I write game reviews, level analyses, and anything that comes to mind.
Dishonored: Intro level Analysis
The level starts with a bit of tension by using a half-height cover in most of the cases. Half covers provide some safety to the player, but still risky when the player doesn’t bend down...
Re-designing the Intro Level in Division 2
Redesigned the whole intro part for Division 2 including all basic key elements, the level purpose, the target, and the same story goal as the original one in the game The Division 2...
The Visual Language of Stray
Affordance is an important concept in level design that we used to communicate with the player and deliver guidance about what to play with or where to go without any text messages. You might have seen affordances in other games. For example, a door handle implied door opening while a ladder implied climbing...
The consistency of Hi-Fi Rush
When we talk about consistency in video games, we are talking about how well the gameplay, character design, level design, art, sound, narrative, and a lot of other aspects serve the same purpose and follow the same rules of the game world...
Ending level design is usually the trickiest because it has to be special(new experience) yet familiar(existing mechanisms). We want to test players for one last time and make players feel they mastered all mechanisms in the game. It is hard to impress players by not adding new mechanisms, especially at the point where all mechanisms were mastered by players and all design tricks...
Ending level design of Hitman 3
What's behind the popularity of Sylvanas
If you look up some comic/anime exhibitions, there is always someone cosplaying as Sylvanas. In the popular mobile game “HearthStone”, Sylvanas is a legacy card. More than that, a 17in-high statue of Sylvanas could cost 600$ at “Blizzard Gear Store”. Much evidence indicates that Sylvanas Windrunner is one of the most famous fictional characters in the WoW universe...
Journey is unarguably the most remarkable game released in 2012 and its impact on the video game industry is still present these days. It is very impressive for Jenova Chen to move away from the typical defeat/kill/win mentality of most video games and instead focus on creating an emotional connection between players which I believe a good game design must be able to carry on emotions...
The simplicity of Journey