Shayna Josi-Contributor

Editorial Team

Contributor

March, 2023
BA. Film, BA English Honours
Dragon Age, Baldur's Gate 3, The Elder Scrolls
  • 370
    articles
  • 559
    Features

Page 17

About Shayna Josi

Shayna Josi is a Features Writer from South Africa. Shayna has always been passionate about stories, and has dedicated her life to learning how to tell them. Aside from writing about her favorite video games on the digital publication The Best War Games, Shayna has taught English in Japan, is a ghostwriter, copywriter, and editor in the publishing industry. Shayna enjoys traveling, and spends most of her time between South Africa, the EU, and Japan. She believes the best of people come out in the stories they tell, and with stories comes the power to connect people across any divide - be it language, geography, culture, or time. To this end, Shayna’s research at university dealt with narrative worlds within video games, and how they use their environments to tell stories. Her hope is that the incredible stories told through video games will be recognized as literary, just as much as traditional storytelling mediums. 

Industry Focus

Shayna’s industry focus is primarily on RPGs and life sims, but she does venture into cozy games if they're set to the backdrop of LotR. RPGs encompass everything from Dragon Age to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, with focus on commentary about character, storytelling, and game design. Life sims are also great vehicles for storytelling, with customizable environments allowing for imaginative sandbox gameplay. 

Favorite Games

Shayna’s favorite games are: The Mass Effect Legendary Edition, Hades, Baldur’s Gate 3, Dragon Age: Inquisition (with Trespasser), Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Journey. Hades and Hades 2 triggered a deep appreciation for the Classics, while KotOR and Oblivion formed the backdrop of her childhood.

Favorite Console

Shayna grew up playing games on her family’s desktop and fighting with her brother for her turn. Having her own PC to access whenever she wanted somewhere in her teens turned gaming from a habit into a full-blown obsession. She never got the chance to play console games and missed the Nintendo boat, but does admire it from afar and dreams of owning a Switch one day. She did once own a PlayStation 4 while living in Japan and enjoyed it immensely.

Latest

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Baldur's Gate's History with Bhaalspawn Explained

Despite only appearing 100 years ago and having limited numbers, Bhaalspawn have shaped much of the history of Baldur's Gate for better or worse.

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How Baldur's Gate 3's Zariel Got Her Claws in Karlach

Karlach was once a normal tiefling in Baldur's Gate, but one decision put her life into the claws of one of the most feared demons of the Hells.

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Why Baldur's Gate 3 Doesn't Go All The Way to Level 20

Level 12 is a low cap for a game that spans dozens of hours, but Larian Studios has good reasons for implementing it in Baldur's Gate 3.

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Baldur's Gate 3 Romance Tier List

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The 'Perfect' Playthrough Choices for Baldur's Gate 3 Explained

While there aren't any objectively 'right' decisions, there are some choices that can make a playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3 feel more complete.

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Baldur's Gate 3's Hardest Decisions (And Their Consequences)

Baldur's Gate 3 offers the player many difficult decisions that have unforeseen ramifications later in the story or even lead to game over.

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How Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Can Balance Its Companions Better Than BG3

Gathering a party and venturing forth is something Dragon Age: Dreadwolf has the chance to build on and perfect even after Baldur's Gate 3.

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The Sims 4's Best Cheats Explained

Cheaters are winners in The Sims 4 when cheating actually makes the certain parts of the experience significantly better than normal play.

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Why Baldur's Gate 3's CHA-Based Classes Are So Popular

The lure of the charismatic is strong even in Baldur's Gate 3 with the four most popular classes being the ones with Charisma as their base stat.

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The Gods of Baldur's Gate 3 Explained

The gods of Baldur's Gate 3 are the source of a cleric's power, are numerous, and play a large role in the lives of the ordinary people of Faerun.

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Skyrim Greatsword Tier List

Skyrim's line of warriors has created a culture that takes pride in forging weapons of quality but some greatswords are better than others.

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Skyrim Staff Tier List

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Why The Sims' Goth Family is So Iconic

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The Cutest Cats in Baldur's Gate 3

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Baldur's Gate 3's Absolute Plot Simplified and Explained

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Baldur's Gate 3: The Pros and Cons of Becoming an Illithid Explained

One of the toughest decisions to make in Baldur's Gate 3 is whether or not to use the tempting power of the Illithids despite the cost.

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Baldur's Gate 3: What to Do Before the End of Act One

Getting the best ending in Baldur's Gate 3 can come down to making sure nothing gets missed in Act One, and that can be tough with so much to do.

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Baldur's Gate 3's Success Proves 2023 is Already One of the Best Years in Gaming Even Without Starfield

2023 has been shaping up to be one of the best years for gaming and the successful launch of Baldur's Gate 3 may have sealed the deal.

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It's Time for the Witcher Games to Shake Up Sword Lore

A sword is a witcher's life but some changes to some key parts behind the lore of them in The Witcher games could make them even better.