What Remains of Edith Finch is precisely about the desire to tell stories in any way possible. Family histories are recorded and preserved via diverse mediums including diary entries, photography, letters, poetry, and even comic books. By structuring the game as an exploration of objects that trigger micro-narratives embedded within the household environment, its central … Continue reading Opened World: Fictions Within Fictions
The radio is ubiquitous in the world of Fallout. Accessed via the portable Pip-Boy device wrapped around the player-character’s wrist, the radio transmits a constant stream of music (popular and classical), news, and propaganda. Likewise, it also syndicates radio dramas as one of the popular forms of narrative-based entertainment for the wasteland. Fallout’s emphasis on … Continue reading Opened World: Theater of the Mind
Interview by Miguel Penabella Originally conducted April 1, 2017 Edits and introduction written April 14, 2017 In the short time since the award-winning puzzle platformer demo Little Bug was successfully crowdfunded on Fig.co for expansion into a full game, developer Bela Messex has had his mind on both past and future. Messex’s thoughts are awash … Continue reading Player Two: An Interview with Bela Messex
Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days depicts transition, poverty, and the marginalized. In an interview within Heterotopias conducted by Martin and the game’s art director Rasmus Poulsen, the latter underlines an interest in showing unseen parts of the city such as alleyways and corridors lined with trash. Dog Days is a game about the ugly … Continue reading Opened World: Walled City
That everything should be put into a video game simply suggests that the typically excluded banality of everyday life should not be underestimated as a source of meaning. Instead of a focus on action-heavy shooter gameplay or sci-fi indulgence, the turn towards candid gestures like looking out through a window at nothing in particular can … Continue reading Beyond the Ordinary: Why Everything Should Be Put Into a Video Game
In lieu of having a Twitter account to express my surprise and gratitude for being named 2017’s “Blogger of the Year” by the fine folks at Critical Distance (honoring last year’s work), I turn here to better convey my thoughts in the long-form. Thanks to Critical Distance for the honor of being named alongside Heather … Continue reading A Word of Thanks and Congratulations
Its story is a form of fantasy. 50 Cent’s popularity was steeply declining after the mixed reception to his 2007 album Curtis and his commercial loss to rival Kanye West’s Graduation released on the same day, signaling for many a symbolic death of gangsta rap. Blood on the Sand represents in 2010 a nostalgic return to … Continue reading Opened World: Get Points or Die Tryin’
1. Contained within this piece are two related arguments. On the one hand, I offer my initial Blogs of the Round Table investigation on healing and save points in Fumito Ueda’s Ico, examining the game’s emphasis on handholding and mutual rest as indicative of broader themes of unspoken solidarity. On the other hand (and against … Continue reading Healing and Togetherness As Metaphor in Ico & Games Criticism
Like EA Black Box’s previous game Need for Speed: Undercover, The Run attempts to expand racing game formulae with a generic crime storyline overlaid atop familiar driving gameplay. However, the developer’s endeavours to introduce features such as on-foot quick time events and encounters with armed enemies only connect the game with cheap, B-tier action/crime titles … Continue reading Missed Shot: No Case for Need for Speed: The Run
The Last Guardian returns to themes and gameplay mechanics introduced in Ico, depicting the escape of two characters from a cryptic fortress hideaway and the necessity of mutual effort despite an inability to communicate. The game is unhurried, with Trico ambling leisurely at its own pace because the creature doesn’t understand the stakes of the … Continue reading Opened World: Goodbye to Language
Invalid Memory 