Hades and The Art of Failure

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Hades is an amazing game that is chiefly about failure and what failure means. In this video essay, I explore the game’s relationship with failure through Jesper Juul’s book “The Art of Failure,” which is a pretty good read you should check out if you like this video! What do you think, is Hades about failure, or is it about something else? Do you like the game, perhaps not? Let me know in the comments down below and don’t forget to subscribe if you liked this video!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/iambicerror

The Art of Failure by Jesper Juul: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/art-failure

Music from the Hades soundtrack

#Hades #videoessay

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6 thoughts on “Hades and The Art of Failure”

  2. Amazing video! I think I'll be binge watching your content pretty soon!
    By the way, and I don't mean to be the lacanian/jouissance guy, but your last words (actually Juul's but still) once again reminded me of the concept of jouissance, of the inherent imbalance in our life, where we do not seek simple pleasure as we think we do. Instead, we seek those "strange arrangements", that is, an imbalance and many times also frustration and anger. Roguelike, as you brilliantly pointed out through Juul's essay, is a very good example within the realm of videogames of this dynamic: you don't enjoy the games even if you fail, you actually enjoy the failing part because we get jouissance out of it, we get imbalance.
    You previously stated that you are not particularly educated in psychoanalysis, but the freudian concept of repetition compulsion seems to me very interesting in regards to the concept of this video, so check it out if you like!
    Anyways, thanks once again for the wonderful video and the precious inspiration 🙂

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  3. I really want to give Hades a shot now after watching this video! I haven't found a roguelike that has captivated me yet but after hearing the praise from everyone, I'm going to buy it. Excellent video!

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