Avatars | With A Terrible Fate

With a Terrible Fate Podcast Episode 3: Kingdom Hearts

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.

By Stefan Heinrich Simond, 1 month ago May 16, 2021

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

By Dan Hughes, 1 month ago May 11, 2021

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

By Aaron Suduiko, 4 months ago February 4, 2021

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

By Lauren Spohn, 9 months ago September 8, 2020

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.

By Aaron Suduiko, 1 year ago May 7, 2020

Only EarthBound could marry the mechanics of dungeon-crawling with the themes of epic poetry.

By Max Gorynski, 2 years ago August 29, 2019

A puzzle about how much of Where the Water Taste Like Wine is true reveals an unexpected lesson about the value of folk tales.

By Adam Bierstedt, 3 years ago October 8, 2018

Terms like "immersion" might seem like a great way to have productive conversations about video games—but they're actually holding us back.

By Aaron Suduiko, 3 years ago October 4, 2018

Knights of the Old Republic established Star Wars as more than a film franchise. How has it impacted gaming over the years?

By CJ Thomas, 3 years ago August 31, 2018

In a decade that gave us a library of games about orphans, EarthBound reminded us how important fathers are to their sons.

By Max Gorynski, 3 years ago May 22, 2018