First Patron-Backed Episode! 'Dark Souls: Indifference vs. Sadism' (Patreon)

Hey! This feels really weird to type, but the first patron-backed episode of Writing on Games is now available (as I state on the early access tier, the next episode of the show will be available early for those backers). 

In this episode I discuss one of the main reasons I'm so enamoured with Dark Souls 3 and why I believe it to be a return to the first game's (that is to say Dark Souls, not Demon's Souls) level of quality. I feel that if Dark Souls 2's world (and why it was such a disappointment to me) could be characterised as sadistically focused on making the player's existence as difficult as possible, then Dark Souls 1 (and now 3) exemplified their hostility towards the player in a more subtle, atmospheric way - that is to say, those games, through their enemy, world and narrative design, consistently highlight to the player that the world is brutally indifferent to the player's presence. I try to illustrate this by focusing on one or two examples of this in each game, and talk about the level of depth imbuing one's enemies with something as simple as movement can add to an experience. 

Anyway, thank you SO MUCH for your support. The generosity shown through this Patreon has shocked me, quite frankly - I never expected even this level of support. You have no idea how much this means to me and I can only hope to return the favour in the form of compelling videos. 

Oh, and Patreon rewards are being worked on as we speak and will be sent out very very soon! 

Thank you so so so much!

Hamish

Writing on Games