I just finished playing “L.A. Noire.” The concept of this game and the way it was executed was so absolutely brilliant that it’s staggering. Upon finishing the game, I basked in how amazing it was, but also thought of the game’s few flaws and how being more aware of those flaws would have made this a near-perfect game. I asked myself questions such as (SPOILERS: DON’T READ IF YOU’RE PLAYING IT!) why was Cole Phelps’ wife mentioned once throughout the game, then thrown into the plot for a brief cutscene when it’s discovered that he was cheating on her? Why do we never see his kids and understand the relationship Phelps has with them? As the cold, thorough personality that he is, seeing him interact with his family throughout the game would’ve humanized Phelps a great deal, and though he was a flawed but likable character, I would’ve been rooting for him a bit more had I seen Phelps the father and husband in addition to Phelps the detective. A simple array of cutscenes in which Phelps comes home after days on the job, perhaps a couple before he began his affair and a couple during the affair, would’ve gone a long way in doing this. As amazing as the game’s performances are, as BRILLIANT as the dialogue is, and as challenging the interview-based gameplay is, with a few adjustments to the story this game would’ve been damn perfect, even though it’s already amazing and one of the best games I’ve ever played.

Then, it dawned on me. Look at the questions I asked in the past paragraph. I’m asking these questions about a video game. Questions that are normally reserved for books and movies are now asked of video games. I develop relationships with the characters in video games. In the case of games such as Final Fantasy XIII and many others, so much detail and build-up is now gone into the development of video game characters, and as a result I root for them and care about them so much as the game progresses, like reading a book or watching a movie. And because I’m responsible for their actions and development, I almost become more invested in them than I would if I WERE reading a book or watching a movie. And they’re woven together with AMAZING music (And LA Noire’s soundtrack is AMAZING. As is Final Fantasy XIII. And the Legend of Zelda. And countless others), and spectaculary detailed art design and layout, and the combination of all of this makes you realize one very simple truth: Video games are as artistic as anything you can think of. And it’s amazing.