The Video Game Literate

No Man's Sky is a video game that features an expansive universe in which players can adventure through spaceships, spacesuits, while discovering new planets, surviving and finding new forms of life. No Man's Sky was developed and published by Hello Games. No Man's Sky has been praised for the size of its universe, the variation between planets, locations and life forms, as well as the overall gameplay experience and innovation in the video games industry. Players who have not yet experienced No Man's Sky may wonder whether this video game can be considered an MMO (massively multiplayer online) video game, or whether it is a single player video game. Especially considering the size of the universe of No Man's Sky, and also that it features multiplayer aspects, there are indeed similarities between No Man's Sky and MMO video games. No Man's Sky is not an MMO, because it can be played offline. While this video game features social and multiplayer elements, it ...

Mount & Blade is a franchise of sandbox RPG video games. The first Mount & Blade video game, Mount & Blade (2008), was developed by TaleWorlds Entertainment and published by Paradox Interactive. In Mount & Blade video games, players are able to create a custom main game character, swear fealty and allegiance to kings and queens, own villages, towns and castles, as well as fight in large battlefields. Mount & Blade video games have been praised for their innovative and emergent gameplay, immersive game world and replay value. Players who have heard about Mount & Blade video games may wonder whether these video games may be considered open world video games, and how the game world of Mount & Blade video games may be similar or different to the game worlds of traditional open world video games such as Grand Theft Auto (GTA), Just Cause and Watch Dogs. Mount & Blade video games are not open world because travelling is done through an overworld, not in third-...

Crusader Kings II, often referred to as Crusader Kings 2 and CK2, is a grand strategy sandbox RPG (role-playing game) with simulation elements. Crusader Kings video games have been praised for their immersion, freedom of gameplay, role-playing as well as replayability, or replay value. Crusader Kings II (2012) was developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. In Crusader Kings 2, players assume the role of a game character in the Middle Ages, being able to own land, marry, wage wars, participate in plots, among other activities. Besides the role-playing aspects of Crusader Kings 2, this video game is also a strategy game, in which players must carefully plan their actions and decisions in order to ensure the maintenance of their power, which in Crusader Kings 2 is most often linked to the ownership of titles and land. Every time a video game character dies in Crusader Kings 2, their titles and lands pass on to another character, and this process is calle...

Crusader Kings II, most commonly referred to as Crusader Kings 2 or CK2, is a grand strategy simulation video game in which players assume the role of a character in the Middle Ages. Crusader Kings II (2012) was developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. In this immersive sandbox simulation, players must then find various ways to obtain more power in the game, acquiring gold (money), prestige and alliances with other characters and kingdoms. Crusader Kings 2 is a video game about dynasties, land and power. Having money in Crusader Kings 2 is of great importance in order to wage wars, bribe characters, end plots, gain favor, increase opinions of characters, hire mercenaries, create titles, among other important activities. Due to the sandbox nature of Crusader Kings 2, one can never be sure of the next moment when the main game character will be required to have money in order to conduct an activity. In this sense, for a playthrough of Crusader Kings 2...

Mount & Blade is an action sandbox RPG in which players must often command troops through their character, and also engage in combat. Combat in Mount & Blade is often mounted, with horses being a very important part of the game and of the gameplay. While mounted combat is quite important for Mount & Blade video games, players often wish to dismount the horse, or get off the horse, during battle or when visiting a town and do not know how to do it. To dismount your horse in Mount & Blade, follow these steps: Slow down the horse Move the camera down, until the camera faces the ground Press F (in Mount & Blade: Warband) or Z (in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord) To dismount your horse in Mount & Blade video games, players must first slow down the pace of the horse. Afterwards, players must move the camera down, to a point in which the ground is being directly faced. Then, the player must press either the F or the Z key, depending on the Mount & Blade video game...

Mount & Blade is a franchise of sandbox RPGs in which players take the role of a character in a fictional land torn by war. In Mount & Blade, players are able to adventure, gather troops, siege castles, govern fiefs and increase their power in various ways. The first Mount & Blade video game, Mount & Blade (2008), was developed by TaleWorlds Entertainment and published by Paradox Interactive. Over time, the Mount & Blade franchise included more video games, which expanded the gameplay and possibilities of each video game. Considering that there are different Mount & Blade video games and that each of these video games presents a unique experience, it is important to know how many Mount & Blade video games there are, their names and their differences. There are four Mount & Blade main video games. The Mount & Blade video games are Mount & Blade (2008), Mount & Blade: Warband, Mount & Blade: With Fire & Sword and Mount & Blade II: B...

There is often a comparison between Starfield and Star Citizen, two video games set in space, with immersive and atmospheric elements and first-person camera perspective gameplay. Star Citizen is being developed and published by Cloud Imperium Games. Starfield was developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. Due to some of the similarities between these two games, they are often compared. In this article, I will display the similarities and the differences betwen Starfield and Star Citizen, and compare some of their aspects, a comparison which could be called "Starfield vs Star Citizen". In this article, I will display the differences and similarities between Starfield and Star Citizen. Knowing and understanding these differenes and similarities is useful for players who want to discover which of these games is more suited to their preferences, or perhaps that both of these games are suited to their preferences. More importantly, it is noteworthy th...

Crusader Kings II was developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. Crusader Kings II, Crusader Kings 2, or CK2, features different succession laws. The most common available succession laws in CK2 are Gavelkind, Elective Gavelkind, Seniority, Primogeniture and Ultimogeniture. Each succession law characterizes a different succession process, with different results. It is important to consider all of these factors when deciding the best succession law, and these factors will be further explained in the article. Considering that Crusader Kings 2 is a strategy sandbox video game, in the sense that each playthrough is unique, there is not one succession law that is going to be the best option and strategy for all playthroughs. Instead, each succession law can be the most useful one in specific circumstances, and these circumstances will be explained. After reading this article, the player will be able to better identify the situations and circumstances in wh...

7 Days to Die is a renowned open world survival craft experience, developed by The Fun Pimps, and belonging to the same video game sub-genre as video games such as Minecraft (2011), Terraria (2011), Wurm Online (2012), DayZ (2013 Arma II mod), 7 Days to Die (2013 Early Access), Don't Starve (2013), Ark: Survival Evolved (2017), DayZ (2018 video game), Rust (2018), among others. What Are Open World Survival Craft Video Games? In open world survival craft video games, players are often challenged with hostile, unknown environments, in which the player character must collect resources in order to survive (hence, the sub genre's name) as well as to build shelter, tools, and better means of survival in general. This sub-genre became mostly known with the success of Minecraft (2011), which introduced to many players the concept of procedurally-generated, randomized, immense game worlds. The concept of a procedurally-generated game world also introduces to players the concept of an ev...