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Truths about video game stories

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Re: Truths about video game stories

#221

Post by imbnwa »

sien wrote: post #44
imbnwa wrote: post #16

I 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.

Comedies just aren't the same thing though, I mean where do you really start comparing Shaun of the Dead, which is hilarious don't get me wrong, with The Last Of Us?

Re: Truths about video game stories

#222

Post by Zababa »

GuB-42 wrote: post #217
Zababa wrote: post #122

One thing that isn't mentionned is that games makes you engage way more with the story than movies because of how they are. In most games you can explore areas to discover more things. The equivalent doesn't really exist in movies or books. You can maybe reread a chapter or a paragraph. Pause a film and look at all the details. But that's something people rarely do unless they are analyzing the thing. In games, you h…

I would add that there is a trade-off in games between agency and a good story. The more effort you make to integrate player actions, the less resources you have to make a compelling story. In the most obvious case: story branching, you have double the work for each branch, some of them may be hard to make interesting. Some Japanese visual novels may have great stories, but they are games in name only. For example th…

> The more effort you make to integrate player actions, the less resources you have to make a compelling story. In the most obvious case: story branching, you have double the work for each branch, some of them may be hard to make interesting.

That's very true, you don't have infinite resources.

> Some Japanese visual novels may have great stories, but they are games in name only. For example the "when they cry" series are literally visual novels (or sound novels as they like to call them), there are zero gameplay elements, and no branching, you are basically reading a book with a few illustrations and (very good) background music.

True, but you also have others like Hollow Ataraxia where you have way more gameplay. Still not as much as a "classic" game, especially these days, but this wouldn't be possible in another format, which I think is key. Same thing with the when they cry series, the music is very important and they wouldn't work as well as book.

Re: Truths about video game stories

#224

Post by Hamuko »

Toutouxc wrote: post #61
ChrisKnott wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you really suggesting Uncharted 4 has as good a story as Breaking Bad?

Well Breaking Bad is a series and Uncharted 4 is a pretty short, intense ride, so it's a little apples to oranges comparison, but if I compare the first season of Breaking Bad (the only one I've seen) to Uncharted 4, which are both a few hours worth of entertainment, I don't remember the storyline of Breaking Bad being any more intricate or innovative, I mean, terminal patient does questionable things with an unlikel…

>the first season of Breaking Bad (the only one I've seen)

Breaking Bad is one of those shows that gets better with every season (the Metacritic score goes 73 → 84 → 89 → 96 → 99 from season 1 to season 5). The first season wasn't really anything special but it's gangbusters by the end.

Re: Truths about video game stories

#225

Post by JauntyHatAngle »

everdrive wrote: post #213

Many video games have very poor or bare plots, but amazing settings. In fact, I'm not sure that video games are actually good vehicles for plots. Video games are interactive, but all good plots require careful pacing and timing in order to be successful. It's possible to force this in a game, but the more you do, the more the game becomes an interactive movie. A great example would be Dark Souls: incredible setting,…

I guess the problem with plot on video games is the sequencing.

Some of the most impactful stories I've experienced in games have been more environmental storytelling than plot based. That is, the game expects me to find the overall narrative and story in my own time, usually because the story beats have happened already before my character even existed, and I'm trying to find where the current gameplay fits into it, e.g. Outer Wilds.

If you want a normal "movie like" story, you more often have to Railroad your player along certain paths, or tack it on in between gameplay.

Games like (the finale of) Braid do a good job of showing how gameplay and narrative can coexist in a way that films can't do, and that's one of the lessons for me.

Plot in the movie sense within games can be a fun way to mash gameplay and story together, buy it isn't superior in telling the story. You need to do something different in games to tell a story in a way where games are stronger stronger film, for me, usually slow paced games with environmental storytelling, or games that use your feelings of being the main character to mess with you, e.g. spec ops the line. YOU chose to kill people not the protag of the film you're watching.

I guess my point is, some games use video game only devices to enhance the impact of their story in a way that only games can, where the games that try to take on films using the tools of films won't be able to.match up with films.

Re: Truths about video game stories

#226

Post by SV_BubbleTime »

JauntyHatAngle wrote: post #225
everdrive wrote: post #213

Many video games have very poor or bare plots, but amazing settings. In fact, I'm not sure that video games are actually good vehicles for plots. Video games are interactive, but all good plots require careful pacing and timing in order to be successful. It's possible to force this in a game, but the more you do, the more the game becomes an interactive movie. A great example would be Dark Souls: incredible setting,…

I guess the problem with plot on video games is the sequencing. Some of the most impactful stories I've experienced in games have been more environmental storytelling than plot based. That is, the game expects me to find the overall narrative and story in my own time, usually because the story beats have happened already before my character even existed, and I'm trying to find where the current gameplay fits into it,…

Outer Wilds was what I was thinking of when I read this article.

Not because of the article’s content, but in contrast of it. It was an excellent game that doesn’t fit into a lot of the authors advice.

It was complex, and you can miss a lot of it, but it nails and authentic tone that seems to be available on indie titles exclusively.

Top Five of all time for me.

Re: Truths about video game stories

#227

Post by imbnwa »

pdpi wrote: post #32
imbnwa wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 would argue that what you're describing is close to an interactive version of the sort of storytelling you can achieve in a painting (also - you piqued my interest, installing Journey!).

It's a really great game and I think by the end you'll be awestruck by what it successfully evokes in you, but a painting, or a silent movie for that matter, are by definition not interactive environments unless using your imagination/interpretation is equivalent to a video game. In the games I describe you can miss things by not exploring. I won't miss anything in watching a silent movie or the opening sequence to Up because there's a definite set of frames and they run one way. A painting is even more limited.

Re: Truths about video game stories

#228

Post by SV_BubbleTime »

> Observation 6: Good writing comes from a distinctive, individual, human voice. Thus, you'll mainly get it in indie games.

Outer Wilds.

Hands down one of my top games of all time, a total sleeper. But has more heart than any AAA title I’ve ever played.

If you haven’t tried it, super highly recommend.

Re: Truths about video game stories

#229

Post by JauntyHatAngle »

SV_BubbleTime wrote: post #226
JauntyHatAngle wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess the problem with plot on video games is the sequencing. Some of the most impactful stories I've experienced in games have been more environmental storytelling than plot based. That is, the game expects me to find the overall narrative and story in my own time, usually because the story beats have happened already before my character even existed, and I'm trying to find where the current gameplay fits into it,…

Outer Wilds was what I was thinking of when I read this article. Not because of the article’s content, but in contrast of it. It was an excellent game that doesn’t fit into a lot of the authors advice. It was complex, and you can miss a lot of it, but it nails and authentic tone that seems to be available on indie titles exclusively. Top Five of all time for me.

Absolutely, one of my favourites easily.

I feel it gave me room to think, and spoke to me in areas I usually don't engage. Themes of accepting you can't halt the end, no matter how hard you try and all the work you put in, and ultimately we all end up alone, but with the memories of others as parts of ourselves, as we enter the unknown.

Just my readings, but the point is it hit me in a way other media hasn't. Not better or worse, but unique and different because games haven't quite found how best to use the medium for the possibilities in storytelling.

Re: Truths about video game stories

#230

Post by unity1001 »

bombcar wrote: post #195
unity1001 wrote: post #194

> Doesn't matter, because the vast majority of players just tune out the story. As long as you let them skip past it, it's fine. There are a lot of people out there who have put hundreds of hours into World of Warcraft, myself included. If you quizzed us all on World of Warcraft lore, 99% of us would get an F-, guaranteed. Doesnt compute. Not only the above particular tidbit about Wow is his own personal perception,…

I played WoW for almost a decade and the only story I remember with much clarity is that of Pamela. Otherwise things happened quest objectives lit up and I think Arthas married Thrall or something.

Yeah, and that's your personal experience.

I dont care about Wow's story, I didnt even pay attention to the quests or cinematics, yet even i can count 40-50% of the chronology. Likewise many people on my server.

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