Final Fantasy VII Remake Misunderstands the Power of Drag

Final Fantasy VII Remake Misunderstands the Power of Drag

by | Jun 23, 2020 | Essays, Video Games

As the eventual release of Final Fantasy VII Remake loomed over the gaming calendar, there was a great deal of curiosity about how the game would handle Wall Market. For the unfamiliar, early in the original FFVII, the protagonist, Cloud, cross-dresses to enter the inner sanctum of the lecherous crime lord, Don Corneo. In the original game, the sequence is an extended gay panic gag. Cloud is hit on and nearly sexually assaulted, and the game plays it coldly and crassly for laughs. To understate it, this required an update. (more…)

At Home with the Ghosts: Kentucky Route Zero’s Reworking of Capitalist Space

At Home with the Ghosts: Kentucky Route Zero’s Reworking of Capitalist Space

by | Mar 30, 2020 | Essays, Video Games

Equus Oils is a gas station like any other. There’s a superintendent, a general store, a few tanks, that strange sloped roof and a giant metallic horse. A sculpture of craftsmanship, of individuality, not given a name. When we move Conway into the basement of the station, the writhing mess of wires and pipes unveils a secret world. It is still haunted by its prior inhabitants, still echoing with their voices. The horse’s head has a body, a soul, but it is still shaped by the business it embodies. (more…)