Tag: videogame criticism

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Making Lightning Strike Again: The Recycled Tropes and Weird Fiction of Lightning Returns

[Originally posted on PopMatters] Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII references several other games in its first few hours. Lightning must gather the souls of a dying world (Valkyrie Profile) on behalf of a divine but untrustworthy benefactor (Legacy of Kain); a clock ticks down to the doomed hour (Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask), and our … Continue reading Making Lightning Strike Again: The Recycled Tropes and Weird Fiction of Lightning Returns

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Connectivity Issues: Abstraction, Subjectivity, and “Close-Playing”

[Originally posted on PopMatters] The inaugural issue of The Journal of Games Criticism featured an article by critic and author Brendan Keogh that argues for a more eclectic approach to games criticism, one based more on the feedback loop between the player and the text rather than on a strictly formal approach that attempts to create … Continue reading Connectivity Issues: Abstraction, Subjectivity, and “Close-Playing”

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Meta-Game Fan Fiction

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

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Plural Protagonism Part 8: Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive

For those new to the series, plural protagonism is based on this article I wrote for PopMatters. Plural protagonism occurs in a game when there is no individual main protagonist leading a group: the group itself becomes the hero. Each individual maintains their identity while contributing to the narrative in equal measure. Moreover, they are … Continue reading Plural Protagonism Part 8: Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive

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The Gamer’s Dressing Room

[Originally posted on Game Church] In 1732, Jonathan Swift published a poem called “The Lady’s Dressing Room” about man named Strephon snooping through his lover Celia’s room. Swift opens the poem by telling the reader that after five hours of preparation Celia’s beauty is equal to a goddess’s. Understandably, the love-struck Strephon is excited to take … Continue reading The Gamer’s Dressing Room