Ecological Precarity and Techno-Utopianism in the Soundscapes of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
First author: StokesYear: 2024
Abstract
Analysis of the gameplay, aesthetics, and soundscapes of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild reveals two broad structural principles: ecological precarity (a sense that the natural world is precious, delicate, and vulnerable) and techno-utopianism (a belief that technological progress and human ingenuity can solve every possible problem). Stokes argues that these principles are incompatible—that precarity of the overworld soundscape, marked by ambient nature sounds and delicately atomized piano fragments, is fundamentally at odds with the techno-utopianism of the shrine soundscape, marked by booming machinery and pulsing electronic music. This pivots into a broader discussion of the ways that encoded value systems inform the games that we play. Does the persistent thread of techno-utopianism (alongside the inherent triumphalism of the Zelda franchise's gameplay), undercut the ecological and aesthetic moral aimed at by the Breath of the Wild ’s designers?Details
Language: EnglishCountry of affiliation: -
Published in: Music and Sonic Environments in Video Games: Listening to and Performing Ludic Soundscapes
Publication type: Book chapter
Source: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003275305
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