Naughty Dog: "We want to change the f***ing industry" with The Last of Us (with a focus on storytelling)

[Reasonable]

Rainbird said:

Reasonable said:

Rainbird said:

Reasonable said:

I also wish when a developer wants to try something people wouldn't argue with the same boring all generalities.  They aren't trying to make every game story lead nor is that their goal.  They want their game to be that way and they want to offer better than the medium has historically in that regard.  Is it really necessary to start panicing for all other genres every time there is a focus by a single developer in a single area?

I'd say it's a natural reaction though. People see something they percieve as being overall damaging to the field, and they push against it. More rationality would certainly be welcome, but it's a polarizing subject, so opinions are bound to clash. On top of that, there is actually a small trend of moving towards more... what to call it... focused experiences? Games that restrict the player in favor of either storytelling, spectacle, cinematic flair or some combination of these basically.

TBH I'd say the trend to online is far stronger than the trend to focused storytelling.  In fact I'd say the trend to open world is stronger than that.  Right now I think for a lot of devs, if you look at sales/success of other games, the view would be:

a) best choice for success is hugely successful online game (you know who)

b) second best choice for success is hugely successful open world game (GTA, RDR, Assassin's Creed, Skyrim, etc)

c) third best choice for success is focused narrative (maybe with some online if we can get it)

There's some crossover though. Games like MW3 and BF3 are prime examples of games where the singleplayer campaign exists for the spectacle and doesn't really try to engage the player. So I think it depends on what criteria you use to mark a game as a particular category, but there is definitely a movement towards open world games as well. Even if GTA, RDR and Skyrim are really just continuing their franchises.

I completely agree about your sentiments on The Last Of Us though. If Naughty Dog can take story telling up a notch in quality, then I'm all for it. But if they want to make it a must buy for me, they have to bring the player into the story.

I understand what you mean.  I think the bolded is the key divergence in terms of where I think ND is going.  They are focusing on you learning about a character (not you) in the traditional narrative sense.  Uncharted is pretty lighthearted overall but in both 2 and 3 there is clearly some nice depth between characters and what kind of character they are.  In short, they are not about brining you into the story as a player so much as using gameplay to allow you to experience a character already defined and locked in.  The obvious analogy for Uncharted is Indiana Jones.  His character is set and you observe and learn it.

However, what I do think they can do - and did do in both U2 and U3 but not constantly - is give you more open gameplay choices.  U3 I thought actually had more variety than U2, and switched between scenarios nicely for the most part.  But if you're going to uncover a character I reckon the whole game just can't be like that.  Sometimes, referring to U3, you can be in an open fight as in the village where there is space and you can chose where to go, how to go about it, etc (and I get the feeling already The Last of Us is going to add a lot more stealth and combat avoidance although that might be an off guess) but sometimes the game has to put you into a tighter experience, such as the fight on the plane, which is a great vingette but I believe almost impossible to open out gameplay wise.  For it to work it has to play out that way.

But I get the feeling from the tone so far plus some aledged art work that this game will have a more open approach to gameplay - where you can fight or avoid or find another route - but that key moments will drive you through a constructed narrative.

On the other hand ND might surprise both of us by solving problems that have plagued every more open world game from GTA to RDR to Assassin's Creed in keeping the character and narrative on track.