In March of 2022, I was asked to review In Rays of Light. I was excited about this game but soon found myself struggling to get any work done as I had a continuing family crisis to deal with. Now that I’ve found a brief moment to sit down and play through In Rays of Light. I just have to appreciate the game not only for the message it tries to convey. But also the irony of the message due to where it originates from.
In Rays of Light is a Russian-developed anti-war game. In Rays of Light was developed to showcase the horrors of war; at the beginning of the game. You wake up in a deserted building and play as an individual who’s been hiding in a bunker. Built under a soviet research facility, you have to figure out what is happening.
The story of In Rays of Light consists of piecing notes, journal entries, and a few small puzzles to figure out what is happening, where you are, and what is going on. Then during the climax in the end, after everything is said and done, you pass away. There is a reason for it, and if you play the game. And take the time to understand what the developer is trying to convey.
In Rays of Light is more about the experience as you try to grasp, even on the smallest of scales. The horrors of war. What happens to us and the people we love as we’re forced to watch them suffer and die from fallout brought about by Nuclear weapons and the horrors we have to live through and endure to survive during such catastrophic times?
It’s also a reminder that even in times of hopelessness where nothing makes sense. That people aren’t inherently bad. But they can be, and enemies aren’t who we think they are.
In Rays of Light as I already stated. Is an anti-war game created by a Russian game developer named Sergey Sergeich. And as a global gaming community, we know that on February 24th, 2022. Russia launched an assault on nearby Ukraine.
Since the start of the war, a majority of Russian people have been threatened with fines or prison time for speaking out against their Government and the war, while others have lost their jobs as a result, and cannot provide for themselves. Notably the people I care about.
In Rays of Light is a game that cries out for unity and brotherhood. That is torn apart by conflicts of ideologies and governments. We as people want peace; we seek peace, and to live in peaceful times, but it is denied to us and not by our own hands.
It is a game that reminds us that we don’t have power during times like these. And how in the end, we will still all die the same. In Rays of Light conveys so much for such little gameplay and reminds us that it doesn’t matter where we are in the world. All of us can have a strong stance against war, violence, and the things that threaten to take away the peace we desire.
When a game can reflect an individual’s beliefs, even when the world wants to label them as the enemy, we could take the time to consider who the villains in the world really are. We all want peace, we all desire peace, and we all want to live happy lives.
Those who seek to do harm and do evil are our enemies, and we should not label everyone from a nation as evil, just those select few when there are those. Who, like us, seek peace, we should seek peace together.
An autistic gamer with opinions on games who also enjoys making dumb videos on the internet!