Beyond the Surface
Some of my favorite gaming protagonists would not have won the “most likely to save the world” award in high school… from humble plumbers like Mario and Luigi to the […]
New Game, New Day, New Mercies
Unwrapping the plastic off of a video game is an exciting moment for me… it represents a fresh start in a brand new experience, allowing me to begin again without […]
A New Start for a New Year… for Ourselves and Others
There have been several times in my gaming history when I reached the horrific realization that I needed a fresh start… and I don’t mean simply resetting a checkpoint or […]
Curses Into Blessings
Video game antagonists talk a LOT of trash, considering that they were only created for the purpose of being defeated. Throughout the game, we are forced to endure their mockery as […]
An Unreliable Narrator and the Importance of our Words
An in-game narrator can play a HUGE part in our ability to enjoy a game, adding color and texture to the world we are playing in. Some games feature an external […]
The Purpose of Armor: Protection, not Prevention
I have found through experience that when a game provides items such as armor, helmets, or boots, they aren’t a recommendation… they are essential to survival. Try loading up a game […]
An Open World Prerequisite
Almost all games feature some form of linear progression as we play them, no matter how “open world” they claim to be. Even games that allow us to “take on […]
A Backstory that Conceals the Destiny?
Protagonists in video games don’t always have a backstory that indicates what their destiny will contain… who would have ever expected that a simple plumber named Mario would embark on […]
A Christmas Question
Here is a Christmas question for you… if you could somehow insert yourself into ANY game and become the main character, who would you choose? Think carefully… sure, you would receive […]
What “Favor” Really Looks Like
In theory, being a video game protagonist might sound like fun… but if I added up everything that I put them through, it isn’t a very compelling job offer. “Do you […]
Finding God in Video Games 