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Forms of Life: Reading Xenoblade Chronicles 3 through Wittgenstein
Only through the lens of a philosopher at war with himself can we understand a game at war with itself.
Podcast
With a Terrible Fate Podcast Episode 5: Duties to the Self and Avatars
Join us for a conversation with Daniel Muñoz and our founder on the intersection of self-directed ethics and gamers' duties to avatars.
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The Second Impact of NieR: Automata’s Ending E
NieR: Automata's Ending E is a case study in how to completely erase the distinction between gameplay and story.
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The Horror of Code Vein is You
The hidden achievement of Code Vein's fusion of Dark Souls with JRPGs is that it quietly turned you, its player, into a monster.
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Come Out to Play: The Warriors And Adaptation into Video Games
In an industry that still doesn't seem to have fully cracked the code on story adaptation, one 2005 game has lessons worth learning.
General Video Game Theory
The Drawing Board: Why “Immersion” is a Dirty Word in Gaming Discourse
Terms like "immersion" might seem like a great way to have productive conversations about video games—but they're actually holding us back.
Podcast: The Drawing Board
The Drawing Board: Gameplay Difficulty as a Storytelling Tool
On Episode 8 of our podcast, we ask: how can difficulty tell a story?
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How Fire Emblem: Awakening’s Mechanics Resolve Its Biggest Plot Hole
Some of the most heavily criticized elements of Fire Emblem: Awakening contribute to its narrative in surprising ways.
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Does Shovel Knight Belong in the Video Game Canon?
Yacht Club Games took to Kickstarter and taught developers how to make games that engage gamers' nostalgia without drowning them in it.
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Professor Layton: The Storytelling Value of Puzzles in Video Games
How can you turn a common game mechanic into a new kind of narrative device?