Your Favorite Video Games Will Always Be Influenced By Manga
A new gallery exhibition in Brooklyn highlights the enduring influence of manga on video game visual design and storytelling. The display features a panel from Jiro Taniguchi’s “Ice Age: Chronicle of the Earth,” depicting a nature-reclaimed cityscape—an aesthetic that has become a recurring motif across the gaming industry. The article explores how iconic post-apocalyptic imagery popularized in manga has shaped the visual language of contemporary games. Examples cited include Will Smith’s film “I Am Legend,” but the focus remains on how games like Nier Automata have drawn inspiration from similar thematic and artistic elements found in manga. The piece underscores the deep creative interconnection between Japanese manga and video game development, demonstrating how visual storytelling conventions established in one medium have become foundational to another. Rather than treating manga as a simple influence, the article suggests it serves as a wellspring of artistic and conceptual frameworks that game designers continue to reference and build upon, making manga an essential part of gaming’s creative DNA.