by Wendy Browne | Oct 15, 2019 | Opinion, Video Games
I would like to retract my original votes for Geralt of Rivia as No. 1 Sword Dad after playing God of War, aka “Dad of War.” I still love Geralt, but his parenting style is kind of—well, by accident of fate, and he spends a lot of time in search of his daughter. Losing your kids on a regular basis isn’t typically the sign of a good parent. (more…)
Mother, geek, executive assistant sith, gamer, writer, lazy succubus, blogger, bibliophile. Not necessarily in that order.
by Madison Butler | Aug 27, 2019 | Essays, Opinion, Video Games
The one thing I could never have predicted about adulthood is just how often I would relive my childhood. At this point, it’s a recursive loop of remakes and reboots, cash grabs disguised as nostalgia.
And a few weeks ago, it led me directly into the uncanny valley. The uncanny valley has fewer textures than I thought it would. (more…)
Madison Butler writes about advertising by day and about video games the rest of the time. She can usually be found crying about Final Fantasy and Nier: Automata on Twitter @madisonrbutler.
by Xander Orenstein | Jul 15, 2019 | Opinion, Tabletop Games
Narrative-driven tabletop RPGs are awesome. Being able to tell a story with your friends is one of the best things that has come out of human civilization, full stop. Of late, there has been a trend among narrative-focused game groups to look for systems that cater specifically to narrative games. Thus, more and more systems are looking to streamline gameplay by removing mechanics to increase time spent weaving narrative. This has gone from a good idea to make gameplay more fluid to a potentially stifling aversion to number or dice-based mechanics in general. (more…)
Xander is currently spending skillpoints wildly and irresponsibly due to their complete and total lack of self control when it comes to picking up new hobbies. Someone should probably have stopped them before they picked up swords and literal witchcraft. You can find them @xanderthesane on twitter and in various scientific journals, various conventions (they are the very pretty one), and in long dead cities buried under the surface of the moon.
by Nola Pfau | Jul 1, 2019 | Essays, Opinion
I own Final Fantasy VII on three separate platforms. That’s not really notable for me as far as Final Fantasy is concerned; I own most of the games on at least two. But with VII’s release on the Nintendo Switch a couple of months ago, and now with the announcement of Final Fantasy VII Remake, it’s been on my mind. It turns out the Switch is the perfect platform for a replay; the smaller, hand-held screen hides some of the game’s age from my own aging eyes, especially if I’m not wearing my glasses. But I’m not really here to review the game; I don’t really think there’s a point to that. I mean, we have a release date for the remake now, right? VII is beyond reviews. It’s simply a phenomenon. (more…)
by Melissa Brinks | Jun 27, 2019 | Opinion, Roundtables
Happy Pride Month! June is a time of celebration and contemplation, our two favorite activities here at Sidequest. This month, inspired by a tweet by Freyja Erlingsdótter, we sat down to talk about what queerness means in a gaming context. Can games be queer? What kinds of games can be queer? Find out within. (more…)
Melissa Brinks is Sidequest’s editor in chief, co-creator of the Fake Geek Girls podcast, author of The Compendium of Magical Beasts, and an aspiring beekeeper. She once won an argument on the internet, and tweets at @MelissaBrinks.
by Melissa Brinks | Apr 22, 2019 | Essays, Opinion, Video Games
Grow Up is a series in which I evaluate whether games called young adult actually fit the definition and exploring why that matters.
Gone Home was really the inspiration for this column. It’s a critical darling—when it was released back in 2013, it was everywhere. At the time, it was like few other games out there; you didn’t play the hero, it revolved around two queer teenage girls, and it was more interested in exploration and atmosphere than traditional game mechanics. By virtue of being new and different (and kicking off the explosion of walking simulators), it was impossible not to talk about. (more…)
Melissa Brinks is Sidequest’s editor in chief, co-creator of the Fake Geek Girls podcast, author of The Compendium of Magical Beasts, and an aspiring beekeeper. She once won an argument on the internet, and tweets at @MelissaBrinks.
