31–40 of 337 posts
Parents play video games as well as their kids. This never used to happen if we roll back to when Space Invaders was the latest and greatest. Nowadays you can have the 50 year old dad spending his quality time in bed next to his wife blasting enemies with the teenage/student kids doing the same. With another generation it will be the folks in retirement homes too. With music you get stuck on the stuff you discovered…
We've had theatre and literature as narrative art for centuries. Film has been around for a tiny bit over 100 years, and it took them decades to find their own voices distinct from their predecessors. By comparison, video games are in their infancy. We've been at it for only a few short decades, and having the audience directly involved with the narrative is a radical shift from what we had before. We're looking at a…
Journey and Abzü are great examples of what video games can do with just exploration of the environment telling you a story with zero dialogue/exposition that by definition can't be done in other mediums
I have not played any computer game in over more than a decade, but I played a lot earlier. Anyway, what I did for a while - not recently due to a lack of good targets - is watch Youtube "playthrough no commentary" videos (and with story-less gameplay parts heavily cut out). That's usually 4-6 hours of game movie . The Last of Us was good, but the very top #1 for me as far as story goes - ignoring the game play compl…
This game surprised me so much, because I just picked it on a whim a short while ago. It is so much more than what the cover suggests.
A very emotional and impactful story, really looking forward what they do for the next chapter of her story.
How can you compare a 2 hour narrative with a 10-100 hour narrative?
This article grossly overgeneralizes stories in games and ignores the unique storytelling device that is a "game".
A good book doesn't necessarily make for a good movie and a good movie doesn't necessarily make for a good game (and the other way around, as we've seen over and over again).
This article seems like a self-congratulating piece by an indie developer for being an indie developer.
Good for you. That doesn't mean AAA studios can't make a good game story, same as big budget movies can have a compelling story.
I have not played any computer game in over more than a decade, but I played a lot earlier. Anyway, what I did for a while - not recently due to a lack of good targets - is watch Youtube "playthrough no commentary" videos (and with story-less gameplay parts heavily cut out). That's usually 4-6 hours of game movie . The Last of Us was good, but the very top #1 for me as far as story goes - ignoring the game play compl…
There are some exceptions to this (Spec Ops: The Line comes to mind as a case where the gameplay actually fuels the story, and I also think I've heard good things about Two Brothers in this respect too) but these are the exception, not the rule.
This author seems to have never played a game with an actual good story. You can tell from his comparison of game stories to movies. How can you compare a 2 hour narrative with a 10-100 hour narrative? This article grossly overgeneralizes stories in games and ignores the unique storytelling device that is a "game". A good book doesn't necessarily make for a good movie and a good movie doesn't necessarily make for a g…
FPS? All the story I need is the 'end condition' (basically what do I have to do to win this level), and I can play. "reach point X", "detonate bomb", "kill everyone".... sure.
Strategy games? Same... kill everyone, destroy base, done.
But for example, point and click adventures with a shitty story? Totally unplayable for me.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's gotten to the point that I just don't buy or play new games from American or Japanese studios. It's too disappointing to pick up new releases of series that I've played for more than half my life (such as the Tales series) and find everything that made them great ripped out and replaced with consumerist trash that panders to the lowest common denominator. China seems to be the only country that still has some or…
Got some examples for good games from China? As a counterexample to the first part, check out Nier Automata. One of the most original and compelling games I've played in recent years.
Bright Memory Infinite is a new game from China that's coming out in November, the demo is incredible and I'm excited. Gujian3 is an open-world action rpg, similar to Nier but with a xianxia theme, it's pretty good. Amazing Cultivation Simulator is a Rimworld clone with a lot of fun features. Path of Wuxia is a very original and fun martial-arts-school/dating-sim/srpg with a lot of replayability (only fan-translated for now, but an official english translation is slated for when it comes out of early access).
The author made a lot of pithy statements, but the article feels strangely lack of substance. There's little evidence or elaboration. Just statement after statement, with a lot of repetitiveness.
And the writing. Paragraphs like these:
> Now let's be clear. I'm not a great fantasy writer. If I was, I'd be writing books nobody buys because nobody buys books anymore. Still, as a writer I'm simply competent. Which, by video games standards, makes me awesome. Overall, I'm good enough that people give me money, and that is sufficient.
...... are just strange, and made me grimace. He's quite plainly saying, that he's mediocre, but because everyone else is bad, he's great.
And what's with the "nobody buys books anymore"? Plenty of people do.
> Good story isn't what gamers are after. Which is good, because they ain't gettin' it.
While not having played many games, I remember some GBA games having decent stories. They are not Charles Dickens level literature, but comparable to good short stories, definitely worthy of "good writing".
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I had expected much more---more substance, better writing---from a "successful" story writer of a game company.
But I also feel like the author misunderstands how the medium can elevate a story:
"Old mans Journey" was critized for having too simple puzzles, but it is not a puzzle game. It's a story, where a few simple puzzles gives you time to interact with the landscape and soak up the atmosphere, which enhances the impact of the worldless storytelling between levels.
It's a simple, nothing new story, made extremely impactful through the medium.
I also felt the story in Celeste was very impactful, even though it probably would make for a boring movie. But I struggled as Madelein as she conquered the mountain and her fears, and that struggle primed me to feel her struggle through the sparse dialogue.