Zelda's Story In Breath of the Wild Is Powerful, But Also A Bummer

Fortnite’s emotes have taken on a life of their own: in the last two weeks, I’ve seen kids and adults alike replicating the game in real life. If you watch sports, you’ve likely seen goals or good plays celebrated through emotes. And if you play, you’ve definitely had some jerk dance over your cold, lifeless corpse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gita and Patricia discuss why a porn game with a robust character creator blew up, what makes for a good video game sex scene, and talk all about why Into The Breach is so damn good.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gita and Maddy Myers dissect how people talk about video games and sexuality, especially in regards to Bayonetta, Nier: Automata, and Soul Calibur. Why are so many conversations around these games focused on whether or not they are sexist? What do the games themselves actually say, beyond the lurid character designs?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Cloverfield Paradox is not good. By now, most people have heard the movie is mediocre. But you know what? I still really liked watching it anyway. In the latest podcast episode of Fave This, Gita Jackson and I dive into the Cloverfield universe, and its ongoing alternate reality game that encourages viewers to figure out the wider untold story hiding in the margins. We also talk about JJ Abram’s inability to follow through on good ideas, and how Netflix has become a dumping ground for shows and movies that aren’t good, but still manage to keep you watching anyway. SPOILER WARNING: we talk about the plot of all three Cloverfield movies.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gita Jackson and Patricia Hernandez discuss difficult games, what motivates people to play them, and how Celeste feels different than most masochistic games (Dark Souls, Super Meat Boy, etc.) Kinder, somehow. There's also plenty of talk on Harry Potter, Dwarf Fortress, Persona, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gita and Patricia discuss what people expected from the Labo announcement, why some of the response is so negative, and how Nintendo's lineage as a toy company informs what they make.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we discuss what the No Man's Sky community is up to, where open world games go next, and dive into the controversial "Reylo" ship. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Video games are largely about making decisions, and you won’t always make the right one. Sometimes, there is no right answer. Sometimes, you’ve got to live with what you did. In In the latest episode of the Favecast, we bring in special guest Danielle Riendeau from Waypoint  (disclosure: my girlfriend) to discuss some of the most memorable moments in video games from 2017 with Gita and I. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week I'm joined by Kotaku's social media manager Alex Bedder. He tells me a little bit about the video series he's making for us called TL;DR. After that we chat about Super Mario Odyssey's particular success with gay gamers, how that relates to the Room and The Disaster Artist, and Street Fighter's Menat (#WhosJuri #IDontKnowHer) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Breath of the Wild makes you care about Zelda by making her pain and frustration palpable. By that measure, Zelda’s journey is a good story that accomplishes what it sets out to do. At the same time, the tale at the heart of the game compounds an ongoing frustration felt by some fans: Zelda isn’t allowed to be the kind of hero Link is. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices