On this week's episode of With a Terrible Fate's podcast, join Aaron and Dan in a treacherous, invigorating relitigation of domains of video-game discourse with a reputation for being too messy and inert to matter to the ordinary gamer. The two main bugaboos on the agenda are "morality" and "immersion" in gaming. What does it mean for games to have moral content, and how can this content actually help to illuminate the many reasons we have for playing games rather than leading us into often distracting conversations about whether playing games at all is "good" or "bad"? And how might "immersion" distract us from the rich experiences games give us by dynamically playing with the distance between player and avatar, and telling stories about the changes in that distance?

Listen in to find out! Along the way, we alight on topics ranging from the value of video-game adaptations into television to the potential of games to provide players with mystic and esoteric experiences. We even make time to consider Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree, and we break down how to read the philosophical debate over our emotional reactions to works of fiction—featuring exegesis of work from Aaron's undergraduate thesis adviser and mentor, Richard Moran.

Be on the lookout for spoiler-ish discussions of The Last of Us Parts 1 & 2, the TV adaptation of The Last of Us Part 1, Silent Hill 2, Tales of Hearts R, Elden Ring, and Shadow of the Erdtree (though spoilers focus more on Elden Ring than on Shadow of the Erdtree).

Works Referenced:

• Hughes, Dan (2017). "Does Silent Hill 2 Belong in the Video Game Canon?" With a Terrible Fate.
• Moran, Richard. (1994) “The Expression of Feeling in Imagination.” Philosophical Review 103.1, pp. 75-106.
• Suduiko, Aaron. (2017) "Guilt & Inequity in Silent Hill 2." With a Terrible Fate.
• — —. (2022) "How Elden Ring Turns Its Player into an Outer God." With a Terrible Fate.
• — —. (2023) "Tales of the Abyss, Kabbalah, and Gaming as a Spiritual Act." With a Terrible Fate.
• — —. (2024) "Why You Must Play Tales of Hearts R 389 Times." With a Terrible Fate.
• Walton, Kendall. (1978) “Fearing Fictions.” Journal of Philosophy 75.1, pp. 5-27.
• — —. (1990) Mimesis as make-believe: on the foundations of the representational arts. Cambridge: Harvard University. Print.

***WARNING: THIS EPISODE IS HAUNTED!*** The characters in the first game we discussed were haunting our podcasting software, so please excuse some small technical difficulties throughout the episode and a rather abrupt kickoff on account of a lost introduction. We jump directly into spoilers for Inscryption, a game that ought to be played without spoilers, so we strongly recommend only listening to this episode after playing! (Or, skip ahead to 45:30 to pass over this discussion.)

In a belated installment of the With a Terrible Fate podcast, Aaron and Dan travel back in time to Mother's Day 2024 in a discussion ranging from the horrifying, to the metafictional, to the maternal, to the personal. We kick things off (0:00:00) with a long-overdue debrief of Inscryption following Dan's completion of it and agree that it's something you simply have to discover for yourself—as well as being something that you absolutely must discuss with others who have experienced it! Later (0:45:30), we contemplate portraits of some memorable mothers from our gaming lives. Finally (0:52:54), we wrap things up with an exploration of how single-player gaming can include a range of rich, intersecting, real-life ritual practices, which can equip us to game more mindfully if only we can attend to those rituals in our conscious mind.

Be warned (again!) for thorough spoilers of Inscryption, along with some smaller structural spoilers for elements of (in the motherhood section) Tales of Eternia, Tales of Hearts R, Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, Scarlet Nexus, Returnal, God of War & Ragnorok, and (in the ritual section) Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, along with some reprised spoilers for Inscryption.

Works Referenced

• Erin Waldram, "How Majora's Mask Teaches Us to Connect With All of Ourselves"
• Aaron Suduiko, "Why You Must Play Tales of Hearts R 389 Times"

With the last month of the year upon us, join the With a Terrible Fate podcast for December-themed game reflections! From the culture developing around the Game Awards, to analyzing what counts as a "holiday gaming experience," to reflecting on evolving standards around game demos, spoilers, and recommendations, this episode is stuffed with plenty of gifts for the literate gamer.

Do you find yourself bouncing back and forth between multiple games, or running a few different playthroughs at the same time to support different mindsets or moments throughout your day? Take a listen to this latest podcast episode, in which Dan and Aaron explore the many reasons for which we might bounce gymnastically between multiple games, and the many consequences (good and bad!) this might have for our playthroughs. From seres like Persona 5 and Tales of Arise featuring multiple explorations of the same characters, to games like Tales of Graces f and Ni no Kuni II offering timely pictures of modern struggles, to motivations like "reading," "grinding," and "bedtime routine" guiding our game curation, this conversation offers something for every sort of gaming moment—just as games themselves do!

Welcome to the latest incarnation of With a Terrible Fate's podcast: unstructured, organic conversations about current gaming experiences, how they inform our understanding of the world, and how they relate to the broader language of video-game storytelling! In this inaugural episode, Dan Hughes and Aaron Suduiko discuss their recent adventures in the Tales and Pokémon series, and they wrestle with the difference between series that lose touch with their identity through productization and series that enhance our experience through robust, thematically grounded networks of content. There's even a bit of GOTY talk, so you may walk away with some new—or very, very old—game recommendations to add to your own list!

On the spookiest day of the year, join With a Terrible Fate in a free-wheeling conversation about the past, present, and future magic of horror storytelling in video games. In a brand-new podcast episode, Dan Hughes and Aaron Suduiko haunt you with reflections on the good, bad, and ugly of scary interactive stories, including:

• Old and new glitches, from MissingNo. to headless Marvel heroes
• Dan's six-year-old ire for Five Nights at Freddy's, juxtaposed against his reception of the brand-new Five Nights at Freddy's film
• The role of horror moments in non-horror video-game genres, such as the JRPG
• The "Silent Hill" era of retelling old horror stories in a new light like campfire stories inspired by oral histories, including such works as Resident Evil and Silent Hill remakes, as well as Lies of P
• Recommendations for what you should play and watch this Halloween

Don't be afraid, and buckle up for new podcast content in the near future!

Works cited:

• Dan Hughes, "Does Five Nights at Freddy's Belong in the Video Game Canon?"
• Dan Hughes, "Does Dead Rising Belong in the Video Game Canon?"
• Dan Hughes, "Does Silent Hill Belong in the Video Game Canon?"
• Dan Hughes, "Does Silent Hill 2 Belong in the Video Game Canon?"
• Dan Hughes, "Does Silent Hill 3 Belong in the Video Game Canon?"
• Dan Hughes, "Does Silent Hill 4 Belong in the Video Game Canon?"
• Dan Hughes, "Does Undertale Belong in the Video Game Canon?"
• Lauren Spohn, "The Outset Island Effect"
• Aaron Suduiko, Tales of Praxis
• Aaron Suduiko, "Bloodborne, Lovecraft, and the Dangerous Idea"
• Aaron Suduiko, "The Horror of Code Vein is You"
• Aaron Suduiko, "Guilt & Inequity in Silent Hill 2"

This Friday the 13th of October on Pokémon Rose: from MissingNo. and a skeletal Kabutops to Drifloon and Gengar, take our hand on the spookiest day of the year and wander with us through the pokégraveyard. Stay on the lookout: if we're unlucky enough, we may just be visited by the origins of ghost stories, Ghost Pokémon, and the spooky folklore that wove its DNA into the Pokémon series and early-2000s internet gaming culture alike.

This week on Pokémon Rose: an exposition of mythopoeia, a study of the Pokémon world's perennial quest for meaning and explanation in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, and how mechanics of exploration, Pokémania, and myth equip players to confront one burning question: "How do we dream in a shapeless void?"

Credit to Qumu Music for the music in this episode.

This week on Pokémon Rose: an introduction to Generation 4 of Pokémon (Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum), the value of taking your childhood passions seriously as you grow up, and the surprising perspective of falling in love with a game as an adult only because you chose not to play it in your childhood.

This week on Pokémon Phi Rose: five-time Pokémon world champion Dan Hughes reflects on Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and contemplates what might have been if he'd taken a different path and adopted a different dream.

This week on Pokémon Rose: the story of how Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire turned the series' rivalry paradigm on its head through a new kind of character—and a new kind of role for the player.

This week on Pokémon Rose: studying how the enemy teams of Pokémon developed from mobsters into a trenchant lesson on the limitations of personal dreams.

On this episode of the With a Terrible Fate podcast, we celebrate Dan's birthday with a conversation ranging from becoming a real boy to becoming a... real old man!

We begin with a postgame analysis of Lies of P in which it takes Aaron and Dan a hilariously long time to uncover that, contrary to their first impression based on each other's perspective, they'd actually chosen different endings to the story! This lays the foundation for a discussion of how games' content can prompt philosophical dialogues between their players, revealing a wealth of hidden depth that makes Lies of P well worth the time of the thoughtful gamer—especially if she comes to it with a background in the oeuvre of Hidetaka Miyazaki.

Later, we turn to Dan's birthday as a context for revisiting formative childhood games we hated and striving to read them anew through the principle of charity, a core tenet of With a Terrible Fate's ethos. We articulate practical methods for approaching games from this perspective, including the distinction between asking what a game is "capital 'A' About" and what a game is "capital 'S' Saying." When we apply these methods to some of those first games that left a bad taste in our mouths, we argue, we have the opportunity not just to discover new value in an old game, but also to recontextualize our entire gaming history in the bargain.

Whether you're seeking new ways to evaluate the game you just finished or new values in the games you've been seething over for decades, this episode has something for you!

Works Referenced

• Dan Hughes, "Understanding Xemnas in Kingdom Hearts II," With a Terrible Fate. May 21, 2021.
• Richard Nguyen, "Beyond the Moral Binary: Decision-Making in Video Games," With a Terrible Fate. April 25, 2016.
• Enrico Pasini, "Leibniz's Dissatisfaction with the Cogito," G.W. Leibniz: Razón, Verdad y Diálogo, edited by Juan Antonio Nicolás, Alejandro Herrera, Roberto Casales, Luis Velasco, Leonardo Ruiz, and Alfredo Martinez (Colección Nova Leibniz / Latina 5), Granada: Editorial Comares 2023, p. 35–48. Author's manuscript; open access.
• Aaron Suduiko, "The Horror of Code Vein is You," With a Terrible Fate. November 22, 2020.
• — —, "Scarlet Nexus: The Pathos of Karen Travers," With a Terrible Fate. November 8, 2021.
• — —, "The Tragic Irony of Final Fantasy XIII-2," With a Terrible Fate. November 29, 2016.

This week on Pokémon Rose: a deep dive into the game mechanics of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire that gave birth to the modern Pokémon metagame—and a study of how those mechanics unexpectedly enhanced the heart of the series' storytelling.

This week on Pokémon Rose: a study in what it's like as a gamer to feel as though the new entries in a beloved video-game series were no longer being made for you—and foreshadowing of how, and why, you would ultimately return to that series.

This week on Pokémon Rose: a time-travel episode in more ways than one, exploring the legendary intersection between a unique Pokémon and a real-life Pokéchallenge.

What happens when a video game's sequel takes you back to a world you'd thought you left behind—a world that's kept moving without you? Find out in this week's episode of Pokémon Rose, studying the return to Kanto in Pokémon Gold and Silver.

This week on Pokémon Rose: how Game Freak's approach to mythological storytelling created a world that simultaneously felt old and new to players of Pokémon Gold and Silver.

This week on Pokémon Rose: how the explosion of available Pokémon in Pokémon Gold and Silver led to the innovation of a special Trainer/Pokémon bond that continues to this day.

This week on Pokémon Rose: a discussion of how Pokémon Gold and Silver set the standard for a Pokémon sequel.

On this special episode of Pokémon Rose: a reflection on the meaning of the original Pokémon anime to gamers and '90s kids, on the occasion of Ash's final episode in the anime.

Where did Mewtwo come from, and what does he have to do with the implicit storytelling for which Pokémon has become famous? Journey back with us to the original postgame in this week's episode of Pokémon Rose.

What makes for a compelling rival, and how do video games bridge the gap between fictional characters and real-life rivals? In the second episode of Pokémon Rose, join Dan in a study of how the Pokémon model of friendship and competition has evolved from Blue to Nemona.

This week, With a Terrible Fate's podcast is a romp ranging from adaptation to serialized storytelling to metafiction. We kick off discussing Lies of P in the contexts of Pinocchio, Miyazaki-inspired games, and philosophically-minded stories as Aaron nears the conclusion of his first playthrough. (He's since wrapped this up, so stay tuned for overall first impressions!) Later, Dan presents his latest views on how to read the eras and progress of Final Fantasy as a series, inspired by his latest journeys through Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Final Fantasy XVI, and in conversation with Aaron's current work on the Tales of series in Tales of Praxis. Finally, we both wrestle with the relationship between a game's fourth wall, metafictional storytelling, and how to involve a player without disenfranchising the story's characters—as well as how our views in this area have changed over the years.

Mind the spoilers for the whole Final Fantasy series, the Tales of series, Lies of P, BioShock, The Stanley Parable, NieR, and Undertale!

Check out With a Terrible Fate's publications on many of the games in this discussion, such as: Final Fantasy, Tales of, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Code Vein, BioShock, The Stanley Parable, NieR, and Undertale.

How do the iconic words "I choose you" define Pokémon, and how do they inform the relationship between a player and his starter Pokémon? In this first episode of Pokémon Rose, join Dan in reflecting on how Pokémon teams subvert the typical JRPG party experience.

Today, on Pokémon Day 2023, With a Terrible Fate is proud to introduce a new, weekly audio series by seriesrunner and video game analyst Dan Hughes: Pokémon Rose: A Nostalgic Look Back! Tune in to this introductory episode to learn what the series is about, and how Pokémon can be a cipher to our past, present, and future as gamers—and as people.

References

• "Understanding Xemnas in Kingdom Hearts II," Dan Hughes

Join Aaron and Dan in a behind-the-scenes look at "The Gwyn Moment," a reflection on how Dan's experience with the first Dark Souls led him to think about video-game storytelling, Miyazaki, and his own life differently.

Topics include: why it can be hard to take good video-game recommendations from friends; how gamers get motivated to care about the lore of a world; using Gwyn as a cipher to understand Miyazaki's other works; the community's ever-fraught relationship with Dark Souls 2; how memorable moments in games can radically change our views about the games—and ourselves.

Want to dig further into the storytelling of Elden Ring? Attend With a Terrible Fate's PAX East 2022 panel on April 21st, in person or virtually! Find all the details you need to know here.

(Spoilers for the Dark Souls series, Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Demon's Souls, Final Fantasy XIII-2, and BioShock.)

• "The Gwyn Moment," Dan Hughes
• "Understanding Xemnas in Kingdom Hearts II," Dan Hughes

Join Aaron and Dan in a behind-the-scenes look at the argument that the player of Elden Ring is an Outer God, not a Tarnished.

Discussion topics include: why Elden Ring's endings are puzzling in the first place; what we can learn about Elden Ring from Miyazaki's other work; how Elden Ring uses lore differently than Dark Souls; why the Golden Order is a paradox, and how the player's ability to resolve it spells new opportunities for video-game storytelling.

Want to dig further into the storytelling of Elden Ring? Attend With a Terrible Fate's PAX East 2022 panel on April 21st, in person or virtually! Find all the details you need to know here.

(Spoilers for Elden Ring, the Dark Souls series, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.)

• “How Elden Ring Turns Its Player into an Outer God,” Aaron Suduiko
• “Where are the Humans in NieR: Automata?”, Aaron Suduiko
• “‘How Gaming Will Change Humanity as We Know It’: A Reply,” Aaron Suduiko
• “Understanding Xemnas in Kingdom Hearts II,“ Dan Hughes

In the inaugural issue of a new type of With a Terrible Fate audio content, join Aaron and Dan for a deep dive into the publication's most recent analysis, "Critical Review: The Path to Necron in Final Fantasy IX."

Discussion topics include: what video games can learn from theater; the good, bad, and ugly of games that "break the fourth wall"; how complex stories like FFIX's can be rendered coherent and compelling; FFIX's place in the shadow of FFX; what FFIX's endgame can teach us about the endgame of Final Fantasy VII Remake.

(Spoilers for Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy VII Remake, and Bioshock.)

• "How Final Fantasy VII Remake's Whispers Changed Fate—and Storytelling," Aaron Suduiko

This week, we come to you with an update about the future trajectory of With a Terrible Fate's podcast endeavors. In summary, we're going to be working to retool our audio material around deep-dives into our written analytical content, as well as longer, less frequent explorations of the most fascinating topics concerning video games as a storytelling medium.

At the same time, Stefan will be stepping away to launch a new podcast focused more broadly on video game studies and culture; he'll continue to be involved with With a Terrible Fate as an analyst, and we're already looking forward to his first article.

Listen in for all the details, and we're looking forward to more conversations with you in the weeks and months to come.

• Listen to the first of With a Terrible Fate's new "Director's Commentary" features
• Check out Stefan and Dan's new, broader game studies and culture podcast

What does it take to put two great video game series together in a successful mashup? Join us this week in a free-wheeling exploration of the concept of "Silent Souls": a hypothetical mashup of Dark Souls and Silent Hill, inspired by a provocative internet image of a Catarina Knight sitting by the rest stop James Sunderland visits at the beginning of Silent Hill 2.

In our side quests, we ponder Dontnod's new home office program and Aaron's experiences with the wonderful gamers of PAX West 2021.

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• Main Story
  • 00:01:51 Silent Souls
• Side Quests
  • 00:43:42 Dontnod adopting permanent work-from-home policy (Brendan Sinclair)
  • 00:50:29 PAX West
    • Now Loading… The Video Game Canon! (Dan Hughes)

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What happens when the cosmic proportions of a Bandai Namco JRPG collide with the intimate, personal storytelling of deep character study? Join us this week as Aaron begins an analysis of Scarlet Nexus, the "brain punk" video game that's equal parts psychology of the self and psychology of the Other.

In side quests, Stefan continues his Yakuza: Like a Dragon diary, Dan reflects on what the Japanese language illuminates about The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Aaron considers the dynamics of gaming in the company of "uninvited onlookers."

(Correction: three characters not mentioned in the conversation can use a Brain Field, but one is unable to maintain his sanity thereafter and the other two can only use one when working in tandem with one another, so the point about the set of characters to which Brain Fields are available stands.)

Support us on Patreon!

• Side Quests
  • 00:03:39 Uninvited Onlookers
    • "Why Games Matter, and What Jane Austen Has To Do with It" (Aaron Suduiko)
  • 00:13:50 Ocarina of Time – Japanese Original vs. English Translation
  • 00:21:50 Yakuza: Like a Dragon Diary
• Main Story
  • 00:26:39 Scarlet Nexus
    • "The Tragic Irony of Final Fantasy XIII-2" (Aaron Suduiko)
    • "Understanding Xemnas in Kingdom Hearts II" (Dan Hughes)
    • "The Horror of Code Vein is You" (Aaron Suduiko)

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Iconic musical themes from games such as The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, or Undertale are deeply ingrained into the minds of any avid gamer. This week, With a Terrible Fate video game analyst Laila Carter joins us for an exploration of how these and many other leitmotifs frame, complement, constitute, or even subvert video game stories.

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• Main Story
  • 00:05:04 Musical Leitmotifs (with Laila Carter)
    • 8-bit Music Theory
    • The Legend of Zelda Theme, Kōji Kondō
    • Zelda's Lullaby, Kōji Kondō
    • Ballad of the Goddess, Hajime Wakai & Takeshi Hama
    • Temple of Time Theme, Kōji Kondō
    • Hyrule Castle, Manaka Kataoka & Yasuaki Iwata
    • Ballad of the Wind Fish, Ryo Nagamatsu
    • Gwyn, Lord of Cinder, Motoi Sakuraba
    • Hollow Knight Title Theme, Christopher Larkin
    • Sealed Vessel, Christopher Larkin
    • Karma (Tales of the Abyss Opening), BUMP OF CHICKEN
    • Meaning of Birth, Motoi Sakuraba, Shinji Tamura, & Motoo Fujiwara
    • Unbreakable Chains, Yoko Shimomura
    • Octopath Traveler Theme, Yasunori Nishiki
    • Super Metroid Soundtrack, Kenji Yamamoto & Minako Hamano
    • Magmoor Caverns Theme, Kenji Yamamoto & Kouichi Kyuma
    • Angel Island Zone Act 1, Brad Buxer, Michael Jackson, Cirocco Jones, Bobby Brooks, Darryl Ross, Geoff Grace, Doug Grigsby, Sachio Ogawa, Tatsuyuki Maeda, & Jun Senoue
    • Angel Island Zone Act 2, Brad Buxer, Michael Jackson, Cirocco Jones, Bobby Brooks, Darryl Ross, Geoff Grace, Doug Grigsby, Sachio Ogawa, Tatsuyuki Maeda, & Jun Senoue
    • Hydrocity Zone Act 1, Brad Buxer, Michael Jackson, Cirocco Jones, Bobby Brooks, Darryl Ross, Geoff Grace, Doug Grigsby, Sachio Ogawa, Tatsuyuki Maeda, & Jun Senoue
    • Hydrocity Zone Act 2, Brad Buxer, Michael Jackson, Cirocco Jones, Bobby Brooks, Darryl Ross, Geoff Grace, Doug Grigsby, Sachio Ogawa, Tatsuyuki Maeda, & Jun Senoue
    • UNDERTALE Soundtrack, Toby Fox

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Maps are profoundly practical. They help players find orientation in extensive game worlds, indicate points of interaction, and track progress. Yet by the same token, they complicate a player's relationship to the world of a game's fiction. This week, we discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of those complications.

Later: Stefan kicks off his Yakuza: Like a Dragon diary; we discuss the order in which we unlock the final trophies of a game; and Dan recaps his visit to last week's Classic Game Fest in Austin.

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• Main Story
  • 00:05:53 Maps: Salvation or Sin?
    • Related listening and reading:
      • "Why 'Immersion' is a Dirty Word in Gaming Discourse" (Dan Hughes & Aaron Suduiko)
      • "The Aesthetics of User Interfaces" (Aaron Suduiko)
      • "Beacon Received: The Satisfaction of Discovery in the Metroid Series" (Laila Carter)
• Side Quests
  • 00:44:10 Yakuza: Like a Dragon Diary
  • 00:48:25 The Art of Unlocking Platinum Trophies
    • "The Language of Trophies in Final Fantasy VII Remake" (Aaron Suduiko)
  • 00:59:37 Classic Game Fest Austin
    • Ukiyo-e Heroes

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This week on With a Terrible Fate's podcast, we celebrate the communities, black sheep, and arduous challenges of gaming! We begin with Aaron breaking down With a Terrible Fate's lecture on bosses at PAX East last month, along with broader reflections on everything from cosplays to upcoming indie games you won't want to miss. All the talk of bosses leads us to Dark Souls II, one of the subjects of the lecture, inviting a broader discussion of why games which you or a fandom didn't initially enjoy can oftentimes be the most rewarding "new game plus" experiences. Then, with Dark Souls on the brain, we consider what may be the "Dark Souls" of platinum trophy experiences: Dan's journey to get the platinum on Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, what it means to the game, and how we find value in achievements more broadly. Finally, we round things out with a discussion of our current gaming adventures, including Dan's experience of Japanese history in Rise of the Rōnin and Aaron's Chekhovian madness on the way to the climax of Tales of Xillia.

Be on the lookout for spoilers regarding the Dark Souls series, Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth,  Rise of the Rōnin, Nioh, and Tales of Xillia.

Articles Cited:

• With a Terrible Fate at PAX East 2018: "How Games are Changing Serialized Storytelling"

• Aaron Suduiko: "The Language of Trophies in Final Fantasy VII Remake"

Diving into the depths of the human psyche is something the progenitors of psychoanalysis could have only dreamed of. Yet, games such as Persona 5, Silent Hill, and Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice enable us to do just that—at least within the domain of play and fiction. Join us for a discussion for a ride through various formations of mindscapes.

Further, Aaron addresses reader commentary on his new Returnal analysis and Stefan celebrates the 20th anniversary of Final Fantasy X by reminiscing (or trying to) about one of its most romantic scenes.

Support us on Patreon!

• Main Story
  • 00:06:18 Into the Mindscape
    • "Does Silent Hill Belong in the Video Game Canon?" (Dan Hughes)
    • "Does Silent Hill 2 Belong in the Video Game Canon?" (Dan Hughes)
    • "Does Silent Hill 3 Belong in the Video Game Canon?" (Dan Hughes)
    • "Does Silent Hill 4 Belong in the Video Game Canon?" (Dan Hughes)
    • "Guilt and Inequity in Silent Hill 2" (Aaron Suduiko)
    • "Bloodborne, Lovecraft, and the Dangerous Idea" (Aaron Suduiko)
    • Horror Storytelling in Prey (begins at 28:15) (With a Terrible Fate)
    • "PAX East 2018: How Video Games are Changing Serialized Storytelling" (With a Terrible Fate)
• Side Quests
  • 00:57:55 "Game as Mind: A Psychoanalytic Explanation of Returnal" (Aaron Suduiko)
    • Aaron on different levels of narrative analysis (see Section 1, "Preliminaries")
    • "More Cowbell" (Saturday Night Live)
  • 01:15:20 "A Look At Final Fantasy's First Sex Scene, 20 Years Later" (Ash Parrish)

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A new challenger joins the market for hybrid handheld gaming: Valve‘s Steam Deck. This week, we discuss whether the Steam Deck may change where and how the stories PC games will be experienced—and what lessons the Switch can teach us to guide our thinking.

Later, we contemplate recent rumors revolving around Netflix's supposed plans to stream video games, and a copy of Super Mario 64 that is more valuable than most homes.

Support us on Patreon!

• Main Story
  • 00:07:11 What to expect from Steam Deck
    • "The most gaming power you have ever held," Valve
    • "Valve’s gaming handheld is called the Steam Deck and it’s shipping in December," Jay Peters, Chaim Gartenberg, Richard Lawler, and Sean Hollister
    • "Three Core Ways the Nintendo Switch Will Make New Stories Possible," Aaron Suduiko
    • "Console Analysis: What a portable Termina means for Majora’s Mask,” (Aaron Suduiko)
    • "Breath of the Wild: The Hero Who Never Was," Aaron Suduiko
• Side Quests
  • 00:58:22 "Netflix To Offer Video Games on Its Streaming Platform," Mark Gurman
    • Netflix job announcement: Director of Product Innovation, Interactive, Netflix
    • Data mining tweet, Steve Moser
  • 01:11:39 "It’s-a Me, a $1.56 Million Copy of Super Mario 64!", Aaron Mak

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The flavor text of EarthBound tells a story you might have missed. This week, Aaron and Dan chat with fellow video game analyst Max Gorynski about the new article in his ongoing analysis series, A Comprehensive Theory of EarthBound.

Later on, we discuss Nintendo's announcement of the Switch OLED model, the value of hard copies, and the transformative potential of treating video-game-story analysis as a metagame.

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• Main Story
  • 00:07:36 EarthBound's Flavor Text (with Max Gorynski)
    • "Why EarthBound’s Flavor Text Tastes So Good," Max Gorynski
    • "Understanding Xemnas in Kingdom Hearts II," Dan Hughes
    • "What Can Magic: The Gathering and JRPGs Learn from Each Other? [PAX Online 2020 presentation]," Aaron Suduiko, Dan Hughes, and Max Gorynski
    • "Want to Learn How to Design Sidequests? Play Majora's Mask," Aaron Suduiko
• Side Quests
  • 00:38:43 "Nintendo Switch OLED model will go on sale October 8th for $350," Tom Warren
  • 00:49:31 "A copy of the original Legend of Zelda video game sold at auction for almost a million dollars,"Kelly McLaughlin
  • 00:56:23 Video-game-story analysis as a metagame

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What is play? What are its functions and why do so merrily do it? One of the most influential books to address these questions is Homo Ludens by the Dutch cultural historian Johan Huizinga. In our brand new reading circle, we discuss the first section of Huizinga's renowned engagement with the intricacies of play.

Later on, we discuss and analyze one of the most prominent PS5 games at the moment: Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.

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• Main Story
  • 00:02:53 Reading Circle: Johan Huizinga – Homo Ludens
• Side Quests
  • 00:57:35 Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

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Our main story today is about Returnal, one of the few PS5 flagship titles at the moment and part of the recent resurgence of "roguelikes," commonly understood as games that feature mechanics setting avatars back to near the beginning of the game and largely resetting their progress every time they die. We analyze Returnal as a multiply psychological game that boldly meshes genres and ultimately refuses to let us go.

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• Main Story
  • 00:03:32 Returnal
    • "'Dark Souls of X': What Makes a Successful Souls Successor?"
• Side Quests
  • 00:55:45 Stop Treating Hideo Kojima Like He’s the Riddler (Imran Khan)
  • 01:01:49 Multiple Avatars in Scarlet Nexus

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Video games return to the topic of pandemics time and time again. The Resident Evil series continues to indulge in close-up outbreak scenarios; The Walking Dead has brought players to tears at the emotional impact of loss; creative twists like Plague Inc. introduced the role of a pathogen on a quest to conquer the world; the infamous Corrupted Blood Incident in World of Warcraft even accidentally simulated a raging pandemic. With our guest, the cultural historian Dr. Arno Görgen, we discuss the constructions of pandemics in video-game stories and how they relate to our current real-world situation.

Later, Dan and Stefan's side quests merge to ponder E3 2021, Take Two‘s diversity panel, and the Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins demo.

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• Main Story
  • 00:02:15 Playing the Pandemic (with Dr. Arno Görgen)
• Side Quests
  • 00:40:08 E3 2021 Overview
  • 00:44:01 Take Two's "Play for All" panel
    • Take-Two’s E3 Panel Was The Right Thing At The Wrong Time (Stacey Henley)
  • 00:49:35 Strangers of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins
  • 00:54:32 Rocksmith+
  • 00:58:05 Aragami 2
  • 00:59:19 Vertigo
  • 01:00:05 Xbox/Bethesda
  • 01:01:50 Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope
  • 01:03:33 Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda
  • 01:07:02 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2
  • 01:09:00 Where to go from here?

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However one might spin it, video games often require a substantial time commitment, usually much more so than other storytelling media. Eventually, a player might lose interest, feel overwhelmed, or simply get disconnected from her own role in the story. In this week's main story, grounded in the first half of Aaron Suduiko's new "Final Fantasy VII Remake is the Template for 'Grown-Up' JRPGs," we discuss three ways in which long games can alienate players.

In our side quests, Dan reviews Resident Evil Village, Stefan constructively criticizes the PS5's mute button, and Aaron argues that Final Fantasy VII Remake's narrative structure overcomes the problems we discussed in our main story—the second half of his new article.

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• Main Story
  • 00:08:18 Too Long to Beat
    • Final Fantasy VII Remake is the Template for 'Grown-Up' JRPGs," Aaron Suduiko
    • The role of the player in Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Aaron Suduiko
    • The role of the player in Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, Aaron Suduiko
    • The storytelling role of multiple outcomes in Dishonored, Aaron Suduiko
• Side Quests
  • 00:56:47 Resident Evil Village
    • "Ethan Winters’ poor hands are the laughingstock of the internet," Michael McWhertor
  • 01:06:34 PS5 Mute Button Design
  • 01:12:32 "Final Fantasy VII Remake is the Template for “Grown-Up” JRPGs," Aaron Suduiko
    • "Critical Review: Final Fantasy VII Remake is Completely Incomplete," Aaron Suduiko

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It's been nearly a decade since the original Mass Effect Trilogy ended, and now veterans and new players alike are experiencing the story of Commander Shepard and the Reapers. In this episode, we discuss what it's like to go back to a series after so long, how distance can add a new perspective to your understanding of a game, and how the controversial ending to Mass Effect 3 comes off today.

In our side quests, we discuss Ubisoft's acknowledgement of politics in Far Cry 6, how developers try to recreate games as they were years ago, and the extent to which our mode of engagement changes based on how many games we play at a single time.

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• Main Story
  • 00:02:50 Mass Effect Revisited
    • "I Would Not Plant Apple Trees If the World Will Be Wiped: Analyzing Hundreds of Millions of Behavioral Records of Players During an MMORPG Beta Test" (Ah Reum Kang, Jeremy Blackburn, Haewoon Kwak, Huy Kang Kim)
• Side Quests
  • 00:37:15 The Politics of Far Cry 6 (Navid Khavari)
  • 00:51:43 "‘Blizzard 2.0’ Storms In to Make the Games Blizzard No Longer Wants To" (Jason Schreier)
  • 00:59:21 How focused do we need to be on a single game?

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Philosopher Daniel Muñoz begins his "Wronging Oneself" with the following anecdote:

"Earlier today, without asking permission, I took a bike belonging to someone in my neighborhood and rode it to work. I later noticed that this same person, who works in my office, was looking tired. So I pinched their arm, opened their mouth, and poured hot coffee inside. As if that weren’t enough, I took some cash from their wallet to buy my lunch, and I even spent my break thumbing through their private emails.

Before you reach for any moral sanctions: this 'neighbor' of mine was me."

The question of whether we owe anything to ourselves is surprisingly controversial in philosophy because it seems as though we stand in a different relationship to ourselves than we do to other people. It also has potentially interesting implications for ethics in video games: fictionally, what do we, as players, owe to avatars—those characters whose actions we determine, through whose eyes we see the worlds of video games?

In this week's episode, Aaron sits down with Daniel Muñoz, a moral philosopher and one of Aaron's mentors and friends, to discuss the many insights that philosophy, ethics, and video-game storytelling have for one another—including how these analytical tool kits may open the way to an understanding of The Last of Us Part II that others have missed.

Later, in a side quest, Stefan shares a new article by Sky LaRell Anderson and Karen Schrier analyzing the concept of accessibility in video games, as well as the ways in which game design and game journalism approach disabilities in gaming.

(Spoiler warning for The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II.)

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• Main Story
  • 00:01:58 What we owe to ourselves and avatars (Daniel Muñoz)
    • Daniel Muñoz's personal website
    • "The Paradox of Duties to Oneself," Daniel Muñoz
    • "The Role of the Player in Video-Game Fictions," Aaron Suduiko
    • "Naughty Dog's Game Design is Outdated," NakeyJakey
• Side Quest
  • 01:02:22 "Disability and Video Game Journalism: A Discourse Analysis of Accessibility and Gaming Culture" (Sky LaRell Anderson & Karen Schrier)

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Falling through the floor, stalked by a burly viking, or plagued by boss self-destruction? Listen in as we discuss the good, the bad, the ugly, and the hilarious of glitches, trading stories and trying to determine what, if anything, makes glitches different from much more mundane divergences from authorial intent.

In our side quests, we share our impressions of the critically acclaimed Disco Elysium and admire the "immersive" engagement with literary and performative arts in Final Fantasy IX.

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• Main Story
  • 00:03:54 Glitches
    • Immediacy and hypermediacy: Remediation: Understanding New Media, Jay Bolter & Richard Grusin (1999)
    • Literal and implied authors: The Rhetoric of Fiction, Wayne C. Booth (1961)
    • The psychology of speedrunners: "More Than Just a Game: Inside the Minds of Speedrunners," Matt McGill
    • The vagueness of 'immersion': "Why 'Immersion' is a Dirty Word in Gaming Discourse," Dan Hughes & Aaron Suduiko
    • Application of the distinction between literal & implied authors: "Video Game Structural Aesthetics: Why The Beginner's Guide is Masterfully Confusing," Aaron Suduiko
    • Immediacy vs. hypermediacy in video games and virtual reality: "Listen to My Story": The Problem of Storytelling in Virtual Reality," Aaron Suduiko
    • Nihilism in Majora's Mask: "Critical Review: Majora's Mask Should Terrify You, and This is Why," Aaron Suduiko
• Side Quests
  • 01:01:07 Disco Elysium
  • 01:12:39 Final Fantasy IX

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This week on With a Terrible Fate's podcast, Aaron and Dan take a deep breath and dive into their very first, unfiltered, spoiler-rich thoughts about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Save this episode until you've finished the main scenario and are ready to dig into its microscopic and macrocosmic implications! We're already eagerly planning new analyses centered on this latest addition to the Final Fantasy VII corpus, consistent with the spirit and approach of The Legacy of Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Ahead of the Rebirth roundtable, we also anticipate With a Terrible Fate's lecture at PAX East 2024, which took place this past weekend! (The podcast was produced ahead of the convention.) We were overjoyed to engage a wonderful audience of hundreds of thoughtful, passionate gamers on the topic of bosses' interactive and narrative content over the course of almost three hours, and we're delighted to welcome many of these newcomers into the broader With a Terrible Fate community. Unfortunately, we encountered some unexpected recording issues and only walked away with partial footage from the lecture, but we're excited to share as much as we can with the entirety of our audience in one form or another in the near future. Stay tuned!

Join With a Terrible Fate for a special podcast episode fully dedicated to explorations into the Kingdom Hearts series.

To many, Kingdom Hearts might initially appear to be a curious amalgamation. Its infamously complicated plot aside, the series stands out for its integration of original characters and Final Fantasy characters with the worlds and characters of Disney. In this episode, we discuss the work of our guest, media and video-game studies graduate student Anh-Thu Nguyen, who argues that Kingdom Hearts employs a tourist gaze by letting players explore a digital Disneyland.

We also join Dan Hughes in a discussion of his latest article on With a Terrible Fate, Understanding Xemnas in Kingdom Hearts II: a study in one of the most puzzling lines from the game's finale, which Dan believes sheds light on the game's themes of player agency and the plight of NPCs. We discuss the article itself, his philosophy of Kingdom Hearts, his analytical method, questions from his readership, and his plans for follow-up articles in the future.

(Spoiler warning for the Kingdom Hearts series.)

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• Kingdom Hearts Ending LIVE Utada Hikaru Simple and Clean
• 00:04:13 Main Story
  • The theme park experience: Kingdom Hearts and the franchise (Anh-Thu Nguyen)
• Side Quest
  • 00:40:57 Understanding Xemnas in Kingdom Hearts II (Dan Hughes)

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In Episode 2 of With a Terrible Fate's new podcast, we explore the structure of origin stories in video games: where does the concept of the origin story come from, how can it help us to understand our favorite games differently, and how can the special interactive nature of video games tell alarmingly nuanced origin stories unavailable to other media?

Also on the agenda: studying the ways in which we talk about players and avatars in video games; a peek into the academic study of video-game storytelling; how video games can disrespect your time; what the PS3 and PS Vita stores tell us about the future of gaming libraries.

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• 00:03:53 Main Story (spoilers for The Last of Us and The Last of Us: Left Behind)
  • Background on Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey"
  • The storytelling of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
  • "Breath of the Wild: The Hero Who Never Was"
  • "Critical Review: The Quandary of Responsibility in Breath of the Wild"
• Side Quests
  • 00:39:54 "Ordinary language" in player-avatar relations
    • "The Role of the Player in Video-Game Fictions"
  • 00:56:14 Why Stefan quit Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
    • Analyzing the use of aliens in Assassin's Creed vs. Majora's Mask
    • "On Nier: Ought a Game's World to be Fun to Explore?"
  • 01:07:58 The Ethics and Implications of Digital Stores Shutting Down

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Welcome to the inaugural episode of With a Terrible Fate's podcast exploring the storytelling of video games from every angle. We press start on this very first episode, introducing ourselves, the publication, and the concept of the podcast.

Further, we ponder the review discourse surrounding Returnal, the personal and cultural significance of NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 as a work of literature, and the implications of an economic shift towards "games as a service."

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• Main Story
  • 00:03:42 Meet Aaron Suduiko
    • Bio & work on WaTF
    • "The Role of the Player in Video Game Fictions"
    • Original theory of Majora's Mask
    • "The Missing Soul Mate in Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch"
  • 00:17:17 Meet Dan Hughes
    • Bio & work on WaTF
    • Now Loading... the Video Game Canon!
    • Understanding Ocarina of Time through the lens of the monomyth
  • 00:26:13 Meet Stefan H. Simond
  • 00:40:54 Meet With a Terrible Fate
    • About With a Terrible Fate
  • 00:46:52 What to expect from this podcast
• Side Quests
  • 00:50:00 "I’m struggling with Returnal, and I play Dark Souls to relax" (Gene Park)
    • "What Makes a Successful Souls Successor?"
  • 00:59:40 A tribute to NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139
    • Comparative analysis role-playing dynamics of NieR Gestalt and The Man in the Iron Mask
    • A speech about using NieR to better understand the identities of your fellow gamers and friends
    • How humanity in NieR derives from the player's real humanity
  • 01:07:34 "The Industry of Landlords: Exploring the Assetization of the Triple-A Game" (Alexander Bernevega, Alex Gekker)
    • The Philosophical Justification for FromSoftware's DLC

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It has been a hard secret to keep, but now we can finally lift the veil and present to you: the With a Terrible Fate podcast! Starting in May 2021, you can tune in on our weekly conversations about game studies, gaming culture, and the significance of storytelling in video games.

Feel free to hit the 'subscribe' button. And if you want to help us get this project off the ground, you can support us on Patreon and/or spread the word on social media. We would be eternally grateful!