Explore all of With a Terrible Fate’s articles analyzing the stories of video games, as well as the philosophy of video-game storytelling.
Kafka's "Before the Law" offers a new lens for meditating on the relationships between avatars, bosses, developers, and players in gaming.
This Labor Day weekend, join the analysts of With a Terrible Fate for a live and streamed study of Final Fantasy VII at PAX West!
The Outer Gods of Elden Ring aren't just extra lore: they're also the cipher to understanding the player's place in the Lands Between.
In Karen Travers, Scarlet Nexus tells the tragic story of how a character can become a villain by being cut off from the player's agency.
A point-by-point rebuttal of Tyler Cowen's article criticizing the ability of video games to have cultural value within a literary canon.
Where some JRPGs represent philosophical views, Final Fantasy IX tricks its player into actually doing philosophy without even realizing it.
What's the difference between a psychological story and a story about psychology?
The flavor text of EarthBound tells a story you may have missed.
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.