• Husky Wing Husky Wing
    Husky Wing ► Nier Replicant
    2 weeks ago
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    Within the first ten minutes, I was pretty sure I loved this game. It made a great first impression. Now, nearly thirteen hours in, I'm hating it the more I play. The writing is extraordinarily awful, the combat's so boring, the music is so repetitive, the sidequests suck, environments are repeated way too often, god this game is tedious. I thought this game was famous for its story, and a friend recently told me that the overall narrative is great, but he agreed that the stories told throughout the game are generally awful. I'm not sure I wanna go through all that just to see if the ending can deliver. The writing so far has just been so stupid.

    Sometimes when I watch an anime renowned for its "sad" story, I feel like it's only sad if you're an emotionally-stunted weeb who's swayed not by the emotional depth of a story's writing, but by forceful melancholic anime voice acting.
    • Klemoib
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      Klemoib
      Editing … For a video game to have a good story... that bar isn't set very high. When I think about it I can't think of many games with a good story that can stand on their own next to book stories or movie stories. I downloaded Disco Elysium and people say that is supposed to have a good story but I have 0 expectations. I find that story isn't that important to me in games. Most of my favorite games are very light on story or have none at all. If you're not enjoying the actual game part of nier I'd say abandon it and look up the rest of the story to satisfy your curiosity.
      2 weeks ago
    • Husky Wing
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      Husky Wing
      Editing … I've said the exact same thing. In games, a story like Indiana Jones would see massive acclaim and win every game storytelling award for the year, and it probably would be one of the most complex and well-told stories any game told that year. With other forms of storytelling, we have higher expectations.
      2 weeks ago Heart 1
    • Klemoib
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      Klemoib
      Editing … Yes exactly. It's not that it's impossible though I think. Games are a very different medium and require a different story approach while most in the industry are just trying to emulate movies. I think game storytelling is at it's best in environmental storytelling. I still remember the moment I realized the shadow of the colossus dude's face had become corrupted over time. Just things like that always get me. That moment would have been completely ruined if I had to be told that in some way. Realizing the story yourself has much more impact in games than traditional narrative plots do. I don't think anyone has really cracked the code on how to bring the quality up on par with other stories, but once someone does, games have the potential to tell more immersive stories because you are actually taking part in the story. I'll still probably prefer "gamey" games though. What game do you think actually has a good story?
      2 weeks ago
    • Husky Wing
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      Husky Wing
      Editing … I've enjoyed the stories of a lot of games with a cinematic lean to them, maybe too many games to name, but it's kinda hard to discern how well some of them stand up to the best film or TV narratives. I think Alan Wake, Quantum Break, Death Stranding and Vampyr all tell stories that could receive exceptional screen adaptations. I listed Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice originally, but I don't know, would it work as well as a viewed experience? Would it lose its impact? In Quantum Break and Vampyr, the optional lore readings spread throughout the game really enhance the experience too. I also feel Dead Space doesn't tell an exceptional story directly through its campaign, but I think it has some of the best lore of any game, and when keeping that in mind, the "story" feels pretty great. Outer Wilds has a story that's pretty much fully experienced through player exploration and gameplay, which makes it feel very powerful. I also really like the storytelling in the first Witcher game. In that case, it's less about the overall narrative, and more about the smaller stories told throughout the game, and the exceptional dialogue. It just, like, works.
      2 weeks ago
    • Sandvich
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      Sandvich
      Editing … The Witcher 3 for me is the benchmark for storytelling in games, to the point where you marvel at the gulf between its quality and everything else. It's like comparing Calvin and Hobbes to other comic strips, or John Williams to other film scores. While you could transplant a lot of elements of TW3 into another medium, a lot would be lost. Some of those side-quests are so small and self contained they might not even merit a sub-plot in another medium. Like that one quest where you just go inside a hut to fetch a woman's frying pan. Done, quest complete. But you discover that the resident was a spy using the soot from the pan to make ink. With just a bit of artistic flare, something so basic is made significantly more interesting. The small choices the player is able to make also add dramatic weight to the experience. In another early quest you find the guy who sabotaged the dwarf's forge and have the option of turning him in. If you do, he hangs for it. The dude was an asshole, but it's a heavy penalty and then role I played in making it happen certainly gave me pause. And nearly every one of the hundreds of quests in the game has this level of care put into them. I've watched hours of making-of footage of the game and I still don't understand how they achieved this on a level no one else has come close to.
      2 weeks ago
    • Sandvich
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      Sandvich
      Editing … Outer Wilds is my new favorite example of the artistic merits of gaming for the normie boomers out there. Contemplating the end of the universe is some heavy stuff but it handles the subject with grace. "Out of all of the creatures destroyed by the end of he universe we will miss the angler fish the least." The player's curiosity in uncovering the mysteries in the story is mirrored by the Hearthians' and Nomai's desire to uncover the secrets of the universe itself. And it's simply a high quality piece of edutainment. A kid who plays Outer Wilds could have a serious leg-up on their classmates when they start learning about Newtonian physics.
      2 weeks ago
    • Sandvich
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      Sandvich
      Editing … I think comedy is an underappreciated aspect to storytelling in games. Story focused games tend to set out more to be Star Wars or Citizen Kane rather than Blazing Saddles, but I can say that games like Portal and the Stanley Parable compare very favorably to my favorite comedy films. Something dramatic like Red Dead Redemption 2 to me still pales in comparison to something like Unforgiven or Deadwood.
      2 weeks ago
    • Husky Wing
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      Husky Wing
      Editing … The Stanley Parable's probably a standout example of video game storytelling. I'd like to try RDR2 sometime. I liked the first game a lot, but likewise I don't think its story actually compares to something like Unforgiven. Might play it again, this time on Switch. Also, we do have a Favorite Western Movies list waiting to be published (:
      2 weeks ago Heart 1
    • Klemoib
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      Klemoib
      Editing … I'm still eyeing outer wilds. I'm in the back of my head holding out for a physical release that doesn't cost 100 euros + import and shipping.
      2 weeks ago
    • Klemoib
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      Klemoib
      Editing … Stanley Parable felt more like I was walking inside of a joke instead of experiencing a comedy. I don't know if it is possible to compare it to something like a comedy film. Granted it's also difficult to compare films with each other as well because most of them are shite with a few exceptions that stand head and shoulders above the rest.
      2 weeks ago
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