Earth Week Review: Imagine Earth -- Galaxies

 This week is Earth Week, which long-time followers may know is one of my favorite holidays to post content for! This year I decided to review a relevant game that just released new content: Imagine Earth. Thank you so much to Keymailer and developer Serious Bros. for sending me a free review copy of the base game and the new downloadable content, Galaxies! Imagine Earth is a city builder/simulation game in which you colonize newly discovered planets and try your hardest not to destroy their environments.

Since my first time playing Imagine Earth included the new Galaxies DLC, it was difficult at first for me to distinguish which parts of the game were from the add-on and which parts were from the base game. It turns out the campaign, where you are assigned a few different planets to build on, is part of the Galaxies DLC. I started the game by playing the campaign, since I assumed this was the closest thing the game had to a story mode, and is the first thing I would normally do when starting a new simulation game. It turns out, however, that the campaign is actually part of the Galaxies paid add-on content! I have to wonder how I would have played and enjoyed the game if I had tried it before the DLC dropped. After doing the tutorial planet and the second planet in the campaign, I moved on to playing around in the sandbox mode. My total playtime as of this writing is over 6 hours. 

Since the game's description boasts features that make players think about the environment and climate -- the Steam page says, "Conduct research to protect your colonists from disasters and avoid a climate crisis," -- my main reason for choosing to review Imagine Earth is because I was excited to see a space exploration sim that takes climate changes into consideration. Unfortunately, I feel a little let down by the actual environmental aspects of the game -- I probably had my hopes a little too high for a game like this. Here I will break it down into a pros and cons list, specifically where it concerns environmental awareness and modern-day best practices for sustainability:

Pros:

• "World Congress" votes to implement environmental laws for the entire planet, including things like "Introduce 'Green Building Grant' of 20%" and "Introduce 'Coal Energy Tax of 5%,'" etc.
• Research items include both sustainable options and "efficient" options that will harm the environment, and the good and bad effects of both are described to affect player decisions. Research options include things like new filters for power plants (a sustainable option) or giving antibiotics to cows to produce more meat (an "efficient" but overall harmful option). 
• The needs and growth rates of different types of trees are taken into consideration, and the trees you plant or leave on the planet are beneficial to the citizens.
• Things like overfishing, logging, and other environmental over-use are taken into consideration and over-using resources can have a poor effect on your cities. 

Cons:

• Outdated energy technology like coal burning is still used in this futuristic(?) society? 
• Capitalism is alive and well in space.
• Colonization is seen as a good thing, and there is no discussion about the harms of colonizing.
• On Earth, invasive species that travel with humans from one continent or ecosystem to another are a major problem. This problem would likely be even worse with space travel, yet it is not addressed in the game.
• The opening cutscene shows spaceships flying past a giant television advertisement floating in space. This excessive use of energy may look fancy, but it is horribly unsustainable. Why was this choice made?
• This is a personal con -- the scientist guy who pops up occasionally to tell you things is really, really creepy. Not because he's an old white man -- that is the expected demographic -- but because... I don't know. His voice doesn't match his face? I wouldn't have mentioned this but I saw other reviewers and posters discussing how creepy this character is and I have to agree. Every time he popped up in the game I had an almost visceral reaction.
• The mining of precious metals is still common practice in this "futuristic" game. Mining gold and other monetary "resources" is a major part of the experience. There is little discussion of the environmental impact of this action, or the sociological implications. Players are expected to use explosives to blow up mountains in order to mine resources. In the campaign mode, there is no avoiding this action. This doesn't feel very environmentally friendly to me.

Accessibiity:

As per my own disabilities, Imagine Earth is mostly. but not entirely, accessible to me. Simulation games are often difficult for me because they usually have small font sizes that are not adjustable. Font sizes were not a problem for me in Imagine Earth, but may be difficult for other players who are more blind than I am. The main way in which the game was less accessible for me was that it required me to do some mental math, which can be really stressful for someone who has dyscalculia, as I do. The options menu is very limited and has few options that are specifically included for accessibility. 

Sustainable Science Fiction for Future Reading:

If you are a writer or game developer who is thinking about creating a futuristic world that is more sustainable than our own, here are a few books I recommend where the authors have thought about future sustainability and environmentalism:

The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

More ideas can be found on This Goodreads Page, though I have not personally vetted all of these books.

Review: Wanderstop by Ivy Road

 

Image by Ivy Road

Wanderstop is a beautiful game about imperfection, taking it slow, and drinking lots and lots of tea. The heroine of the story, Alta, is the best in her field. That her field is combat is less relevant than the simple fact that she is the very best -- like no one ever was. But then Alta is beat -- more than once. She is no longer the best, and she doesn't know how to be less than perfect. So she travels into the woods to find her old teacher and to try to, once again, become the best. How could there be any greater goal? 

Many of us can relate to Alta. Phrases like, "You can be anything," or "Believe in yourself" proliferate in the American education system and elsewhere. The so-called "gifted kid to burnout pipeline" has claimed many adults who were told as children that they would do great things, save the world, or even become world leaders when they grew up. When the adults told them that, they fully believed it and tried to achieve it, and many eventually experienced extreme burnout at a young age. I'm certain many game developers can also relate to Alta's struggles, as the commonality of crunch practices in game development spaces is causing high levels of burnout for game developers. 

An exhausted Alta eventually finds herself at Wanderstop, a simple tea shop somewhere in the middle of the forest. The shop's keeper, Boro, suggests that Alta is too exhausted to continue, and offers her a job making and serving tea. Through her time at Wanderstop Alta learns that sometimes we really do just need to slow down or stop entirely -- that pushing ourselves to the brink of death may not be worth it, and maybe goals need to be adjusted sometimes. 

Characters:

The way Wanderstop approaches the secondary characters in the story is somewhat revolutionary. Players know a lot about Alta, as she is the main character of the game. The other characters who enter the tea shop, however, are a little more opaque. We get to know them a bit, learn about their problems, begin to pick our favorites and decide that we really like these characters, and then... they leave. Unlike the quests you'll encounter in most RPGs, Alta is not required or encouraged to fix the problems of the people who frequent her tea shop. Instead she simply listens when they speak, occasionally responds with helpful or less-than-helpful dialogue choices, and then everyone goes about their own personal business. If there's a lesson to be learned here, it's that we may be the main characters in our own stories, but we are not the main character in other peoples' lives. It is not my (real life) job to fix others' problems, even if we are friends. Sometimes the best I can do, as a person, is listen to what people want to tell me, and let them figure out their lives while I figure out mine.

Accessibility options in Wanderstop

Accessibility: 

Wanderstop has some great accessibility options that have been very helpful for me, personally. As usual, I cannot speak on all disabilities and can only speak on my own disabilities and accessibility needs. The options menu can be accessed at any time during the game, and accessibility options include subtitles in different sizes, a dyslexia-friendly font that can be turned on or off, multiple options for colorblind support, and a motion sickness dot. Other very specific functions in the game can be tweaked as well, including "hold bellows button to heat" (so you don't have to button mash), camera sway and sensitivity, dialogue speed, and more. My own primary accessibility needs involve motion sickness and button mashing, so I'm happy to see options to reduce both of those problems for me. I'm pleased with the outcome and I personally have no hindrances to playing this game with my disabilities. 

I will note that I have been playing the game on the Steam Deck and on my television. While Steam Deck warns that the text may be too small to read, I have not had a problem with this, and I played with the subtitles on medium size. I am legally blind but not fully unable to see, so while some games are difficult for me in this area, I have had no problem with Wanderstop. I suspect Steam will update its information to reflect this after Wanderstop is officially released. 

Story:

The story in Wanderstop may be short, but it is far from shallow. Alta is a fully realized character and the story is more about her journey than anything else. Alta is human and Alta is all of us. Her emotions feel very real and raw. There isn't much more I can say about the story without spoiling it, but I can say with confidence that Wanderstop is a story everyone should experience.

Graphics, Controls, Etc.:

I don't have a lot to say about the graphics. They are beautiful. They are gorgeous. The colors pop splendidly. The only more specific thing I can note is that when I started the game, I wondered if Wanderstop was created by the same developers who made Slime Rancher (it's not) because the graphics seemed so similar. Both games evoked a lot of emotions for me, so that may be part of the reason I noticed a similarity.

The controls in Wanderstop worked fluidly and I had no trouble whatsoever. I played on Steam Deck, both in handheld mode and docked to my television and attached to an X-Box controller. Everything ran surprisingly smoothly and I experienced no notable glitches or bugs! In this day and age, I'm very pleasantly surprised. 

Overall my experience with Wanderstop has been pretty much perfect. It's rare for me to have absolutely nothing bad to say about a thing I'm reviewing, yet here we are. Wanderstop will certainly go to the top of my favorites list, and I foresee many replays in my future. 

Wanderstop releases on March 11, 2025 on Steam and Playstation 5. Thank you to the developers, Ivy Road, for the free review copy. 

Disability Represented in Video Games Panel at MomoCon 2024

 The video from the MomoCon panel on disability representation in video games was posted to YouTube back in August 2024 -- and here it is now on the blog! One of the biggest setbacks from speaking on disability representation from a lived experience is, of course, that you actually have a disability that can slow down your progress with things like updating your blog. But without further ado, here's the video! Feel free to go watch it on YouTube as well if the embedded version is less accessible for you.

Referenced Links:

Accessibility in gaming

"Nothing about us without us"

APA Style Guide on disability language

Is autism a disability?

Video Games as Literature 101: MomoCon 2024 Panel

Last month was MomoCon 2024 in Atlanta, GA, and for the first time I presented two panels in one day! This was exhausting, so I must apologize because it took me about a month to get videos of my panels uploaded. My first panel was Video Games as Literature 101, and the video for that panel can be viewed below. I received many thoughtful questions at this panel, and due to my fatigue I may not have given the most thorough answers in the moment, so I wanted to add some extended answers to the Q & A here in this blog post. I hope this helps!

Note: The links on each question will lead you to the specific part of the video where the question is asked.

Q: "Do you deal with original stories and literary aspects [of games] in your blog?"

A: Yes, and here is the post about Shadow of the Colossus that I referenced in my answer to this question during the panel: Shadow of the Colossus. And here is a link to some more information on the Hideo Kojima documentary I referenced: Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds.

Q: Does the game Dragon: Age Origins reference Arthurian Legends, with the characters Alistair and Morrigan especially resembling Arthurian figures?

A: Absolutely, though I would advise everyone to keep in mind that most western fantasy stories -- and even non-fantasy stories -- have some aspect of Arthurian influence in them as the Arthurian legends are considered the most influential literature of Great Britain (in fact, the entire Arthurian canon is often referred to as "The Matter of Britain.") This influence has spread to much of the world through Great Britain's colonization. I do see a lot of influence specifically from the British Isles in the Dragon Age series, however, and not only is King Arthur a strong influence, but Celtic mythology is specifically noticeable in Dragon Age. If you want to read more scholarly literature on the Dragon Age series, here is a link to a WorldCat search on the subject. The books I recommend to start learning about Arthurian Literature include The Once and Future King and The Crystal Cave. 

Q: What genre would you classify historical games as (Such as Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, Sid Meier's Civilization, etc.) -- historical fiction or something else? 

A: These games are historical fiction as they are fictionalized versions of real time periods, and occasionally real events. Call of Duty is a tricky game to discuss in terms of historical depictions, as the series has been called out for revising history in its depictions of war -- especially when it comes to depictions of The United States and their actions in certain conflicts. The Assassin's Creed series is known (especially in more recent games in the series) for its extreme accuracy in terms of historical and architectural depictions. The Assassin's Creed games, ultimately, are still fiction, especially as they usually feature made-up characters and mythological encounters. Sid Meier's Civilization games can also teach you a lot about history, but they tend to crunch a lot of historical events together in the timeline for gameplay value, so take anything you learn from those games with a grain of salt.

I also mentioned "archaeogaming" in the panel, and the archeological study of Assassin's Creed and Tomb Raider games, specifically. You can learn more about archaeogaming here. 

Q: Are there any other games that you recommend that have other folklore like Welsh folklore, or even Jamaican folklore, Vietnamese folklore, etc.? 

A: There are so many cultures in the world with so much diverse folklore that in my short life I haven't had a chance to study them all. I am so happy to hear people interested in folklore that isn't the usual English, French, or German fare that we usually read about in the west, though! In my panel I recommended the Persona series, and by extension the Shin Megami Tensei franchise, as those games incorporate folklore and myths from a large variety of sources. Wikipedia says that, "the series has incorporated elements of Gnosticism, various world mythologies and religions including Christianity and Buddhism, early science fiction, Jungian psychology and archetypes, occultism, punk, and cyberpunk." (Source) Welsh folklore, specifically, has trickled down over the centuries into the general folklore of Great Britain, and thus much British folklore is derived from Welsh folklore, especially Arthurian tales as previously mentioned.

I also tried to reference a recent indie game I had played, though in my exhaustion I couldn't remember the title. The game is called Unsighted, and the creators are from Brazil, though I don't know how much folklore is incorporated into the game.

Two indie games that I am excited to play are coming out soon and they both incorporate folklore from less represented regions. One of the games is called Scarlet Deer Inn and it is based on Slavic folklore. Another game coming out soon is called Near-Mage and it is not only based on Transylvanian folklore, but it is made by developers from Transylvania (the region, specifically -- they're not from elsewhere in Romania). 

Upon searching I also found a yet-to-be released game based on Vietnamese folklore called Divine Guardian | Vệ Thần, which I promptly added to my Steam wishlist. As I said in my panel, I expect that indie game developers will take the lead when it comes to introducing various folk tales to modern gamers, and I'm excited for this future of indie gaming!

Q: Works of literature based on Journey to the West?

A: Apparently I have some self-educating to do, as I seem to be lacking knowledge on a major story called "Journey to the West" that apparently everyone else knows about? I established during the panel that this story is the main influence for the Dragon Ball franchise, which I (surprisingly) watched very little of. Of course after I got home from MomoCon, I immediately did some research and realized a few things. First, I had heard of this story under the title, "The Monkey King," which is one of various translated titles. Second, there seem to be a limited number of English translations to choose from, and I will need to do some more research to find out which translation is most accurate and culturally sensitive. One of the panel's attendees mentioned the game "Enslaved: Odyssey to the West" which I have yet to play but will definitely get to soon.

Q: "A lot of Western companies can't do eldritch horror" but From Software seem to have a better grasp on what makes eldritch horror so good -- do you have any idea why?

A: In the panel I referenced the blog post I had written on H.P. Lovecraft: The Cthulhu Mythos in Sci-Fi and Fantasy Video Games. I can't really answer this question from my personal knowledge base, which I explained a bit in the panel, but this would definitely be an interesting topic for future research!

Q: What do you think about video games that give you bits of lore through pieces of writing (codex pieces, etc.)

A: Of course I love these small pieces of literature found in many games, especially in the RPG genre. I have been working on a video about Skyrim's collection of books, which I may one day finish, and I have started, but not finished, several different blog posts on this topic. Ultimately these pieces of lore and literature found within games are part of what makes excellent storytelling in a game, though it is a known problem that many players just don't bother to read these parts of games. I would especially recommend spending time reading the lore in the Elder Scrolls series, the Fallout series, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and of course the Soulsborne games. 

Announcing MomoCon 2024 Panels by Video Games as Literature

 It is almost time once again for MomoCon 2024, which will be taking place Memorial Day Weekend in Atlanta, GA! This year Video Games as Literature will be presenting two panels at MomoCon, both on Sunday. As in previous years, the panels will be streaming live on Instagram at the @VideoGamesAsLit Instagram account, and videos of each panel will be uploaded to YouTube after the convention so everyone will be able to access them. If you want to watch the live stream, don't forget to follow the Instagram account and click the reminder bell! If you missed MomoCon panels from previous years, here is a handy playlist where you can watch all of them. Keep reading for specific details on when and where the Video Games as Literature panels will take place, and for more information about MomoCon in general. 

Video Games as Literature 101

Sunday May 26th

10:00 a.m. (EDT)

Panel Room 406

Disability Represented in Video Games

Sunday May 26th

7:00 p.m. (EDT)

Panel Room 207

Click here to see the full MomoCon schedule. All sources I cite in the panels will be listed in the descriptions of each YouTube video after they are uploaded so you can quickly and easily check them out. For more information about disability representation, feel free to read some of the blog articles I have already published, like this one about Mass Effect. If you want to see last year's MomoCon presentation, click here.