Can Normative Inquiry Become Gaming's Next "Lore Analysis"?

The With a Terrible Fate podcast is back with a vengeance! On the heels of Aaron's relocation to Los Angeles for his PhD, we've settled into a new weekly recording time and are excited to share more regularly scheduled conversations about the storytelling of video games with you, our dear listeners.

First on the docket is a follow-up to the conversation of our last episode, which discussed the normative and metanormative content of games that tell rich, spiritually and intellectually rewarding stories far beyond the constraints of what popular culture typically has in mind when it mentions "morality in gaming." Now, we take a step back to ask whether the tools of game design could be used to actually require and motivate gamers to engage with these philosophical levels of inquiry when they wouldn't otherwise do so. Miyazaki's games trained a generation of unsuspecting gamers to become sophisticated anthropologists and historians of lore; what could come of turning these same mechanics to the domain of values and their sources?

Mind the spoilers for Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree, Mass Effect 3, the Dark Souls series, Bloodborne, Spec Ops, and Undertale. Also note some spoiler-free discussion of the Ultima series and Baldur's Gate 3.

Citations:

Hughes, Dan, "The Gwyn Moment," With a Terrible Fate, 4/14/22.

Suduiko, Aaron, "Why You Must Play Tales of Hearts R 389 Times," With a Terrible Fate, 6/5/24.

Williams, Bernard, "A Critique of Utilitarianism," in Utilitarianism: for and against, Cambridge University Press, 1973.