Games & Geschichte(n)

This is an investigation, on how the past - and especially the (Late) Middle Ages - are portrayed in video games. The focus are two game worlds: Firstly, that of the bestselling action/RPG-series Kingdom Come: Deliverance and secondly, that of the adventure game Pentiment. The way in which the past is understood and used as a concept in these settings, is investigated by comparing and contrasting these game settings with each other. The reason for choosing these games is that they contain very different portrayals of the past due to their differences in story and game mechanics. Additionally, while Pentiments PR campaign and media reception mainly centered on its story, KC: D was heavily advertised as showing an especially detailed and 'authentic' version of the Middle Ages. This claim was widely accepted in game journalism and also, at least regarding the representation of physical objects like weapons and armour, by some scholars. As the analysis shows, however, nothing could be further from the truth: The series KC: D heavily distorts history for story reasons, the society and beliefs portrayed in the game are more representative of modern attitudes than medieval ones and a lot of the games weapons and armours are from different time periods and inaccurate portrayals. However, the game Pentiment, which did not make similar grandiose claims regarding its supposed authenticity, does show a greater care in how to portray the past and uses elements to great effect, which would be unfamiliar to a general audience, but are rooted in genuine historical research.