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Genuinely how do I get better at this
(hexbear.net)
I feel like I'm reasonably good at picking at a game on the gameplay level, as per what works and does not and why and surface videogame essayist stuff like ludonarrative dissonance (or the rare examples of ludonarrative harmony).
I may offer you my finest insight into video games such as "Lara Croft has some sort of father complex going on" and "Shadow of Chernobyl is unintentionally about life in the collapse of the soviet union" which even by my own admission feels shallow and trite. You watch someone like Jacob Geller or Noah Caldwell-Gervais and they have fascinating things to say even on games you wouldn't expect it, like NCG on Quake.
How do I become that knowledgeable? Interesting? Analytical? about video games?
Sometimes he has quite profound things to say about games from his quite unique perspective as someone who likes to be immersed in the minutiae. But yes, a good chunk of the videos really are as simple as "I thought it would be neat to see if I can make sense of this bit of environment design"