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Before the Law and Before Gaming: Kafka, Players, and Avatars
Kafka's "Before the Law" offers a new lens for meditating on the relationships between avatars, bosses, developers, and players in gaming.
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How Elden Ring Turns Its Player into an Outer God
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.
Podcast: The Drawing Board
Meet the Game Analysts: With a Terrible Fate Interviews Adam Bierstedt
Meet Adam Bierstedt, With a Terrible Fate's resident historian, and learn what video games have in common with a 14th-century manuscript.
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The Missing Soulmate in Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Ni No Kuni quietly tricks its adult player into curing both herself and the White Witch of cynicism.
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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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The Outset Island Effect
The Wind Waker's music shows us how a century-old literary phenomenon blends the lived experiences of player and avatar into something more.
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Solving the Puzzle of Roche in Final Fantasy VII Remake
The mysterious Roche vanishes from Final Fantasy VII Remake as quickly as he arrives—but he's no sideshow.
Final Fantasy
The Drawing Board: The Legacy of Final Fantasy VII Remake, Article Postmortem #1
Join the analysts of With a Terrible Fate in a discussion of the first articles in our new series, "The Legacy of Final Fantasy VII Remake."
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Apocalypse Soon? Final Fantasy VII Remake as Apocalyptic Literature
The central threat of Final Fantasy VII Remake isn't just a meteor: it's a clash between the principles of Christian and Buddhist philosophy.
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How Final Fantasy VII Remake’s Whispers Changed Fate—and Storytelling
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.