Plenty of video games have iconic locations, and sometimes you need a strong name to draw you in, make that place memorable. Sometimes it just takes some fun sounds, like Dishonored’s Dunwall or Karanaca. Other times, you can make it more symbolic or descriptive, like Lord of the Rings' Middle-Earth. And sometimes, you can make its real meaning just a little bit too obvious.
There are times that call for subtext, and then there are times where you throw caution to the wind ad name a location so obviously that it almost becomes comedic. Yet all the same, so many of these locations are already massively iconic, so maybe those overly on-the-nose names helped them out in the long run.
You couldn’t possibly imagine why the Imperial City is called that. Is it because the Imperial race lives there? Yes. Is it because it is the seat of the empire? Also yes. Really, if there’s a way in which you may find a definition for the word ‘imperial’, you’ll find another description for the Imperial City in Oblivion.
Mind you, the city itself exists in lore in every game. It’s actually a very old settlement. And ever since it came to be, the Empire has not fallen. It is a literal monument to their imperialist history. Maybe if it ever collapses it will be called something like Revolution City. Though does that mean the Imperial race would have to change its name?
We’ve all heard the term ‘The Rapture’, but do you know what it actually means? The Rapture is a Christian belief, held most commonly by Evangelicals, that true believers, both living and dead, will be physically ascended to the kingdom of heaven to join with God. It is, then, the belief that there will come an endpoint for humanity when they will usher in perfect harmony eternally.
you may imagine then that naming a city ‘Rapture’ is not only on-the-nose, but nigh on blasphemous. In creating Rapture, Andrew Ryan sought to make a city free of government overlords but ruled by wealth and the individual. And so the Rapture in this sense is one of a city that grants it. You come here, you abide by its beliefs, and you are granted eternity in peace. You can see how well that went in the game.
It feels hilarious to look at it in retrospect. Who in their right mind would ever visit a place called Silent Hill? That doesn’t sound quant, it sounds creepy. And it is! The place is perpetually covered in a cloud of fog. It is also a tiny old mining town, who even thought to make it into a tourist site? Bizarre decisions happening there all around.
Though what makes the name Silent Hill so on the nose is that, for the most part, nothing is technically happening. The monsters people see are primarily conjured from their own fears and guilt, but to anyone else. There’s nothing there.It is literally silent. So yeah, it kind of is a silent hill, actually. Though it really seems more like a valley or mountain than a hill.
Grand Theft Auto exists to be a satire, so on-the-nose titles are nothing unusual there. There are characters who are obvious caricatures of real-life people or based super heavily on movie stars. Los Santos is the most most obvious comparison to Los Angeles in existence. The City of Angels is suddenly the City of Saints. And also everyone is a criminal in some ways, legal or not.
And that is why Liberty City and Vice City are just so funny. Vice City, and it’s a game all about the massive drug trade in Miami, Florida. Liberty City being based on New York and the Statue of Liberty, critiquing the supposed American values of freedom for all. you may’t really get more on-the-nose than literally putting the whole point in the name.
Alan Wake the man is a writer, but not a very good one. Alan Wake the game is an exceptionally well-written game, even in the moments where it seems like it’s not. It takes a special talent to have an in-lore writer who writes in nothing but clichés and make a genuine,thought-provoking storyout of it. And that all starts with a sleepy little town called Bright Falls.
Obvious allusions to Twin Peaks aside, Alan Wake is also a story all about darkness and light. And you’ll never guess what happens in Bright Falls. Oh, the brightness falls away alright, to be replaced by endless darkness. That’s the kind of writer that Alan Wake is. A hack, and unfortunately one of the only people who can save the world from darkness.
There’s also Night Springs to act as its Twilight Zone-inspired opposite, if the names weren’t obvious enough yet.
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Cyberpunk 2077 is, you guessed it, a cyberpunk game. But surely a game with a title that is already so self-descriptive wouldn’t have a whole city or anything like that with a name that is completely evocative of its style in a completely and overly on-the-nose sense? Then you musn’t have visited Night City yet.
While there are some arid plains outside of Night City (the Badlands, which are probably named as such because they are lands that are bad for just about everything) the metropolis itself is where you will spend most of your time. And it’s at night when the city truly comes to life. Neon lights, bustling streets, food and drink around every corner. There’s a reason they don’t call it Day City.
Fallout: New Vegas is a renowned RPG, filled with diverse choices that give you lots of freedom to roleplay however you want. ButFallout is a satire series, and an incredibly on-the-nose title is basically par for the course in this genre. So of course what could be the shining beacon of humanity’s perseverance in the desert? A gambling city, of course!
New Vegas, built from the ruins of Las Vegas, is the sole major city across the whole of the Nevada Wasteland. A capitalist beacon that tells you if you have money, you have humanity. The on-the-nose names don’t stop there. What could possibly be the best name for a place that offers escort services? Gomorrah of course, the biblical city destroyed for its sinful ways.
Sometimes, especially in some older games, you name things simply. They need to be understood with little thought. Evocative and direct. And Sonic is the gift that keeps on giving, because you cannot get any more direct than Green Hill Zone. It is a zone in the game, typically the very first. It is filled with hills. And by god, it is assuredly green.
Mind you, Sonic has plenty of areas like this. Chemical Plant, Bridge, Casino Night, Metropolis. All very clear-cut names. At least you always know what you’re getting yourself in for, even if it does leave very little to the imagination.
