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"undertale"

April 2021

…– Screen Therapy (33:05)

Courtney Garcia talks through the psychological benefits of meaningful engagement with making pacifist choices in Undertale. (Autocaptions) [extensive Undertale spoilers]

  • Celeste Might’ve Changed my Life. – Leadhead (17:00)

    Leadhead argues that Celeste portrays Madeline’s journey to become her own best friend, before considering what lessons we learn by going through this with her. (Autocaptions)

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    Have you read, seen,

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    Abstract image evoking bird silhouette

    March 27th

    …and its morality. Two pieces this week considered these issues, reaching very different conclusions (content warning: spoilers for Undertale).

    • The Dark Side of Pacifism in ‘Undertale’ Nick Dinicola criticises the morality of Undertale‘s Pacifist ending
    • Undertales Problem Machine outlines what Undertale does using character comedy to enrich its portrayal of the consequences of violence.

    “Despite containing no blood or explicit violence, this weird indie RPG gets closer to the truth of violence than any other game I’ve seen. The reality of violence is that someone who was there isn’t there any more, that the

    …

    This Year In Videogame Blogging: 2016

    …– George Weidman Super Bunnyhop looks at the first level of every Sonic game an what that can tell us about each game and era as a whole.

  • On Sonic ’06 | Medium – ZEAL – Zolani Stewart Everything you never knew you wanted to know about the travesty that is Sonic 2006 in Zolani Stewart’s continuing work in #SonicStudies.

    • Undertale

    • The Dark Side of Pacifism in ‘Undertale’ | PopMatters – Nick Dinicola Undertale is a game in favor of non-violence, but in the game’s story that has some disturbing implications, Nick Dinicola notes.
    • …

    February 7th

    …in a video about Undertale by Rantasmo. Also on Undertale, a meta-post about Let’s Play videos on Looping World discusses the game’s “manipulative soul”.

    • Undertale Needs More Gay
    • » A study of UNDERTALE

    Prejudice

    Matthew Kumar’s post on Watch Dogs and Ed Smith’s article on Grand Theft Auto both call out the games’ racism in connection with portrayals of urban crime.

    • Every Game I’ve Finished — Watch Dogs (Sony PlayStation 4)…
    • Grand Theft Auto and the airbrushing of history

    “Watch Dogs is the kind of crap where you

    …

    April 10th

    …for Undertale and Final Fantasy VIII

    • Undertale: Reflections | Problem Machine The Problem Machine blog gives a solid analysis of Undertale‘s narrative and stylistic achievements, while also identifying points for further development.

    “In a context where the hypocritical justification of violence is made so mainstream as to be invisible, the mere act of depicting it as an action with consequences becomes radical. Given that, I kind of wish the game had included more tacit interrogations of the sort of pacifism it encourages engagement in: being kind to people so they’ll do what you want, being…

    September 25th

    …which games have placed their players.

    • It’s Okay to Like Playing Male Characters in Video Games – remeshed.com remeshed.com Identity and self-expression through role-play can be heavily politicised, but they demand more complex politics.
    • And Everyone Came… – Not Your Mama’s Gamer Jynx Boyne shares a very moving perspective on Undertale’s portrayal of some of the darkest feelings of hopelessness one can encounter.

    “Undertale is an emotional, personal game for many people. Different points in the narrative stir up different memories, good and bad. It shines light on human nature and on tough choices.

    …

    Abstract image evoking bird silhouette

    November 8th

    …to look at some of the reasons why women make games (video).

    Meanwhile, Vic Bassey talks about the development of Shelter 2, and Samantha Kalman and Liz England discuss The Beginner’s Guide.

    Also: videogames

    Writing about the final episode of Life is Strange, Ayla Arthur criticizes the game’s callous treatment of its queer characters (Content Warning: discussion of suicide). On Indie Haven, Simon Rankin writes about playing through the game together with a friend and how their relationship mirrors the central friendship of Max and Chloe.

    Michael Lutz writes about his problems with Undertale and how…

    April 17th

    …Chris Breault praises the inventive re-orientation of elements from the previous games in the series.

    Narrativity

    Emily Short and other experts on game narrative have really been spoiling us lately, with excellent pieces week after week on how games tell stories and how stories can be playful.

    • Beyond Branching: Quality-Based, Salience-Based, and Waypoint Narrative Structures | Emily Short’s Interactive Storytelling Emily Short provides an indispensable crash course in interactive narrative structures
    • An Examination of Leitmotifs and Their Use to Shape Narrative in UNDERTALE – Part 2 of 2 Jason Yu completes a two-part catalogue…

    September 4th

    …An Analysis of UNDERTALE – YouTube (video: auto-captions) Harris Bomberguy’s reading of the theme of unhealthy obsession in Undertale is gratifying and entertaining, making an argument that’s valuable to anyone who deals with the emotional loops of fandom.

  • Shovel Knight and Nailing Nostalgia | Game Maker’s Toolkit – YouTube (video: full captions in multiple languages) Mark Brown addresses game design that plays with the design systems of vintage games and the psychological systems of memory and cognitive bias.
  • Gamasutra: Stanislav Costiuc’s Blog – Why Assassins Creed series isnt social stealth, and what to do about that? Stanislav Costiuc…

    • September 18th

    …for the worse.

    • The Imaginary Racism of Bioshock Infinite | ZAM Robert Rath takes an in-depth journey through Infinite’s successes and failures in speaking on racism.
    • The Social Justice Witcher | ZAM Rowan Kaiser explores the fair and equal side of The Witcher III.
    • A museum is trying to reunite people with their old game cartridges | Kill Screen Blake Hester takes a look at the museum hoping to help wayward cartridges find their previous owners.
    • Undertale, one year later | Kill Screen Peter Lido examines the relationship between size and success in Undertale’s emotional

    …