As of late, I've noticed many connections from the ideas of the PS and SoA creators that directly correlate to my favorite author/philosopher, Ayn Rand, an author of both fiction and nonfiction who wrote Atlas Shrugged and The Virtue of Selfishness, voted by readers of the Modern Library as the most influential books of fiction and non-fiction of all-time respectively. I know these connections are why I value these games so much. There are little hints all over in these games to formulate such an argument.
This topic builds off of the topic I started on the PS series vs. the Final Fantasy series, as many of the ideas I presented there are also applicable here. This topic is not so much meant as a discussion as probably none of you have read Rand's work or heard of her ideas, but merely underlining the obvious, and pointing PS and SoA fans toward a set of ideas you might enjoy, as these themes are implicit in PS, but explicit in many situations, mostly in SoA. SoA is the closest embodiment to Rand's philosophy I have seen in either movies or other games. As you may know, the PS games SoA titles were created by much of the same staff.
For a starting point: all these games are epics struggles against tyrannical despots, governments, or movements. Lassic, Motherbrain, and the Mystic force, Dark Force, and the Valuan Empire. Without spoiling too much of Rand's work, she was the greatest advocate of freedom, and stating that one must live a moral life, which includes fighting to the death for one's freedom, as existence is impossible without it. That may not seem to be a strong connection, as nearly every RPG has foes like these. But this leads to the next point.
I could easily dissect all of the PS and SoA titles showing links to Rand's philosophy, but I'll concentrate on PSII as many of the ideas are explicitly stated in PSII. Examine PSII closer. PSII has many elements resulting in a condemnation of totalitarian statism, particularly of communism. Rand wrote a great deal about this issue, illustrating how these ideals come from the incorrect morality of altruism, self-sacrifice. Her philosophy, Objectivism, holds that one's life is one's standard of value, and the way to attain it is through work. Almost no one on Motavia works, and PSII shows us that this is how Motherbrain gains control of Algo and has the power over everyone's life under the system. Rand holds self-esteem as developed through knowledge of one's efficacy in the world; achieved through one's work, and men that are proud will not give up the right to their own life. PSII shows us that these men do not work, and are completely subservient to a statist regime. PSII shows that disasters and tragedy are increasing on an alarming scale. Rand states that this is the only possible result of giving up one's rights. Darum kills and robs to rescue his daughter from bandits. The Motavian government takes no action against these criminals which inhabit multiple facilities around the planet. Rand states that in a totalitarian system that the criminals are protected and the innocent are destroyed. Darum becomes a vigilante to rescue his daughter and Rolf follows suit as he resists the system. (In SoA the heroes are all pirates. When government becomes the villain, it is the vigilantes that stand for justice.) All churches from PSI are gone. Religion is not permitted under communism, as the religion is worship of one's fellow men, meaning, according to Rand, the state. Rand's philosophy rejects religion, but she holds that a government must not ever attempt to censor the ideas of its' citizens. Space travel is banned. This is clearly another totalitarian measure restricting the freedom of the Motavians and Palmans.
Nearly every piece of information can be shown as a point condemning statism, a view that Rand fought passionately for, having escaped from Soviet Russia. Rather than continue on about PSII, I will move on and offer you this excellent argument about communism in PSII: http://www.camineet.net/camineet/theori ... ge-ps2.asp
The main point from the other topic, presenting life as it should be and ought to be, is Rand's philosophy of Art. She wrote an entire book on it called The Romantic Manifesto, Romanticism as value-driven action by characters presented by moral dilemmas. What could be more value-driven than all the PSIV characters disregarding all else but to save their lives, the worlds and the people they love? Chaz faces a moral dilemma when he is ordered to save the universe. He has willingly followed the cause of the morally just, but he refuses to takes orders when the good is dictated to him. This is one of Rand's constant arguments; the mind cannot be forced. Chaz was perfectly fine with following the course of the right until it was mandated. Yes, Rand would reject the idea of the Great Light in PSIV the way it is presented, but so does Chaz in his encounter.
In a final note on moral decisions: SoA makes the player decide for Vyse what is right to do. Here, the PS creators have directly put the onus of moral judgment upon the player, and Vyse is judged accordingly by these decisions.
One of Rand's lesser known ideas, sense of life: a person's sum of all their life experiences and judgment of these situations, applies to all but PSII. In these other games, the universe is projected as a place capable of attaining a successful, happy life. I would say that Rika, Vyse and Aika best represents the sense of life of the philosophy of Objectivism: a universe one wants to be a part of, a gleeful existence unmarred by suffering, which Rand also rejected as a way of life, but altruism upholds. SoA in particular offers up a radiant world where the good is achievable, and the standard to behave on, not the Final Fantasy worlds of depravity. No matter how hard the struggle in the PS titles and SoA, the characters never consider giving up or ceding one value to evil.
Rand does totally reject mysticism in favor of reason, and there is some mysticism in the PS world, there is an interesting progression to SoA where mysticism is virtually non-existent. Where everything is explainable, that magic comes from use of crystals from the various moons that once mastered, become a tool for the characters. The mystic elements are very much reduced for an rpg, considering that after PS, the creators eliminated the word "magic" for techniques until brief mentions in PSIV. There are definitely mystic elements that clash with Rand's philosophy, but these ideas do not dominate the games.
As I stated above, I could probably write an entire book on the comparisons between Objectivism and the ideas put forth by the PS creators in these games, but I'll end the argument here with on final point about a few of the names and places that correspond to Rand. The son of Rhys and Maia, a hero of the second generation in PSIII is named Ayn, and there is a discovery in SoA called Will o' Wisps, which just happens to be Rand's self-declared favorite song of all time.
I hope you all find this discussion interesting. If you found the ideas here interesting, and being fans of the PS series, I suggest reading some of Ayn Rand's work. Here's a link to a great source of information about her philosophy: http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer