| Aiddon said: well, if we're going by the argument that stories are somehow required or make a game better I have to be blunt: NO. Games did not start with stories and are not exactly meant to tell one. Mario, Pokemon, and Contra for instance have SETTINGS but I wouldn't say they have stories to tell. Entire GENRES don't havce stories such as puzzle games or fighting games. And a lot of the time a game just gets bogged down by a story because it gets in the way of the gameplay so story and gameplay are sort of mortal enemies. For instance, MGS4, Xenosaga, FFXIII, and Alan Wake have TERRIBLE or poorly told plots that get in the way of the gameplay. Heavy Rain might as well NOT have gameplay because it's so focused on telling a story that it sacrifices the game aspect. Same thing with Enslaved and Heavenly Sword. Now, that's not to say that a game CAN'T tell a story. If you can tell a story that's GOOD, go for it but make sure you never bring up the question of "why didn't you just write a book/movie?". Stuff like Matsuno's entire catalog, Metroid: Other M, Xenogears, Silent Hill, Chrono Cross, Valkyrie Profile, Blazblue, Bioshock, Odin Sphere, Bioware's titles, No More Heroes, the SMT franchise, quite a few of the FF series, and Parasite Eve (excluding Third Birthday -shudder-) have told compelling, interesting narratives with three-dimensional characters. But that doesn't exactly make them BETTER than the non-story games like Vanquish or Tetris, it just makes them equally as good in a different way because variety is a necessity. But anyway, a story doesn't make a game better, that's just plain untrue. I wish Yahtzee would understand that. |
Agreed but I would swap Xenosaga from the 1st paragraph with Metroid Other M thats in the 2nd paragraph.
