Realizing the Quest Based Fantasy: Adventure Based Elements in The Golden Compass Video Game

This is the paper I wrote onThe Golden Compass game during my Master's program several years ago. While it doesn't perfectly tie into the discussion topic of the video, I did want to share some of my more in depth thoughts on the topic. This is the version of the paper that I turned in; I will probably come back and edit in in time--either in a new post or an update of this post--but I wanted to have something else to share with you in the mean time. Enjoy!

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In his essay “Tolkien, Lewis, and the Explosion of Genre Fantasy,” Edward James expands on terms from Clute and Grant’s Encyclopedia of Fantasy and relates them to Tolkien and Lewis’s fantasy works. The key to this type of fantasy he describes is that it focuses heavily on the quest of the protagonist rather than the foreignness of the world it exists in for the reader. Though Lyra Balaqua’s quest in The Golden Compass is clearly important to the novel, other elements overshadow the quest in that form. The fantasy world of The Golden Compass video game, however focuses on the quest and establishes the quest based fantasy for the novel in James’s terms. There are three ways the game emphasizes Lyra’s quest: it places the focus quest elements right from the beginning, it effectively utilizes setting and level design to create mini quests within the larger quest, and it expands upon and effectively uses her companions in the gameplay.

When considering quests in general, James explains “the sense of wrongness in the world demands healing, and that is the purpose of the quest on which our heroes embark” (64). In this manner, the novel acknowledges the importance of Lyra’s journey within the scheme of worldly developments, because she is a prophesized savior. As Dr. Lanselius says, “Without this child, we shall all die. So the witches say. But she must fulfill [her] destiny in ignorance of what she is doing because only in her ignorance can we be saved (Pullman 154). Clearly, even the novel knows Lyra’s quest is an integral element of the story, but this acknowledgement doesn’t occur until the beginning of the second part of the novel. The video game, on the other hand, makes the importance of the quest clear from the opening sequence, where Lyra and Iorek Byrnison are already searching for the lost boy who has escaped Bolvanger. This event occurs months after the start of the novel, and is in the midst of the larger quest to find Bolvanger and all the lost children. By placing the player directly in a primary quest from the story, the game establishes quest as its primary focus, and all other gameplay elements tie directly into that focus.

The first quest element the game utilizes to establish the adventure fantasy of the story is the use of landscapes. James describes this element in terms of “walking (which means the characters travel slowly through landscapes and have to solve problems rather than ride away from them)” (65). Within the novel, this is seen because Lyra and her companions venture into the world including her solo infiltration of Bolvanger after she is captured. Where the game establishes this better, however, is in the level design, which creates mini quests out of what would seem to be the most mundane actions within the novel. A primary moment that utilizes this is when Lyra is exploring the vents in Bolvanger. In the novel, this quest is simple in nature: “she was crouching in a narrow metal channel supported in a framework of girders and struts…light came up from below, and in the faint gleam Lyra could see the narrow space (only about two feet or so in height) extending in all directions around her…so long as she made no noise, she should be able to go from one end of the station to the other” (Pullman 236). Within the game, however, this setting is an open level for Lyra to explore, running and jumping through different rooms and different obstacles in order to reach her goal. If she falls, she is in the hallway, open to discovery by the adults, and must return to the ducts as quickly as possible. This level design element of the video game makes the player explore the world and solve the problems it presents, which goes along with James’s description of this element of the adventure fantasy.

The second quest element the game utilizes to solidify its position as a quest-based fantasy is the use of companions, most specifically Iorek Byrnison. Within the novel, Iorek serves as Lyra’s cohort for some of her adventures, but his main connection is to John Faa. When Lyra wants to seek out the Tony Makarios because the alethiometer told her that he was near, John Faa asks Iorek if he’ll take her, and Iorek responds, “I do your bidding, Lord Faa. Tell me to take the child…and I will” (Pullman 182). This separates Iorek from Lyra because he needs permission to do her bidding. Within the game, in the same moment, Lyra comes to Iorek and he takes her right away because they develop a strong bond in their first meeting through Lyra getting his armor back: “Iorek: If you really know where my armor is, bring me a piece of it as proof” (The Golden Compass). After she retrieves his helm and he obtains the rest of the armor he agrees to join the company saying “I have a contract with the child” (The Golden Compass). By formalizing the connection and companionship between Lyra and Iorek, they are able to have their own quests within game. This ties directly to James’s idea of separation as it relates to companions, which expands the fantasy story. Iorek’s quests are combat-based quests because he is a fighting bear, and Lyra’s are exploration and stealth based. This expansion of the story and its in game relationship to the gameplay of the mini quests, further exemplifies the fantasy quest based narrative the game strives to present.

Through the elements of fantasy Edward James highlights, the video game adaptation of The Golden Compass takes the quest narrative of the novel and elaborates on it solidify its position as a quest-based fantasy story. Though the elements are all hinted at within the novel, the video game medium allows for expansion exploration of those elements to make the quest, more obvious and grand in scope. The level design and narrative choices the game makes provide the focus on Lyra’s quest that cannot be fully explored within the written text.

Works Cited

The Golden Compass. Sega of America. 2007. Video Game.

James, Edward. “Tolkien, Lewis, and the Explosion of Genre Fantasy.” The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. 62-78. Print

Pullman, Philip. The Golden Compass. New York: Ballantine Books, 1997. Print