I love how the Downwell segment felt like a speedrun in AGDQ, even the tone and information of Mary's commentary was very speed-runny, and the tension of 'will she make it?'
Holy shit, I am tearing up laughing. That was absolutely amazing. Possibly the funniest single moment I can recall on this site, taking the throne from that time the crew decided to watch the live stream of their own live stream.
I am so very glad to read, listen and watch the stuff you have to say on the site. I was going to say that I learned a lot from this article (and the others!) but that seems like it would be doing your intentions a disservice. Instead, I resolve to say I learned to learn in a different way because of these articles.
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And An Answer For You
Me no good at thinking about games but I decided to force myself to find at least something to answer the question.
I think Crusader Kings is a deep well to cast your 'capital T truths' bucket down. It's clear that many aspects of the design and genre of the game pertain to/portray a multitude of aspects of human life, whether it be family, revenge, greed etc but that seems a bit too much like low-hanging fruit.
That is to say, I'd argue that their ability to convey or explore those human 'commonalities' is relatively superficial or nominal. When my neighbours greedily attack me for my land, I don't really stop to think about where that greed came from (though it's probably something like this: SpawnX(Obj.AI.Character, GREED == randomInteger)) or why, it just does what it does. The same argument could be applied to marrying my son off, or raising levies. They're plot devices of my story not themes.
So for the sake of argument, I want to mention something that actually applies before the game even "starts", the set-up stage where you choose your character to start a session (in particular your "rank", e.g. King or low Baron etc.), and the period of history you begin in.
What I find so interesting about this gameplay element, if you can even call it that, is how that choice is ultimately rather redundant. Sure, the developers and fellow players rightly suggest that a low-level landowner is more "difficult" than the "easy" Emperor but yet the struggles and the menagerie of aforementioned plot devices still occur all the same. The same applies to the period of time you choose.
The wish to be someone else greater is probably one we've all made at one point or another, which is part of why "power-fantasy" gameplay is so common. Heck, it's practically a given at this point in terms of how most games are designed like action-adventures or shooters and technically you don't even have a choice. This is why CKII's character selection screen almost feels like a wicked trick upon the player. The game makes you realize that it doesn't matter who you chose to be and how powerful you are, you will still have to appease your annoying rival brother by giving him a fancy title like "Master of the Horse".
In other words, life sucks, deal with it. And this is where I feel CKII rubs shoulders with some of your points about TFA. Just like how Ren's worldview breaks down when a mere 'girl' beats him up, so does the new CKII player's concept of power when the same issues arise regardless of his or her rank. Thus, out of all the amazing intricacies that span the CKII design document, to me the one that evokes the most human 'capital-T Truth' occurs before you even hit the "START GAME" button.
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I'm not sure if this is what you were looking for but I appreciate the exercise nonetheless! I'd love to know what you and everyone else thinks especially where there are weaknesses to the answer.
What I particularly like about this point is how the lesson is learned indirectly, instead of directly being 'programmed' into the game itself. It wouldn't even matter if it was intentional, it's inherent to the experience and in extension, life.
I'm also now pondering whether there are significant societal reasons for why so many games that may be described as "anti-power-fantasy" are becoming popular too, namely XYZ Simulators, 'space traders' and the like. Could that be related to why there was such backlash to the "Mary Sue-ness" of Rey?
Thanks again for the column, I can't imagine GB without it!
Pootpoot's comments