The Divine Comedy including Dante's Inferno
The Divine Comedy is without question the greatest work of literature the medieval world ever produced. The word "comedy" is in the old sense of "a story that begins sad and ends happy:" It tells the story of Dante Alighieri's journey through Hell and on to salvation.
Story summary, adapted from Wikipedia:
The Divine Comedy, written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in 1321, is widely considered the central epic poem of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature. The poem's imaginative and allegorical vision of the Christian afterlife is a culmination of the medieval world-view as it had developed in the Western Church. It is divided into three parts, the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.
The poem tells of Dante's journey through the three realms of the dead, lasting from the night before Good Friday to the Wednesday after Easter in the spring of 1300. The Roman poet Virgil guides him through Hell and Purgatory; Beatrice, Dante's ideal woman, guides him through Heaven.
In Northern Italy's political struggle between Guelphs and Ghibellines. Florence's Guelphs split into factions around 1300, the White Guelphs, and the Black Guelphs. Dante was among the White Guelphs who were exiled in 1302. This exile, which lasted the rest of Dante's life, shows its influence in many parts of the Comedy, from prophecies of Dante's exile to Dante's views of politics to the eternal damnation of some of his opponents.
The last word in each of the three parts of the Divine Comedy is stelle, "stars."
The story begins with Dante lost in a dark wood, assailed by beasts (a lion, a leopard, and a she-wolf) and unable to find his way home. Dante is at last rescued by Virgil, and the two of them realize that their only way home is through Hell. The Inferno follows the two through the ten circles of Hell, down to the center of the Earth. The second part, Purgatory, follows them through the seven terraces of that mountain, up to the garden of Eden. The third part, Paradise, follows them through the seven heavens, the stars, and ultimately the throne of God.
About the game
Enter The Story always follows the original story, chapter by chapter, but is more concerned with the ideas behind the story. And so, just as Dante reflected the cosmological beliefs that had evolved up to the year 1300, so the game keeps these but also brings them in harmony with a more modern understanding, and speculates even further. And just as Dante included many historical and contemporary figures, the game keeps these characters and also adds a few others from later centuries and our own day.
Enter The Story treats the poem as real history. Which means that some parts need to be reinterpreted in the light of modern understanding. Not changed - every story in Enter The Story is strictly faithful tot he original, event by event - but reinterpreted in the way that a believe in the Bible might interpret the sacred text in the light of modern discoveries. For example, Dante describes Hell in the form of a vast funnel shaped cave, thousands of miles around. Clearly the roof of such a cave would collapse, and besides, no such cavity has been found through sonar readings. No doubt Dante merely vast caves and only speculated on their size. Similarly, Dante travels to the center of the Earth, and later to the surface of the sun, without being consumed by heat. Clearly advanced technology is at work. On a more important note, Dante describes souls being tortured for eternity - a point that other games have accepted at face value - yet this contradicts Dante's belief in a merciful God. Also, Dante states that these beings are spirits - how can spirits feel physical pain? How can decapitation (for example) be a problem to someone is already dead? How can noble pagans be condemned to purgatory, yet far less deserving popes end up in heaven? Clearly Dante is reporting these events from his Medieval perspective, and others may see them differently.
Links between Les Misérables and the Divine Comedy:
Victor Hugo mentions Dante no less than fourteen times in his novel. Both deal with grand themes of religion and justice, and in his private life Hugo contacted other stars and planets through the practice of table turning. So there are more connections than you might think.
Victor Hugo believed in reincarnation, or at least the transmigration of souls. Virgil the guide in the Divine Comedy, also believed in reincarnation (see book six of the Aeneid for details). All the greatest stories involve major transformations in the central characters, and Les Misérables even goes so far as to give Jean Valjean several different names (34601, Madeleine, Ultime Fauchelevent, M.LeBlanc and others). Enter The Story takes Jean Valjean one step further, through the greatest change of all, beyond death. One running theme through Enter The Story is the connectedness of all people, so the question is asked, what if Virgil and Valjean were one and the same? What if all world history is a play featuring a surprisingly small cast, each playing multiple roles? What if we are more connected than we have ever thought possible? These themes are introduced in the Divine Comedy and explored in later stories.
Other games based on the Divine Comedy:
The Divine Comedy was planned in 2008, while Les Misérables was still being developed . Then in early 2009 EA Games announced their own version, though their game only covers the first third of the poem.
“Millions of damned souls, blade-wielding babies, and a badass poet with a huge scythe. Welcome to EA’s version of hell. …
After ripping off the head of a living ship … you make a final desperate leap to safety, attach yourself to a wall… after kicking the door down and readying your weapon, you prepare to meet your foe… Even the boss battles are taken care of–who, after all, is a better final boss than Lucifer himself? … he’s on the search for his special lady, Beatrice–and also explain how Dante acquires his weapon of choice: a massive scythe. In fact, it’s Death’s scythe; in the tutorial, you’ll guide Dante through his battle with Death, eventually defeating him and taking his weapon for yourself. … The scythe isn’t Dante’s only means of dealing pain. In addition to magical spells you can unleash with the R1 button, Dante has a holy cross he can use to shoot blasts of righteous energy at enemies. “
You may be forgiven for not recognizing any of this. In the original poem, Dante never fights. In fact, he basically just walks from A to B and talks to Virgil about faith and the state of the church in 1300. If you want a fighting game with lots of blood, EA Games will no doubt deliver. But if you want to know what happens in the Divine Comedy you may wish to look elsewhere.
There are two other games based on the Divine Comedy. One of them, like the EA Games version, simply uses the words Dante's Inferno over an existing game genre. But the other one, Tamashii no Mon, looks far more impressive:
One user wrote:
Q. Have you ever cried while playing a game?
A. Tamashii no Mon: PC98 game based on Dante’s Divine Comedy. The ending of the game is absolutely breathtaking. Most developers would run away at the mere though of trying to convey the last 2 parts of the comedy in a game, but Koei did it, and did it well (despite borrowing heavily from the illustrations of Gustave Dore)
Mind-blowingly bizzare soundtrack combined with purely visuals (no text) during the ‘Paradiso’ segment in particular was one of the most incredible game experiences I’ve ever had. Incredibly hypnotic, the first time I saw it I was left staring at the ‘made by Koei’ end screen for about 15 minutes before I actually turned the game off.
Powerful stuff.
These different adaptations illustrate the three different approaches to a story:
The name only: EA Games just uses the story as a veneer for a familiar kind of game.
The emotion of the original: Tamashii no Mon captures the emotion of the original story, but ignores the details -e.g. having no text at all for large parts of the game. In contrast, the original poem was noting but dialog covering history and theology.
The ideas: Enter The Story isn't as action packed as the EA version, and isn't as emotion packed as the Tamashii version, but it actually leads you through the poem and explores what it might mean.
Enter The Story is always like that. It's all about being faithful to the text and the ideas.
You've probably heard of The Divine Comedy from its first section, Dante's Inferno. But the original classic - and the game - goes much further. You have to guide Dante through Hell, to Purgatory, then Paradise, and through the heavens to finally see the face of God.
Along the way you learn more about the nature of faith, the real inhabitants of this planet, and the great danger that faces all reality - a journey that will climax in the next story: Genesis of the Gods.
Your mission: get Dante through Hell
