I guess 'The Lord of the Rings' is a bad story then? After all it is exactly the kind of story this person is complaining about...
Truths about video game stories
41–50 of 337 posts
Re: Truths about video game stories
#42I remember all the press praising the original Half Life for its story. I was really surprised - it was the same story as all first person shooters going back to Doom: Bad guys spawn across an inter-dimensional portal and start wreaking havoc. Protagonist has to kill them all, crossing the portal in the process to go destroy the alien leader. There were some cool extra details - the G Man, the marines entering as a t…
While I think the bassic narrative skeleton of the story is important, what is equally important is the world building that comes with it. If your game feels like traveling to an alternate dimension with vivid details and differences a lot about the story can be excused, because the player will eventually find their own story within your game. If your story is great and the freefloating passages are dull and lifeless…
There are some games with good world building but meh stories. Many RPG can be fitted in this category, for example The Elder Scrolls series.
Re: Truths about video game stories
#43Reading this article makes me realize how little I know about games. I've never heard of any game the writer used as examples, except World of Warcraft (which I never played, however). 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:…
> He's quite plainly saying, that he's mediocre, but because everyone else is bad, he's great.
Why is this bad thing to say? If he thinks this is true, then it is OK to say it. And earning money making games is actual achievement - most indie game makers are in financial loss and that is it.
Someone who make small profit is exactly people who can say the above.
Re: Truths about video game stories
#44I wanna know what quality of zombie movie this guy is watching that The Last of Us is somehow beneath them. The only zombie movie worth a damn this century is 28 Days Later. The Last of Us Part II was an even more amazing story, I literally was saying NO at the penultimate scene on the beach. The franchise is so well done HBO is adapting it.
Shaun of the Dead was great. Fido was pretty good too.
Re: Truths about video game stories
#45The Talos Principle is an interesting example of the weird relationship between a game and its story. The gameplay is just a ton of small, repetitive, Portal-like puzzles, and I don't say that as a criticism; it's just reality. The story is presented almost completely passively through notes and computer terminals. You could easily believe the game was developed first and then the story was written afterwards. But somehow they combine to make a very engrossing experience.
Re: Truths about video game stories
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
> This is quite an incredibly toxic and negative piece The author might have a negative take on things and you might not like the article but to brand the article as "incredibly toxic" is a bit of a hyperbole.
Well to me it's toxic when it opens with the achievements (being successful in the business for 27 years) then shits on the whole industry and their own customers (treat your own players as idiots) in a holier than thou attitude. Just very bitter.
It’s not bitter at all. It’s self-deprecating and funny. The author, Jeff, has been making games that I’ve been playing for their story and gameplay alone (the graphics are truly terrible) since the 90’s.
Jeff is irreverent and highly opinionated but absolutely not “holier than thou.” He knows his games are ugly and played only by a tiny niche. The only thing he can remotely claim to be better at than most people is running a video game studio that manages to support his small household.
Re: Truths about video game stories
#47How exactly are Raiders of the Lost Ark or Breaking Bad storylines better than those of the first Mafia, The Witcher 3, Uncharted 4, Metro Exodus, Kingdom Come: Deliverance or Half-Life 2 + episodes? And I'm not even mentioning artistic pieces like What Remains of Edith Finch or Life is Strange. There are quests in The Witcher 3 you could make a movie from (Bloody Baron).
Re: Truths about video game stories
#48Parents 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…
>With music you get stuck on the stuff you discovered and made your own. Into punk? Probably born way back in the 60s. Techno? 70s.
I don't listen to particular genres of music or music from a particular period of time.
As for gaming, I would rather watch a film, read a book, go outside, watch a play, meet people, do something else, because I don't have much free time and gaming is not a priority.
I would probably play some games if I would have more free time.
As a matter of fact I worked for 7 years as a game programmer and during that period I never played other games than our own stuff and some stuff from the competition where we wanted to understand some mechanics.
Re: Truths about video game stories
#49Nothing beats The Last of Us story for me (it’s why it became PlayStation game of the decade). The Last of Us Part II spoils you even further, there isn’t anything else close to the level of detail and story telling that Naugthy Dog has done here. “It’s a rollercoaster thrill ride which lasts like 20 hours and leaves you scarred for the rest of your days. 10/10” FYI HBO and creators of Chernobyl have picked up The La…
What makes them stand out to me is the emersion. The game and rythm let you feel the story on a different level.
Re: Truths about video game stories
#50>The Last of Us has decent gameplay but became a phenomenon by having a story as good as a medium-quality zombie movie
Seems like the writer is just hating AAA games
But I'm also curious what zombie movies does this guy watch that have a so so much better story than TLoU