Purple lightning flashes, occluded by foreboding clouds the color of ink. A somber melody plays, operatic and minor, each note resounding from the press on an organ key. As if presenting a horror masterpiece — and not an RPG — the title, Final Fantasy VI, rises in lettering of rust and burned paper, the score reaching a harrowing and haunting apex, a chilling exclamation of Phantom of the Opera-level audial gore.
1994. Squaresoft.
Killing things is fun. Killing things with a sexy, half-dressed character is even more fun. Killing things with a sexy, half-dressed and sharp-mouthed character is the most fun. Despite years of campaigning against violence, lewdness, and gratuity in gaming, there’s one thing that is enormously apparent:
We like our games naughty.
Every hand-wringing, pearl-clutching politician and family group talking-head under the sun has attempted to malign video games over the last thirty years for everything from the cause of school shootings to “ethically unconscionable” depictions of sexiness, and the timeline of controversies is a long one. …
The PlayStation Vita was a polarizing system, to put it kindly. Oh it was a little powerhouse: a 5-inch OLED screen, rear touch pad, wonderfully ergonomic, with two analog sticks and gorgeous graphics that put the PlayStation 2 to shame. It had potential. Sadly, the life of the Vita was cut short by too many problems to name here (cough Sony cough), and years after its initial release, it is set to die in a substantial way — the loss of its storefront.
We are closing PlayStation™Store on PlayStation®3 consoles on 2nd July 2021 and on PlayStation®Vita…
Time is baffling, and frustrating. I find myself geared increasingly towards a curmudgeonly mentality in many aspects of my life, aged as I am at the archaic birthday of 32. It’s not that I’m shaking my weathered fist at passing clouds and moaning about whatever the kids are doing on TikTok, but I do spend a fair amount of time bemoaning the state of my most beloved medium, video games.
It’s difficult to suddenly realize that one of your favorite video games has become “old.” You fondly remember standing in GameStop as if it were yesterday, handing over hard-earned money…
Before I get into anything here, I have one thing to say: This game is fucking good.
I’ve long been a fan of the Metroidvania subgenre — well, to be more blunt, I adore these types of games. We’ve come a long way from Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. In the last decade or so this subgenre has exploded with entries that have both felt comfortably similar to SotN’s greatness and pushed the genre to new heights, from Hollow Knight to Axiom Verge.
Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is the newest title to take…
If you’ve ever played through Dark Souls, you know that the game’s impressive scope is built upon the sum of its parts: foreboding hallways, ghastly enemies, unforgiving combat, and a satisfying gameplay loop. What is obscured in Dark Souls is the reach of this narrative, or, the lack thereof — the game is framed by what you don’t see, by what is purposefully occluded via world design and lore snippets buried in item descriptions.
For some players, this meta approach to storytelling can be frustrating. For others, we will watch hours-long pontifications via YouTube essayists such as VaatiVidya and pore…
I am consistently impressed by untethered video game developers. The playground of the indie realm is wholly different from AAA game development — developers, designers, creators, artists and musicians who don’t owe themselves to deadline, capital, producers or sales often produce unparalleled experiences. When it comes to these small-time games, their point rarely feels like the gamification loop of murder-loot-level. Games like Fatum Betula honestly don’t feel like they have a purpose at all, which is why I adore them.
Koji Kondo composed the iconic theme of The Legend of Zelda in a single night. The inspiration for the game’s music had been classical pieces, and for many months of development the title crawl for The Legend of Zelda had simply been Ravel’s Bolero. After learning that the song remained under copyright, Kondo set upon a path of creative desperation. He needed a melancholy but sobering song that suggested courage to the player above all else. The theme of Zelda is foremost a song about setting out on adventure — it exists to swell your heart with possibility.
Kondo: “I…
Author of the Kognition Cycle. Works featured in Moonchild Magazine, Twist in Time, Selene Quarterly, and other anthologies.