{"id":643,"date":"2017-04-03T07:08:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-03T11:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thegamingteacher.blog\/?p=643"},"modified":"2017-06-07T13:19:46","modified_gmt":"2017-06-07T17:19:46","slug":"narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/","title":{"rendered":"Narrative Pull & Engagement: Horizon & Mass Effect: Andromeda"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

With the release of Horizon Zero Dawn<\/em> and Mass Effect Andromeda<\/em> (ME: A<\/em>), March was a busy month for gaming. I’ve been playing ME:A<\/em> since it released and have been enjoying the game overall (despite a few frustrations, gripes, and not feeling invested until more than a few hours in). Since Horizon<\/em> was the last game I played before ME:A<\/em>, I couldn’t help but make a few comparisons between the games even though they are different in many ways, which led me to think about the narrative hook or pull of each game. Warning: minor spoilers ahead.<\/p>\n

\"e51551_d5c7a6e96f6d4280b605b88fb36e3e8a-mv2\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Mass <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Arguably,\u00a0Horizon<\/em> has the stronger opening. The story, as a whole, has its flaws, but I felt drawn to Aloy and her journey of self-discovery from the beginning. Plus she’s snarky, inquisitive, and a certified badass. ME:A<\/em>‘s Sara Ryder or Scott, depending on which twin you choose, isn’t quite as compelling, which is a shame because colonizing a new galaxy among various threats should be exciting.<\/p>\n

In Horizon<\/em> players are introduced to a young Aloy who is outcast and teased. She’s rather adorable-looking in her obstinate way, and I found myself smiling at the little pip from the start. So Horizon<\/em> gets +1 for introducing Aloy as a baby first and then showing her as a child to adulthood. Having an orphaned protagonist develops pathos early on, and that sympathy is only strengthened as Aloy pushes to discover her mother’s identity and her own true origins.<\/p>\n

Sara Ryder is an educated woman with experience working with both the Alliance military and with scientists. She’s inquisitive and is driven to ensure success in the Andromeda galaxy. Beyond that,\u00a0ME: A<\/em>\u00a0doesn’t give players much incentive to feel attached to Sara from the beginning. Sure, I know that Sara has a brother and a father, but much of who Sara is, and who she will be, is dependent on the player’s choices and what is revealed as the game progresses. This isn’t a bad thing; I’m used to games granting players the ability to step into the game and become the protagonist, but because of this, Sara feels like more of a shell than Aloy.<\/p>\n

Which brings me to father figures. Both games feature “dads” from the start: Horizon<\/em> has Rost and ME: A<\/em> has Alec. While Alec is the biological father of the twins, Rost is an adoptive parent given the task of raising Aloy by the matriarchs.<\/p>\n

One of the reasons I found myself liking Rost was because he too is an outcast living at the fringe. He’s not allowed to socialize or talk to anyone and then suddenly his life changes when he is given this little baby to care for. It’s heartwarming. +998999 to Horizon<\/em>. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

Ahem. On the other hand, Sara’s dad is down to business. He’s serious and perhaps a little cold even to his children. He’s not the dad who is going to encourage you with loving words. Instead, he’ll take the training wheels off before giving you a shove down the driveway. If you fall down, he’ll prop you back up and tell you to try again. I might be exaggerating slightly, but the “softest” we see Alec is still twice as hard as Rost’s most frustrating moment dealing with an obstinate Aloy.<\/p>\n

Maybe that’s part of it. Rost is more endearing than Alec, but that still plays a part in how engaged I was with each game. Combine that with each fathers’ relationship with their children and the picture starts to clear. Aloy is full of character, and Rost is likeable. Sara is a bit flat, and her father is distant. When compared, the first duo comes across as being more genuine.<\/p>\n

Beyond the initial relationships of each game, the voice acting also plays a part in likeability and engagement. I’m more than a few hours into ME: A,<\/em> and it has occurred to me that the quality of the voice acting is a bit off. However, I think that has more to do with the game’s writing than the talent of the actors.\u00a0Which makes me wonder, does it all come down to the writing?<\/p>\n

After all, it’s difficult to care for Sara being thrust into the position of Pathfinder (daddy’s shoes) after her father’s death when those events happen so quickly. Players barely have time to figure out what buttons do what when what should be an incredibly emotional and defining moment happens to a protagonist they know next to nothing about. The emotional draw isn’t there yet; it hasn’t had time to develop. And while Rost’s death occurs early on in Horizon<\/em>, players get to see his interaction with Aloy\u2014his love and frustration\u2014which adds dynamic to the game’s early hours. I cared about Rost because he seemed real and because of Aloy’s relationship with him.<\/p>\n

Games don’t need to spend hours developing relationships between characters. In fact, Horizon<\/em> is a wonderful example of how to establish an important relationship in a matter of minutes. What seems to set these two games apart has to do with the nature of each protagonist (Aloy is a fleshed out character that the player experiences while players have more agency in defining who ME:A<\/em>‘s protagonist is), the depth of each games’ writing, and the emotional layering of relationships created early on.<\/p>\n

I would be curious to know what you think about each games’ early hours. Did you find Horizon Zero Dawn<\/em> or Mass Effect: Andromeda<\/em> engaging from the first few hours?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the release of Horizon Zero Dawn and Mass Effect Andromeda (ME: A), March was a busy month for gaming. I’ve been playing ME:A since it released and have been enjoying the game overall (despite a few frustrations, gripes, and not feeling invested until more than a few hours in). Since Horizon was the last game I played before ME:A, I couldn’t help but make … Continue reading Narrative Pull & Engagement: Horizon & Mass Effect: Andromeda<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88875779,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","jetpack_anchor_podcast":"","jetpack_anchor_episode":"","jetpack_anchor_spotify_show":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[9548,1914],"tags":[366172042,366118739],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nNarrative Pull & Engagement: Horizon & Mass Effect: Andromeda - Wedee<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Narrative Pull & Engagement: Horizon & Mass Effect: Andromeda - Wedee\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With the release of Horizon Zero Dawn and Mass Effect Andromeda (ME: A), March was a busy month for gaming. I’ve been playing ME:A since it released and have been enjoying the game overall (despite a few frustrations, gripes, and not feeling invested until more than a few hours in). Since Horizon was the last game I played before ME:A, I couldn’t help but make …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wedee\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-04-03T11:08:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-06-07T17:19:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/e51551_d5c7a6e96f6d4280b605b88fb36e3e8a-mv2.png?w=356&h=200&ssl=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tab\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/RandomMox\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@RandomMox\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tab\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tab\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2bc44b3329b6510dd2280df801e45eac\"},\"headline\":\"Narrative Pull & Engagement: Horizon & Mass Effect: Andromeda\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-04-03T11:08:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-07T17:19:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/\"},\"wordCount\":930,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2bc44b3329b6510dd2280df801e45eac\"},\"keywords\":[\"Horizon Zero Dawn\",\"Mass Effect: Andromeda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Features\",\"Video Games\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/\",\"name\":\"Narrative Pull & Engagement: Horizon & Mass Effect: Andromeda - Wedee\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-04-03T11:08:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-07T17:19:46+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Narrative Pull & Engagement: Horizon & Mass Effect: Andromeda\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/\",\"name\":\"Wedee\",\"description\":\"Video Games - Education - Life\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2bc44b3329b6510dd2280df801e45eac\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2bc44b3329b6510dd2280df801e45eac\",\"name\":\"Tab\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/cropped-untitled-3.png?fit=1847%2C1847&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/cropped-untitled-3.png?fit=1847%2C1847&ssl=1\",\"width\":1847,\"height\":1847,\"caption\":\"Tab\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"description\":\"I game. I teach. I write.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/thegamingteacher.blog\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/public-profile\/settings?trk=d_flagship3_profile_self_view_public_profile\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/RandomMox\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/author\/london21t\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Narrative Pull & Engagement: Horizon & Mass Effect: Andromeda - Wedee","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Narrative Pull & Engagement: Horizon & Mass Effect: Andromeda - Wedee","og_description":"With the release of Horizon Zero Dawn and Mass Effect Andromeda (ME: A), March was a busy month for gaming. I’ve been playing ME:A since it released and have been enjoying the game overall (despite a few frustrations, gripes, and not feeling invested until more than a few hours in). Since Horizon was the last game I played before ME:A, I couldn’t help but make …","og_url":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/","og_site_name":"Wedee","article_published_time":"2017-04-03T11:08:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-06-07T17:19:46+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/e51551_d5c7a6e96f6d4280b605b88fb36e3e8a-mv2.png?w=356&h=200&ssl=1"}],"author":"Tab","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/RandomMox","twitter_site":"@RandomMox","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tab","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/"},"author":{"name":"Tab","@id":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2bc44b3329b6510dd2280df801e45eac"},"headline":"Narrative Pull & Engagement: Horizon & Mass Effect: Andromeda","datePublished":"2017-04-03T11:08:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-06-07T17:19:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/"},"wordCount":930,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2bc44b3329b6510dd2280df801e45eac"},"keywords":["Horizon Zero Dawn","Mass Effect: Andromeda"],"articleSection":["Features","Video Games"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/","url":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/","name":"Narrative Pull & Engagement: Horizon & Mass Effect: Andromeda - Wedee","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-04-03T11:08:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-06-07T17:19:46+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/03\/narrative-pull-engagement-horizon-mea-minor-spoilers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Narrative Pull & Engagement: Horizon & Mass Effect: Andromeda"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/","name":"Wedee","description":"Video Games - Education - Life","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2bc44b3329b6510dd2280df801e45eac"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2bc44b3329b6510dd2280df801e45eac","name":"Tab","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/cropped-untitled-3.png?fit=1847%2C1847&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/cropped-untitled-3.png?fit=1847%2C1847&ssl=1","width":1847,"height":1847,"caption":"Tab"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"description":"I game. I teach. I write.","sameAs":["https:\/\/thegamingteacher.blog\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/public-profile\/settings?trk=d_flagship3_profile_self_view_public_profile","https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/RandomMox"],"url":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/author\/london21t\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8vXCn-an","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1096,"url":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/04\/06\/mass-effect-andromeda\/","url_meta":{"origin":643,"position":0},"title":"Mass Effect: Andromeda","author":"Tab","date":"April 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"After 58 hours, I have\u00a0completed Bioware's much anticipated Mass Effect: Andromeda.\u00a0ME: A is a vast, open-world RPG that offers ample opportunity for exploration, solid combat, crafting, and an overall fun experience. However, the space opera suffers from a few common maladies\u00a0typical of franchises struggling to remain relevant in a sea\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Final Thoughts\/Game Critique"","block_context":{"text":"Final Thoughts\/Game Critique","link":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/category\/video-games\/final-thoughtsgame-critique\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/mass-effecte284a2_-andromeda_20170330194955_1.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":119,"url":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/03\/19\/horizon-zero-dawn\/","url_meta":{"origin":643,"position":1},"title":"Horizon Zero Dawn","author":"Tab","date":"March 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Damn wind. Never cared for being pushed around.\" The above words, spoken by Aloy, perfectly register the impetus for the PlayStation exclusive Horizon Zero Dawn. To break Horizon down into a simple narrative would read as follows: in a world shared by humans and machines, a young outcast seeks her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Final Thoughts\/Game Critique"","block_context":{"text":"Final Thoughts\/Game Critique","link":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/category\/video-games\/final-thoughtsgame-critique\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/e51551_e8ef77ff8c094d2cbb6614f69077491f-mv2.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6803,"url":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2018\/02\/20\/first-steps-freedom-in-the-open-world-part-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":643,"position":2},"title":"First Steps: Freedom in the Open World (Part 4)","author":"Tab","date":"February 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to Part\u00a04 of my \"First Steps\" project which focuses on restrictions, guidance, and freedom in the initial moments of open world games. You may find it helpful to visit Part 1 for an introduction\u00a0to\u00a0the project and an overview of my line of inquiry. In previous posts, I talked about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Features"","block_context":{"text":"Features","link":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/category\/video-games\/features\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/maxresdefault.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6260,"url":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2017\/12\/11\/favorite-video-games-of-2017\/","url_meta":{"origin":643,"position":3},"title":"Favorite Video Games of 2017","author":"Tab","date":"December 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This year was a genuine joy for me in regards to gaming. I played some great indies, enjoyed some stellar open-world RPGs, tried a JRPG for the first time, and bought a Switch, bringing me back in touch with Nintendo. From innovative indies like Snipperclips to much anticipated AAA titles\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Video Games"","block_context":{"text":"Video Games","link":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/category\/video-games\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/top-10.png?fit=1200%2C840&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6703,"url":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2018\/01\/16\/first-steps-freedom-in-the-open-world-part-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":643,"position":4},"title":"First Steps: Freedom in the Open World (Part 1)","author":"Tab","date":"January 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cWhenever we proceed from the known into the unknown we may hope to understand, but we may have to learn at the same time a new meaning of the word 'understanding.\u201d - Werner Heisenberg Welcome to the first post of many focusing on open world games! It's a project I'll\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Features"","block_context":{"text":"Features","link":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/category\/video-games\/features\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/panel.png?fit=858%2C735&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7421,"url":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/2020\/12\/27\/video-game-maps-an-ongoing-collection\/","url_meta":{"origin":643,"position":5},"title":"Video Game Maps: An Ongoing Collection","author":"Tab","date":"December 27, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"For anyone who does not know me well, I enjoy perusing video game maps. In an effort to keep track of some of the more memorable maps and maps from games I have recently played, I am going to add screenshots to this post over time. It will be little\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Video Games"","block_context":{"text":"Video Games","link":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/category\/video-games\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/IMG_9285.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88875779"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3946,"href":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643\/revisions\/3946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gamingteacher.blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}