Turning Games into Literature: An Interview with Starlight Runner’s Jeff Gomez and Narrative Limited’s Edwin McRae

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If you’ve been following my articles over the past several months, you should have noticed a reoccurring theme of mine. If you haven’t, just quickly: I have a passion for video game storytelling and would love to see a day where video games are considered on par with books and film as having strong literary merit.

Because of this, I decided I’d reach out to some of the best experts in storytelling I know, and really try hone in on the questions I have revolving around video game narrative and how we as narrative designers can see story take front row seat in gaming.

Writing Meaningful Games: Establishing Narrative Design As A Form Of Literature

A few days ago, my boss posted an interesting comment on a Game Writing Facebook page we both belong to. His question was this:

“What is the most ‘meaningful game you’ve ever played… and why did you find it meaningful?”

He asked this question because as a fairly well established Narrative Designer, he’s been as of late experiencing a little bit of a career crisis – he can’t for the life of him find any games that he actually feels ‘changed’ by.

We’ve been discussing this off and on for a few weeks now, and the question has gotten me thinking. What is a meaningful game? Are there any out there? If not, how do we as narrative designers need to write them?

Totara Horror – Part 3

For those of you who have been following the exploits of Falconer Daniel, the third and FINAL episode of this season is now online for your reading pleasure. Stay tuned for season 2!

Click HERE to read, and if you missed them, here’s PART 1 and PART 2

Bloodborne VS Lovecraft: A Post Colonial Analysis

If you’ve been wondering why I haven’t posted much in the past few weeks, here’s your answer. I’ve been busy finishing off the final year of my Bachelor of Arts at University as well as – EXCITING NEWS – getting a paid job working in the Gaming Industry as a Narrative Designer!

Anyway, here’s a project I’ve been working on for my final submission. Carrying on the them of Bloodborne, lore hunting and post-colonial discourse, this video takes an in depth look at The Old Hunters DLC and what’s going on behind the scenes and how it relates to Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

Enjoy!

 

Strange Flesh: The Use Of Lovecraftian Archetypes In Queer Fiction: Conclusion

Author’s note, this is the final (and smallest) part in an 8 part series. Visit Serialized posts to read the first 7 parts.

Strange Flesh: The Use Of Lovecraftian Archetypes In Queer Fiction: Cthulhu (2007)

Authors Note: This is Part 7 of an ongoing series. Click here for Part 1  Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 and Part 6

It is fitting that we save this text for last as it brings the article full circle and back to the plot of The Shadow over Innsmouth. Cthulhu is a 2007 film which loosely adapts TSOI and presents it in modern times. Directed by Dan Gildark and co-written alongside Grant Cogswell, the film received mixed ratings and holds 63% on Rotten Tomatoes. While the queer themes in the film split viewers, it has garnered a following and an appreciation in the last few years. Film critic Steve Barton of Dread Central writes that the film is:

“High on ambition and originality and the closest we’ve come to a true H.P. Lovecraft film.” (Barton, 2009)

Post Colonialism In From Software’s Bloodborne: The Foreigners’ Journey

Authors’ note: This Post is Part 1 in a 3 Part Series. Stay tuned for more.

Authors’ note: Due to the nature of Bloodborne lore, certain bits of information in this article may change over time to reflect a more accurate understanding of the games’ story and mythology. While I will always try my best to deliver the most accurate information as possible, due to the constant changing nature of theories around Bloodborne I cannot guarantee 100% accuracy all the time. I will however strive to make sure that the post colonial analysis of this series remains equally valid even if some of the smaller details do change.

It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of From Software’s 2015 game Bloodborne. So much so, that I have already written articles about it several times in the past. Recently, during some academic study I have been doing, I was prompted to find myself a copy of RedGrave’s seminal work – The Paleblood Hunt and give it a read. The Paleblood Hunt which you can read here, is essentially an 80 page analysis of the complex and confusing story of Bloodborne by which, the author submits ten chapters unpacking each of the multifaceted stories contained within the game’s narrative, layering upon them as you read through, until hopefully the game makes a little more sense.

Strange Flesh: The Use Of Lovecraftian Archetypes In Queer Fiction: The Glittering World (2015)

Authors Note: This is Part 6 of an ongoing series. Click here for Part 1  Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 and Part 5

The Glittering World is a 2015 novel by author and award-winning playwright Robert Levy. It tells the story of Michael “Blue” Whitley, his best friend Elisa, her husband – Jason and Blue’s romantic admirer, a young twenty-year-old named Gabriel, or Gabe.

Traveling to Blue’s estranged childhood home town and ex-commune of Starling Cove in Canada, the gang intend to sell the house of Blue’s even more estranged grandmother, which was left for him in her will. Upon arriving however, Blue finds himself strangely drawn to the mysterious forest surrounding the township and begins to hear voices calling from the trees, beckoning him to come home.

Strange Flesh: The Use Of Lovecraftian Archetypes In Queer Fiction: Providence (2015-Present)

Authors Note: This is Part 5 of an ongoing series. Click here for Part 1  Part 2 Part 3 and Part 4

Providence is a 12-part graphic novel series by the author of such noted works as “The Watchmen” and “V for Vendetta” – Allan Moore. Providence is the follow-up prequel to Moore’s 2010 graphic novel “Neonomicon” and is set approximately 88 years prior. Because the series began late 2015, is still going and covers a lot of ground, this article will simplify the plot for time’s sake and focus on two important aspects and their relation to Lovecraftian tropes and the Queer perspective.

Strange Flesh: The Use of Lovecraftian Archetypes In Queer Fiction – Mysterium Tremendum (2010)

Authors Note: This is Part 4 of an ongoing series. Click here for Part 1  Part 2 and Part 3

“The entire tradition of cosmic horror fiction can be regarded as a heroic but doomed attempt… …to communicate the uncommunicatable, by suggesting – in the absence of any possibility of explicit description – the sheer enormity of the revelation that would be vouchsafed to us, were we ever granted permission to see and conceive of the world as it really is, rather than as it appears to our senses: deflated, diminished and domesticated. It is for this reason that “the cosmic horror”, conceived as an entity is by far the most elusive of all the icons of horror fiction, almost definable by its indescribability. Its presence can be felt, but only the merest glimpses can ever be caught of its form. Its description and definition can be tentatively approached in various ways – one may observe that it is daemonic rather than demonic, and that it is more akin to the alien than the traditionally supernatural – but can never be completed or clarified.” (Stableford, 2007, p. 71)