A colleague of mine recently introduced me and a group of others to the NEXT update of No Man’s Sky. Having smoothly floated from teasing his early failures, advising the best next path, tracking needed materials and off-screen dangers to ultimately naming and providing a suitably operatic origin story for the little iguana-parrot shaped humanoid we lovingly came … Continue reading A Sky for Every Man
[Originally posted on PopMatters] Herald, developed by Dutch designers Wispfire and currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, is, in the developers’ words, “an interactive period drama about colonialism”. Herald is an adventure game, one of the few video game genres that might appropriately convey the complexities of the colonial identity. The demo, now available for potential kickstarter backers to … Continue reading Herald Attempts the Troubled Waters of the Colonial Narrative
[Originally posted on The Border House] After introducing her topic in an episode of “Tropes vs. Women in Video Games,” Anita Sarkeesian begins with some variation of the following: “It’s both possible—and even necessary—to simultaneously enjoy a piece of media while also being critical of its more pernicious aspects.” I sense the phrase is meant … Continue reading Welcome to the Machine: the ambivalent tone of The Last Story
[Originally posted on PopMatters] Playing Agarest: Generations of War for review (PopMatters, 28 Oct 2013) was a bit of a frustrating experience because, while there was a lot to enjoy, there was a lot that was just awful. I ended up splitting the difference and calling it average—the video game kiss of death if there ever … Continue reading A Colonist’s Fantasy: The Problem with the Fair Fight
[Originally posted on The Border House] It’s no secret there’s a not-so-subtle undertone of colonialism in a lot of games, particularly in strategy games. Eador: Masters of the Broken World has the player reorganize the universe into its “proper” state by conquering every available territory in the game (Filipowich, Mark. “Eador: Masters of the Broken … Continue reading Expeditions Conquistador and Post-Imperial Arrogance
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