So I was playing a game the other day that made me think.

In this case it was Square Enix’s Final Fantasy IV for the DS. Which, incidentally, is a very much better game than it’s predecessor on the same console.

The mechanic in the game that stuck with me is a very simple thing, but nonetheless was a striking contrast to the norm in the majority of games. Role-Playing Games), they’re called. They give you a number of characters that go from absurdly weak at the start of the game, to fantastically world-breakingly strong at the end of the game. It’s the accepted norm that as time passes (in-game) characters get stronger.

Your strength, stamina, vitality, wisdom, charisma etc… all get better.

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As I was leveling up to defeat the next huge boss under a large waterfall, I noticed that a character in my party, Tellah, was getting weaker. In the gaming sense, Tellah was still gaining from experience, his intellect and spirit were increasing, but his strength, speed and stamina were decreasing.

He is an old character, getting older.

The fact that he wasn’t in quite the same shape as his team members subtly conveys themes of aging not usually seen in video games. Not having yet played the latest in the Metal Gear series), I can’t comment on how it treats aging, and the issues that it brings. But it was great to be confronted with this in the context of play…

It almost was enough to make me not want to level up, to stall the progression of time. It gave me the feeling that time is slipping through your fingers, not wanting to confront the reality that we will all face… eventually.

There are many games (and movies for that matter) that deal with issues of death and loss, but the subtlety in this mechanic made for a particularly poignant moment for me, small and quiet in the context of the bigger story and themes passing by in the rest of the game, but nonetheless there.

The experience of FF-IV is much better off for this.