Game Musings: You don't need to play a game to judge only its story.

[LordTheNightKnight]

Doobie_wop said:

A lot of your argument is based around comparing video games to movies, but then you don't add in all the advantages that game's have over movies when offering an interactive experience. 

Your also relying on what you've read or watched about the game. Game's are meant to be played, so no matter what your argument is, your view point will always be one of a over the shoulder viewer.

'That's another thing. From what I've heard, the main story barely explains anything, and almost all the exposition, the stuff that lets you know about the world and the characters, is in text you have to unlock.

That was a major turn off for me, and just bad storytelling. And it's another thing I shouldn't have to play the game to know is bad storytelling. There is a big difference between exposition and backstory.'

You have no experience with the game, so I don't blame you for not knowing that the game isn't based on a linear storey, but one that changes depending on the character involved. I think it's an intelligent and realistic design that I don't know what happen's on one side of town if I'm playing with a character on the other side of town. If I allow all the character's to live, then I will get a fuller and more robust story, if all but one character dies, then it's understandable that what ever would have happened to those dead character's would stay a secret because no one would know what would happen to a dead character.

The game isn't playing out like a movie, it's playing out like a 'Choose your own Adventure' book. If you wanted to know everything about the game, then you can replay it as many times as you want and cause different scenarios to occur, this will allow you to fill more gap's that you found in the first play through. Stop comparing a game to a movie or a normal novel, because it's not what it is. Game's are much more flexible in what they can do and how they can interact with you, this is something that limit's other form's of media.

Well I remember "Choose Your Own Adventure books". Heck, they weren't even the only series like that. I also remember "Find Your Fate Adventure" books which were mainly licensed properties like Indiana Jones and James Bond. There was another series I unfortunately can't remember the name.

The point there is that the writing on all of them wasn't that good. It wasn't meant to be, but that doesn't change the quality of the story just because you can choose how the story unfolds.

And even if I'm judging the story over the shoulder, does that make what looks like a poorly written scene any different? It doesn't matter if a game is meant to be played, the story cannot be presented in a way that changes the quality depending on whether you are playing or watching it.

It doesn't matter if I choose the paths of a story. If path A has a plot hole, and path B does not have one, path A will still have a plot hole no matter what happens, no matter how I play the game, no matter what paths I choose.

And I'm not comparing the game to a movie. I'm comparing the story of the game to a movie. There is a difference. Heck, many of these stories try to present themselves in a "cinematic" manner, so if they are trying to look like movies, they sure as hell fall under those quality standards, and become something that can be judged by observing.