Everyone's favourite grumpy assassin is back in the Jade Shadows story update for Warframe, and he's more tragic than ever. But who is this enigmatic figure, and why is he at the centre of ??the latest mystery in Warframe's epic narrative?

Take care Tenno! This article contai??ns spoilers for Warframe's story, including Jade Shadows.

A shadowed enemy

The player character first e?ncounters the Stalker when he sends an ominous message after they have killed a high-pro?file assassination target. You are marked for death, and with a dramatic entrance of red flickering lights and coiling black smoke, the eerie figure of the Stalker emerges into the middle of a mission, ready to carry out his assassination. Early on, he is a daunting challenge, with unearthly speed and a range of cruel weapons named very normal things like Despair, Dread and Hate.

The Stalker wears Tenno armor but the true nature of his connection to the Tenno is still occluded. At first, the Stalker seems to b??e a lone assassin seeking revenge on the Tenno for their?? destruction of the Orokin Empire, but over time it becomes clear that he has made a powerful alliance.

An ancient master

When Tyl Regor seeks to excavate the Sentient Tombs on Uranus, he accidentally releases a powerful Sentient called Hunhow, who offers an alliance to the Stalker in a plan to destroy the Tenno. He bestows the greatsword War upon the Stalker and dispatches him as his agent, newly transformed through Sentient technology into the Shadow Stalker??. The Stalker learns that the source of the Tenno's power is the Reservoir on Lua, hidden away in the Void by the Lotus, and plans to collapse the Void around Lua to destroy it. With the help of the manipulative Corpus Alad V, the player character drags Lua out of the Void into material space to frustrate the Stalker's efforts. The Stalker learns of the true nature of Tenno, controlled by an Operator, and questions the nature of his own existence.

The Stalker sends out his Acolytes, Angst, Malice, Mania, Misery, Torment, and Violence to hunt Alad V for his involvement and, inevitably, Al?ad V calls in his favor so the player character is compelled to intervene. How does he recruit these followers and why would they join him? Are they Tenno, or do they simply wear armor taken from the Warframes they have slain? More mysteries to unravel.

An unlikely alliance

When Narmer takes over the system, the Stalker is hunted as ferociously as he once hunted the Tenno. To his dismay, Hunhow agrees to work with the Tenno, and the Stalker and the Tenno finally end up on the same side, albeit briefly. Nevertheless, the Stalker's wounds go too deep for a true alliance and when Hunhow tries to pe?rsuade him to make peace with the Tenno and stop hunting them, the Stalker refuses.

Hope from despair

The Stalker's past is a mystery even to him. All he knows is that the Warframe Jade, the Orokin executioner, spared him. He has cared for her as her health has deteriorated, even asking for the player character's help to bring her medical supplies, but he cannot save her. Before she dies,? he has glimpses of memory: his name was once Sorren and he and Jade served the Orokin. Their relationship was forbidden so when Jade became pregnant they were both turned into Warframes as punishment. Jade's child survives her and the Stalker swears to protect the baby, his only famil??y.

Stalking onward

What's next for the Stalker?? He has abandoned his previous base, shunned his uneasy alliance with Hunhow and learned that the Orokin are not worthy of his vengeance in their name. He still seems wary of working with the Tenno but in his new role as the Protector of his young child, he will undoubtedly find that he needs to rely on his former target once more. Digital Extremes may have expertly played with our emotions in Jade Shadows, but this story quest poses far more questions ?than it answers. It seems that even after a decade of Warframe, the Stalker still has more mysteries to reveal.

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In the upcoming sequel to Supergiant’s roguelite, Hades, the previous protagonist of Zagreus is replaced by a new one known as Melinoë in Hades 2. Like Zagreus before ??her, she’s not th??e most well-known of the Greek Pantheon, but exactly who is she?

Melinoë is another child of Hades and Persephone, only maybe not. She's often depicted as the daughter of Ze??us and Persephone, the Queen of the under?world. However, she was conceived after Zeus tricked Persephone into believing he was her husband Hades. Hades and Zeus are sometimes considered to be the same God in certain versions of Orphism. 

So, truly, Hades 2 could go either way with it, though the games seem to consider Zeus to be separate from Hades. Howe?ver, Melinoë has a distinctive feature similar feature to Zagreus, which is the red and green heterochromia, which is supposedly a color combination derived from their two parents. That suggests that Supergiant are going by the Hades/Persephone parentage. During the technical test stream, it was mentioned that she is "believed to be connected to Hades as potentially his daughter," so it might be getting left ambiguous on purpose. At the very least, Melinoë would look to Hades as her adoptive father.

Melinoë is often described in the Orphic religion as being the goddess of nightmares, and ofte??n, this is extrapolated to cover fear, madness, ghosts, and even witchcraft.

The woman training Melinoë in the beginning of the trailer is Hecate, who is often associated with the duality of light and darkness or crossroads. In later interpretations, ??????????????????????????Hecate is also associated with witchcraft.

In Hades 2, Melinoë is on a journey to kill the titan Chronos. In Greek mythology, Chronos wasn't actually a titan, but rather the personification of time. The similarly named Cronu?s was a titan who often isn't depicted as having much to do with time, normally just associated with the harvest. Sometimes, Chronos and Cronu??s are confused, but other times, they are intentionally combined. Either way, Supergiant appears to be presenting them as an amalgamation.

According to the mythology, Cronus was imprisoned in Tartarus after the gods overthrew the titans. That may be Mel??inoë's destination.

A lot is still left in the air, and that may be entirely for narrative reasons. While it's clear she fights for Hades, who her biological father truly is might be used as a plot point in the story told by Supergiant. We'll have to wait and see when Hades 2 is released into early access later this year.

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Get a taste of the lore in store for Dragon Age 4

The team behind Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is giving fans a taste of the lore awaiting them in the new RPG. The writing team has shared a handful of codex entries from Dreadwolf, as part of a community update on the next Dragon Age.

In a BioWare blog post, the team behind Dreadwolf r?uns down the basics. As it says, stories and characters are at the core of BioWare games. Each person has their own motivations, and each entry has its own hero, molded by player decisions.

Creating a world that's interesting to role-play in, then, is pretty important. And that's what today's codex entries tease out. Dreadwolf will set out for the Tevinter Imperium, an old and powerful region ruled by a h?ost of mages.

This codex entry discusses the Grand Necropolis, a massive mausoleum in Nevarra City that is mentioned in Dragon Age: Inquisition. Citing Brother Genitivi, a scholar you can meet in Origins, it talks about the differences in handling the dead and "misconceptions" from others. Other entries shown in the new blog discuss?? dragons and even has a quarterly issue to review.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7x685DxMcw

Forging the codex

It's a really interesting blog that goes on to chat with two members of the writing staff, discussing their work on Dreadwolf. For anyone who's wondered what writing work on a massive RPG like this looks like, it's some fascinating insight. In one section I really dug, narrative editor Ryan Cormier discusses how the team goes about deciding what should, and shouldn't, be a codex entry in Dreadwolf.

"Before any writing, the narrative team discusses which entries are required and which aren’t. It?’s crucial to properly time codex unlocks with player progression. No one wants a dozen entries only ten minutes into the game, but interested players shouldn’t have to wait long to learn more about the people, places, and concepts introduced. Does a codex unlock when something’s first mentioned? When a related character appears? Is the entry only required if they actually interact with said thing?"

Senior writier Sylvia Feketekuty elaborates on this. The team chose to highlight the Necropolis entry because it was fu??n to write.

"I wanted the in-game author to be frustrated with Brother Genitivi’s portrayal of the Necropolis while also trying to deny the depth of his irritation with said world-famous scholar," said? Feketekuty. "It’s a diary, yet we see the author st??ill feels obligated to exercise a measure of decorum in his private writing. And the micro-revelation at the end is that it’s someone he knows in real life, not far-off Genitivi, who is needling the poor guy about Nevarra’s death rituals."

A new role to play

It's a nice bit of insight to see from developers. Many devs recently took to Twitter to share behind-the-scenes look at their work following the massive GTA leak. And the Dead Space and Skate teams??, also under the EA banner, have been sharing early looks throu??ghout their process.

Hopefully this is a slow-but-steady sea change in how we look at games. Seeing the gaming sausage be made can be eye-opening, and in cases like this Dreadwolf codex blog, give some really cool insight i?nto how big worlds and games are built. I'd like to think it encourages someone out there right now, who wants to get into writing themselves.

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Bungie lays the groundwork for those who want to jump right in

A bunch of Destiny 2 news dropped yesterday, as part of the Destiny 2 showcase that revealed its new season and the coming Lightfall expansion. If you were interested by what you saw, Bungie has a new Destiny 2 lore video to help fill you in on the basics.

This video, dubbed "Destiny 2: The Light and Darkness Saga - Destiny Calls," is short and sweet. It essentially covers all the bases, from the origins of the Traveler to different enemy factions that Guardians fight agains??t.

At just about five minutes and change, this video lays out the foundation of Destiny 2 lore.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=om28A9hTST0

While it doesn't go into too many specifics with regards to campaign stories, it's a nice summation of Destiny 2 lore for folks looking to hop in and play right away. There's the? Light, the Darkness, a bunch of angry enemy armies, and a whole lot of loot to pick up.

The battle for the Light

It's extra helpful, seeing as Destiny 2 is making all of its campaigns free to play this week, as part of the showcase festivities. If you were waiting to see what all the fuss is abo??ut, this is a good start to catching? up.

Bungie revealed Destiny 2: Lightfall yesterday, confirming that the Guardians are indeed heading to Neptune. The neon city of Neomuna looks very cyberpunk, and while there, Guardians will pick up the ability to swing around using Strand powers. I th?ink that makes it a strand game?

Alongside some quality-of-life features that should make life easier, Bungie also confirmed a big plus for Destiny 2 newcomers. The studio says it won't sunset future Destiny 2 expansions like it did with the Forsaken campaign. This should hopefully make it even easier to hop on and catch up with the most recent Destiny 2 lore yourself.

Destiny 2: Lightfall goes live on February 28, 2023.

The post Bungie’s new animated Destiny 2 lore video sums up the basics for newcomers appeared first on Destructoid.

Put down the controller and break out the reading glasses

Odds are if you're talking to someone who loves storytelling in video games, there's lore from at least one game that they can recite by heart. Especially when it comes to games that really focus on the gameplay first, like League of Legends or Bloodborne, lore is a great, indirect way to get players engaged in the story of your world if there isn't much time in ??the game itself to tell t??hat story.

It can be a case of "come for the game, stay for the story," or sometimes players get into a game because they learned about all the lore first, but either way, lovi??ng a game for the world it creates for us is a beautiful thing. But I have to be honest. For someone who loves story in games like, a lot, I just can't bring myself to get into video game lore. I know, I know, bring out the torches and pitchforks.

I think a lot of the problem for me is that learning about lore requires a lot of reading. Now I do consider myself an avid reader, so usually that's not a problem for me, but when it comes to reading anything longer than a paragraph in a game, well, I just can't do it. It's because when I turn on a game, I want to play the game.

Goopy Goblin Gamer Brain

In his video "Naughty Dog's Game Design is Outdated," YouTuber NakeyJakey explains a phenomenon he affectionately calls Goopy Goblin Gamer Brain, which means you have "little to no patience for anything that isn't fun or engaging second-to-second gameplay." When I first started getting back into games, it was because I was watching cutscene compilations on YouTube. I thought for sure I cared about story and story alone, but as I started branching out and playing more and more games, I caught Goopy Goblin Gamer Brain. I think it was Hades that did me in.

//youtu.be/QCYMH-lp4oM?t=193

When I play a game, something in my brain switches, and I have Goopy Goblin Gamer Brain. I still love to sit down and read a book, but I know when I do so, that's all I can expect to be doing. Now if I'm presented with more than a hundred words at a time, it doesn't matter how compelling the lore is, I'm ju??st not gon?na read it.

?Of course, this doesn't mean I don't like story in games at all anymore. I just prefer when the narrative design is really baked into the moment-to-moment gameplay. I've found that not only when it comes to games, but all kinds of storytelling, I like character-focused narratives over world- or lore-focused stories every time. Give me someone to root for, and then I'll care.

I'm not saying that video game lo??re can't be awesome or doesn't have its merits, I just think it's not for me. I'd love to be proven wrong here, but I'm hard-pressed to find a game that makes reading codexes or reading up on the game while I'm not even playing it compelling to me in absolutely any form. I don't want to have to interrupt my playthrough to feel like I'm doing research for a school essay, you know what I mean?

Lore done right: Disco Elysium

I think a great example of a happy medium for me is Disco Elysium. That game is a masterpiece of interactive storytelling on so many levels, but one thing that blows me away about that game is that they actually do tell you a ton? about that game's world �its geography, its politics, ?its socioeconomic status, and so on.

The thing is though, it's not hidden away in journal entries or codex entries, but ins?tead, it's woven into how you interact with the world itself. You get introduced to the ideologies, religions, politics, etc. of the world because you're always hearing about them through the lens of what other characters think.

You h?ear about the war through René's melancholy, patriotic recollections, and you learn about Humanism through Kim's reserved s??tance on the religion. It's so elegantly done that I walk away from each playthrough amazed at how much I learned, and care, about Revachol, its history, and its inhabitants.

If every game presente??d me with lore like that, I think I'd be a whole lot more interested in backstories and events that happened before I showed up. So, how do you feel about lore? Which game do you think has the best lor??e out there? Let's discuss in the comments.

Story Beat is a weekly column discussing anything and everything to do with storytelling in video games.

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