This week, Mike Joffe at Video Games of the Oppressed has been proposing a number of games to play within other games. A number of his games have been based in retro console RPGs like Pokemon and Earthbound. The proposed games make for interesting opportunities to personalize experiences that are generally pretty consistent from player … Continue reading Meta-Game Fan Fiction
The fictional country of Ivalice has been the setting for a number of lauded Square games. It makes for an appealing setting due to the elaborate and lifelike political drama that deepens in each appearance. In the tumultuous land’s many iterations, there is always a contest for power between military organizations, royal families, economic classes … Continue reading Final Fantasy Tactics and the Author of History
[Originally posted on Game Church] Religion and video games don’t tend to make the best of bedfellows. Religious and mythical figures pop in and out of games frequently enough, but rarely to invoke a sense of the spiritual or to illustrate an existential point. Most often, video games use religious figures because devils in flaming … Continue reading The Complexity of Faith in Final Fantasy Tactics
The video games I love most, I love for their stories. I studied Literature in university and I have worked at two different movie theaters. I’ve been an arts and entertainment journalist/critic for five years now and counting. I’ve previewed and reviewed novels, short story collections, poetry, albums, films, concerts, ballets, graphic novels, plays, concerts, … Continue reading The Case for Characters
Lately I’ve been playing Okami on my Playstation 2 based on a recommendation from a friend. What I’ve really liked about it so far is that it’s a game with virtually no violence. There’s combat, but it’s such a small part of the game (so far) that it could be taken out entirely and most … Continue reading Video Games, Violence and Satire
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