Can a video game trigger past-life memories?

[insearchof_1785]

Hey everyone. It's been a bit of while since I posted here. I hope everyone is safe, well and most of all happy and healthy?

Now to get to the reason I'm making this thread. I feel so ridiculous about sharing this. It doesn't make any sense and I feel so absolutely silly to even post this. But, I cannot shake it from my mind or emotions. I should not be this emotional and upset over a video game ending.

It's just a video game.

Okay yes, "A Plague Tale : Requiem" is set in 14th Century France and it deals with several very emotionally-charged subjects of the period - the Hundred Years' War, the Black Death and of course the storyline of Amicia and Hugo de Rune who have been fighting to stay alive since the Inquisition had upended their lives. Spoiler alert to anyone who hasn't played the new game yet: It was released just a few days ago and there are game play through videos already. The ending just felt so unfair to me (Hugo's death). But again, it's a video game. And I should not be this upset and feel this emotional. It's just weird and I cannot explain it. Maybe I'm just that invested in their characters? Maybe that is it? But, it shouldn't make me this depressed.

Now, in the story of the game, which runs through the first installment (Innocence) and the sequel (Requiem) Hugo suffers from a mysterious blood disease but it is infact a bloodline curse that runs through particular families where the carrier hosts the "Prima Macula" which is an ancient, supernatural power of controlling rats and unleashing war, death and famine. That is fictional of course - though the war, death, famine and of course the Black Death are very real. They are as I mentioned hunted by bad people trying to get Hugo and kidnap him to harness his "gift." Amicia is always protecting her little brother (Hugo is 5 years-old in the first game, and 5-6 years-old by the time Requiem begins) from the bad people who want to do him harm.

But enough about the game. It just doesn't make sense to me how I am so emotional and so sad about a video game, especially the ending. Because it's just a video game. Yes the storyline is very real and very sad but it just... It doesn't make any sense.

On top of this, and I don't know why but I feel like I can relate a great deal to Hugo. I just do and I can't explain it at all. I just feel like I can relate to his pain and suffering and it is strange to me. Maybe I'm just that empathetic? I don't know, honestly. But I feel like I can strongly relate to him. I'm in my early 30's and feel ridiculous saying that I can relate to a 5-6 year-old fictional, video game character. Anyways.

Then there are the dreams. I watched the game play through on the 18th, which of course was only a few days ago and sure one could say that the emotional reaction is still there, but I keep having dreams and have this residual sadness that won't leave. I keep dreaming about them, Amicia and Hugo. I don't know what the connection is at all. I talked with my fiancée about this last night over dinner. Of my past-lives that I can remember, I know of two around that part of History. One was earlier than the Black Death, about 200 years prior. The other was 200 years after the Black Death. So there's a 3-400 year gap between these two life-times which could be a possibility. It just bothers me so much and I feel like it should not. It doesn't make any sense and I feel like I'm just ranting at this point.

Well, anyways. I feel like I can't go back to sleep. And I'm too awake now. Thanks for reading, those who see this.

 

[Cyrus]

Hey everyone. It's been a bit of while since I posted here. I hope everyone is safe, well and most of all happy and healthy?

Now to get to the reason I'm making this thread. I feel so ridiculous about sharing this. It doesn't make any sense and I feel so absolutely silly to even post this. But, I cannot shake it from my mind or emotions. I should not be this emotional and upset over a video game ending.

It's just a video game.

Okay yes, "A Plague Tale : Requiem" is set in 14th Century France and it deals with several very emotionally-charged subjects of the period - the Hundred Years' War, the Black Death and of course the storyline of Amicia and Hugo de Rune who have been fighting to stay alive since the Inquisition had upended their lives. Spoiler alert to anyone who hasn't played the new game yet: It was released just a few days ago and there are game play through videos already. The ending just felt so unfair to me (Hugo's death). But again, it's a video game. And I should not be this upset and feel this emotional. It's just weird and I cannot explain it. Maybe I'm just that invested in their characters? Maybe that is it? But, it shouldn't make me this depressed.

Now, in the story of the game, which runs through the first installment (Innocence) and the sequel (Requiem) Hugo suffers from a mysterious blood disease but it is infact a bloodline curse that runs through particular families where the carrier hosts the "Prima Macula" which is an ancient, supernatural power of controlling rats and unleashing war, death and famine. That is fictional of course - though the war, death, famine and of course the Black Death are very real. They are as I mentioned hunted by bad people trying to get Hugo and kidnap him to harness his "gift." Amicia is always protecting her little brother (Hugo is 5 years-old in the first game, and 5-6 years-old by the time Requiem begins) from the bad people who want to do him harm.

But enough about the game. It just doesn't make sense to me how I am so emotional and so sad about a video game, especially the ending. Because it's just a video game. Yes the storyline is very real and very sad but it just... It doesn't make any sense.

On top of this, and I don't know why but I feel like I can relate a great deal to Hugo. I just do and I can't explain it at all. I just feel like I can relate to his pain and suffering and it is strange to me. Maybe I'm just that empathetic? I don't know, honestly. But I feel like I can strongly relate to him. I'm in my early 30's and feel ridiculous saying that I can relate to a 5-6 year-old fictional, video game character. Anyways.

Then there are the dreams. I watched the game play through on the 18th, which of course was only a few days ago and sure one could say that the emotional reaction is still there, but I keep having dreams and have this residual sadness that won't leave. I keep dreaming about them, Amicia and Hugo. I don't know what the connection is at all. I talked with my fiancée about this last night over dinner. Of my past-lives that I can remember, I know of two around that part of History. One was earlier than the Black Death, about 200 years prior. The other was 200 years after the Black Death. So there's a 3-400 year gap between these two life-times which could be a possibility. It just bothers me so much and I feel like it should not. It doesn't make any sense and I feel like I'm just ranting at this point.

Well, anyways. I feel like I can't go back to sleep. And I'm too awake now. Thanks for reading, those who see this.

Hi,

Anything can trigger PL memories: video games, erotic games, smells, sounds, nothing at all (spontaneous unprovoked triggering).

IMHO.

Regards.

 

[SeekerOfKnowledge]

I saw a thread about getting triggered by video games, but I think that was on another forum.
The Assassin's Creed series seems to have quite an effect on some, same with certain war games (mostly related to WW1 or WW2, but also others).
Anyway, I don't see anything silly here. Especially when it is a game with historical elements.

I had a look at "A Plague's Tale". The landscapes, buildings, furniture and stuff looks very detailed. That alone could trigger. That one castle on the hill reminded me of something I saw during a regression, but that would have been 150 years or so earlier.

As for feeling drawn to fictional characters, maybe it is not so much these specific characters, but... the archetypes, rolemodels and situations. You may have had to protect someone in a PL. Or people were chasing you for some reason and you were on the run, for what reason ever. Or you saw a close person being murdered. Didn't watch the whole playthrough, just wanted to see what this game was about (and wanted to see some of it because it is set in the Middle Ages). But maybe it's something like that. What Hugo and Amicia had to go through may have reminded you of similar hardships.

 

[insearchof_1785]

@Cyrus and @SeekerOfKnowledge thanks for your in-put! It means a lot.

 

[melon04]

I saw a thread about getting triggered by video games, but I think that was on another forum.
The Assassin's Creed series seems to have quite an effect on some, same with certain war games (mostly related to WW1 or WW2, but also others).
Anyway, I don't see anything silly here. Especially when it is a game with historical elements.

I had a look at "A Plague's Tale". The landscapes, buildings, furniture and stuff looks very detailed. That alone could trigger. That one castle on the hill reminded me of something I saw during a regression, but that would have been 150 years or so earlier.

As for feeling drawn to fictional characters, maybe it is not so much these specific characters, but... the archetypes, rolemodels and situations. You may have had to protect someone in a PL. Or people were chasing you for some reason and you were on the run, for what reason ever. Or you saw a close person being murdered. Didn't watch the whole playthrough, just wanted to see what this game was about (and wanted to see some of it because it is set in the Middle Ages). But maybe it's something like that. What Hugo and Amicia had to go through may have reminded you of similar hardships.

All of this makes sense. However, is it possible for fiction and actual past life memories to be mixed up, and if so, how can you tell the difference?

 

[GalaxyDreamer90]

Never played the game but have heard of it. While it could be past life related it could just be that as you said you could relate to the character who died. I'm not usually the one to get upset when a character dies though (spoiler for anyone who wants to watch star wars rebels but hasn't seen it). I was kind of upset when Kanon was killed (though it was expected) as I liked his character and could even relate a little bit to his character being a mentor as I was mentoring a young girl at the time. I think that is one of the things that draws us to movies and video games and stuff is how they deal with relatable subjects such as death. I can remember the first time watching the movie the lion King when it first came out in theaters which was just a few months after my grandma had passed away. Though I don't remember much of my grandma passing away since I was just 3 at the time I was able to relate to Simba when his father Mufasa died. This is one of the things that make the lion king one of my favorite Disney movies and looking back at the movie I think the creators did a good job portraying death and the emotion of grief that comes afterward which may be why it's such a relatable movie. Maybe it's the same with the video game the creators made characters and situations that are so relatable that its upsetting when a relatable character dies.