Reading List (March 2017) (Patreon)

No prizes for guessing which game this Reading List would focus on! It's Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash, of course! No wait. The other one. Zelda. 

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

[Video] Breaking Conventions with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Make sure you've seen this GDC talk from the key figures behind Breath of the Wild. You'll hear about the game's chemistry engine, graphical style, and the changes to the Zelda forumla.

Zelda's Sword Breakage is Some Bullshit - Want another take on Zelda's weapon durability system. Kotaku says it's bullshit. [Video] Fluffy blue monster Arlo says they make for a better game.

Hookshots, Wii U Maps, And Other Things Nintendo Cut From Zelda: Breath of the Wild - What got left on the cutting room floor.

Breath of the Wild is a Zelda game for the Minecraft generation  - Says Eurogamer, pointing to the game's lack of hand-holding. Later, Eurogamer said the game learned from PC games (immersive sims, especially).

[Video] How Breath of the Wild Fixes Zelda's Item Problem - Turbo Button looks at how BOTW's runes differ from the key items seen in previous Zelda games. I provided the Twilight Princess footage for this episode :D

[Video] Stuff That Bugs Me About the Thing Everyone Likes Right Now - And for balance, here's Super Bunnyhop with some valid criticisms for the game. Content warning: rhyming couplets.

The Making of The Legend of Zelda - The first one! Kotaku knew, like me, that Zelda 1 would be worth exploring before the launch of Breath of the Wild. Here, they compile some lovely trivia about that NES classic.

[Video] Ocarina of Time (3D) - 3D Zelda Retrospective - This chap has done hour-long reviews of the 3D Zelda games. He has a different view than me, so might be a nice balance if Boss Keys pisses you off!

The other games of March 

[Video] NieR | Your Next Favorite - If, like me, you're wondering where the heck Nier Automata came from, here's a Nier retrospective from HyperBitHero. If Bunnyhop is more your style, [Video] he's got a big retrospective too.

Round Table: Mass Effect Andromeda - This game has been catching all sorts of flak for its face animation (CowbCat's video will show you more). In that link, a bunch of game animators got together to talk about the subject.

Inside the Making of 'Mass Effect Andromeda' - If you want to read about something other than Sarah Ryder's odd face, Glixel's got a chunky post-mortem for you.

[Video] Night in the Woods (Spoilers!) - Okay, so this was late Feb. But hey, close enough. Campster shares his thoughts on this weirdo coming of age story / economic thriller / whatever the heck.

Gender / politics stuff

Tips for writing better marginalized characters - Even well-intentioned creators get it wrong, sometimes. Here's how to write minority characters with nuance.

Slouching toward relevant video games - Brie Code returns, this time it's about how different people react to stress, and how this may be biasing game design towards men. Just read it, it's fascinating.

Shovel Knight rethinks gender in retro games with Body Swap Mode - Shovel Knight's developers went above and beyond with this in-depth gender swap mode. I like that it keeps the original game as is, but provides a menu of options for those who'd like them. No one can complain about that! (Right?)

Other stuff 

[Video] Factorio and Automating Progression  - I've spoken about this before, I'm sure - the addictive thrill of automating something that you previously had to do by hand.

Designer Interview: Getting Titanfall's controls just right - Title says it all. Halo was a big influence on the gamepad controls.

[Video] Obduction Makes Me Feel Old (But That's Okay): On Myst-likes and Spiritual Successors - Playlist subscribers will know I love Obduction (finished it this month!). RagnarRox tells you all about it.

[Video / CC] Building a Supergiant Soundtrack - Patron Mathew Dyason has launched a great music-focused channel. And unlike all the other musical videos I've recommended, you don't need a degree in music theory to get it! Accessible, engrossing, excellent. He's already got a follow up video, on Final Fantasy 9. 

Thief: tense narrative through level design and mechanics - Lovely environmental storytelling stuff, talking about the first Thief. I've never played more than a few levels of this series, and I'd like to play more. GameClub, maybe?

[Video] The Morality of Shadow of the Colossus - Folding Ideas tackles the conflicting feelings one feels when downing colossi in this epic game.

How Prompto's AI-driven selfie system in Final Fantasy XV was built - This is one of the most interesting things about FF15: that one of your party members automatically takes photos of your roadtrip. Here's how and why it was made.

Level design lessons learned building Deus Ex: Mankind Divided's Prague - Another GDC write-up, this time looking at the excellent Prague hub from Deus Ex. Lots of cool stuff about placing content and thinking of different player archetypes.

The designers of Dishonored, Bioshock 2 and Deus Ex swap stories about making PC's most complex games - I haven't read (or listened to) this immersive sim round table yet, but it looks excellent. My personal reading list is ridiculous.

Morphblade And Imbroglio: Making A Game To Test A Critique - Tom Francis dislikes aspects of the game Inbroglio. But instead of just being upset and making whiney YouTube videos, he actually made his own game to see if his criticisms could be fixed. 

Random junk

[Video] Inglourious Basterds — The Elements of Suspense  - Right, here's your last call for Lessons from the Screenplay. No point me recommending every episode - just subscribe!

[Video / CC] The Raid - Directing Perfect Action - Great video looking at the excellent action scenes of The Raid. You might enjoy this interview with director Gareth Evans, too.

[Video] LGR Thrifts - I've become slightly obsessed with this video series about a funny guy looking for old PC games in thrift stores. It's good stuff.

Phew! There we go. I've got loads more stuff to read and watch, but there's always next month. As usual, feel free to share anything you've read or seen in the comments below.