Review of Boss Keys

“Boss Keys” is a collection of video essays by video game scholar Mark Brown.

Earlier this year I sat down and replayed a video game for the first time in probably twelve years. After deciding to pursue a career as a media effects scholar, who studies video games, I knew that I had a lot I could say about The Legend of Zelda. So I made a goal to replay the major games in the series, and booted up The Wind Waker to start my reimmersion into the series.

After completing it, I gathered my notes and outlined a book I wanted to write and started the research process by putting together a review of the literature. With few traditional texts analyzing this game, I resorted to YouTube, a favorite medium of mine. There I stumbled upon the “Boys Keys” series by Mark Brown. As a game scholar, Brown posts analyses on game design to his channel, and devoted a series of videos analyzing the dungeons of each major Zelda game.

These videos are incredible. I cannot believe how insightful they are. Brown does a great job dissecting the major components of the dungeons in each game, simplifying and mapping out the process of playing each dungeon. The production quality of each video is incredible, and his scripts are engaging, thought provoking, and fun.

 

Core to each video are his dungeon graphs. Like I mentioned above, these graphs strip down the dungeons to their essential parts: locks and keys. These are found in the form of small keys, or puzzles, or the key item that unlocks new sections of the dungeon. These locks and keys are part of the DNA of Zelda, and looking at Brown’s dungeon graphs you are able to see the good (and bad) level design in each dungeon and each game.

I agree with Brown’s thesis of what makes a Zelda dungeon great. These are levels and areas that should push the player intellectually and mentally. There puzzles should be challenging, there should be branching paths, and a good amount of backtracking. These elements work together to make Zelda games fun to play, and memorable to experience.

For the in depth analysis, great insights, and points of discussion, I find “Boss Keys” to be essential for any game scholar, and especially for Zelda fans. Individually they are great, but together they are a masterpiece. I rate the series 5 out of 5 hearts.

Review: The Drunkard’s Walk

The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives

To be honest, I’m not entirely certain why I picked up this book. I want to say it was recommended in a video essay I watched, probably by Evan Puschak. However, after putting it in my queue I eventually got around to reading it. I’m not sure what I expected from this book, but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. 

This book details the role that randomness has in our lives and cites loads of interdisciplinary research. These sub-points range from the ineffective nature of wine critics to confirmation bias to how investors think they are skilled but are actually just luckily. While these points are related, at times they feel disjointed and clumsy, leaving me as a reader to ask “How does this relate?”

The first three chapters were the hardest part for me to get through. While I normally enjoy novelized history, it became repetitive to keep learning about the founders of modern statistics, one chapter at a time, slogging through hundreds of years of achievements. I guess a reader like me would have liked these chapters and stories condensed a little more. And really, starting all the way back with the Greeks might be a little too far in history to keep me interested.

As a researcher and a scholar, I definitely enjoyed the studies cited and the research included in this book. It felt rather solid in its conclusions. However, I’ll admit I’m more of a soft scientist, so some of the mathematics and theory went way over my head. It got rather deep in some points, which amused my wife when I tried to explain what I read. There were a few nights where I had to put the book down, because my brain was swimming too much.

However, despite my gripes and my complaints, this was still a good book. I feel like the section on the flaws of grading and critiquing was excellent for a future professor like myself. I feel much more prepared to accept that I am not a perfect grader, and that I probably never will be. And learning more about probability, statistical significance, and biases was also beneficial for my studies and research. This book, while attempting a lot, fails a little, but still succeeds. I would recommend for scholars as well as students, but probably not for my mom. Sorry, it isn’t a beach read. 

I give this book 3/5 hearts.

Escape to Hyrule

The Legend of Zelda is a massive video game series that spans decades. The original game was released thirty years ago and introduced the swashbuckling hero of time—Link—who must save the titular princess from evil Ganondorf. Wandering through the land of Hyrule, the player must explore and discover a plethora of secrets. The original Zelda game was the epitome of open-ended adventure, but now the series has become a locked game driven by story points and necessary events. However, there are many who relish this style of gaming and enjoy playing each installment in the Zelda series. I interviewed a self-described Zelda fan to understand why he plays the games and the gratification they bring. I wanted to know if these games were an opportunity to explore, or a chance to be guided along the story path.

Interviewing the fan William, I discovered a little about his play style and why the Zelda games appealed to him. He devotes small portions of time to the game, but he plays almost daily as an escape. In his own words he plays “to escape; when I’m stressed, to take my mind off of things that I should worry about.” It is a part of his return from school, a habit he’s recently developed. To this fan, Zelda is world to be explored with tasks and quests to accomplish. He gets very animated and excited when discussing the games.

But when asked why he plays Zelda, William reveals that these games are very purpose driven, which bleeds over from his personal life. He seeks to feel accomplished by finishing quests. Before he sits down he makes goals like “in my 30 minutes I’m going to finish this dungeon, or make a dent in this quest.” Instead of seeking a carefree, open release from responsibility, William thrives on an escape that is goal-orientated and structured, much like his personal life and obligations. He spoke about the other side of the coin, games are freer, open ended, and unshackled to story. “In those games I don’t feel like there is a purpose and I don’t enjoy them as much. Because there are infinite options, there are infinite paths, and since there are infinite paths there is no path. You just do whatever you want, but you don’t go anywhere.” Zelda is a release valve on the pressures of his life, but William still needs to feel like his video game has a purpose. He needs to go somewhere and do something, instead of aimlessly drifting. He repeatedly emphasized how much he likes progression, of moving towards a goal. Even if every Zelda game is a string of McGuffins, William still enjoys feeling accomplished. He accentuated these points with hand gestures to symbolize the progression.

But despite wanting these milestones and guidelines to progression, William’s main enjoyment from Zelda is in the action. He is not too keen on the story and admits there are others out there who are interested in the lore. Rather, he just wants to hack and slash and save the world. “I’m more into the action and killing things.” He loved one of the games, Skyward Sword, because it mastered the combat system. He admitted to being annoyed by anything that stops him from moving on and fighting monsters. From multiple responses, it became apparent that his favorite activity in Zelda is slaying monsters. This mentality feeds into his need to feel accomplished. With combat, your skill and accomplishment are evident and easy to gauge.

When asked about how to improve the game, William was silent for a while. He gathered his thoughts, mentioned some minor mechanics that could be tweaked. However, a lightning bolt hit him and he then divulged a dream that aligned with his previous attitudes. William mentioned that an additional hard mode would benefit the game. This would only be available after completing the original quest, and include monsters that were more difficult. Again, his draw to Zelda is apparent because it blends action and adventure into his questing and item collecting. He wants a goal-orientated game that ends with the ultimate battle of a major boss. When asked to describe Link, William mentioned that the hero of the game is quiet. William thought the protagonist is mute because he is not here to chit-chat, but to save the world.

This comment seemed to be a reflection of William’s feelings about the game and what he wants. The protagonist is noticeably silent in the games, to the effect that Link becomes a blank slate for players to insert themselves. When asked how he connects to Link, William mentioned:

Everybody has that childish dream of running around and abandoning your work and responsibilities and going out and slaying monsters and questing and going out and exploring. Too often we feel tied down with work, school, kids, it’s nice to kinda [sic] have a pretend world where you don’t have to pay the bills. You can chop up grass and find rupees, you can throw bombs at rocks and blow things up. Do fun things.

His comments about abandoning bills and responsibilities and to explore echoed his previous comments. William again emphasized what he likes in Zelda games by mentioning acts of violence: slaying monsters, chopping grass with your sword, blowing up rocks with bombs.

William also mentioned that the Zelda series is eternal. The games are formulaic, but that comforts him. He likes knowing that when you pick up the game you are going to get a game very familiar to the others. The patterns are not only acceptable, but required for his enjoyment. He listed these repeated elements: the same major villain (Ganondorf), monsters in dungeons, items to collect in the dungeons, and mini-bosses. These constants that he listed fall into the same themes of progression and action. William thrives on the formula because accomplishment drives his gratification. He stated that everybody knows the conflict between Ganondorf and Link in the Zelda games have been consistently great. “You’re not disappointed with a Zelda game. They always deliver.”

Each game is a remix of the previous one. While the story is more or less the same, there are minor tweaks. The Zelda series is not a traditional series in that the stories are connected, but there are multiverses and reincarnations. And yet William loves that every time you play a Zelda game, “it’s still a little boy dressed in funny green clothes.” It is okay for Link to go out and have his own adventures because he’s an orphan who does not have a mother waiting for him at home. He is free of family connections and responsibilities, a trait that William might envy.

When probed about what elements of the story are memorable William mentioned that part of the story is saving different villages and areas from a big-bad monster and being applauded for it. As Link you enter one region after another, fix the problem, and the become the hero of that area. William’s comments reveal a Savior-complex, which the game encourages.

During the interview William’s toddler nephew starts playing with the Zelda game and console. William gets worried and is obviously concerned about the game cartridge. To William this game is very old and delicate. His distress over the safety of his game reveals a lot about his connection to this portion of his childhood. He is reliving this game many, many years later to find closure. He never beat it all those years ago. In William’s closing comments he reveals his dream to play Zelda with his kids one day. He wants to share these memories and be a cool dad who also plays video games.

Update on my Academic Career

I’m midway through my Masters Program at BYU, about to start data collection on my thesis (defended my prospectus and sent in my application to the IRB). I’m going to start applying for PhD programs this winter, but wanted to be active in the games studies field. So I’m putting together a paper for a smaller publication next month (Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology) and I was partially interested in submitting a paper to a conference.

I was perusing the DIGRA Call for Papers feed, when I noticed that a deadline had been extended for a conference workshop. I skimmed the application notes, noticed that the deadline was the next day, and thought it might be a good opportunity. Usually when deadlines are extended that far (until two months before the actual conference) they must be desperate. After mulling it over for a little I decided to cram and put together a submission. Like I mentioned last time, I’ve got a manuscript for a book examining The Wind Waker, so I carved out one of the chapters, retooled it, and submitted it to the conference after a marathon session of writing and editing.

And after a week of waiting, I got an email saying my paper was accepted! Granted, the reviewer graded it as “0 – borderline,” but I’ll take acceptance over rejection any day. I’m currently revising and reframing my paper a lot (I guess my paper was a little off topic for the workshop), and looking forward to my first academic conference! To be honest, I didn’t even notice the location until after I submitted, but it just so happens to be apart of the CHI PLAY 2017 conference in Amsterdam. Rather, I was excited by the prospect of putting myself out there, potentially publishing something I’ve written at the academic level (currently I’m just a self-published author and blogger), and rubbing shoulders with fellow game scholars.

I hope to keep you all updated with my experience and my paper.