Articles (Non-Fiction)

Opinion

    Critique/Criticism

    • Adventures, Morality, and the Outer Worlds

      Why do adventure games force you to slay a whole dungeon full of bad guys, but then say that if you spare the boss, you’re a saint?

    • Those Who Wish Me Dead: What Is a Neo-Western?

      I’ve always felt the need to defend my love of westerns as a genre, and I think that if the makers of Those Who Wish Me Dead are also primarily western-lovers, they also feel this need. I bring it up because I did see this movie described as a “neo-western” which is an ...

    • Bad Magic: Planeswalkers

      Finally, I have come back to Magic: the Gathering. Buuuut the planeswalker focus makes me feel I might be walking back out.

    • Bad Magic: Ninefox Gambit

      This book is bad. I’m not going to talk about why the book in general is bad but you should know that I think this going in. I had enough issues with this book that even if the magic system had been revolutionary I wouldn’t have liked it. But the magic system wasn’t ...

    • What’s So Great About Darkest Dungeon?

      I really enjoy Darkest Dungeon. It’s extremely frustrating game but I keep coming back. Why?

    • Art, Mentality, and Pro Wrestling

      Pro wrestling and video games are actually good companions in the conversation about art. Both of them are often viewed as junk to consume, crude even if they are found somehow addicting. You understand where the idea comes from when you think about early games like Space Invaders, Galaga, Pac-Man, Super Mario, games that seem ...

    • Mass Effect’s Many Distractions

      Storytelling in video games is one of the biggest challenges in front of a game developer. A gripping story gives shape and meaning to the obstacles of each stage. What makes video games unique is the participation of the reader, the viewer, the gamer. In a traditional storytelling mode like prose fiction or ...