Studia Humanistyczne AGH
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ISSN 2084-3364
e-ISSN: 2300-7109
Issue Date
2021
Volume
T. 20
Number
Nr 2
Description
Journal Volume
Studia Humanistyczne AGH
T. 20 (2021)
Projects
Pages
Articles
How Gandhi went nuclear: potentiality of the archiverse in »Civilization VI«
(Wydawnictwa AGH, 2021) Alejski, Jakub; Kowalska, Elżbieta
»Nuclear Gandhi« is a surprising and controversial image of the Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi. Often portrayed against the backdrop of nuclear explosions, his poses and styles clearly suggest awe and admiration for the ongoing mass destruction. This image is related to Sid Meier's <i>Civilization VI</i> – one of the most influential video games in the history of gaming. The aim of the article is to analyze this particular case study and consider processes from many different angles that led to the emergence of this controversial phenomenon. To do so, the notion of archiverse is introduced – an assemblage (after Jane Bennett) of all cultural, political, economic and technological archives performed by the user. By following the connections between different and often seemingly distant data and contexts, it is possible to propose an archive-centric perspective for video game studies.
Lost worlds of »Andromeda«
(Wydawnictwa AGH, 2021) Majkowski, Tomasz Z.; Kozyra, Magdalena
The paper offers a reading of <i>Mass Effect: Andromeda</i> (BioWare, 2017) vis-à-vis lost world romance (also dubbed »lost race romance«, or »imperial romance«), a late-Victorian era novelistic genre originating from H. Rider Haggard's <i>King Solomon's Mines</i> and serving as a major tool for British Empire propaganda and a source of early science-fiction conventions. We claim that the narrative failure of this ill-received game stems from its adherence to the rigid principles and forceful themes of the genre and the colonial and imperial imaginary informing it. Our analysis aims at highlighting the way 19$^{th}$-century novelistic convention can be remediated as contemporary digital games, and to expose the link between the imperial imaginary and the ways in which open-world digital games are structured, on both the narrative and gameplay levels, even when they do not directly refer to the historical colonial legacy.
Games in frames: between comics and videogames
(Wydawnictwa AGH, 2021) Sęk-Iwanek, Matylda
The last few years have witnessed a growing interest in both comic book and video game research. As new means of expression, a form of visual communication, and as cultural texts, these media are increasingly converging. This text looks at three types of overlapping areas between comics and video games: two types of games in the form of comics and the adaptation of a comic book to a game. The dominant research perspective in this text is comic studies. The games are analyzed in the light of the theory of comics and the definition of comics. The purpose of this analysis is to investigate tropes in these games at the stylistic and structural levels, and to identify semantic differences between a comic book and a game.
»If the dog dies, I quit«: »Blair Witch« and the problems of contemporary psychological horror games
(Wydawnictwa AGH, 2021) Marak, Katarzyna
This paper highlights the manner in which contemporary psychological horror games rely on repetitive storylines and plot twists, resulting in predictability of new titles, and the way in which this negatively affects immersion and players' emotional investment. Through examining the game <i>Blair Witch</i> (2019), developed by the Polish studio Bloober Team, and its inclusion of an animal companion, the article demonstrates how shifting the players' affective identification from the avatar to the companion character can cause players to overlook the shortcomings of the game. At the same time, by juxtaposing <i>Blair Witch</i> with other similar digital game texts, the paper showcases how linearity and reliance on predictable tropes in a game can be masked by the effective inclusion of an interesting companion with appropriate mechanics.
Reactive games as an example of extensive use of evocative narrative elements in digital games: the cases of »Dwarf Fortress« and »Rimworld«
(Wydawnictwa AGH, 2021) Markocki, Miłosz
There are many types of digital games – some focus more on new gameplay mechanics while others focus more on new ways to tell and deliver their stories. Some games, in their goal of creating more engaging narratives, push the environmental storytelling and evocative narrative elements to their limits, allowing for a unique emergent narrative experience for players. Consequently, players now recognize a specific type of game, calling them, »reactive games«, in which the events and story of the gameworld occur without the need for the input of the player, who instead must react to the events and problems the game sends their way. This article presents two examples of reactive games which create a unique gameplay experience by exploiting the limits of environmental storytelling, evocative narrative elements, and emergent narrative: <i>Dwarf Fortress</i> and <i>RimWorld</i>.