Ecopunk Anyone? Cyberpunk Landscapes Enhancing Ecocritical Elements

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Before we start, I want to say right off the bat that both FFVII and Jack II are arguably cyberpunk texts, or at the very least have cyberpunk tendencies. A fact that I hope will be further elucidated by the following discussion.

Using FFVII and Jak II as sample cases, we’ll be looking at how ecocritical attitudes in games work together with Cyberpunk landscapes and plot devices, resulting in a new subset of Cyberpunk called Eco-Cyberpunk, or “Ecopunk.”

 Game Summaries:

Final Fantasy VII

FFVII is an RPG console game originally released for the PlayStation in 1997. The plot of the game places you in the role of Cloud Strife an ex-SOLDIER member (SOLDIER being a Shrinra program that makes super soldiers by exposing gifted humans to raw Mako energy after injecting them with “Jenova Cells”). Shinra Electric Power Company owns the city of Midgar, where the first portion of the story takes place. Cloud joins the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE to help destroy the Shinra reactors which are sucking the energy from the lifestream of the planet. The main antagonist throughout the game, Sephiroth, is a man driven insane by the experimentation done on him by the Shinra Corp., which causes him to attempt to “reunite” with Jenova (the extraterrestrial being used to create SOLDIER) and consequently destroy the planet.

Midgar FFVII

Jak II

Jak II is the second game of the Jak and Daxter trilogy. The plaform/adventure-game centers on what happens to the protagonist Jak when he gets thrown into the future and ends up in a place called Haven City. Haven City is owned and controlled by Baron Praxis and the Krimzon Guard. Jak joins an underground group of rebels who are attempting to overthrow Baron Praxis. A major theme in the Jak trilogy is “Eco,” a natural source of power that comes from the planet. Due to his relation to the precursors (ancient beings), Jak is able to harness all types of eco (there are multiple colors that do different things). Eventually, the game takes a turn from the attempt to overthrow the Baron and instead has you battling to stop him from setting off a precursor stone and (unknowingly) destroying the planet.

Haven City Jak II

The Cyberpunk Landscape:

Sector 7 FFVII

The Slums Jak II

The initial settings of both FFVII and Jak II in industrialized cities (Midgar and Haven City) set up the stories as not only being part escapist—leave the dark, dank danger of the slums—but also solidifies each game as a chronicle of the conflict between man, nature, and society. The cityscapes of Midgar and Haven city are constructed as large conglomerates under a central power structure which acts as both protector and suppressor. Both games are set up in a way that even from the start you are poised in opposition to the ruler of the city (Shrina Electric Power Co. for Midgar and the Baron Praxis for Haven City).

New Haven Jak II

This opposition is further enhanced by the segmenting of the city itself. In Midgar, you and your party members live and work in the outer-sectors—slums underneath the reactors with little power or resources. In Haven city, you largely operate out of the underground resistance bases located in the poor sectors of the city.

Shinra Waiting Room FFVII

However, in both games you are able to cross over and experience the life of the privileged. On missions you get glimpses into the city of those in power, which is generally beautiful, high tech—very shiny. The cities are then further isolated by the surrounding wastelands. The metropolis becomes the center of civilization almost exclusively because the land outside its gates is unlivable.

Wastelands Jak II

Wastelands FFVII (Image from Advent Children)

Cyberpunk works often depict cities suffering blows of rampant urbanization; however, what makes the depiction of Midgar and Haven City unique is that we also are given a chance to experience the outside world. Once we transgress the wasteland we experience the world untouched by the power structures. In FFVII, these areas of untarnished nature appear in Cosmo Canyon among others, and in Jak II in the Precursor Forest. This contrast of the world in the city and the world outside of the city when paired with the already present ecocritical tones of the story lines of the games evolves into a more complex motif.

Precursor Forest Jak II

Cosmo Canyon FFVII

Ecopunk Defined:

What I’m now officially terming “Ecopunk” is a subgenre of SF & fantasy that situates the Cyberpunk narrative and aesthetic in contrast with overarching themes of the importance of nature and the destruction of the earth caused by man. Ecopunk texts situate the reader within a war not only with corporations or other power structures, but also within the larger role as either defender/protector or destroyer of the natural world. Like the Cyberpunk, the Ecopunk uses their unique skills and knowledge to find ways to infiltrate the systems and take them down from the inside out. However, the stakes aren’t simply your freedom, or humanity, but the life of the planet itself.