Search Results for:

narratives

Assassin’s Creed II

…teaches us about a type of mini-game, introduces us to Claudia, and helps us learn more about the kind of person Ezio is. The narrative and story are intertwined beautifully, and all the necessary information is conveyed with an economy not seen in the subsequent sequels.

Intermedii aside, the pacing of AC2’s introduction also makes the game feel like a movie. Thus, in a bloated open-world game market, AC2 is still one of the most story-driven entries out there. Burford:

Good narratives establish good motive, and too many video games fail in this regard. […] Assassin’s…

May 19th

…endings of several sorts in thinking about how game narratives position family.

“I didn’t care to put back together my original family because, frankly, they were a bunch of arseholes who only redeem themselves if Kassandra does all the work. Meanwhile all around Kassandra was that truer, more caring family. For me this was a game about cutting blood ties, about not letting familial connections control you and about embracing those who are already there for you.”

Player Praxis

Though there is a perception from, uhh, certain subsets of player communities that politics have

…

May 26th

…women in a male-dominated industry, while still showcasing the importance of their presence in the space.”

The Wheel

Each of these three articles discusses a different kind of intervention in storytelling in games, whether it be how the story is written, read, or both.

  • Curating Simulated Storyworlds (James Ryan) – Ch 1-3 | Emily Short’s Interactive Storytelling Emily Short, over the course of several posts, evaluates the idea in a recently published dissertation that procedurally generated and/or emergent narratives might be coupled with a curator of one kind or another to sort out and present…

June 2nd

…the homeland: Defending it is like defending the status quo, and the processes of appropriation that renews the cultural terrain for profit and for consolation. Driving SJWs and queers out of video games so that you can enjoy them as the reparative safe space you’ve long experienced them as is good practice for driving them out of your country altogether.”

Mixed Feelings

Can stories in games be compelling? Yeah, of course. Do they require design interventions specific to their interactive nature? Yep, that too. Does this cause tensions sometimes? Absolutely. Do game narratives ever just knock it…

July 7th

…empathy and compassion: directed at the self, at those we care about, at the world itself. And games don’t always accomplish this messy work successfully, especially if they perpetuate trope-laden narratives about the function and value of suffering.

  • Prey (2017) as a Teacher and Tester of Player Empathy | DualShockers Steven Santana investigates whether Prey–and other games that hinge upon choice-based play–can teach genuine empathy.
  • Blood Pact Review: Sex and Excess | Autumn Wright Autumn Wright thinks through trans desire in Ana Valens’ latest game.
  • I Never Want to Wake Up – Reviewing LUCAH: Born of

…

July 14th

…a bunch of these neat ideas.

  • Ringo Ishikawa, Animal Crossing, Persona — Everyday Life in Games Diego N. Argüello studies the value of small, mundane moments in games, worlds, narratives.
  • The End of Final Fantasy XIV’s ‘Shadowbringers’ Expansion Is The Emotional Spectacle I’ve Been Waiting For | Kotaku Heather Alexandra contemplates the history of finales in Square’s ironically-named banner series.
  • What Horror Games Can Learn From The Witch’s House | Fanbyte Cass Ball looks at an indie horror title that capitalizes on the juxtaposition it establishes between player and character knowledge and experience.

…

August 18th

…In Praise of Detective Barbie: Vacation Mystery | Fanbyte Ariana DiValentino examines an example of yesteryear’s “games for girls” to unpack how gender divisions in game design and marketing have both been subtly disrupted and cynically reinforced by more contemporary success stories.

  • Game Studies – “This Action Will Have Consequences”: Interactivity and Player Agency Sarah Stang critiques interactivity and agency as played-out concepts in game studies and repositions those terms outside of game experiences proper and inside player subjectivities and communities.

    • “true player agency lies not within pre-scripted videogame narratives, but in the players’ interpretations of…

    Abstract image evoking bird silhouette

    October 2019

    …along with some of the possible steps which companies should take to cut down on plastic waste.

    Fighting/Game Histories

    On the lighter side, a pair of narratives around fighting games in the 90’s caught my eye.

    • The Man Who Used Fighting Games to Escape Homelessness – theScore eSports

      I enjoyed this short profile on Ryan Hart, a fighting games champion from the UK.

    • Making Mortal Combat | Retrohistories – Chris Chapman

      Adapting from a chapter of Arcade Perfect by game historian David Craddock, Chris Chapman made an interesting account

      …

    December 1st

    …much more reasonable portions, shrieking that it isn’t fair they should have to share a slice of the larger marketing mince pie.”

    Bridging the Gaps

    Three more excellent articles this week continue the work of prying open Death Stranding.

    • ‘Death Stranding’ imagines the eco-horror of our future dystopia | The Outline Lewis Gordon situates Death Stranding in the tradition of apocalyptic eco-narratives.
    • Thoughts on Death Stranding pt 1 – I Need Diverse Games Tauriq Moosa takes inventory of Death Stranding‘s moving parts.
    • Death Stranding, and a little Healing | Prophets & Players Dawn…

    December 15th

    …finds Red Dead Redemption 2 to be most engrossing when its organizing structures stand aside and let him be.

  • Let’s Place: Guided Meditation – Haywire Magazine Daria Kalugina contemplates detachment and found, fragmentary narratives in Laserlife.
  • In The Space My Mirrors Once Were, I Made Avatars | Kotaku Gita Jackson reflects on The Sims, avatars, and the stresses and challenges of embodied, gendered existence.

    • “It’s comforting to wrap yourself up in an avatar, one that always has its ideal outward image but inwardly is vastly malleable. But I realized after some time that in sinking…