Aida Video Game

Aida is an opera in four acts that was written by Giuseppe Verdi and was first performed in the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo on 24 December 1871. It tells the story of an Ethiopian princess named Aida that is kidnapped by the Egyptians. Aida falls in love with an Egyptian military commander named Radames and the opera tells the story of their star-crossed love, which eventually ends in their deaths. The opera was received with immense success and praise. The time period that the opera takes place in is never specified, however it can be assumed to be the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Taking place in Egypt, the mise en scene of the opera is elaborate and evocative. The stage always has large fixtures and set pieces and the actors always wear extravagant costumes suited to the ancient Egyptian time period.
The story of Aida ends in such tragedy and sorrow that many of its viewers wish that things could have ended differently. There are so many different paths that the characters could have taken to secure their love. So when asked to come up with an idea for a video game adaptation for the opera Aida, I immediately thought of what would happen if the characters Aida and Radames were able to get back at the characters that led to their untimely death. Also, keeping to the time period of the game, I felt that it would be interesting to see Ancient Egyptian religion play a role in the plot lines of the two characters. In terms of what style of video game the operatic adaptation would be, I feel that it would most appropriately be a role-playing game
where you can play as the characters Aida and Radames. The game would be called, simply “Aida”.
The game would begin with a choice; Will you choose to be Aida or Radames? Once you choose, the game begins the same but things change as the game progresses. Once the game starts, your character wakes up and starts walking around a tomb. As your character walks around you see certain landmarks that cause you to have flashbacks of your life and death. You realize that you have come back from the dead, however your loved one is not with you. Depending upon which character you choose, you will have different abilities. Radames was a military commander, so he will be stronger in combat and have weaknesses in terms of his mental ability. Aida was reserved but very smart, so she will be strong in will power and stealth situations, however will be weaker in battle. Many elements of gameplay are required to succeed in the game, but the characters will experience situations differently depending on their strengths and also the decisions they make throughout the game.
In terms of design of the game, the graphics would be extremely detail oriented. You would get a sense of the original opera, Aida with certain areas and landmarks reflecting the set pieces in the show. The color temperature would be a lot of warm colors such as orange and browns that represent the theme of Ancient Egypt. Throughout the game, your character will meet many of the characters from the original opera, such as Amneris, the daughter of the Pharaoh and the woman whose jealousy over Radames and Aida’s love eventually leads to their deaths. These characters from the original opera will vary from being friendly to being main enemies in the game, such as they were in the original opera.
The objective of the game is simple: find your lover. You both begin in the same tomb that you both died in, however the other is not there. Each time you play the game, you are faced
with certain decisions that determine what enemies you will need to fight against and what advantages you may find. Throughout the game you will also have the opportunity to meet different characters from Ancient Egyptian mythology such as Horus and Anubis. These different Gods and Goddesses can grant you different abilities throughout the game if you complete missions of worship. Every decision you make in the game impacts your story’s plot line through the characters in the game. If you act belligerently and kill mercilessly, characters will fear you but also disrespect you. If you act kindly, people will help you but enemies will be slightly harder to defeat, as they will not be intimidated by you. Many possible outcomes can result from the decisions you make in the game, and not all of them include finding your lover alive.
Within the original opera, Aida the tone of the show is dark, yet romantic and I would like that to hold true within the video game adaptation. The character’s decisions in Aida are very life-altering and that would hold true within the video game adaptation as well. I feel like it would be emphasized with modern renditions of some of the songs from Aida and the player would feel a real sense of story from the gameplay and theme. The game would be difficult in that the player must think before they do anything major in the game, however it would also be fun because of the atmosphere of Ancient Egypt and the ability to control your leveling ability within the different paths you can take in the game.
I think this game would be a landmark in the history of video games. It would provide two separate, but intertwined playthroughs that would have interesting gameplay elements that would be unique to them. It would hopefully inspire more and more interesting ideas for video games. Aida is a very interesting and beautiful opera, and my video game would hopefully bring it to an audience who would never before have taken an interest in it.

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