blog – Naff’s Gaming Blog

The Impact of Call of Duty

Call of Duty has been a staple of my gaming catalogue for almost as long as I can remember. I was always tuned into the Series itself but never managed to get myself a copy of a main series title until I picked up Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for the PS3. Although, the first Call of Duty game I ever played was Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. My friends and I have always had a significant love for the “Zombies” mode that made it’s debut in Call of Duty: World at War.

Screenshot of a remastered version of *Call of Duty: World at War*‘s first Zombies Map “Nacht Der Untoten”.

The first Call of Duty (COD) game was titled Call of Duty in 2003, Developed by Infinity Ward and was originally only released on PC, but was eventually re-released on XBOX 360 and PS3 as Call of Duty: Classic. This marked the modest beginnings of what would soon become one of Gaming’s most influential Titles. With the following Main Series games backing up the franchise throughout the years:

Call of Duty (Original)
Call of Duty: Finest Hour
Call of Duty 2
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
Call of Duty 3
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty: World at War
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Call of Duty: Ghosts
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Call of Duty: WWII
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

The Series itself is Produced by Activision and always has been a staple of their game roster. With gradual rise in Activision Stocks from the release of the original Call of Duty until the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, easily the Series’ low point. This increase is easily one of the most impressive in Gaming history and truly shows the uptake in gaming that was happening in the late 2000s/early 2010s. As gaming transitioned to a less niche role in society, so did the companies that made them. At the start of 2003, Activision stocks were priced at roughly $1.68 USD, with prices sitting at roughly $80 USD at it’s peak.

Activision Stock Graph showing the increase in Stock Price since late 2003 and drop off in late 2018.

This increase showed that gaming was a very powerful tool in the economic sector, only helping aid the regrowth that was most likely pushed forward by the release of the Playstation 2 in 2000.

As I mentioned previously, the abundance of people playing video games was slowly increasing and Call of Duty titles were one of the main attractions to newer players. The games had fantastic gunplay and great social features which allowed players to connect and interact in ways never before seen. With the parallel growth of online video services gameplay videos skyrocketed, with one of the most famous genre for Call of Duty videos (at the time) being Trickshots.

Short Trickshot Montage, example of the content that was spawned from the Call of Duty communnity.

This widespread growth of gaming culture brought about the transition of gaming coming into a more common-place entertainment method. Once again, Call of Duty was at the forefront of this growth. As a kid, I remember almost everyone I was at school with would play Call of Duty and almost nothing else. People who would normally fit a more athletic stereotype, for instance, would find themselves playing games like Call of Duty . This is just one example of the immense growth the gaming industry found.

A free-to-play add-on for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was recently released in the form of a Battle Royale known as; Call of Duty: Warzone. It has seen moderate success and has very solid gameplay from my experience and definitely throws it’s own spin on the very successful Battle Royale Genre.

I hope this has somehow shown you the significance and impact of the Call of Duty franchise in relation to Gaming History in recent years. The rise and decline of the series is one to tell for the ages and even without it, it’s impact on society itself will be forever known.

Thanks for reading this week!
– Nathan “Naff” Hibbert

Subjectivity in Games Criticism and Why we need it

Article, Gaming, Reviews

I’m sure we all look to Game reviews or criticisms when we’re thinking about picking up a new game, be that through official avenues such as Kotaku or IGN, or places like Steam User Reviews. Heck even asking someone at your local Games store. We all do it from time to time. I personally see these articles as Subjective rather than Objective, as a review/criticism is something that is suppose to tell others about an experience with a game itself as a whole. Criticism, on the other hand, is usually VERY Objective. This is because criticism is largely thought to not take into account a person’s experience with a game and only what the game has to offer should matter.

I disagree with that and I will tell you why.

**The Player Character (Right) fighting the Game’s first boss, Cleric Beast with an NPC Summon Eileen The Crow (Left)**

Firstly we must talk about the most important thing that comes to gaming, or any media in general really, the player’s experience. The experiences that the player both brings to the game and those that the player has while inside the game.

Each person’s experience will wildly differ therefore each person’s experience will be different. This leads to reviews/criticism being severely individualized, which in my point of view is a good thing. Subjective reviews/criticism allow for players to understand a person’s mindset and their own comprehension of a game. Although this does mean that a certain article mightn’t conform to any given person, but this allows that the sheer abundance of reviews/criticisms that exist in this day and age will surely cater to someone’s viewpoint.

Going into more what subjectivity is, people have different life experiences and mindsets that affect their play experience and style. Any given person can fit into one or more of the following psychological categories:

Killers
Achievers
Explorers
Socializers

Killers are people who play games that look to cause mayhem and havoc among a given game. They’ll go through a server destroying their opponents through either legitimate or illegitimate means.

Achievers are the people that look to do everything and everything in a game. This goes from completing the achievements for the game, finishing all the side-quests or even just completing self-imposed challenges. They seek a challenge of any sort.

Explorers will go far and wide to see everything a game has to offer. See every nook and cranny of a game world, see every line of dialogue an NPC has to say, even understanding the finer details of the game’s mechanics themselves.

Socializers are the extroverts of gaming so to speak. They go into a game and look to communicate and make relationships with other players in the game more so than playing the game itself. This can be through in-game methods (e.g. Guilds or Friend lists) or fan communities (e.g. Subreddits or Facebook groups).

**Image from the 2019 Overwatch League Finals between the San Francisco Shock and the Vancouver Titans. These players are an example of both Killers and Achievers.**

The type of player alone will contribute to a given review/criticism if subjectivity is involved. A review/criticism from a player who is more of a killer while playing a game, is not necessarily going to engage a player that is more of an explorer.

But this is exactly why Subjectivity is needed in games. A person’s experience with a game is directly influenced by their play-style. This is important to a review/criticism as a person can really get a feel for what a game is.

With Objective reviews/criticism, the game is broken down to simply narrative, gameplay and visuals for the most part. This gives the reader a sense for what the game looks like and plays like to an extent. But NOT to the extent a Subjective review/criticism would do.

Take Rainbow Six: Siege for example, I have played an immense amount since early 2017, just before the release of it’s Velvet Shell expansion. I currently have around 850 hours played on Steam and love it to death, sure I have my gripes with it but it is truly a fantastic game.

However, if I were to give a review on it Objectively I couldn’t truly show what the game feels like to play. I would mention that the gun play and mechanics are spectacular, the feel of almost every gun is great and the ability to out skill an opponent (or out luck an opponent) and kill them with a ‘one-shot headshot’ is super satisfying each and every time. The breaching and rappelling mechanics were new to me and definitely took some getting used to but I love the uniqueness of it and the amount of versatility added to the game utilizing these mechanics.

If I were to give a Subjective review though, I would mention that dominating people is the single most satisfying bit in the game. Somehow clutching a 1-5 is a moment of pure hype and excitement among the whole team (be these people you know or not). But the game’s players can lean into the Killer category a lot. You see, R6: Siege has a friendly-fire mechanic, this means that teammates can damage each other. This leads to a lot of toxicity if a person gets annoyed with another. Over the time I’ve played I couldn’t count the amount of times I’ve been team-killed for seemingly no reason on both my hands and feet. It certainly ruins the experience sometimes.

**A Team killing scenario with a box asking if it was intentional. If the player reports it as intentional the killer receives a penalty.**

That is the difference between the two types of reviews/criticism. albeit to a smaller extent. Someone could read my Subjective review and be enticed to play the game more so than they otherwise would be, the possibility to just murder teammates that are annoying definitely talks to some people. In that same vein, it might very well turn some people off the game entirely.

This is why Subjective reviews/criticism are needed. They give a reader a more comprehensive feel for what the game is like to play and therefore can make a more informed decision .

Another reason we need Subjectivity in game’s reviews/criticism is because it gives a voice to the people that need it. In an Objective look at a game it doesn’t matter who you are, you are just a piece of meat tapping keys and talking about a game. Whereas a Subjective look brings your personality into account and really brings forward who YOU are. To relate to another post of mine (Diversity of LGBTQIA+ Characters in Video Games), I for one would love to point out the sexual orientation of the characters I encountered on my journey throughout a game. This mightn’t matter to some people but it does to me and a lot of other people.

All in all, I believe we need Subjectivity because it shows the game for what it truly is. An experience for the player. The player plays the game for the experience, be that as a Killer, Achiever, Explorer, Socializer or a mixture of the lot.

The player’s experience is moulded by their entire being, who they are, what they find important and how they play. Subjective criticism and reviews show this in a brighter light than an Objective view could ever.

Thanks again for reading!
– Nathan “Naff” Hibbert

Was Animal Crossing: New Leaf a Mistake? A Response

Article, Gaming, Review

Hello again! For this week’s first post I will be taking a look at a fellow blogger and colleague Mahalah or MoshiBoi (here’s a link to their Blog) and their response to an article titled “Revisiting Animal Crossing: New Leaf was a Mistake” by Kotaku writer ‘Narelle Ho Sang‘ , the original article can be found here.

I myself have never played an Animal Crossing game (a sin I know) but I have played a similar title in Stardew Valley and I am certainly looking forward to Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ release in the coming weeks. I mention this as I need to state that I am not familiar with the game itself an it’s intricacies.

During my read of the MoshiBoi’s blog post, the title of the original article was quoted being about why Animal Crossing: New Leaf was a mistake. So my opinion on reading the blog was shaped by this misunderstanding and so I myself felt the article was a waste of time. I felt like the article more heavily talked about the problems with why returning to the game was a hard time due to NPC interactions heavily berating the player for leaving their beloved town.

After reading the original article for myself however, I now see that it is a talk about the problems with revisiting the game itself after putting it down for a long period of time. As Narelle stated “The hours and calendar days pass in real-time. The seasons change…”, the whole time they weren’t playing the Town continued to grow and NPCs grew tired of missing the player, who is the Mayor in this game.

*Animal Crossing: New Leaf* NPC – Purrl stating how long the player has put the game down

Going back to Moshiboi’s post, they go on to mention that the writer was immersed and clearly had fun while playing the game originally. While some of their planning and decorative decisions might be hard to look at, they at the time still enjoyed the game and did what they wanted to.

Both Blog and Article mention NPCs putting the player down for not playing the game for a while, Narelle stating “Each (NPC) laying on the guilt with emotional surgical preciseness—cutting me deep.” This goes to show the player’s attachment to these characters and the town they had made. This is the reason the NPCs talk in this way, to make the player feel bad and to get them to come back for a bit longer. Moshiboi, however, paints this as a severe and inappropriate “Guilt Trip” stating “I think getting guilt tripped by an NPC for not playing the game in a while is a bit much”. This is a fair statement as honestly these NPCs don’t know about the player’s attachment to the game or do they know about real-life events that might prevent play.

Moshiboi goes to say that since the game is mostly targeted at Children that a child hearing these statements from NPCs would make them want to come back even more so. This is because of the blurred line between Reality and Fiction that children are unable to discern.

**Screenshot of gameplay of *Animal Crossing: New* Horizons from the E3 2019 Nintendo Treehouse**

My take away from both the Article and Blog is that you can look back at your past self’s decisions and either love it or hate it, but you can’t neglect the fact that people change. As both authors stated, they have spent hours upon hours making their town into their own vision. Placing things where they want and doing what they want at any given time, this lends itself to the notion that while immersed in such a free game they enter the ‘Magic Circle’. This term refers to the zone a player can fall into when deeply immersed in a game’s world. It seems both of these players did at one point or another. Simply put, originally, the players loved what they were doing.

Another thing is that people’s style and tastes change over time. What was appealing to you 5 years ago might not necessarily appeal to you now. As someone who played soccer for 16 years of his life I can tell you that now having not played for 2 years now I have little to no interest in the sport. People Change.

People change but they had fun originally!

That’s it for this post, again you can find the original article and Moshiboi’s response here:

“Revisiting Animal Crossing: New Leaf was a mistake” by Natelle Ho Sang – Kotaku

“Week 3: Response to why New Leaf was a mistake” by Mahalah/Moshiboi

I myself will be back later this week to talk about Subjectivity in gaming, I hope to push out an interesting read.

Thanks for reading!
– Nathan “Naff” Hibbert

A Look at Dark Soul’s Story Elements in Relation to Gameplay

Article, Gaming, Review

In today’s post I will be taking a look at the story of my favourite game of all time, Dark Souls. This game is often highlighted for it’s phenomenal gameplay mechanics, but what often goes unnoticed is it’s also phenomenal story. But first, I will touch on these gameplay mechanics:

An Illustration of *Dark Souls* characters by Nolan on Etsy

What does the Player do?

During the duration of Dark Souls the player ventures through a dark and dense Medieval landscape known as Lordran, collecting treasures and slaying both humanoid and monstrous enemies. They do this using a variety of tactics, from one-handed and two-handed weapons (such as Straight Swords and Great Hammers), to powerful magic (such as Sorcery and Pyromancy) that either do direct damage to an enemy or buffs (or sometimes hurts) the player, and even utilising shields to block damage altogether.

Of course, while fighting these ferocious enemies the player must do so while taking minimal damage. If an attack is unblockable or not worth blocking with a shield another mechanic is usable. This introduces us to the roll mechanic. By pressing the appropriate button the player will cause their character to roll, this can be used to avoid attacks due to the animation of the roll having what is called “i-frames” or invincibility frames. This allows the player to avoid damage and move into more advantageous positions, either for getting a critical backstab for massive damage or moving into more advantageous position.

While dodging damage might seem easy after that description, it really isn’t takes damage and must restore it by either using an Estus Flask, which is an item collected by the player at the very start of the game BUT has finite uses, or by resting at any of the far and few between Bonfires. Using an Estus Flask will put the player at risk of being hurt further if not timed correctly. Bonfires however allow the player to heal and level up, as well as store any excess items they’re holding and even repair weapons and armour. It does come with a massive downside though, it brings back any enemy the player may have killed already. This does have a limit though, it will NOT bring back Unique or Boss enemies. Players will also respawn at their last used Bonfire before death.

The Safety of Firelink Shrine, *Dark Soul’s* main hub

Can these Actions be presented as a Story?

The actions of the player can certainly be presented as a story, any boss the player may encounter has a reason to it, the player is driven to press on and finds it necessary to defeat any given enemy. The tale of their fight is almost always a legendary one, from finally defeating the tough boss through trial and error to somehow defeating a boss most find “hard” on their first try. Everyone has a story to tell of their first time in Dark Souls.

A Timeline of Dark Soul’s Events

The game itself does have a very loose narrative, not told by conventional means. I will here list a timeline of events and since a lot of the game can be taken in any order I will list my personal experience.

The Player Character is shown locked away in an Undead Asylum, left to Hollow and Rot. Until a key to their cell is dropped in by an NPC known as Oscar of Astora.
The Player is then tasked with escaping the Asylum and after finding their first Bonfire and receiving the Estus Flask from Oscar, who is now on Death’s Door. find themselves standing in front of the first boss. The Asylum Demon.
After defeating the Asylum Demon they are whisked away by a large Black Crow and taken to the game’s hub, Firelink Shrine
By interacting with an NPC in the area known as “Crestfallen Warrior”, the player finds that there is something called “The Chosen Undead” and this Undead must ring the “Bell of Awakening” located above Firelink Shrine to eventually Link the First Flame and gain the prevail of the Gods.
The Player then heads upwards, away from the safety of Firelink Shrine towards the Undead Burg, a town and heads towards the first bell.
After defeating the Bell’s Guardians, The Bell Gargoyles, the player interacts with the Bell and rings their first bell. Interestingly enough players in other game can hear the bell ringing when another player does so.
Upon heading back to Firelink Shrine the player will find a large snake-like creature jutting out of the ground. This is a new NPC known as “Kingseeker Frampt”. Frampt goes on to tell you that there is not 1, but 2 “Bell of Awakening” and that he will assist you in any way he can.
The player is then tasked with going deep below the Undead Burg and even Firelink to a place called Blighttown. They reach this by beating 2 bosses, these being The Capra Demon and The Gaping Dragon.
In Blighttown they find the Second Bell, protecting by a half Spider, half Woman monstrosity called “Queelag”. After her defeat the Player safely rings the second “Bell of Awakening”
While speaking with Frampt the player finds that they must ascend to the city of the Gods called “Anor Londo” where they will meet Gwynevere, Princess of Sunlight.
After ascending “Sen’s Fortress”, a death trap of moving obstacles and Giants, and defeating the boss defending the path to “Anor Londo” called “The Iron Giant”, the player is lifted up into the sunlight filled city of “Anor Londo”
Upon arriving, the player meets a new character called the “Darkmoon Knightess” who describes the horrendous pair defending Gwynevere, “Ornstein and Smough”.
After traversing over precarious walkways and castle architecture, the player finally confronts “Ornstein and Smough”.
A tough victory is awarded to the player and they meet Gwynevere, who tells them that they must find the 4 Lord Souls to appease the First Flame. These Lord Souls take form of part of the Sun God Gwyn’s Soul that he bestowed upon people of importance during his reign. The player is also gifted the Lordvessel, an item to hold the Lord Souls and open the way to link the fire. This must be placed at Firelink Altar, deep below Firelink Shrine to open the way to the Lord Soul(s).

**The Player Character, talking with The Princess of Sunlight, Gwynevere.**

The player then forges ahead into the Grand Archives to defeat “Seath the Scaleless” and collect the first Lord Soul, after they promptly die to an invincible “Seath” in their first encounter, and push on into the Crystal Caves to face “Seath” properly.
After the player then takes on “Gravelord Nito” to collect their second Lord Soul, after descending even further than Blighttown below Firelink Shrine to the Catacombs to defeat “Pinwheel” and then onto Tomb of Giants where they will find “Nito”
Thirdly, the player must take on the “Bed of Chaos” deep within the ruins of Izalith, hidden even further down than the Tomb of Giants. After defeating “Firesage Demon” and “Demon Centipede” they are finally able to face the dreaded “Bed of Chaos”
Fourth, and finally, the player must face the “Four Kings”, to do this they must venture into the sunken city of New Londo. After draining it they find a path deep into a place called The Abyss, where the player cannot survive. They must find a ring that allows them to walk in the Abyss. They find this ring guarded by a large sword wielding boss called “Sif”, after this fact they can defeat the “Four Kings” and collect their final piece of the Lord Soul
Finally the player will venture down to Firelink Altar to place the Lord Souls in the Lordvessel and head into the Kiln of the First Flame.
The player finds the game’s final boss, “Gwyn, Lord of Cinder” deep inside the kiln and proceeds to fight him.
After his defeat the player can interact with the central Bonfire to Link the First Flame and finish Dark Souls.

**The Player Character, choosing to Link the First Flame.**

Which are the most significant events in the story?

Now, I will specify that these dot points were from my first play-through of Dark Souls and is specifically vague as that is how the game shows it. The significant events through this story are certainly the ringing of the “Bells of Awakening”, ascending to “Anor Londo”, defeating and collecting the four Lord Souls, and finally defeating Gwyn and linking the first flame (or letting it fade for that matter). For each of these significant events I will now list what the player does to cause them, whether the player does it themselves or is it presented non-interactively.

To ring the “Bells of Awakening” the player must traverse through the game’s worlds and reach the physical locations themselves and then defeat the Boss guarding it. The player themselves does indeed ring the bell themselves by walking up to the bell and interacting with it. If the game had just rung it automatically for defeating the boss it would not be quite as impactful as it takes the player out of the immersion of having just beaten such a powerful enemy to reach this feat.

To ascend to “Anor Londo”, once again the player must traverse through an area, a very dangerous one at that, and eventually defeat a boss to be pulled up to the city. The player themselves doesn’t really do this themselves as they interact with a literal ring on the ground which causes a cutscene to play. In this cutscene the player character is shown being pulled up and over a large wall by flying demons. This doesn’t deny the brilliance of ascending the the City of the God’s for the first time though, it truly is a glorious sight.

Collecting the Lord Souls is very much like the last two points, but on a much more grand scale. Beating bosses and harvesting their souls to advance is very much a non-interactive event, each Lord Soul is presented directly to the player as a reward for defeating the 4 Bosses possessing the Lord Souls.

Finally, defeating Gwyn, Lord of Cinder and linking the first flame is much like the past 3 events. After defeating Gwyn the player can interact with the First Flame OR walk out of the arena. Interacting with the First Flame will show a cutscene of the player doing so. This is very much an interactive experience as the player can decide the outcome of the game itself.

Anor Londo, City of the Gods, as the player sees it upon their first arrival.

What is the Player’s Role in the Story?

Our timeline shows that the story of Dark Souls itself is quite literally centred around the player character, “The Chosen Undead”. Each event, major or minor, in the game’s story is influenced by the character. The game itself sees these events as nothing but hurdles, a means to an end, challenges that the player must overcome to see the end. The story itself is very vague and most of the exposition takes place through world building and back-stories shown through item descriptions. The game itself gives the player next to no rhyme or reason to any of this.

The player takes direct control of these events, regardless of if they know why they are there or not. Regardless of that they will ALWAYS have a story to tell after the fact. Meaning that the story itself is mostly about the player’s experience with the game Each decision, or lack there of, influences the story that a player will tell. Different story endings require different things to be completed during the game and so each play-through will have different endings, major points and experiences via the player alone.

**A screenshot of one of the endings of *Dark Souls*.**

Is this a STORY-DRIVEN game, or a game that HAS A STORY?

Dark Souls tells the story of a dark and bleak world, where all looks lost to humanity. The world is sinking into chaos, in some parts literally, and nobody knows what to do.

Throughout the game the player will tackle these areas, bosses and characters without not really knowing why. The draw of Dark Souls is that it is deep in terms of character Builds and challenging in combat.

That being said, Dark Souls is most certainly a game that has a story. The focus is the gameplay elements, and while the story and lore is phenomenal, it is NOT the focal point of the experience.

The game is top tier without knowing the details of any given event. Knowing these details however gives the player a deeper appreciation for the characters and areas they encounter. I could give a multitude of examples but I won’t. I’ll leave them for you to find if you’re interested.

On that note, the Youtube Channel VaatiVidya, is a fantastic source of lore and story explanations for Dark Souls (as well as other FromSoftware titles e.g. Bloodborne and Sekiro). Below is a video from his ‘Prepare to Cry’ series, which focuses on the tragic back-stories of the game’s beloved bosses and NPCs. This one in particular is about the infamous, Artorias the Abysswalker.

That’s it for this post, there will be another this week, tackling the topic of Ludonarrative Dissonance (the concept of story and gameplay matching) in Video Games.

Thanks again for reading!
– Nathan “Naff” Hibbert

Diversity of LGBTQIA+ Characters in Video Games

Article, Gaming

The 2010’s really saw an explosion of LGBTQIA+ characters in Entertainment Media, especially Video Games. While this trend is still building upwards, it is sometimes important to look back and see what we have gotten.

This week, I’ll be looking at an article by Aimee Hart from Gayming Magazine and her interview with Voice Actor, Ashly Burch.

Ashly Burch is well known across Gaming and Television as a phenomenal Voice Actor, playing roles in Television such as Sasha Braus from Attack on Titan or Mayuri Shiina from Stein’s Gate. On the Video Game Side of things, Burch has done a plethora of roles such as Chloe Price from Life is Strange, Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn and Tiny Tina from the Borderlands Series.

During her career, Burch has coincidentally been cast as LGBTQIA+ charcters, sometimes without even knowing until a few sessions in. Burch herself saying “I don’t know if it’s sort of a wonderful coincidence, or if I’m being cast with that in mind. But I think the majority of the characters I play at this point are LGBTQIA+.”. I think it’s a little crazy how prominent these characters can be in our society and exposure to media. The fact that Burch mightn’t even know that they are Queer goes to show that these characters don’t have their sexuality as their defining traits, and that they are both deep and interesting to not have to rely on that fact.

Burch goes on to say “these characters can all be funny or sweet or tough on the surface level, but they have deep and complex personal lives that really make them feel like living, breathing people.”. This gives these characters a real way to connect to any given person if they share traits or relate to personal struggles. As a Bisexual man myself I can relate to a lot characters of this sexuality such as Jacob Frye from Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate or Burch’s own character of Tiny Tina from the Borderlands Series. But as stated, it is not their sexuality alone that makes these characters appealing to me.

Speaking strictly about Tiny Tina for a moment, her sexuality is not explicitly stated in Borderlands 2, only hinted at by a writer from the series. She is portrayed as a crazy, explosives obsessed 13 year old, fitting of the series and setting, she is even described by another important character as a “Demolition Expert”. She has faced a multitude of struggles, particularly with losing her biological family at a young age and finding a way to survive in the harsh wasteland the game is set upon. As a 13 year old, she is just at the age to be starting to explore and question her sexuality (not that it’s anywhere near the forefront of her mind).

As for her appearance in Borderlands 3, Tina has made it to 20, age-wise, and is labelled as Bisexual strictly via in game dialogue during side quests, at times mentioning both an ex-boyfriend and an ex-girlfriend. One of which you get to murder for stealing Tina’s pet. But once again, while definitely more at the forefront, Tina’s sexuality is not the defining factor of her character. Her character progression hardly touches this subject in game and is much more focused on her struggle of survival and finding her own Family in recurring Characters, Brick and Mordecai.

Speaking of which, Burch says in the interview with Gayming Magazine that the trope of finding a family of your own is one of her favourites. This is expressed through her character Sam from Afterparty, where Sam struggles to find a home and family for herself amongst her blood family that is in compete tatters.

Sam Character Description (*Afterparty*)

Burch also loved playing Parvati in The Outer Worlds, an Asexual woman who finds love due to their interactions with the player and embraces her sexuality. While finding happiness is somewhat rare for Queer characters, Burch portrays characters that shine a light on the hope that exists for a happy ending. This makes her, and more specifically these characters, a huge draw for Queer people, or more specifically, Queer women.

It is this diverse line-up of LGBTQIA+ characters in forms of media these days that give people of this nature, someone to look up to and relate to, sometimes even forming a special connection with a character. In recent years exposure to Queer characters has exploded and not all of them have been played by Ashly Burch (surprisingly). Some notable mentions include:

– Tracer (Lena Oxton), a Lesbian/Gay Character from Overwatch
– Sir Hammerlocke, a Gay Character from the Borderlands Series
– Korra, a Bisexual Character from The Legend of Korra
– Trevor Phillips, a Bisexual Character from Grand Theft Auto V
– Birdo, a Transgender Character from the Mario Franchise

Tracer (aka Lena Oxton), a Lesbian Character from Overwatch
Korra and Asami, two Bisexual Characters from The Legend of Korra
Birdo, a Transgender Character from the Mario Series

The creation and exposure to Queer Characters is growing, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop any time soon. Audiences are growing more accustom to and more accepting of these characters. It also seems like Voice Actors themselves are becoming more diverse, with Burch stating “There is an increasing amount of audition sides that have asked specifically for non-binary actors.”, stating that things are certainly changing, and for the better.

Burch also would love to see more diversity in games as a whole. While her role in Horizon Zero Dawn as Aloy was a fantastic one, in both character and performance, she would love to see a similar outing with a Pre-Determined Protagonist being a Person of Colour. Only enhancing the inclusiveness and diversity to these forms of media.

As for me, I certainly won’t complain at more diversity in Video Games and I certainly wouldn’t complain at more characters and stories to be latched onto. I can’t wait for the day where things like this are common place and no longer segregated. I think the world will be a better place at that point.

But that’s it from me for this week, if you want to read the original article featuring the interview with Ashly Burch, you can find it here:

https://gaymingmag.com/2019/12/ashly-burch-on-voice-acting-lgbt-characters-and-how-video-games-are-becoming-more-diverse-2/

I want to say a quick thank you to Gayming Magazine and Aimee Hart for publishing this article and getting my mind thinking on the matter. Thanks for reading this weeks post! I look forward to next week.

Thanks again!
– Nathan “Naff” Hibbert

Starting Up

eSports, Gaming, Review

Who am I?

I am Nathan Hibbert, a 22 year old Game Design student at JMC Academy. I’ve been an avid consumer of Video Games since a very young age, often using it as an escape from my day to day life. I mostly play RPGs, Tactical FPS’ and Story driven Games.

As young as 3 I was playing Video Games, I would often play the Fighting Game Tekken on my old Playstation 1. This eventually led to me being gifted a Playstation 2 at age 9 and being immersed in the worlds of the Action Platformers in the Jak and Daxter Series, the Ratchet and Clank Series, the Tekken Series and even the Racing Games of the Need for Speed Series.

I would eventually go out to own a Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch and playing extensively on PC.

Ratchet & Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal Aus Cover Art

What in Game Design Interests Me?

As young as the age of 8 or 9 I would always take time to write out my own stories and characters. I thoroughly enjoyed creating worlds with their own lore and characters with their own backstories and creating an attachment to them. This interest stemmed from the Video Games I played, such as the Jak and Daxter series, as well as the Films, such as Star Wars, and Books, such as Skulduggery Pleasant, that I exposed myself to.

I would write stories involving many different genres and many different characters. I dabbled in Fantasy, Horror and even Romance stories, always taking inspiration from some form of media that I was currently invested in.

I would love to create my own worlds and characters so that many other people can get the same enjoyment I do in getting lost in a world and story. To me, there is almost nothing more satisfying.

What do I Care for in a Game?

When I’m looking to purchase a game I look for both an interesting Game Play Loop (GPL) as well as a story I can get well invested in. Depending on what I’m craving at the time I can even be looking for something that lets me play with other people, I have always loved playing multiplayer games with both people I know and people I don’t. In the last few years games that have ticked all, or some of, the aforementioned boxes include:

– The Dark Souls Series
– Rainbow Six: Siege
– Overwatch
– Stardew Valley
– God of War PS4
– Pokemon
– The Borderlands Series

Another thing I look for in a game, specifically in Competitive Multiplayer games, is an eSports scene. After picking up Overwatch in 2016 I became invested in it’s Professional scene, even more so after the launch of the Overwatch League (OWL) in 2018. I currently follow the Los Angeles Valiant, Dallas Fuel and the Toronto Defiant in OWL. Another game I am somewhat invested in eSports wise is Rainbow Six: Siege.

**OWL 2018 Opening Match Dallas Fuel vs Seoul Dynasty (left)**
***Rainbow Six: Siege Season 10 Finals (Right)***

What is my Favourite Game?

Asking someone what their favourite game is is like asking someone what their favourite food or drink is, there are just so many amazing options that it’s sometimes hard to pin down an answer. Despite that I do have a clear winner as my Favourite Game. That being, Dark Souls.

Dark Souls is a Dark Fantasy RPG game from Japanese developer, FromSoftware. It tells the story of a replaceable character somehow defeating dangerous creatures and areas, and attaining amazing feats. Dark Souls has a Game Play Loop that is reminiscent of old Playstation 1 games, minimal save points, tough enemies and rewarding progression. As the player you have immense choice in how you attack any given problem, an outstanding amount of weaponry and equipment to choose from and plenty of mechanics that allow, or disallow, certain play styles.

The Story of Dark Souls is very…Convoluted. You play as a human that has been stricken by the Curse of the Undead. This curse forces a person to come back to life at a Bonfire upon death, this will occur infinitely until said person goes insane and will attack anyone and everything it sees. As the player you must go around and defeat monstrous enemies and bosses to change the world for better, or worse, your choice. The story itself is not told through conventional methods, such as cut-scenes and dialogue dumps. It is instead told through small amounts of these things and mostly told through Item Descriptions on weapons and equipment. These descriptions develop the world in a way usual methods would not, it shows the world’s history and characters in less obvious way. You could play and finish the entire game without knowing what you did or why you did it. This is why I LOVE Dark Souls, what is explicitly told is very vague and allows for the player to come to their own conclusions on events and reasoning’s, this allows each player to possibly have their own interpretation and experience with the game.

Dark Souls also has an extensive multiplayer factor as well. The player can summon other players to help them with tough areas or drop helpful items, this, once again, gives each player a unique experience and gives struggling players the help they need to defeat strong bosses. On the other hand it also has an invasion system, where a player can invade another player’s world and hunt them down for their own spoils. This can be frustrating at times, but also very rewarding and fun at others.

If that isn’t enough to get you interested here is two reviews that may help you better understand Dark Souls and even might get you to play one of the most rewarding games I have ever played:

Game Informer Review (Oct 3rd 2011): https://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/archive/2011/10/03/dark-souls-review-dead-and-loving-it.aspx
IGN Review ( Oct 1st 2011):
https://au.ign.com/articles/2011/09/30/dark-souls-review

Dark Souls was released October 4th 2011 for PS3, Xbox 360 and was released for PC August 23rd 2012
A remaster named Dark Souls: Remastered was released May 24th 2018 for PS4, Xbox One and PC. It was also released for Nintendo Switch on October 19th 2018.

That’s it Folks!

Thanks for reading my first blog post and I hope you know more about me and my relationship with Video Games. I will be updating this at least weekly with plenty of other Gaming related content.

Thanks again!

– Nathan “Naff” Hibbert