Characters | With A Terrible Fate

Podcast: Can Normative Inquiry Become Gaming’s Next “Lore Analysis”?

Could storytellers like Miyazaki push players' motivations beyond crafting timelines—all the way to crafting theories of value?

By Dan Hughes, 3 months ago September 15, 2024

Tales of Hearts R's fairy tale is an activity that bonds all real and fictional entities of the Tales of Series with one source of value.

By Aaron Suduiko, 7 months ago June 5, 2024

How can a closer look at the storytelling mechanics of video games empower us to better know and relate to characters good and evil?

By Dan Hughes, 10 months ago February 23, 2024

In Tales of Phantasia almost 30 years ago, Chester Burklight taught us why the most important character in a story is the one shut out of it.

By Aaron Suduiko, 11 months ago January 30, 2024

A case study of Regal Bryant casts Kratos Aurion in a new light and shows how Tales of Symphonia's relationship system informs its story.

By Aaron Suduiko, 1 year ago August 11, 2023

A case study of how the storytelling of a linear game can open its world.

By Aaron Suduiko, 2 years ago March 17, 2023

This week on the podcast: analysis and discussion of Bandai Namco's "brain punk" JRPG, Scarlet Nexus.

By Aaron Suduiko, 3 years ago August 22, 2021

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.

By Adam Bierstedt, 4 years ago February 24, 2021

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

By Max Gorynski, 5 years ago August 29, 2019

Behind all the ire towards Sonic Forces is a lesson in the costs and benefits of character creation.

By Skylar Cohen, 7 years ago March 21, 2018