Just this morning I said that I was pretty close to done when it came to talking about Final Fantasy XV, mostly because, quote: "It's like shouting at an incoming meteor with a megaphone asking it to politely turn around." That was maybe me being a little upset because I've had a trying morning in general,… Continue reading Brofist Intimacy
Category: Narrative in Games
You Can’t Take It Off
Lately, I'm beginning to feel like a bit of a crank when it comes to LGBTQ issues in games. Specifically, I'm worried that I'm being too hard on people who are potential allies. And while I am vehemently against that as a critique coming from allies themselves ("you're not making any friends, you know") I… Continue reading You Can’t Take It Off
She’s Not That Into You
I want to talk about the part of Dragon Age: Inquisition that made me cry, or at the very least to tear up and force myself to not cry. There are a lot of narrative beats, a lot of moments, in DA:I. I am sure you might expect that this emotionally-impacting scene is one of many in… Continue reading She’s Not That Into You
Undefined
So let me tell you about the time I annoyed David Gaider at a major gaming event. As many of you know, I spoke at GaymerX2 this July, as did Mr. Gaider who -- if you didn't know -- is one of the head writers at Bioware and a major creative force behind the Dragon Age series… Continue reading Undefined
Janey Springs Eternal
So to continue what appears to be an accidental series of blog posts writing about Gearbox Software's Borderlands games, I wanted to get something down on paper regarding the newest title, Borderlands the Pre-Sequel. Now, if you follow my writing and Twitter and such you probably already know that I recently reviewed the game for Paste… Continue reading Janey Springs Eternal
On Ellie
Okay, internet. It's time. After my talk at GaymerX2 on fat characters, and after hearing the folks at Gearbox give their own talk on inclusivity in design, I decided I really wanted to write something about one of the NPCs in Borderlands 2, a Gearbox title. Her name is Ellie, and she's a big lady mechanic.… Continue reading On Ellie
The Subtle Knife
So there's this thing that bugs me about being gay and I imagine it bothers a lot of other people on the queer spectrum, too. It mostly comes down to: when do I want being gay to "matter?" The problem is that there are two answers to this which are concurrently true -- Always Never… Continue reading The Subtle Knife
Fabula Spoilers Crystallis
So I wrapped up Lightning Returns and in the process I had some thoughts about how the history of the FF13 meta-series has gone down. Thus I just sort of sat down and poured them onto the page. In the absence of having any new or interesting critical commentary to post, I figured I'd just throw… Continue reading Fabula Spoilers Crystallis
Me and Bobby l’Cie
So earlier today on Twitter, Denis Farr and I were discussing how mages in the Dragon Age universe have a lot of queer readings, especially in the sense of political queerness in the 70s/80s. In the process I mentioned that I got a similar vibe from the much-maligned cast of Final Fantasy 13, specifically the relationship between "fal'Cie" (power… Continue reading Me and Bobby l’Cie
Day in the Sun
So, this semester I'm teaching a course on "Game Design for Expression." It's really more of a class on how students -- especially students with no technology or game background -- can make small, personal games. I've been fortunate to have a lot of guest speakers willing to talk about their work, including Mattie Brice,… Continue reading Day in the Sun