistrust and betray their brother in order to obtain power for
themselves instead. Failure to successfully complete a stage could potentially result in a reduced ability
to complete further stages in Eriksons theory and the subsequent quests in the game since it limits the
players options and choices. (Taubenheim)

Quest
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Conflict

Virtue

Trust Vs Mistrust
Autonomy Vs Shame
Initiative Vs Guilt
Industry Vs Inferiority
Identity Vs Confusion
Intimacy Vs Isolation
Generativity Vs Stagnation
Integrity Vs Despair

Hope
Will
Purpose
Competence
Fidelity
Love
Care
Wisdom

Gilligan proposed the Stages of the Ethics of Care theory, which addresses what makes actions
'right' or 'wrong'. Gilligan's theory focused on both care-based morality and justice-based morality. At
several points during the main quest line in Essence, the player will come across several key decisions.
The player is able to choose the right answer, the wrong answer or come across as stoic and aloof.
While the player is able to choose their own responses to most of the game's conversations, certain
choices in the game will have you make a choice with farther reaching effects. These will not only shape
the way the game unfolds, but have a direct reaction from the in game characters. Every character feels
their own way about how the player handles situations and there is no way to please everyone, hence
you could alienate an entire race of people and ally instead with their political rivals. The choices the
character decides reflect not only the interconnectedness and universality of the world, but also reflect
on their morality. Some decisions may ask the player to sacrifice a town of people to save their
significant other or delve into the arts of blood magic to gain more power. (Blum)
In this project, I incorporated Erik Eriksons Psychosocial Theory and Carol Gilligan's Theory of
Moral Development in the context of a video game. Video games provide an avenue to connect to
students and an excellent means to reinforce learning. Video games are engaging and popular with
students in this day in age. The stimulating and interactive nature of video games is what makes them
the ideal avenue. It not only provides a visual, but an actual means to experience and comprehend the
theories and how they intersect. This allows the learner to participate in an individual setting, but is able
to compare to others to get a better understanding of how the acquisition of virtues and various choices
influence their experience both in game and in life.
References

Blum, L. A.. (1988). Gilligan and Kohlberg: Implications for Moral Theory. Ethics, 98(3), 472
491. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2380962
Taubenheim, B. W.. (1979). Erikson's Psychosocial Theory Applied to Adolescent Fiction: A
Means for Adolescent Self-clarification. Journal of Reading, 22(6), 517522. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40031567