Stories are trajectories on a low dimensional manifold of meaningful in the semantic vector space of states and actions. Curated stories are fragile and less i

Stories are trajectories on a low dimensional manifold of meaningful in the semantic vector space of states and actions. Curated stories are fragile and less impactful and personal than that interwoven serandipity we navigate by connecting experiences and imbuing them with prepotent engaged meaning viscerally entagling choronological coincidences with the synchronicity of our own personal journey. There may only be a few archetypal stories, but each heroes journey if it is transformative in the Jungian sense of individuation is a means of self discovering growth in a verdant simulation. Like culture, myth, fairy tales and dreams video games are a mytho-poetic structure that can utterly envelope and transform us through the power of beauty, harmony, dissonance and engagement. There is a lot to be said for the abstraction of pixel art in that it can let the imagination fill in the gaps and engage with the characters, suspending disbelief because there is room for the imaginative act to flourish and the self to identify more than the ultra realistic fully defined hyper realism of AAA games - near perfection is an uncanny valley, the shudder that prevents us being fully involved. Video games are powerful when they engage the imagination, the stories are created by us, we are story tellers that is how we understand ourselves and game experiences are as rich and valid as any art form.