Worlds to explore - my favourite content

 Leaving a legacy

Image courtesy of Rebecca Parker on Pinterest

[5 min read]

It's been a while since I posted, life getting in the way and all. Actually, I've been running more Dungeons & Dragons sessions than I expected, and that doesn't leave a ton of time for other parts of my hobby.

This year, I resolved to preserve my favourite content for my two boys in case either (a) reliance on digital media and their complicated rights management somehow removes access to these, or (b) gulp, I am not around to see them grow up, and I want an easy way for my wife to expose them to it. You can see how I structured this in my first content preservation post. Spoilers - it is expensive and a lot of work.

Having secured the majority of the content on my list, I turn now to how I want to introduce my sons to it at the appropriate age, with the presumption that I am not here to do so personally. I started a google doc, which I will build over time, to explain why each is important to me, how to access it, and where to find more if they want to go deeper. I'll document this on the blog as I go, so let's start with my introduction to them.

Worlds to Explore

I love to explore - the real world, imagined worlds, and virtual worlds. This document serves as a path to exploration of the imagined worlds that have inspired me the most. I hope that you find amongst their stories much of the happiness they brought me. 

Content ranking

A truncated version of my original tier ranking, to serve as a roadmap of worlds to dive into

Themes

Historical

History was one of my favourite subjects at school, predominantly ancient greco-roman, norse and medieval. The (mostly) big budget movies and games in this list really capture these historical periods in amazing detail and remind me why I love them.

High Fantasy

I love all fantasy! But High is the flavour of fantasy that takes us to worlds furthest from our own, with the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot. I never got into comics or superheroes, but when I want to feel like a powerful hero, High Fantasy has me covered.

Low Fantasy

Where it all started - the grounded fantasy of the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Sure, there are dragons and dark lords, but Middle Earth is a rich, believable world from an incredible author where even the journey is part of the struggle. And for a more modern analogue, the nuanced political conflicts in Game of Thrones are engrossing.

Dark Fantasy

But probably my favourite fantasy of all is Dark. I’m not sure what it says about me but worlds and stories where the outlook is grim, the challenge is overwhelming, and the evil forces are supernatural immerse me the most. This ranges from gritty medieval worlds like Dark Souls, or classic horror like Dracula.

Post-Apocalyptic

And for another flavour of Dark Fantasy, we can look to the countless post-apocalyptic, doomsday scenarios from comics, movies, and games. In these worlds the morals of the protagonists are truly tested just by trying to survive a deadly day-to-day. As per The Walking Dead, the humans are the real monsters.

Sci-Fi

Science fiction. Speculative fiction that typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts like space, time travel, extraterrestrial life. There are so many great sci-fi worlds in books, movies and games, but I lean towards those that are darker in nature, like space horror Aliens, and the bleak religious and ecological themes of Dune.

Image courtesy of Game Rant

Tiers

This tier ranking system is typical of game ranking videos from content creators on Youtube. It normally goes from S → A → F but given this is a list of my favourite IP, I have left the lowest ranking at C tier. The ranking is based on two main criteria - how much nostalgia this world / brand / content evokes from my formative years, and how relevant it has remained even today.

S Tier

Content in this tier hits hard both on nostalgia and current interest. I have probably spent multiple hundreds of hours and likewise hundreds of dollars invested in these over at least a decade. I own multiple versions of games, books and videos in physical and digital format. If I am trapped on a desert island and can take limited content with me, here is where I am drawing from.

A Tier

Not far behind S Tier, this content represents the classics that continue to deliver as much value today as they did in yesteryear. Most of these have modern remakes, sequels or extensions that are very recent in 2024 or coming soon in 2025. 

B Tier

The B Tier represents either the S Tier content of the past that I sunk a huge amount of time into but don't engage with today (I'm looking at you Word of Warcraft), or recent hits that have the potential to increase in ranking as time goes on (e.g. The Last of Us). For the former I'd jump at a reason to go back, and for the latter I am looking for new ways to immerse myself in the future.

C Tier

Consider this final tier the 'honourable mentions' of the list. I have fond memories, both recent and back in the day, of being really into these intellectual properties. But it didn't last at the time, and I may not get around to them in the future. Maybe they'll strike a chord with my boys and become S Tier for them? Who knows, but they are nonetheless part of the rich tapestry that is my nerd resumé.

Look, see? My tier ranking is not as detailed as some Nintendo fans out there!
Image couresty of GG Noob

Final thoughts

There you have it! I am officially underway in my efforts to create the diary to the time capsule that is my content preservation effort. Look out for heartfelt odes to these worlds in future posts.

Yours in posterity,

Dashmeister