The much-beloved Mass Effect Trilogy was remastered and released in its Legendary Edition this year, sparking a wave of fresh playthroughs, discourse, and fan content from the thousands of us with a deep love for the franchise’s story and characters. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic (and hopefully, soon, its aftermath), certain aspects of the franchise seem more salient than they’ve ever been: fractured societies talking past each other, corporate greed and apathy exploiting the common person and leaving them to rot, and a not-so-distant cataclysm looming in the future. As fans replaying this game for the first time…

As a young man in the modern world, I’ve consumed a wide variety of entertainment media: video games, television shows, documentaries, video games, music, anime, and many, many novels. While I’ve explored many genres (some shallowly, I must admit), I always come back to fantasy, fiction, and tragedy — often in combination. Regardless of the type of driving conflict, there always seems to be room for at least one fight scene.

Every good story has a dragon needing to be slain, and a knight to slay it. Right?

That statement, metaphorical or literal, is as reductive as it is true…

Video game remakes are popular, desirable, and often pull a lot of journalistic eyes. We’ve seen a significant uptick in major franchise remakes/reboots/remasters in the past 2–4 years, almost always accompanied by media scrutiny, fan anticipation, and cautious industry eyes. Since 2017, there have been over 40 noteworthy remakes, remasters, and reboots in beloved old-school video game franchises — and dozens more that come from more niche or indie titles. …

Gaming Mission Studies: Star Wars Empire at War: Forces of Corruption

Video games provide dozens of primary concepts to talk about: narrative, characters, art design, musical composition, map design, the development cycle, and so on. As someone that spends far too much of their time looking at games as an art form, all of these things are wonderful — but I wanted to write a few articles that go back to basics.

This article will be the first of a series I will be calling Gaming Mission Studies, where I discuss one specific level, mission, or chapter of a game…

Video games are becoming a more widely accepted artistic medium in modern culture — and that’s good. To write these games off as a childish or intellectually invalid medium is to blind oneself to a range of stories, perspectives, and questions that might not exist elsewhere. But most discussions about philosophy in gaming revolve around “design philosophy”: what makes a game “well-designed”? What mechanics and structures create the best gameplay experience? What limitations do we put on the player, or what tools do we give them?

Those questions are fine, but these aren’t the kinds of philosophical questions I want…

The autumn leaves crinkled and crunched underfoot as the young man made his way down the trail. The blending yellows, browns, and reds all around him caught the golden afternoon light, casting everything around him in a warm and pleasant glow. The faint musk of the earthy trail and the heady scent of the trees filled his nose. The wind playfully tousled his hair as it passed him by. The heat of the sun was only just beginning to wane, and the air danced on the edge of comfortable warmth — his body was unsure whether to shiver or relax…

The heavy door swings open, the inlaid crystal windows scattering the bright light bursting from inside as it turns. My breath catches and my chest tightens as the ballroom is laid before me, bursting at the seams with majesty and opulence. The dance floor was composed of beautifully stained and lacquered wood, with an even pattern of miniscule glass mirrors laid within. The dance floor itself seemed to glimmer and flash with the movement of the many nobles sweeping across it. It was like stumbling upon a fae ground in the forest. Enchanting, beautiful, exotic…

Feral.

A servant approaches me…

There’s a very solid chance that if you clicked on this article, to read what I have to write, you’re already like me: you enjoy reading and/or writing, and perhaps you love Fantasy in particular more than any other genre. This article isn’t for you — you already understand what I will soon discuss.

(That doesn’t mean I don’t want you here though.)

If you are a person who clicked on this article in curiosity or in disagreement, then you are the kind of person I want to talk to. While you in particular may not have done so, many…