CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 6

For whatever reason, it’s a little known fact that Raven Software actually handled single-player campaign responsibilities on 2020’s Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (with assistance, of course). Same is true of the upcoming 2024 release (but with more ownership). As one of only two people on the narrative team, I had a heavy hand in shaping the game’s story, creating original characters, and writing/designing content.

 

CALL OF DUTY: VANGUARD

Vanguard was rocketing toward release when I started at Raven Software—at the same time we were a ways into pre-pro on Call of Duty 2024. Sledgehammer was on point for Vanguard, but like any CoD, there’s a lot of cross-studio support. Raven took on development of two missions: “Numa Numa Trail” and “The Fourth Reich.” I wrote barks and vignettes for background characters.

 

OTHERSKIN

Game Atelier contracted me during early production to help develop the story, world-build lore, create characters, and ensure narrative parity with gameplay and design. In what I can only describe as thematically fitting for the game, the narrative mutated repeatedly and took on many forms from the team’s original pitch to final product. I even wrote an entire script for one version. In the end, I laid a lot of the groundwork for what shape the story ultimately took.

 

SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI: STRANGE JOURNEY REDUX

Another solo-editor operation for me. Though primarily a port of the 2010 original, Redux added a storyline featuring a new character named Alex that weaves in and out of the main story. As such, I needed to make sure that my work on the new content felt like a seamless extension of the original 2010 localization. But as a big fan of The Thing—which clearly inspired the game—finding that tone wasn’t too hard.

 

VALKYRIA REVOLUTION

Valkyria’s action-heavy spinoff holds a special place in my heart. Since it featured such a huge cast of characters, the other two editors and I experimented with a different approach to divvying up the workload by assigning specific characters to each editor. This resulted in more creative collaboration when working on dialogue-heavy scenes, and allowed us to own our characters’ voices.

 

PERSONA 5

An absolute beast. Grand plans to sim-ship or come as close to simultaneous release as possible meant we got piping hot beta builds from the Japanese devs on a weekly basis. Whole reams of localized content I worked on one week would be cut from the game the next. I mostly handled side content—quests, additional conversations with NPCs and allies, plus a few scenes. But my biggest contribution? Broke-ass college student.

 

ETRIAN ODYSSEY V: BEYOND THE MYTH

This project proved an interesting challenge. Though familiar with the Etrian Odyssey series, I wouldn’t describe it as my “jam,” so I relied heavily on audience research to dial in tone, including industry colleagues with a known enthusiasm for the franchise. My co-editor and I snuck in our silliness where we could—so long as we deemed it appropriate. If nothing else, I coined the term “Stabdaddy,” so that’s something.

 

SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI IV: APOCALYPSE

After making the jump from game press to game dev, I was thrown right in the deep end on first project at Atlus/SEGA and pretty much ran solo as an editor. I worked very closely with a tremendously talented translator to make sure I never went off the rails, never once altered or excised the original writers’ authorial intent—just added an extra sprinkling of English spice with my own personal flavor. People seemed to like it.