I don’t play Bethesda RPGs. Not because they aren’t good; in fact my second-hand opinion is that they’re very good. I’ve developed this opinion after a lot of critics and writers I respect have engaged with Bethesda RPGs in very intelligent ways. To see what I mean take a look at Michael Clarkson’s critical compilation … Continue reading Nuking the Family in Fallout 4
[Originally posted on PopMatters] HyperSloth describes Dream as a “Walking Simulator,” a term not universally appreciated among game critics,1 but still implies a certain kind of recognizable game. A walking simulator is deliberately slow, and it refrains from typical “gamey” conventions like objectives and challenges. A walking simulator is an introspective character study, the minimalist art … Continue reading Review: Dream
[Originally posted on PopMatters] As useful as it is to not judge a book by its cover, some covers simply reveal everything there is to know. Take a look at the cover of a Dungeons & Dragons manual and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what to expect out of its contents. Similarly, looking at … Continue reading Review: Kyn
[This piece was written as a part of Critical Distance‘s July 2015 Blogs of the Round Table feature] There’s a section in to the Saints Row IV where the player-character, the boss—in my case a pink-haired woman with a french accent, floral body tattoos and an outstanding fashion sense—rides a purple jet-bike through cyberspace, shooting aliens … Continue reading Rethinking Fun with Saints Row IV
[This piece was written as a part of Critical Distance‘s June 2015 Blogs of the Round Table feature] One day, a hero searching the wilderness (for a meal in a drought? for her missing sister?) stumbles upon a mysterious blue-haired boy. This boy is alien in two ways: he is stark naked and he is completely human. … Continue reading They Think They’re People: Domestication, Wildness and Personified Animals in Breath of Fire
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