Angelo M. Andriano

Angelo M. Andriano

PhD Student in the field of the Philosophy of Games

Posts by Tags

aesthetics

New Article Out: “Enjoying the Uncertainty. How Dark Souls Performs Incompleteness Through Narrative, Gameplay and Level Design

less than 1 minute read

Published:

Abstract The application of the Information Theory to the works of art can show why incompleteness and ambiguity offer a more engaging experience to readers and users. But when ambiguity becomes a deliberate strategy of the work, it becomes difficult to understand how to interpret it: in this article I argue that the correct way to interpret a work that makes incompleteness the rule of its poetics is to analyze how that strategy is conveyed throughout its basic grammar, without trying to solve the puzzles and contradictions that incompleteness and ambiguity inevitably produce. This is a relevant issue in the videogame Dark Souls as the basic elements of its grammar, level design, gameplay mechanics and narrative, offer the player the experience of incompleteness in different ways. In this article, I explain how the strategy of incompleteness works in Dark Souls and propose a framework for a Zen-wise interpretation of the game mechanics.

blogpost

cinema

dark souls

New Article Out: “Enjoying the Uncertainty. How Dark Souls Performs Incompleteness Through Narrative, Gameplay and Level Design

less than 1 minute read

Published:

Abstract The application of the Information Theory to the works of art can show why incompleteness and ambiguity offer a more engaging experience to readers and users. But when ambiguity becomes a deliberate strategy of the work, it becomes difficult to understand how to interpret it: in this article I argue that the correct way to interpret a work that makes incompleteness the rule of its poetics is to analyze how that strategy is conveyed throughout its basic grammar, without trying to solve the puzzles and contradictions that incompleteness and ambiguity inevitably produce. This is a relevant issue in the videogame Dark Souls as the basic elements of its grammar, level design, gameplay mechanics and narrative, offer the player the experience of incompleteness in different ways. In this article, I explain how the strategy of incompleteness works in Dark Souls and propose a framework for a Zen-wise interpretation of the game mechanics.

ecology

New Article Out: “Metroidvania Ecologies: Exploration and the Environmental Imagination in Hollow Knight and Rain World”, wrote with Marco Caracciolo

less than 1 minute read

Published:

In this new article, published on Eludamos: Journal for Computer Game Culture, a diamond open-access journal, me and Marco Caracciolo explore the ways in which the characteristics of metroidvania games - such as levels layouts, locking mechanics, power-ups, complicated lore and playable character’s vulnerability - foster environmental imagination in players.

game mechanics

New Article Out: “Metroidvania Ecologies: Exploration and the Environmental Imagination in Hollow Knight and Rain World”, wrote with Marco Caracciolo

less than 1 minute read

Published:

In this new article, published on Eludamos: Journal for Computer Game Culture, a diamond open-access journal, me and Marco Caracciolo explore the ways in which the characteristics of metroidvania games - such as levels layouts, locking mechanics, power-ups, complicated lore and playable character’s vulnerability - foster environmental imagination in players.

metroidvania

New Article Out: “Metroidvania Ecologies: Exploration and the Environmental Imagination in Hollow Knight and Rain World”, wrote with Marco Caracciolo

less than 1 minute read

Published:

In this new article, published on Eludamos: Journal for Computer Game Culture, a diamond open-access journal, me and Marco Caracciolo explore the ways in which the characteristics of metroidvania games - such as levels layouts, locking mechanics, power-ups, complicated lore and playable character’s vulnerability - foster environmental imagination in players.

uncertainty

New Article Out: “Enjoying the Uncertainty. How Dark Souls Performs Incompleteness Through Narrative, Gameplay and Level Design

less than 1 minute read

Published:

Abstract The application of the Information Theory to the works of art can show why incompleteness and ambiguity offer a more engaging experience to readers and users. But when ambiguity becomes a deliberate strategy of the work, it becomes difficult to understand how to interpret it: in this article I argue that the correct way to interpret a work that makes incompleteness the rule of its poetics is to analyze how that strategy is conveyed throughout its basic grammar, without trying to solve the puzzles and contradictions that incompleteness and ambiguity inevitably produce. This is a relevant issue in the videogame Dark Souls as the basic elements of its grammar, level design, gameplay mechanics and narrative, offer the player the experience of incompleteness in different ways. In this article, I explain how the strategy of incompleteness works in Dark Souls and propose a framework for a Zen-wise interpretation of the game mechanics.

yorick