Update: Several of our readers have reached out to us about the title of this post, and I wanted to make sure that their voices are heard and that we take the opportunity to begin a conversation about it by addressing their concerns. Here is one such email we received, […]
narrative
31 posts
The fourth episode of Life is Strange, a critically acclaimed interactive drama series developed by Dontnod Entertainment, released this week. This second-to-last installment is something fans have been perhaps not-so-patiently waiting for, for some time. But despite the ten week long gap between the release of the third episode and […]
This past week, I’ve been catching up on reading Adrienne Shaw’s book Gaming at the Edge: Sexuality and Gender at the Margins of Gamer Culture, and a series of questions that Shaw asks in the second chapter (entitled “Does Anyone Really Identify with Lara Croft?: Unpacking Identification in Video Games”) […]
At a party a few weeks ago, I ran into a guy who was in UCSD’s undergraduate literature/writing program at the same time I was, and, in the course of our conversation that evening, we found ourselves eventually turning from the typical small talk (Hi! How are you? What are […]
[Spoiler warning: The following post covers some potentially triggering content and contains major plot spoilers for Life is Strange Episode 2: Out of Time and some slight conversation/situation based spoilers for Life is Strange Episode 3: Chaos Theory.] The warning signs were there from the start of the second episode: […]
Miguel Sicart defines games as systems “in which the rules force the player to face ethical dilemmas, or in which the rules themselves raise ethical issues.” The game rules force players to interact in specific ways in order to confront ethical issues. In this manner, Life is Strange asks players to […]
The line between adventure games and interactive fiction is at best a little blurry, and sometimes doesn’t exist at all, and finding that line in author Matthew Burnside’s forays into interactive media and games is a particular challenge. Often, in adventure games that skew toward interactive fiction, the plot’s the […]
In the first of what we hope will be a robust series, we present a critically focused Let’s Play of the second episode of Dontnod Entertainment’s Life Is Strange, in which we explore representation, characterization, mechanics, branching narratives, and choice lines from two very different playthroughs.
This week, I’ve been playing Life is Strange, rereading I am Charlotte Simmons, and thinking about unlikable characters. Both Life is Strange and I am Charlotte Simmons are filled with characters that I just do not like, but nevertheless I’m fully invested in both narratives this week. Unlikable characters often […]
If you’re looking for a terrible, terrifying experience, the kind of thing that will really cap off your Monday, don’t think cinematics, creepy atmosphere, and shadows. Instead, try this horrifying experience The Writer Will Do Something by Matthew S. Burns, a Twine game set in a panicked meeting of game developers […]
Life Is Strange is shaping up to be one of the most innovative games around right now, but the innovation is so invisible and well crafted that you might not even see it. Dontnod’s sophomore effort is taking the dramatic episodic adventure to all new levels with the second installment, “Out of […]
The term “serious games” is problematic. We play for fun and enjoyment, yes, but the idea behind serious games is that they are somehow more impactful…more real…than other games. But these games also try to fill a void that is lacking in the world of AAA titles and platformers. Serious […]
What exactly marks a good writer? I don’t know that there’s a real answer, even with two creative writing degrees under my belt. I can break down a story and analyze the elements, the way everything fits together, the way it might weigh in on various scales of quality, both […]
At Tuesday’s Gamescom conference, Sony continued to reiterate their support of indie game developers by emphasizing the accessible marketplace that the PS4 will offer for independent publishing. Not to be outdone, and perhaps as another one of their new measures to secure their role as a competitor on the next […]
Confession: I almost didn’t finish The Last of Us, and I’m going to tell you why. Spoilers abound here. You’ve been warned. In the months before the release of Naughty Dog’s take on an infected apocalypse, I heard the hype. I saw some images, but avoided trailers (in an effort […]