Learning True History

Like any medium, games have the potential to educate.  Unlike a textbook, movie or documentary, however, games have the unique property of being an interactive medium, allowing for a whole new level of engagement.  When most people think of educational games, they think of the classic educational games, particularly from the 90s, with games like the Liberty’s Kids game, the Carmen Sandiego games, Zoombinis or the Cluefinders series.  Nowadays most of us have moved on to more traditional hardcore games, but the truth is that even those games have something to teach us.  More than you may realize, in fact.  Historical revisionism is a pervasive issue in textbooks.  They are full of lies and disgusting sanitization, but games give us nothing but the truth.  The following are just a few things games have taught us about true world history over the years.

American History: Samurai Shodown 6

As a preface establishing the founding of America, I recommend watching the movie America: The Motion Picture, an accurate depiction of the battle for America’s independence from Benedict Arnold and the evil King George.  History books leave out many of the details and even lie about Abraham Lincoln’s death, but America: The Motion Picture gives you the story straight.  This is the only non-game media I’ll recommend in this article.

For a view of what else history books hide from us, we look at Samurai Shodown 6.  True, it’s a franchise that’s largely about Japan during the Edo period, but it also gives us a pretty important piece of American history as welll.

The books tell us that 7^th president of the United States Andrew Jackson was fond of dueling, but they describe these as if they were single shot pistol matches where the duelists pace and then fire on each other.  The reality is that Andrew Jackson would viciously fight samurai, Prussian warriors and other combatants from around the world using his trusty bayonet and flaming eagle shot!  He was quite the looker, too, contrary to what those history book portraits will tell you.

There’s also the matter of John Adams, but we’ll get to that.

 

French History: Jeanne D’Arc

 

Arguably the most famous story in France’s history is that of Jean D’Arc (often translated as Joan of Arc).  It’s the story of a woman who rises to military prominence under the guidance of God and fights in the Hundred Years War against the English.  While the actual timeline of events in the books aren’t entirely inaccurate (they did take place), we need only look at the game Jeanne D’Arc to understand the truth.

The reality is that the Hundred Years war was one being fought by demons! The English nobles were all possessed by these demons as part of a pact by the Duke of Bedford to ensure the safety of England, with the leader possessing Prince Henry the VI! Of course, since the demons were so powerful, the French needed an edge to win, which came in the form of magical armlets that let them gain magical armor to boost their combat abilities!

Books also leave out the lion men like La Hire, the elves and the holy magic clerics used, which is downright unforgivable on its own, but even worse than leaving details out is that they outright lie!  Books tell you that Jeanne was burned at the stake and died, but that wasn’t her! It wasn’t her!  She was still alive!  That’s why she was able to later fight Captain Kidd, Ghengis Kahn and Hulk Hogan!

Japanese History: Sengoku Basara

 

Most people would agree that the Japanese history told in history books is pretty awesome on its own.  It’s almost as exciting as Arthurian lore, but real Japanese history is even more exciting than that.

One of the hallmarks of historical accuracy in media, the Sengoku Basara franchise transports players through a time capsule, where every last detail of Sengoku-era society and the people of the time are all as real as can be.

To be clear, Sengoku Basara doesn’t accurately portray events, as the characters in the games usually get their own stories that portray things differently every time, plus there are two anime with their own plotlines, but as far as the actual historical figures go, there is a lot to learn.

If you believe the lies, Yukimura Sanada and Masamune Date never even knew each other and fought using a spear and a sword, respectively.  If you believe the truth, the two were the fiercest of rivals, each seeking to get stronger and defeat the other, with Yukimura using two spears and Masamune using his six sword style!

Sengoku Basara also portrays Nobunaga Oda for what he was: a fierce and evil warlord who sat on a throne of skulls and purposefully (not jokingly) named himself the Demon King of the 6^th Heaven, then came back from the dead as a demon as part of a plot by Mitsuhide Akechi!

They don’t just stick to the Japanese figures either!  History books tell the story of Charles Francis Xavier, a Catholic missionary who traveled to Japan to spread the word of the good book and brought two gifts: a gun and a clock.  That is a gross understatement.  Xavier didn’t just bring a gun, he brought many guns that he used to subjugate the non-believers and a clock would be small potatoes considering he was able to make karakuri robots in his image to fight for him!

I’ve yet to find any history book that brings up the theme park his protégé Sorin Otomo made to celebrate Xavi and Christianity or his similar subjugation using his giant mechanical singing Xavi head.  The attempts by modern history books to rewrite our past is absolutely terrifying and it’s especially apparent here!

Here we see Gallop Tachibana wearing his mascot suit.

The Worldwide Truth: Conduit 2

Demons aren’t the only things at play in our world history.  There is another force that has been present among our race for centuries, one that is right beneath our very noses.

It’s all detailed in the game Conduit 2.  A race of aliens called the progenitors have existed for centuries among men.  John Adams, one of the founding fathers, is one of them and is going to take over the world with his personal human attack force alongside a race of aliens using various conduits from around the world for easy travel!

Conduit 2 brings to light the existence of quite a lot of things that cynics would sneer at and call conspiracy theories, but are all real! Agartha really exists in the center of the earth!  The Oort Cloud hides a giant alien spacecraft!  The Mayan Calendar is really a conduit for the aliens!  The 2012 hooplah must’ve been a distraction!  The Lost City of Z is real!  It’s real I tell you!  It’s all real!

Oh shut up.