Paradise Lost is not only the title of John Milton's famous epic poem (1667) but also a
philosophical-theological notion linked to and emerging from the Fall from Eden in Genesis. It
expresses - or imagines - the human experience of a definite rupture in history with its
inextinguishable urge to return to the time before the rupture and its yearning for an
idealized version of this past. Throughout history this longing has been expressed in artwork
architecture and literary works and it is perhaps best observed in the Romantic era with its
preference for the past the future and the contemporary exotic. Today the notion of Paradise
Lost has far from disappeared finding postmodern manifestations in contemporary art and
literature as well as in the revival of (secular) nationalism and (religious) fundamentalism.
The 20th and 21st centuries have also seen the emergence of new arenas for narratives and
iconographies of Paradise Lost: popular culture and digital games. Within the field of game
studies and the history of digital games their technological developments their game play
and their graphics and user interface design the notion of Paradise Lost can be traced in
three ways. (1) In the past decade the game industry has been witnessing a surge in
retro-gaming as a kind of narratological ludological visual and technological longing for
the early age of gaming. For example some modern games have (re-)introduced the concept of
perma-death (Wasteland 2 [Deep Silver AT 2014] Hades [Supergiant Games US 2020] Xcom
[various 1994 - present] the Diablo series [Diablo Diablo II and Diablo III Blizzard
Entertainment US 1997 - present]) and retro-graphics has become a deliberate design approach
in contemporary games (Cuphead [Studio MDHR CA 2017] Celeste [Matt Makes Games CA 2017]
Undertale [Toby Fox US 2015]). (2) The industry - and the consumer - has also witnessed the
emergence of various remakes of old-school classics (1942 [Capcom JP 1984] Baldur's Gate
[various 1996-2016] Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus [GT Interactive US 1997] and Oddworld: Soulstorm
[Oddworld Inhabitants US 2021]). In other words the present longing for the past or for the
early (or golden) age of gaming manifests itself in and through the game. (3) Some games
explicitly employ and reflect on the idea of a rupture in human history that is the loss of
an earlier (potentially utopian) state that is yearned for but beyond reach (for example
Horizon Zero Dawn [Guerilla Games NL 2017]). This lost period could be medieval times
paradise pre-9 11 pre-COVID in light of prolonged lockdowns and so forth.
