Recent content by Trollhoffer

Naturally, I am happy to be corrected by a person of greater knowledge. My knowledge is based on what I've been able to collect through my mother's experience as a nurse and leukemia survivor, and my current health scare plus basic research-- certainly no substitute for proper study.

"Inoperable" sounds scary. And it kind of is. But as someone currently in the process of a cancer/health scare (I have very few answers right now), let me throw some knowledge around. TotalBiscuit isn't done for. He might be. But there's still a reasonable hope. Many cancers are inoperable...

This has become the popular and exaggerated counterpoint to a popular exaggeration. While it's true that swords weren't as prominent as depicted in popular media, "last defense" is probably overstating things. I think this is drawn from the emphasis modern people throw on the visceral outcomes...

I don't think it's stated anywhere that the brand gives Guts any supernatural ability, apart from being able to slay demons. I always thought it was simply his size, physical conditioning and willpower that allowed him to wield it. Additionally, there's a magnet in his fake hand that snaps the...

Fictional characters are typically poor swordsman, whatever their reputation in-universe. This is particularly true of more recent entertainment media, and especially games. Ever notice how game systems, even real time ones, have a "I go, you go, I go" style of swordplay? Plenty of modern films...

My pleasure. A great way to see this kind of thing in action is by playing Mount & Blade, a kind of light feudalism simulator that puts you in the shoes of an individual medieval person with no overarching, objective goal. Certain elements of the game illustrate some of the points I was making...

What about when the game's integrity and the statement are closely related, though? It might be incorrect to think of diversifying representation in games is simply a matter of additional skins to choose from. Even if, tomorrow, FPS protagonists were magically female, those games wouldn't...

Most lists posted on game journalism websites (or just journalism websites in general) tend to be pretty arbitrary. This list is exceptionally gross, though. I was doing my best, going through the list, trying to find rhyme and reason for the placement of the games. I do understand that lists...

I'll have to withhold complete judgement until I get my hands on Dark Souls 2, but I'm not really buying your point here. The way you describe the story sounds very similar in presentation to Demon's Souls, and not that far off Dark Souls. Except in Dark Souls, we can replace some of that text...

That's part of the point. In interpretive lore, there is rarely a truly correct or incorrect answer. Sometimes, players will be wrong -- and that's also part of the experience. It's less about working out right or wrong answers and more about being invested in the process of drawing connections...

To be absolutely fair, Dark Souls 1 only has the barest bones of a directed story -- the vast majority of the narrative meat is in the player's interpretations of what they observe in-game. I suspect a proper judgement can't be made until one is well into the game, far enough to have experienced...

I think a boss battle can only be excellent in context of the game it's in. This should stand to reason, but it's often glossed over; the battle against Gannondorf in Ocarina of Time is excellent in context of the game's mechanics, and what the game has taught you over the time you've played it...

Peter Molyneux has plenty of flaws, and while his overstatements are among them, I just don't think he's a very good game designer. Let's take the first Fable into consideration. The whole aesthetic, from the literal art style to the whole storybook mock-up approach, was very charming. The...

I think this Escapist article is worth a read. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/criticalintel/10302-I-Hate-Magic] It very neatly and intelligently summarises what I've been trying to say throughout my last few posts.

What I'm getting at here is that contextualising magic through completely consistent systems is a thought process created in an enlightenment-era world where sincere belief in magic had mostly passed out of academic consideration. In context of societies that actually believe in magic, it has...