Sufferer Odysseus in Video Games of the 21st century

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In recent decades, the active development of the video game market, as well as the rapid growth in the number of game content consumers, have caused an urgent need for scientifi c research of these products. In foreign game studies, there are two approaches: narratology and ludology. The narratological approach, which is based on the analysis of the plot of the game scenario, has a long history and is closer to the humanities, while ludology includes the digital aspects of video games. Based on the fi rst approach, which allows us to consider in detail various aspects of the psycho-emotional impact on the educational level of the game user, we can offer some recommendations for video content creators, as well as for the bodies that control the creation of such products. The article analyzes three computer games that have the name Odysseus in their titles and that use episodes and details from Homer’s heroic epic The Odyssey in their plots: the 2000 Odyssey quest from the French company Cryo Interactive (The Odyssey: The Search for Ulysses), the 2011 game by the Russian company Nevosoft Odysseus. The Long Way Home, and the adventure action game with numerous quests from Ubisoft Assassin’s Creed, which released the fi rst part of the game Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey in 2018. Using comparative methods, the narratives of the listed games are compared with the narrative in the original version f Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, and elements of the Gothic tradition and associated popular culture in the gameplay scenario are noted. As a result of the study, it became obvious that the postmodernist general cultural context of modern civilization and game designers, who turned to ancient archetypal models for advertising purposes, chose the most destructive, barbaric type of using ancient names and narratives. In classical plots, there are no moral guidelines left, laid down there by classical authors. An important issue, which the conducted analysis leads to, is the problem of responsibility of video game developers for the educational, upbringing and informational content of the content they offer.