Category: Storytelling
Her Story
Her Story really is a work of genius, treating interactive fiction like molecular gastronomy. (No significant spoilers, but a pretty long read)
Reaction Heroes
A simple yet shockingly insightful observation about super-hero inflation and bringing the stakes back into action movies
What If… Nothing Was Different?
Thoughts on the new “What If…?” app and other immersive experiences for the Vision Pro, and revisiting some old assumptions about interactive storytelling
Half-Life: Alyx is not an immersive life sim
How the Half-Life series has all the ingredients of a perfect VR game and then subverts most of them
Stay a while longer, and listen some more
Thoughts about Diablo 4 after the open beta, and how much storytelling is actually “necessary” in one of the most successful game series of all time
Haven’t Got Time for Immortality
Immortality is both a masterwork and a frustrating example of the limitations of interactive storytelling. Spoilers within.
Camp Grizzly
Camp Grizzly finally hits the sweet spot between cooperative games and storytelling games
Choosy Zombies Choose Jeff
Telltale’s The Walking Dead series is some of the best work the studio’s ever done, and it’s actually right on the verge of establishing an entirely new genre of video game. Spoilers on the first two episodes.
Side Effects May Include Dizziness, Nausea, and Plot Development
More on using narrative as a game mechanic. Games have borrowed liberally from Tolkien over the years, but I’ve never seen a game incorporate one of his coolest ideas.
What is Past is Prologue
Laying the foundation for more talk about narrative as a game mechanic, but this time with semi-concrete examples. Plus huge spoilers for Portal 2!
