Feature by Harvard L. This is a long-form essay covering the three BioShock games in the lens of art criticism. Spoilers abound. And, also, the focus on art criticism means there will be little assessment of how well the games are made or how fun they are to play, there…
Read Moreby TsuChanJohnson Editor’s intro: One of the most common discussions that continues to pop up every few months in video games is the way that some Japanese games depict female characters – particularly when they start wearing school uniforms or the anime aesthetic means that they look youthful. Every time…
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With a waif-like, petite figure, long blonde hair tied in the twintails fashion, and a flowery dress in the style of Japan’s popular “Gothic Lolita” style, Marie Rose was – and still is – a very different type of character to the other women that we see in Dead or…
Read MoreGame Theory by Matt C. One of the most common complaints about the original Dragon Quest Builders—an otherwise excellent game—was the way its story mode impeded the sense of progress. In short, the story was divided into four completely separate chapters, each of which started you from scratch in terms…
Read MoreOpinion by Matt S. Horror games are far too sexless. This isn’t to say they’re bad – I love a good horror game and the intense chases and/or jump scares that it provides as much as the next person. However, the more I compare what has been achieved with horror…
Read MoreFeature by Matt S. It must be hard to make a game based on the aesthetics, approach to storytelling, and design of opera. It must be really, really hard. Games and film are common bedfellows. There’s plenty of literature that has been adapted into video games, as well. Every art…
Read MoreFeature by Matt S. Antonin Artaud’s play, Jet Of Blood (sometimes translated from its native French as “Spurt Of Blood”) opens as follows: YOUNG MAN: I love you and everything is beautiful. YOUNG GIRL: [With quavering voice] You love me and everything is beautiful. YOUNG MAN: [In a lower tone]…
Read MoreFeature by Matt S. Koei Tecmo’s JRPG subsidiary, Gust, has been my favourite developer for a number of years now. Final Fantasy, Persona, Yakuza and Fire Emblem might be all higher profile and higher budgeted JRPG franchises, and their respective developers have legions of fans around the world for good…
Read MoreFeature by Farida Y. If you’re reading this without a Nintendo Switch in arm’s reach, you may have endured the past seven weeks thinking you’re in the minority. As far as sales projections are concerned, you are: Nintendo’s struggling to keep up with demand, and has already sold 2.74 million…
Read MoreFeature by Harvard L. Macromedia Flash, for all its benefits and pitfalls, was a revolutionary platform for the gaming industry. Before it, game design only happened in dedicated studios, with difficult programming languages being a barrier of entry into the industry. A game was a big project requiring a team…
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