GAMING VOICES: Giving and Taking Heart in Ni No Kuni

GAMING VOICES: Giving and Taking Heart in Ni No Kuni

When I first heard you had to take pieces of good people’s hearts to help restore the heartbroken in Ni No Kuni, I had visions of the Heartless from the Kingdom Hearts franchise.  Turns out that Giving and Taking hearts is not nearly as evil as it sounds.  Borrowing some Courage, Kindness, or Enthusiam from someone actually makes their hearts feel lighter, and the recipient is cured of his or her lack thereof.  In the realm of video games, this is a welcome relief from the normal tedium of “fetch quests”.  But could we apply these simple mechanics in real life, too?

Of course none of us are wizards with a locket that can hold pieces of heart (at least, not that I know of), but the idea behind this is realistic.  If you think about people in Ni No Kuni terms, everyone is born with this perfect, golden heart, full of Kindness, Enthusiasm, Courage, Belief, Restraint, and so on.  Along the way, people invariably lose a bit of these here and there.  While it may not be Shadar that steals their hearts, tough life experiences and dealing with other brokenhearted folks can chip away at a person’s heart.  In time, one may become brokenhearted, or even be possessed by a nightmare, causing them to lash out at life and do terrible things.

If only it were that easy in reality to help others by borrowing virtues from those with an excess, and giving them to those in need.  But if you stop and think about it, it really IS that simple.  When someone is mean or cruel, perhaps they didn’t have someone to show them some true kindness.  When a friend is afraid to take the next step, don’t you lend them some of your own courage to move on?  When a coworker is feeling down and unmotivated, don’t you contribute some of your enthusiasm to get them through the rest of the day?

Ni No Kuni and Oliver aren’t very far from the truth.  Whle we don’t run around with wands and a Locket, we lend our hearts to people every day.  And when we can’t help someone on our own, we often reach out to others to borrow their strength, as well.  Oliver is unfortunately an exception to the rule, however.  While there are people like him who go out of their way to help others, it feels like there are many more who would rather ignore the plight of those in need.  If everyone in the world was more like Oliver, would it be a better place in which to live?  I think so.