The following is an episode of With a Terrible Fate’s weekly podcast discussing video-game storytelling from all angles. Find all episodes here.


This week, With a Terrible Fate’s podcast is a romp ranging from adaptation to serialized storytelling to metafiction. We kick off discussing Lies of P in the contexts of Pinocchio, Miyazaki-inspired games, and philosophically-minded stories as Aaron nears the conclusion of his first playthrough. (He’s since wrapped this up, so stay tuned for overall first impressions!) Later, Dan presents his latest views on how to read the eras and progress of Final Fantasy as a series, inspired by his latest journeys through Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Final Fantasy XVI, and in conversation with Aaron’s current work on the Tales of series in Tales of Praxis. Finally, we both wrestle with the relationship between a game’s fourth wall, metafictional storytelling, and how to involve a player without disenfranchising the story’s characters—as well as how our views in this area have changed over the years.

Mind the spoilers for the whole Final Fantasy series, the Tales of series, Lies of P, BioShock, The Stanley Parable, NieR, and Undertale!

Check out With a Terrible Fate’s publications on many of the games in this discussion, such as: Final Fantasy, Tales of, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Code Vein, BioShock, The Stanley Parable, NieR, and Undertale.


Dan Hughes

Dan Hughes - Video Game Analyst

Dan Hughes has dabbled in everything from playwriting to religious studies to YouTube personas. He is the seriesrunner for With a Terrible Fate's "Now Loading... The Video Game Canon!"  Learn more here.

Aaron Suduiko

Aaron Suduiko - Founder and Chief Video Game Analyst

Aaron Suduiko is the founder of With a Terrible Fate and a philosopher of video-game storytelling. He specializes in the impact of player-avatar relations on game stories.  Learn more here.

With a Terrible Fate is dedicated to developing the best video game analysis anywhere, without any ads or sponsored content. If you liked what you just read, please consider supporting us by leaving a one-time tip or becoming a contributor on Patreon.

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