Musings
This article was originally published by Kotaku UK on March 24 2017. This republished version includes some minor changes. Video games usually have an easy answer to the question “What does it mean to be a hero?” It’s an opportunity for excitement and adventure, to enter a virtual world
Musings
This article was originally published by Kotaku UK on August 18 2017. With all its morbid decadence, the richly-layered Gothic imagination and cosmic horror of Bloodborne tends to overshadow some of its more (post)modern influences. Bloodborne isn’t a traditionalist, after all, but a punk: or to be more
Musings
The Arthurian worlds of Inkle’s tactical narrative game Pendragon and the movie The Green Knight have one thing in common: the grand, pathetic ruins of castles, monasteries, and chapels. In The Green Knight, a castle in ruins is the first landmark Gawain passes as he sets out on his
Musings
This article was originally published by Kotaku UK on December 9 2016. This republished version includes some minor changes. Even as you are beaten to a bloody pulp by some horrific creature, you can’t help but notice the beauty in From Software’s action RPGs. Whether you’re playing
Musings
contains spoilers for the Epic of Gilgamesh! (also Disco Elysium) It’s an old story. The oldest we know of, in fact: The Epic of Gilgamesh. Having been confronted with the terrible reality of death, our archetypal hero Gilgamesh embarks on a quest for the legendary figure of Utnapishtim, who
Musings
*spoilers ahead, ye landlubbers!* I’ve spent many hours (re)playing the whole Life is Strange series over the last couple of months. Even though I liked the original game very much at the time of its release, it’s one of those rare games that I’ve come to
Musings
Depictions of the eating of meat in horror films and games have been a major fascination for me for years. As a vegetarian, I may have a different gut reaction to this than most people, but that doesn’t mean that the trope of disturbing carnivorism lacks mainstream “appeal”. The
Game Cosmology
This is a translation of my article “Revolution ohne Ende” which was originally published in WASD 11 “Revolution – Games & Change”. (c) WASD, 11/17. Marked by ruins and the undead, the world of Dark Souls may seem apocalyptic, but the old order is still very much (half-)alive. This
Musings
No major spoilers, but I recommend playing at least halfway through Prey before reading. One point of criticism often levelled at Prey is its story, setting, and characters — what you might call its fiction. On the surface, it’s true that the story has pacing issues, that the setting is
Musings
This article was originally published on Kill Screen, October 2016. Since the site is no longer online, I'm re-publishing the article here. I also wrote a follow-up piece, which you can find here. “They are the lords of in-between. A trickster does not live near the hearth; he
Musings
Animals in video games are usually nothing but robots in skins and furs. They’re utterly predictable and mechanical, even those that are modelled realistically or animated with care: rabbits hop away in straight lines, bears attack on sight and until they drop dead. If we observe them from a
Musings
Video games are made by humans, for humans. As a result, they deal with very human concerns. This is so self-obvious that saying it out loud may seem redundant at best, intellectually insulting at worst. And yet, it’s important to be occasionally reminded of one’s biases, however natural