#Alexa Ray Corriea

[themattress]

Ah, see, a chapter from this crappy book was put online.

Many comments down below argue against it, point out what’s wrong with it, and deconstruct its main thesis....but I feel I can do it better, so that’s what I’m going to use this post to do.

When I played Kingdom Hearts II for the first time, one moment stuck with me above all else.

Wow, OK, so this one moment (the Sora/Riku yaoi bait moment) stood out above all other of the many magnificent, memorable moments in the game to you, did it now? Goes to show where your priorities are, and they are NOT where most KH players’ are. But yeah, you’re such a KH “expert” whom we should totally take seriously. After all, you wrote a book! 

Before the final string of boss battles, after reuniting with Kairi—a brief hug and the murmured words “this is real”—Sora prepares to continue his trek through The World That Never Was to find Xemnas. Ansem, tall and ominous in his black coat, watches this exchange from a dozen feet away. Silently, he turns and begins to walk away, only for Kairi to run after him and demand, “Riku, don’t go.”

LIE! This is NOT how the moment went at all. The hug was not “brief” - Kairi throws herself at Sora out of pure emotion, hugs him, says “this is real”, and then Sora, recovering from the surprise, closes his eyes dramatically and emotionally as she hugs Kairi back, tightly. This shared hug lasts long enough for Donald and Goofy, our resident in-game Sora/Kairi shippers, to nonverbally react to it with happiness. This moment is given respect and weight, and it only falls flat for you because you don’t care about Kairi or Sora/Kairi.  Sora also does NOT “prepare to continue his trek”, he and Kairi both only get snapped out of the hug when “Ansem” tries to leave. Also, let’s see how long it takes for you to gloss over Kairi’s role in making the reunion happen, even when you admit Riku would have left if not for her. 

(Btw, the hug and Sora crying on his knees both lasted the same amount: 20 seconds.)

Sora spends every free moment he has in Kingdom Hearts looking for Riku, inquiring with everyone he meets about his whereabouts and lamenting his absence.

LIE! This is NOT what Sora does with “every free moment” he has. There are other friends he genuinely wants to catch up with, other people he doesn’t particularly need to help but does, mini-games he wants to play...oh, and after Kairi is kidnapped, he also asks about her in addition to Riku, even to the point of getting on his knees and begging Saix to take him to her. Nobody’s arguing that Riku isn’t very important to Sora, but you are very deliberately and dishonestly slanting things to make it look like he’s all he cares about to boost your argument.

But the moment Kairi speaks Riku’s name, Sora’s face twists, displaying a confusion and pain we haven’t seen before. 

LIE! Sora’s face is first one of “WTF!?” surprise, and then of just-plain incredulous confusion - he doesn’t immediately believe that “Ansem” is Riku and is likely wondering if Kairi’s lost her mind. And really? We haven’t seen these expressions from Sora before? You need to replay this game which you believe yourself to be such an expert at that you write a book about it.

A slow, almost mournful song plays in the background as Sora closes his eyes, and looks past Ansem’s guise to Riku, the friend he has so desperately searching for. 

Aaand you neglect to mention that it’s because of Kairi’s powers that he is able to look past Ansem’s guise to Riku, and that as the song plays in the background, we see all three friends joining hands. Heaven forbid you imply that Kairi means anything to Sora and Riku.

Taking Riku’s hand in both of his, Sora falls to his knees. “It’s Riku. Riku’s here!” he cries, weeping and visibly shaking. “I looked for you! I looked everywhere for you!” The scene reminds me of a moment earlier in Kingdom Hearts II, where Saix kidnaps Kairi. Saix calls Kairi “the fire that feeds Sora’s anger,” assuming that harming the girl will rankle Sora, leaving him emotionally vulnerable. This statement is wildly incorrect: Sora’s fervor for Riku far outweighs his fervor for Kairi—or for anyone else in the game. Riku is Sora’s fire.

LIE! The scene it SHOULD have reminded you of is when Saix tells Sora that he has Kairi, at Hollow Bastion. Sora pleads with him to take him to her. Saix asks if she’s that important to him, and he replies “Yeah! More than anything!”  Saix says “Show me how important” and Sora...falls to his knees, pathetically prostrating himself before Saix, whimpering “Please.” 

When Saix then replies “No”, Sora jumps up, visibly shaking and with a sob in his voice as he yells “YOU ROTTEN...!” Very clearly, Kairi IS Sora’s fire just as much as Riku is, and harming her WILL rankle him and leave him emotionally vulnerable, which it did seeing as he had to fight his way through Heartless, despite knowing the consequences of doing so at this point, in order to reach her, and when he saw Kairi again he got distracted and was ambushed by Heartless that Kairi has to rescue him from. Leaving this info out is dishonest as fuck.

Sora and Riku’s reunion is the big emotional payoff of Kingdom Hearts II, while meeting up with Kairi doesn’t even get a fraction of this attention.

Because Sora and Kairi’s reunion in the original Kingdom Hearts was already ITS big emotional payoff. It receiving as much attention this time around would make no narrative sense given that Kairi was only until recently safe and sound, whereas Riku has been missing and presumed dead for a long time, and Sora never got to fully reconcile with him before this happened. You need to consider the context when making your conclusions.

That’s because there is no traditional romance in Kingdom Hearts.

LIE! See here. Note that it includes Sora/Kairi and Roxas/Namine.

Rather, we get a picture of intimacy between two young men, two best friends. It’s exceedingly rare that any kind of media portrays non-romantic love between two boys so deeply

Except for literally almost every shonen manga/anime/game in existence ever, you clod.

As Kingdom Hearts’s main storywriter, Tetsuya Nomura seems keen on positive portrayals of male intimacy. He worked on the main premise of Final Fantasy VII, which featured a handful of close and complicated relationships between male characters. Cloud’s relationships with Zack and Sephiroth—two former brothers in arms—color our experience in his shoes. In Final Fantasy VIII, the rivalry between Seifer and Squall is borderline flirtatious, with Seifer’s antagonism towards Squall nearing obsessive. These male relationships would continue to play a role in future Final Fantasy games even without Nomura’s involvement—the camaraderie between Braska, Auron, and Jecht in Final Fantasy X, for instance, or the budding mutual reliance and respect between Snow and Hope in Final Fantasy XIII.

Nomura DID have involvement in Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XIII, you CLOD!

The relationship between Sora and Riku is not the only intimate male friendship featured prominently in Kingdom Hearts II. There is also the bond between Axel and Roxas.

Oh, boy. Now you open up THIS can of worms. Why am I not surprised?

Throughout Kingdom Hearts II, we see the same flashback a handful of times: Roxas walking away from Axel and saying, “No one would miss me.” “That’s not true!” Axel shouts behind him, then drops his voice and murmurs, “I would.”

Um, we literally only see that flashback twice, and the part you referenced just once.

After encountering a brainwashed Roxas in Twilight Town, he is saddened to hear that his friend does not remember him. He becomes increasingly upset when Roxas continues not to cooperate with him, and in Roxas’s second fight with him it feels as though his anger is turned more on himself than on his former comrade. 

You just point out that Axel becomes increasingly upset when Roxas does not do what he, Axel, wants / needs of him, without considering at all whether it’s what Roxas himself wants / needs. That’s not a good thing. And no, Axel’s anger is absolutely on Roxas in the second fight. There is a glimpse of self-loathing as well, but he is able to overcome it and perform his duty as an assassin, willing to kill his friend so that he can avoid punishment from Xemnas. 

When we watch Roxas’s flashbacks of Axel pleading with him not to leave the Organization, we hear the sorrow in the latter’s voice as he says he’ll miss Roxas. Counter to everything the Organization has been led to believe, Roxas inspires true emotion in Axel: friendship, sorrow, understanding, compassion, love. If Nobodies can regrow their hearts, what emotion more powerful than love can jumpstart their reconstruction? Roxas is the driving force behind Axel and influences his every decision, even when Roxas no longer exists as a separate, complete human being.

First off, who said Nobodies can regrow their hearts? That’s not part of KH2.

Secondly, while it’s true that Roxas inspired those feelings in Axel, the fact that Axel lacks a heart means that he still is completely self-centered about them. Roxas himself is not Axel’s driving force, AXEL is Axel’s driving force. That’s the fundamental point of his character: that he pursues his own agenda above all else, and Roxas now being the main component of that agenda doesn’t change this. Your romanticized, whitewashed view of Axel is not canon.

While he calmly accepts responsibility for Naminé from DiZ

He accepted responsibility from RIKU, not DiZ, who wanted them dead. Clod, clod, CLOD!

Axel’s behavior shows that he sees his self-worth only within the context of his friendship with Roxas. Without Roxas, Axel does not value himself or his own existence, as evidenced by his readiness to sacrifice himself to save Sora.

This is partly true, but you’re a little off the mark. Axel doesn’t value himself only because of Roxas personally, but because of how Roxas makes him feel. Roxas inspiring feelings within him makes him feel like a complete being, like he has a heart. And like he says, Sora makes him feel the same way, so if he wanted to, he could have just stayed alive and stayed with Sora in order to get his feelings fix. The reason he sacrificed himself was because he had realized at last that his selfishness was wrong, that friendship is a two-way street, and after having screwed up with Roxas to the point of trying to kill him, he now wanted to redeem himself by giving to Roxas (and thus Sora): giving his life. This was a redemption, yet you’re skewing it to be “There’s no reason to live if I can’t have my boyfriend Roxas back!”

We never see this level of emotion in Sora’s reunion with Kairi.

You do remember that Sora pretty much killed himself to save Kairi in the first KH, right?

Roxas, who you were just talking about, wouldn’t have been a thing without that happening?

Are you that misogynistically averse to Kairi that you zone out whenever she’s a factor?

Sora crying for Riku, Axel crying for Roxas. The boys are the only ones who cry because their vulnerability is tied up with their dependence on each other. These are the believable relationships. These are the characters whose relationships players are never supposed to doubt. The emotion is raw and crystal clear in both of these scenes. We never see this level of emotion in Sora’s reunion with Kairi. It just isn’t there.

So boys crying ultimately places these relationships above all others, and every other relationship in the game (Sora/Kairi, Roxas/Namine, Roxas/Hayner,/Pence/Olette, Sora/Donald/Goofy, Mickey/Donald/Goofy, Mickey/Riku) can all be swept aside as irrelevant, doubtful and not believable because no visible tears are shed? That’s your argument?

Part of what makes Roxas and Axel’s relationship so beautiful is this outright rejection of their Nobody nature—they feel for each other and they let each other know it.

Here’s the problem - aside from that Axel crying scene which was not in the original version of the game, we actually NEVER see Roxas truly let Axel know that he feels for him. We literally NEVER see their friendship. It is a totally informed statement. We only see Roxas leaving and coldly saying “no-one will miss me” to Axel, and Roxas fully remembering Axel and being touched but still surprisingly blasé over what looks like (and originally WAS) Axel’s death in front of him. Yet this one-sided relationship is one of “the believable ones” to you?

And OK, let’s move away from KH2 and bring 358/2 Days into the equation. Even in that game, Roxas’ feelings of friendship toward Axel, while undeniably sincere, are nowhere close to the intensity of Axel’s feelings of friendship toward Roxas. Roxas actually has stronger feelings for Xion, and is willing to sever all ties with Axel, TWICE, because of something bad he does to him and Xion. This is not the paragon of m/m love you fangirls make it out to be!

Also, Roxas is 15. Axel is in his 20s. Just pointing that out.

Which is why the game’s ham-fisted implications of a romantic love triangle between Riku, Sora, and Kairi are so unconvincing. 

WHAT romantic love triangle!? There isn’t one at all in KH2, and in fact there never was one in the original game! It was always Sora and Kairi who liked each other that way. The official Character Report book confirmed that Riku did not like Kairi that way, knew Sora did and teased him about it, often acting as a potential romantic rival just to push Sora further and make Sora stronger - he’s the big-brother figure, it’s what he does. He only became posessive of Kairi and fought with Sora over her after he thought Sora abandoned him for Donald and Goofy (and the Keyblade). It was basically his way of saying “you throw away our friendship, then I take away your friendship / romance with Kairi, and she’ll stay MY friend!”

The implications are unconvincing because they’re a product of your deranged mind!

While the narrative wants you to believe these two are destined to become lovers, any implied Sora/Kairi mutual affection comes off simply as friends bound together by happy childhood memories. 

Right, because the Paupu Fruit (called “so romantic” by Selphie) is totally just a friendship thing, Sora killing himself in order to save Kairi and Kairi being able to bring him back because they are that close (in the present, not just in “happy childhood memories”) is totally just a friendship thing, the whole plot of CoM hinging on Kairi as Sora’s most important person (which he later re-iterates to Saix) is totally just a friendship thing, Sora imagining himself and Kairi in place of Jack and Sally slow-dancing is totally just a friendship thing, Sora and Kairi’s connection being able to bring Sora and Riku back home is totally just a friendship thing, Xion having Kairi’s face because Kairi is Sora’s most precious memory is totally just a friendship thing, this is totally just a friendship thing...I could go on. You. Are. DELUSIONAL.

Riku and Sora spend all of the first Kingdom Hearts looking for this girl, but at the start of Kingdom Hearts II it’s clear they are more invested in one another.

Which is probably because their goal in the first game was completed and Kairi is safe and sound on Destiny Islands at the start of KH2, while Sora and Riku are still in precarious situations. Once Kairi is put BACK in danger, Sora and Riku both become invested in her as well. Your constant lies by omission are bordering on sociopathic now!

Kingdom Hearts II begins with Kairi on Destiny Islands without Sora and Riku. Despite Sora’s promise during the ending events of the first Kingdom Hearts that he would find her again, he has still not returned home or even bothered to contact Kairi. 

LIE! His promise was NOT “to find her again”, he knows where she is, his promise was to come back to her with Riku, something she agreed to since, contrary to hateful fangirls’ portrayals of her, she cares about Riku too. At the end of KH2, he is finally able to keep that promise, plus the other promise of returning her lucky charm to her once his task was complete. Why the fuck would he return home without Riku, thus breaking his promise?

Instead, his search for Riku led him to Castle Oblivion and the events of Chain of Memories

Which, as mentioned above, his feelings for Kairi were instrumental to.

Meanwhile, that someone else is hopping from world to world looking for Riku, taking no time to stop by Destiny Islands to let Kairi know he’s okay. Everywhere he stops on his journey, he asks the same question: Has anyone seen Riku? Why not ask for directions back home to Kairi? Despite the game’s flashbacks and shoddily shoehorned-in visions of Kairi, she’s just not Sora’s priority.

Because, again, he KNOWS Kairi is safe on the islands so she’s not a priority, and his promise was to bring Riku back home so that the three of them could live happily together again. Why the fuck would he ask for directions back home when he’s made it repeatedly clear that his objective is only to return once he has Riku back, since that’s what Kairi wants as well? Also, once Kairi is kidnapped, she DOES become his priority and he asks about her / a way into the Nobodies’ world to rescue her just as much as he asks about where Riku is.

Sora’s constant search for Riku makes it clear that this is the relationship we need to be paying attention to. 

No, it’s ONE of them. Kingdom Hearts is made of MANY important relationships. His constant search for Kairi in addition to Riku once she’s kidnapped shows that his relationship with her is another one, and Donald and Goofy’s continuing quest for King Mickey shows that their relationship with him is another one. And let’s not forget the core one of Sora! Donald! Goofy!

You pushing Sora/Riku as the end-all, be-all is your agenda, not the game’s.

If there is supposed to be romantic love between Sora and Kairi, it’s not present in the writing. 

LIE! I’ve already pointed out why.

Their reunion is brief, and their conversation is clipped and bland. Kairi tells Sora she came looking for him because he never came home, and Sora’s reaction lets us know that he knows he screwed up. Sora apologizes to Kairi, and even as she hugs him, his response to her presence is anemic compared to the complete emotional breakdown he has when Riku is revealed.

This is your take on it, not a fact like you are presenting it as. Other views may differ.

Even after Riku’s abominable behavior, and even as he spends a majority of Kingdom Hearts II desperately avoiding Sora, his friend is still overcome to the point of tears when they meet. Sora does not rebuke Riku, he simply asks him why he has been avoiding him.

Um, yeah. That’s Sora. That’s his character, very easily forgiving. So what?

Sora is a benevolent guy throughout these games, but it’s not like him to give a free pass to his opponents.

LIE! See Maleficent and Pete, Axel, Beast when he’s under Xaldin’s control, Riku in the first game, Riku Replica in CoM, “Ansem” at the end of KH2...heck, he’s even OK going up and talking to Hades to sign up for the Paradox Cup even after all the shit Hades has pulled. He also is known to give opponents chances to back off and survive, like Vexen and Demyx.

Despite the atrocities committed at Riku’s hand in the first Kingdom Hearts, Sora still sets out in Kingdom Hearts II passionately searching for the lost Riku. He is the only one who gets Sora’s all-encompassing forgiveness.

Yeah, because they’re best friends, close as brothers. And they already had the start of a reconciliation at the end of the original game, when they closed the Door to Darkness. Exactly what’s your argument here? That if Kairi was to inexplicably go evil, Sora wouldn’t give her a pass or forgive her? Because if you believe that, then you’re a (bigger) dumbass!

The final boss sequence of Kingdom Hearts II could have easily pitted Sora solo against Xemnas.

Um, why? The previous final bosses didn’t have him go solo. Why would this?

One of Xemnas’s most common attacks involves grabbing Sora with an electrical field and holding him in place while he slowly drains the boy’s health. During these segments, players are given full control over Riku as he makes his way across the battlefield to rescue his friend. “Rescue” is even the word used for the command you must input to free Sora. It’s one thing to have these boys tell each other how they feel; it’s quite another to see them act it out in a climactic battle sequence.

Rescuing your friend is now apparently a big, earth-shattering deal. Um, OK.

You realize any character can rescue one another in battle, right?

The team-up offers an insight into the dynamics of their friendship. Giving Riku more of the heavy lifting in their combo attacks—breaking the buildings and hurling them at Xemnas as well as having to rescue Sora from the electrical attack—sets him up as the more protective of the two. Sora is active while Riku is reactive, and in the same way he spends all of the game trying to avoid Sora, he spends the final battle allowing Sora to set up powerful attacks for Riku to execute. And by having Sora be incapacitated and requiring rescue says something about how the developers want players to view their relationship. In the end, Sora will always need Riku. Riku’s presence makes Sora more confident, makes him stronger and more sure of himself. We see more of this feeling in Dream Drop Distance, where Sora fails his mission and needs Riku to bail him out, but the first seeds sprout in Kingdom Hearts II.

FUCK OFF. You’re falling into the common “seme/uke” yaoi stereotype for Riku and Sora here. For as much as you disparge Kairi for needing saving by Sora (while ignoring the times she saves him), you seem to actually get off on the idea that Sora always needs saving by Riku. I highly doubt the developers wanted you to think about the relationship like this, Nomura even said the main reason it happened was just because a lot of fans back then wanted to play as Riku, the same reason Reverse/Rebirth mode happened in CoM. Ironically, by the time of 3D, Riku’s popularity in Japan had died out, and the game didn’t sell so well.

Setting the boys up as partners in the final boss fight—literally your final act as a player—telegraphs to us that the game is about Sora and Riku’s friendship.

No. It’s one of the big themes of the game and what takes precedence in the last act, but to say that the ENTIRE GAME is about it and ignore all the other rich content that is packed into the game does it a disservice. I again ask why you even wrote a book about this game. Was it just to push your personal fangirl fantasies? We already have Tomoco Kanemaki for that!

You can’t tell either boy’s story without the other.

Tell that to CoM and 358/2 Days...or this game, where we hardly see a “story” for Riku.

Their friendship, Sora’s desire to find Riku, and Riku’s desire to protect Sora by only helping him from the shadows, is what drives the story forward and what lays down the game’s emotional foundation.

Really? Because it had nothing to do with Roxas’ story, or Axel’s story. Or the story of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee. Or Organization XIII’s plans. Or Mickey’s own quest and connection with Ansem the Wise. Or many events in the Disney worlds. Or...yeah, you get the message. Once again, you simplify a wonderfully complex, multi-layered game and boil it down to a yaoi story. I doubt you’d BE a KH fan if not for the yaoi-bait given this pattern of behavior. I hate to play the “True Fan” card, but...you’re not a True Fan. You don’t get it.

Following the final battle, as they sit on the edge of oblivion, Sora and Riku confess their feelings to each other.

And you deliberately phrase it romantically. More lying.

This climactic scene isn’t Sora and Kairi confessing their love

You realize that 1.) There’s still a series to go for that to happen, 2.) Nomura doesn’t want romance and shipping to be the main focus, and 3.) We actually get a credits scene where Sora sees that Kairi has returned his feelings with the chalk drawing on the cave wall.

We see her again in the very last scene welcoming Sora back to Destiny Islands, but the sweetness of her homecoming words is outshined by this exchange between the boys on a dark beach.

Which is a fact, not at all an opinion. And this is not sarcasm, not at all!

They’ve won the fight, and they don’t know if they’ll be able to return home. 

And who ends up being the catalyst for them coming home and not dying? KAIRI.

While Riku and Sora are not in love, the boys’ friendship is one of the deepest and most moving relationships of any kind that I’ve seen in a video game. And part of why it works is because it’s not a romance. Without sexual tension or expressed desire of any kind, these relationships appear as the deepest forms of male intimacy: mutual dependence, connectedness, and respect.

LMAO! After all this, you’re now trying to claim you’re not a yaoi fangirl and that you understand and accept that Sora and Riku are not in love and their feelings not sexual!? 

You aren’t fooling anyone, Alexa. You’re the typical obnoxious, toxic KH yaoi fangirl. Own it.

Kingdom Hearts II is the tale of these broken bonds becoming whole and being used as power against the creeping darkness. As Sora says in the first Kingdom Hearts, “My friends are my power.” Kingdom Hearts II proves that for Sora and Riku, this will always be the case.

And for Sora and Kairi, and Riku and Kairi, and Sora, Donald and Goofy, and Mickey, Donald and Goofy, and Mickey and Riku, and Riku and DiZ, and Roxas and Hayner, Pence, and Olette, and Roxas and Axel, and...OK, I’ve already made this point before, I’m done now.

Bottom line: this so-called fan lies with reckless abandon, omits key facts, presents her opinions as truth, and completely maligns the entire rest of the game just to prop up the one aspect she feels dominates all others and that other players should feel the same way about it as she does. To all True KH Fans, avoid her, her book, and future writings like the Plague!

[unrated-g]

What’s Good Games

There are several posts I see cross my dash periodically asking for recommendations for women-led Youtube channels, lets players, and podcasts, because unfortunately there is a distinct lack of outlets for women to share and discuss their views and tastes as far as video games and related media are concerned. The handful that I know of and usually recommend are relatively niche, so I feel like this is a good opportunity to spread the word about What’s Good Games, a channel that launched earlier this week.

From their Patreon:

“What happens when friends with more than 35 years of games industry experience combine their powers for an epic podcast? Hopefully something pretty cool. Welcome to What's Good Games, a new show for the nerd-inclined! What exactly is What’s Good Games? It’s our happy place: a space where we can talk about games and other stuff we fancy with YOU – through videos, podcasts, streams and events. With this group of ladies, it’s certain that the conversation will be insightful, wacky and passionate! This particular Voltron is comprised of: Andrea Rene (Host/Producer seen on GameTrailers, Yahoo Esports, GameStop TV) Alexa Ray Corriea (Former writer at Polygon, Gamespot) Brittney Brombacher (Creator of BlondeNerd.com) Kristine Steimer (Formerly at IGN and PlayStation) Over the many years we’ve been friends, we’ve often discussed how there weren't great ways to get our voices out there together. That is, until now -- the stars have aligned for us to join forces and to create our own project. We've met tons of our fans and viewers in our time in the games industry, and are incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to build a new community and make some really cool content. We're committed to producing a free weekly podcast for all of you, but none of us are the type that are satisfied with doing the bare minimum. We're eager and excited to create more content and we have a lot of ideas, some of which you can check out in our goals! In order to make that additional content happen, we'll need your support. More funding means more time to dedicate to new streams, interviews, events and more, on top of the weekly podcast. We’re ready to throw ourselves in, headfirst, but the future of What's Good Games is in your hands. We hope you're so jazzed to join this community that you’ll take the step to become a patron. Patrons will get behind-the-scenes access, exclusive photos and videos, and other extra goodies. But you can also help through your participation: listening to the podcast, giving us a review on iTunes, sharing our social media posts…these all help us build momentum! Please check out our tiers and goals for more details and jump in as a patron today! If you have any questions be sure to reach out! Cheers! <3 Andrea, Alexa, Britt & Steimer “

Their first podcast went up today, and I just finished listening to it, I enjoy the chemistry this group has and look forward to seeing how it develops. They discuss recent game announcements and what they’re playing currently, and talk a little about their history in the industry, how they got to this point.It’s always interesting to get a variety of perspectives on the video game industry, as well as insight on what’s worth considering playing, and there’s such a huge disparity between the amount of men and women voicing themselves, I’d love to see that change, and content from groups like this can help break up the sense of sameness in a lot of these kinds of podcasts.

The podcast is from a stream of a Google Hangout I believe, so there are issues with frames dropping, and sound skipping, varying mic qualities, etc. But this group is just starting, and if you’re interested, and would like to see more voices and content like this take off and find an audience, find success, I highly recommend giving them a try, and considering supporting their Patreon. How cool would it be to see them grow the way other groups like Kinda Funny and Easy Allies have? Going from recording in a spare bedroom to having a designated studio space and editors, adding more voices and diversity to their ensemble, getting developers to share early builds of games with them, and being invited to E3 Judges Week to give their input. We could make this happen!

I’m a big fan of Andrea and Kristine in particular, I’m most familiar with their previous work, and have always enjoyed seeing them guest on some of my favorite channels and podcasts. I’m less familiar with Alexa, and Brittney is a completely new face/voice for me, but I’m excited to hear more from them all.

So for those of you looking for more women to watch and listen to, to help make your experiences and voices heard, here’s a great opportunity to show support and get in at the ground floor, to follow this group on their journey together.

You can find What’s Good Games:

On Patreon

On YouTube

On Instagram

[blazehedgehog]

What do you think of Anthony Burch?

I’ve never met him.

I’ve liked some of the things he’s written and I’ve really disliked some of the things he’s written. 

“Hey Ash, Watcha Playin?” could be funny sometimes, but other times, his Sister’s dumb “I’m cute ^_^” voice felt a little like a gross gimmick to emphasize she was a gamer gurl. Thankfully, I think they ended up dropping it more and more towards the end.

I’ve never played Borderlands 2, but I’ve heard endless complaints about how people don’t like the jokes in that game, some of which he wrote.

He was a writer on the Rocket Jump/Prozd “Anime Crimes Division” web series and I really liked both seasons of that. I want to say he also helped write Rocket Jump’s Video Game High School? It’s not on his IMDB, so maybe that was his sister.

I know he’s also written articles for some gaming new sites I’ve enjoyed, but I can’t remember which sites they were or what articles they were that I’ve read from him, so maybe that says something (mainly that I’m notoriously forgetful).

He’s also spoken out against Gamer Gate, which is good.

When I submitted my book pitch to Boss Fight Books and they rejected me, I believe the first book they announced of their next “season” was the Metal Gear Solid book he wrote with his sister. My other friends, who also submitted pitches, rolled their eyes, thinking the reason we all got rejected was because they wanted internet celebrities. (That series of books was also headlined by people like Chris Kohler, Nick Suttner, Derek Yu, and Alexa Ray Corriea, who are all either big-ish names on the development or media side of games, so maybe that’s true)

I’ve also been told that the writing in that Metal Gear Solid book is sloppy. I have not personally read it. I’ve only tried reading the Boss Fight Books for Super Mario Bros. 2 and Earthbound. I quit the SMB2 book because it was halfway between a game walkthrough and a messy retrospective, but the Earthbound book was great. I stopped reading it when I got rejected, though. That’s a little bitter of me, I know. I’ve meant to go back to it.

Trying to think of anything else I’ve ingested with Anthony Burch’s name on it and I think that might be it.

I’m sure he’s an alright dude. He seems to have a sense of humor about things like how hated his writing in Borderlands 2 was. I’m sure he’d be fine to hangout with.

[megadads]

Gamer Spotlight: Alexa Ray Corriea

In the latest Gamer Spotlight we get to know writer and narrative designer, Alexa Ray Corriea!

The gaming community is full of interesting and talented people. In the Mega Dads Gamer Spotlight we get to know men and women from every corner of that space, from developers and podcasters to journalists and streamers. We ask them six questions which cover everything from the experiences that shaped their love gaming, to which games they think everyone should play. We hope you enjoy getting to…

[cabletownart]

"I don't wanna talk about Quadratum anymore!" with Alexa Ray Corriea In this episode, special guest Alexa Ray Corriea joins host PJ to talk about the future of Kingdom Hearts, including: Quadratum What's the deal with Luxord? What really happened to that canceled book series? Who is Demyx's original self? AND MORE

Special thanks to Chandler Candela (https://twitter.com/chancanan_)for the art and Travis Reaves (https://twitter.com/treavesbutt) for the music and to Ray Chase (https://twitter.com/RayChase)for his cameo as MoM. Follow us on Twitter! https://twitter.com/cabletownpod

[kh13]

KH13.com exclusive interview with author of Bossfightbooks' "Kingdom Hearts II" - Alexa Ray Corriea

Our exclusive interview with the author of Bossfightbooks' new book on Kingdom Hearts II is now available for your listening pleasure! Alexa Ray Corriea's book is essentially a collection of essays analyzing some of the deeper themes and character tropes seen throughout Kingdom Hearts II, while also including a bit of Alexa's own personal connection to the series. In this interview/podcast, both KH13 staff member Toominator and Alexa explore these analyses and give listeners a good overview of what readers can expect from the book, while also discussing the topics further - going beyond what is in the book itself.

[hardcore-gaming-101]

HG101 Sega Arcade Classics Vol. 2 (and Vol. 1) books in the latest Storybundle!

HG101 Presents: Sega Arcade Classics Vol. 2 (and an updated version of HG101 Presents: Sega Arcade Classics Vol. 1) is available in the latest Storybundle! Included also are Fallen Down - Heartache & Compassion in Undertale by Joel Couture, The Offworld Collection by Leigh Alexander and Laura Hudson, Boss Fight Books: Kingdom Hearts II by Alexa Ray Corriea, Once Upon a Point & Click by David L. Craddock, and other great video game books!

[caitlinmcthd104-blog]

Question 22 research

Tancred Dyke-Wells definition of “…really cool, radical looking games…” Game examples, given in the book.

Most of the games given as examples are music-based games (not enough variety)

Rez (2001)

-Described by critics as “timeless”

-What makes the game cool and radical, is that it is a “…rail shooter on paper and a heart-pounding synesthesia joyride in practice”

-While playing the game all you have to do is “…concern yourself with aiming and shooting…”

-The game sounds “claps” and “beats” when you kill an enemy. Leaving the player to create their “…own rhythm”

-In the game, there is also a boss that “…takes on the form of a running figure that chases you through hallways” adding thrill to the game

-Critics describe the game as not being about “…shooting and conquering, it’s about creating music”

-The game also takes you off the rails and sends you out to space to create your own music, and it gives you the complete freedom to fly anywhere

-Rez is also seen as “…hypnotic and enveloping”

Alexa Ray Corriea, (09/08/2017) Sensory overlord. Gamespot. Available at: https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/rez-infinite-review/1900-6416540/ (07/03/2019)

Freak out

-A game filled with the “…steepest slopes, thrilling stunts and dangerous action…” based around a skiing experience 

-To get the best experience from the game, the player must be willing to “…push their own boundaries…” to get the “…ultimate adrenaline rush”

-The game has “unrealistic barriers, stylish jumps, no rules, extreme speed, off-piste” and “crazy stunts”

-The game also allows the player to feel “…real freedom…”

Steam. Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/304540/FreakOut_Extreme_Freeride/  (07/03/2019)

Parappa the rapper (1996)

-Many critics believe that the game “…succeeded due to its rhythm-based gameplay that allowed for freeform rapping”

-It was released by Sony when music and rhythm began to get popular 

-You can earn extra points in the game by, “…mixing up your rhythms a bit”, giving freedom to the player

Roper, Chris. Parappa the rapper review. IGN uk. Available at: https://uk.ign.com/articles/2007/07/20/parappa-the-rapper-review (07/03/2019)

-The game is known to have “…birthed the whole rhythm genre”

-The aspects of the game include,  “…unforgettable offbeat rap tracks, adorable paper-flat design, and innovative call-and-response gameplay…”

Kohler, Chris. We’re so happy Parappa the Rapper is back to frustrate us. Kotaku. Available at: https://kotaku.com/we-re-so-happy-parappa-the-rapper-is-back-to-frustrate-1793970595 (07/03/2019)

Vib Ribbon (1999)

-It music-game stylings manages to display the game as a “…cult game that demands attention”

-The game forces you into the action

-It allows you to use your own music, as a level

-It requires “…extreme concentration…”, due to this you become absorbed into the game

Gerstmann, Jeff. Bib-Ribbon (import) Review. Gamespot. Available at:                                      https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/vib-ribbon-import-review/1900-2550100/ (11/03/2019)

Mojibribbon (1999)

-Made a transition from Japan to North America

-It is a rhythm game from the maker of Parappa the Rapper

-The goal for the game is to “…speedily and accurately fill in all the boxes…”

-The game is plain and simple

-Critics believe it is just as “…weird and innovative as Vib ribbon…”

Douglass C. Perry. GDC 2004: Mojibribbon.  IGN UK. Available at:                                              https://uk.ign.com/articles/2004/03/25/gdc-2004-mojibribbon (11/03/2019)

Space Channel 5 (1999)

-Tetsuya Mizuguchi is the producer of the game

-In the game, you have to “…mimic button presses on your controller in synch with an on-screen beat…”

-The game is based around a ”Morolien race” invading a space colony, and the player saving a resident colony from the Morolien’s as they make them dance mindlessly

-Yet there are timing issues with the game, as it lags

IGN staff. Space Channel 5, IGN. Available at:                                                                           https://uk.ign.com/articles/2000/06/02/space-channel-5-2  (13/03/2019)

[levelstory-old]

Deep Dive: Kingdom Hearts 3, Gameplay

Level Story Podcast

Join Danielle, JD, Kaitie, and Ryan as they continue their Kingdom Hearts 3 discussion and talk about the gameplay! How is Kingdom Hearts like Cats the musical? Why is everything in this game super gay? And where is the Kingdom Hearts 3 soundtrack??? 

IMPORTANT NOTE: THIS EPISODE UNFORTUNATELY SUFFERS FROM AUDIO ISSUES THAT CAN'T BE FIXED. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT AUDIO WILL BE SPIKING. HOPEFULLY THE DISCUSSION MAKES UP FOR THIS.

Links:

Leave a Voicemail: www.levelstory.net/voicemail 

Write to Level Story: www.levelstory.net/contact 

Support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/levelstory 

JD: https://twitter.com/AF_Comics

Kaitie: http://khartgraphics.com/

Ryan: http://mynockpodcast.libsyn.com/

Music:

Various tracks from Kingdom Hearts games

Kingdom Hearts 3 Tracks by KHWaterBlock: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9oCFtJ3QxO70RvCAKgAApYspuAR61F8c

More:

Kingdom Hearts 2 Boss Fight Books: https://bossfightbooks.com/products/kingdom-hearts-ii-by-alexa-ray-corriea

How Kingdom Hearts 2's Combat Is Special: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYdFpv9Ay7o

[themattress]

Was at a bookstore and...

I would like to make a formal apology to Tomoco Kanemaki. It turns out that her authorized fanfiction is NOT, in fact, the most cringe-inducing Kingdom Hearts material ever published.

That dubious honor actually goes to this piece of shit:

If the cover didn’t clue you in, it’s from a cheap, unofficial publishing firm called Boss Fight Books that specializes in having fans of certain video games writing books about said game. The book on KH2 is written by Alexa Ray Corriea, who is the most stereotypical dumbass, trashy KH fangirl / KHInsider member you could possibly find. The contents of the book are:

Six Days Later: An Exercise in Futility with a Boy Named Roxas - She tries justifying the notorious prologue of the game, but in the worst possible way: by focusing on the character of Roxas himself and his existential angst, which was one of the biggest complaints about the prologue to begin with! I know this is a matter of opinion, but you would think she’d attempt a better defense more on the lines of this video, something that people seldom think about. 

Nobodies and Somebodies - Oh, joy. The typical fangirl romanticization of Nobodies and their angsty plight, and the Draco in Leather Pants treatment toward Organization XIII. Ugh.

Riku and Redemption, Or, What Doesn't Kill You - Her Riku fangirlism explodes in this chapter, to the point of breaking the book’s rules. She’s supposed to just talk about KH2 specifically, and yet in order to talk up Riku’s redemption arc, she has to talk about several other games since, if you’re just going by KH2, the bulk of Riku’s redemption is completely off-screen and he only shows up in person to finish it in the final world & battle of the game. Sora is the main character of the game, and yet he doesn’t get a chapter focused on him! 

Gone Girl - And here’s the fangirl misogyny masquerading as feminism! Alexa is clearly part of the KHInsider cult that is always tearing down the “hated bland love-interest” Kairi in order to prop up the “safer and relatable” (read: angsty and socially withdrawn) Namine despite them objectively being the same characterization-wise through both hypocrisy and sheer dishonesty: she lies by omission or just flat-out lies in order to make her points work.

Examples: Omitting Kairi choosing to enter the dark portal, the fact that canonly she got away from Axel on her own (she lies and claims Saix just took her from Axel ala the non-canon novel and manga), and that she jumped off a balcony to save Sora from the Heartless before getting her Keyblade in order to claim she never shows bravery or initiative. Credits Namine for saving Kairi but not Kairi for reuniting and later saving Sora and Riku. Blatantly lies by saying Namine had agency and “flexed her powers freely” in CoM, completely omitting that she was a slave to Marluxia until the very end. Says it’s sexist for Kairi to be there to speak words of emotional comfort and gratification to Sora like “you’re home”, but praises Namine for giving words of emotional comfort and gratification to Roxas. Says it’s sexist for Kairi and Namine to keep “changing hands” of different keepers, but that it’s offset for Namine by her “having agency” in defying DiZ to help Roxas and saving Kairi (while, again, omitting all of Kairi’s acts of agency.)  And claiming that Namine is the kind of girl Kairi wishes she was when canonly it’s the opposite: Namine is a mousy, weak-willed servant at first and ends up channeling Kairi as she grows and develops.  Also, she brings up Aqua, who is not in KH2.

Bad Romances and Rad Bromances - Related to the previous chapter, this is the inevitable yaoi fangirl chapter that gushes over Sora/Riku and Axel/Roxas. Kairi and Sora/Kairi are shit on with more lies and omissions (ignoring that Sora knew Kairi was safe and didn’t know if Riku was, ignoring that he did frequently fret about Kairi once he knew she was captured, disingenuously underplaying the emotion between Sora and Kairi’s own reunion, and again ignoring that Kairi single-handedly made that reunion happen AND saved the boys’ lives at the end of the game solely because she and Sora are so close.) The Axel/Roxas part is no better, as she glorifies and romanticizes Axel’s actions over Roxas in the game even though canonly it’s disturbing, unhealthy, and ultimately tragic, and ignoring Roxas’ feelings entirely. 

And she also thinks there was a Sora/Kairi/Riku love triangle when, LOL, no, there wasn’t.

Long Live the King - An analysis on...King Mickey? Look, I love Mickey too, but I’m at a loss as to why he gets a chapter while Sora, Donald and Goofy (who deserve a chapter if not just to point out how their names are spammed in that exact order throughout the game) don’t. 

A Kid's Game? - Trying to use the dark stuff and tough gameplay to defend the game from being labeled a “kids’ game”...except that this book was written and published recently. This isn’t the early days when there was only one KH game, people have understood that the KH series attracts fans of all ages for YEARS now. Look at all of the hype among adults for KH3 coming out! That she actually seems to think that the “kids’ game” label is something that’s thrown around at the series anymore gives me so much secondhand embarrassment. 

What the Hell is Kingdom Hearts Anyway? - Oh, wow. She actually tries to make sense of Nomura’s convoluted bullshit in this chapter. And it’s every bit as pretentious as it sounds.

Coda - This last one is possibly the most stupefying and rage-inducing of them all. It’s the coda, the final chapter of her book, and what does she use it for? More cringey, unabashed Riku fangirling! In fact, she decides to claim that Riku, not Sora, is the REAL main protagonist of the KH series...not just as an opinion, mind you, but as a FACT, saying that he’s much more “relatable” (again: code for angsty) than Sora. Sora is casually dismissed and objectified as just some unachievable ideal who is only interesting through his relationship with Riku. So yes, in a book about Kingdom Hearts II, she wraps it up by singing the praises of a character who really only shows up in the final level of the game, propping him up at the expense of the actual main character you spend the game playing as. What a load of tripe.

Fuck this book and fuck Alexa Ray Corriea, I want her to rot in the Realm of Darkness.

[verymostgood]

3 of 5 stars to Kingdom Hearts II by Alexa Ray Corriea https://t.co/LbqhKOsHSd

http://twitter.com/jamiegp

[gam3rpunk]

KHInsider #OffTheChain Episode 3: Alexa Ray Corriea We're very pleased to announce that the next segment in our #OfftheChain interview series is a special pre-D23 conversation with esteemed gaming journalist and author of Boss Fight Books' newest book of essays Kingdom Hearts II, the talented Alexa Ray Corriea.

[cloudtales]

A Special Pre-D23 Interview with Alexa Ray Corriea!

A Special Pre-D23 Interview with Alexa Ray Corriea!

We’re very pleased to announce that the next segment in our #OfftheChain interview series is coming very soon, with a special pre-D23 conversation with esteemed gaming journalist and author of Boss Fight Books’ newest book of essays Kingdom Hearts II, the talented Alexa Ray Corriea We’ll be talking with Alexa about her new book, her relationship with the series, her extensive background in writing…

[yutanews]

Note: Pre-orders go directly through PayPal instead of our web store. Please make sure that the shipping address tied to your PalPal account is current. Coming Spring 2017... via Pocket

[aion-rsa]

How To Watch IGN's Save Point Live Stream

IGN is partnering with the newly-launched Video Game History Foundation to present the IGN Save Point Live Stream on Monday, February 27 starting at 12pm PT (3pm ET, 8pm GMT, February 28 6am AEST).

During the five-hour stream, we’ll be playing a slew of rare things, including canceled games, unreleased consoles, forgotten preview builds, and much more. In addition to IGN hosts and editors, we'll be joined by o-founders of the Video Game History Foundation, Frank Cifaldi and Steve Lin, as well as pals from around the industry including Jared Petty, Mary Kish, Andrea Rene, Mike Mahardy, Peter Brown, Chris Kohler, Alexa Ray Corriea, and more.

Continue reading…