Why does game storytelling have such low standards? [MGS4, HL2, etc.]

[The Ghost of RubangB]

thelifatree said:

The Ghost of RubangB said:
I was just going to defend Half-Life 2 and say it's amazing not for the story, but for the storytelling. Then I read makingmusic's post that quoted that Sean Riley character's response to the OP. Beat me to it. Great post too!

And while I haven't played Ico yet, I've played Out of This World several times, and that's Ico's biggest inspiration. I can't gush about Out of This World enough. It inspired games like Ico that allegedly "got it right" and games like Metal Gear Solid that are convoluted cutscene fests. It inspired everything. It has almost no story, but the way it's told.... damn, that's the stuff.


And no no no, games don't need stories. Movies and books and songs don't even need stories. Does anybody care about the story of "Thriller?" No. But they love how the story is told through horror cliches, funky basslines, zombie dance moves, and Vincent Price. Any of those on their own is just "pretty cool," but the way they're mixed into a story is "totally awesome." Citizen Kane isn't considered by so many to be the greatest film of all time due to the story. It's considered the best for its storytelling, starting with the ending, then the news report, and mostly for the contradicting flashbacks with different points of view. Same goes for games.

I find cutscenes good because it's a change of pace.

I also found shadow of colosus amazing

I don't thinks storytelling, stories should be in one set format beceause like movies there are many ways to tell agood story. And people like stories in different ways

Many people enjoy the metal gear cutscene fests... they're very much like anime at some points. So to say there shouldn't be videogames like that, is like saying that videogames should be catered to you only. And besides MGS4, the pacing in MGS 1 especially was excellent and taught.

There is no perfect way to tell a story. IMO It's just the creator needs to apply the storytelling techniques that best fit the thing he is trying to create.

 

would you want Solid Snake not to have any of his witty banter? Via Codec and things. I think most MGS fans want that. The pacing and quality of storytelling (4 was the only one I had a problem with) needs to be improved

Hey I never said that the MGS4 style of "movie games "should be stopped.  The game sold very well, so there's a market for it.  I want to expand gaming into all genres and styles, including the ones I don't like.  My problem is with the crazy people out there that think Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid are the greatest games ever made due to their stories, and then they think Tetris or Mario aren't really games because they don't have stories.  They're the ones attacking the most successful games ever made due to their crazy ideas about storytelling.

I still love Night Trap, and that's about as "movie game" as you can get.