With A Terrible Fate

Final Fantasy VII Remake's storytelling makes JRPGs more accessible to adults—along with a new postgame model, "The Chadley Interpretation."

In the first episode of WaTF's podcast, we introduce ourselves and the project and discuss Nier, Returnal, and "games as rent."

Ni No Kuni quietly tricks its adult player into curing both herself and the White Witch of cynicism.

NieR: Automata's Ending E is a case study in how to completely erase the distinction between gameplay and story.

The Wind Waker's music shows us how a century-old literary phenomenon blends the lived experiences of player and avatar into something more.

The ending of Final Fantasy VII Remake has turned the storytelling formula of challenging fate on its head—and all it took was a Whisper.

Casual talks, reviews, and academic papers are all parts of a unified strategy for analyzing games.

How Dark Souls committed an act of genius by building a world where Dark Souls IV is impossible.

I offer a new theory for how video games tell stories.

Final Fantasy VII Remake's storytelling makes JRPGs more accessible to adults—along with a new postgame model, "The Chadley Interpretation."

Analyzing one of Xemnas' most puzzling lines in Kingdom Hearts II opens the path to understanding his character and the nature of Nobodies.

Meet Adam Bierstedt, With a Terrible Fate's resident historian, and learn what video games have in common with a 14th-century manuscript.

The Sector 5 Church isn't just the most incongruous building in Midgar: it also plays a quietly pivotal role in Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Ni No Kuni quietly tricks its adult player into curing both herself and the White Witch of cynicism.

Get to know Caymus Ducharme, known for analyzing The Witness, NieR: Automata—and vehemently believing video-game stories can surpass Hamlet.

With a Terrible Fate's analysts discuss the two most recent articles in "The Legacy of Final Fantasy VII Remake"—and one upcoming article!

NieR: Automata's Ending E is a case study in how to completely erase the distinction between gameplay and story.

Get to know Lauren Spohn: Legend of Zelda superfan, pilot, Rhodes Scholar, and video game analyst.

We asked four of our video game analysts: how would you rank the Top 5 video-game stories you experienced in 2020?

Discussion of Aaron Suduiko's "Final Fantasy VII Remake is the Template for 'Grown-Up' JRPGs," plus Resident Evil and mute buttons.

Join an analysis of Mass Effect, a discussion of developer intentions behind politics and nostalgia, and a meditation on "multigaming."

Join us for a conversation with Daniel Muñoz and our founder on the intersection of self-directed ethics and gamers' duties to avatars.

Join a conversation about the wild experiences and interpretive impact of glitches—plus explorations of Disco Elysium and Final Fantasy IX.

We interview Anh-Thu Nguyen on Kingdom Hearts as a digital Disneyland and discuss Dan Hughes' latest article on the nature of Xemnas in KH2.

Episode 2 of WaTF's podcast covers origin stories, player-avatar relations, the challenges of Valhalla, and the ethics of game libraries.

In the first episode of WaTF's podcast, we introduce ourselves and the project and discuss Nier, Returnal, and "games as rent."

Announcing a new weekly video-game storytelling analysis podcast by With a Terrible Fate.