Exploring this Week: Kenshi

Kenshi


     Hello Everyone! This is my first entry to this Blog, and I am excited to share one of my passions with you all. Seeing as this is my first official post, what time could be better to discuss a niche video game that alienates the majority of casual viewers? So for this week's barely qualified rambling, I'm going to discuss one of my favorite games from a storytelling standpoint: Kenshi

     Released in 2018 by developer Lo-Fi Games, Kenshi is an Open World Roleplaying Game. The game stands out from it's genre with one simple fact: you are NOT the hero. There is nothing special about you, you have no mystical powers, and there is no reason you stand out from anyone else in the world. To be blunt, If for some reason your character disappeared, fundamentally nothing would change about the world or the people in it. Every accomplishment you make is because you put in the work to achieve it, and failure is a major part of the game's learning curve. 

     What is most fascinating to me about this game, however, is that by the time you begin your journey in the game, the story of the world has already been told. Kenshi takes place on a dying planet, where the base necessities of survival are never a guarantee. The world has already ended thousands of years ago, and what you are experiencing are the last gasps of struggling civilization. Ruins of long-forgotten cities scatter the desert wasteland, long since picked apart by scavengers and dust storms. Technological wonders of the ancient past lie rusted and broken, their purposes long forgotten. Even the soundtrack of the game evokes the feeling of a dreariness and loss. 

     Kenshi is an underappreciated gem in the RPG genre, and the story it tells is engaging and open to possibilities. Anyone who appreciates finding the stories in a game more than having the story given straight to you will love this game. If nothing else, give the soundtrack a listen. I find it perfect for background noise when I work or study. I wrote this entire post while listening to it.


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