| Mnementh said: Immersion is not the same as storytelling. Games are good in other areas, but storytelling is behind movies and even more behind books, because game developers cannot control the story in the same way a movie director or a book author can, as the player can always decide to do something else as what was intended and breaking the storyline in that. "Oh, the world is threatened by this incredible force, so as the main character in the story I decide to do some fetch quests first to level up before facing that boss." |
I don't agree with this. While books and movies are unmatched when it comes to focused storytelling, games have that advantage that their worlds and characters inhabiting them can be more fleshed out and more intricate than in books and movies. Every details of the game can be fleshed out and a carrier for a part of the story. While in movies, everything has to have an impact for the limited time that detail has on screen, and in books, too much details given makes it tedious to read (see Tolkien). The potential is simply not the same. Each medium has their own strength and weaknesses.
When it comes to video games, there are more and more good stories being told, but in general, it's not the medium that lags behind movies, but the writers and directors.
