Gryzemuis on 13/2/2015 at 17:48

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I always wonder, when people think that a game has a "shite story". What do they expect ? Lady Chatterley's Lover in a video-game ? Some Tolstoj ?

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon%27s_law) Ninety percent of everything is crap. Lots of stuff consists of good parts mixed with a bad part. And still the total sum can be worthwhile.

I just replayed Thief Gold. (I was planning to do that since 2006 or so. Started 2 years ago, finally finished it 2 weeks ago). Thief Gold was a great game. I think everybody here agrees. But now that I played it a 2nd time, I took my time to make sure I would fully understand that story. I watch all the cutscenes 3 or more times. (I think the main problem in 1999 was for me that a key scene (where TT&V reveal themselves) is played only once. If you don't pay attention, you miss it). Does Thief have a great story ? Nah, not really. It's not Tolstoj for sure. But the story worked for me. It gave a reason to string all the missions together. You start as a thief, you steal something from someone who is interested in you, you do a job for that person, etc, etc. The story itself is far from a reason to play the game. But it's good enough.

Same thing with Dying Light. I have zero expectations about the story. I don't care much, and if it happens to be an entertaining story, it'll be a pleasant surprise. As in Thief, the story is a reason to send me on missions. Go here, go there, go fetch me something. What else do you expect ? It's the gameplay that is fun. The scenery. The movement. The awesome graphics. Is the main character a dumb dick ? Sure. But it hardly matters.

So can someone give me some examples of good stories in videogames ? And more than one please. With thousands of videogames out since 1998, there should be more than only a dozen games worth playing.

froghawk on 13/2/2015 at 18:27

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Personally, I'm quite fond of the story in Silent Hill 2. It draws a lot from Jacob's Ladder, yes, but it's still a good story. Obviously the Telltale games, if you're going to call them games at all. Deus Ex is a little B-movie-ish, but the story is a strong part of its appeal. I do wish games would focus a more on having better stories on the whole, though.

froghawk on 13/2/2015 at 19:15

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VtM:B? Interesting! For some reason, despite having played that game multiple times, I can never remember anything about the story.

froghawk on 13/2/2015 at 19:26

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I did play as a Malk, and it was awesome. I guess I was thinking of well-written dialogue as being independent from a compelling narrative.

I'm not saying it had a bad narrative, mind you, just that I can never remember what said narrative actually was!

Gryzemuis on 13/2/2015 at 21:18

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I guess I haven't played most of those games.

But I did play Portal. What was the story there ? AI gone crazy and tries to kill humans ? How was that a good story ? The game itself was good. There was a lot of humor. But the story ? Oh, you're maybe talking about the 1986 game. For me that's a sure sign that you have to go back 29 years to find another game with a good story.

I also played Brothers. I'm not sure I liked that game. The start was good. The control-scheme was new. The big middle part of the game had little story and was just "get to the next level". There were some small things that I liked. But that's again not story. That is fluff. Or fringe. Not sure how to call it. Fluff and fringe makes a game enjoyable. But for me that's not the main story. And the last 10% of Brothers was very original. True. But tbh, I didn't enjoy it. I hated it. I felt bad for 2 days after I finished the game. Sure, the game had an emotional impact. But I don't think I liked that.

Maybe The Walking Dead is good. Not sure, I haven't played it. But I did play the Game of Thrones game by Telltale games. That game didn't have any gameplay. Just story. But I didn't like it. The choices were pretty meaningless. No matter what choices you made, the key events were the same. Can't say I found the story there any better than other games.

Oh, I played Deus Ex. Forgettable story, can't remember a thing, except that JC got crossed over a few times. Hardly anything new, good or revolutionary. The game itself was awesome of course. But more because of gameplay than because of story.

I don't mind the story in most game. What I like more is the fluff. The fringe. Funny or interesting things that have nothing to do with the main storyline. Dying Light has them too. In the side-quests. Challenges. Escort-quests. In the random encounters with other survivors. I won't spoil them for you. But I had to laugh out loud a few times when helping weird survivors in the Slums. Skyrim and Morrowind are 2 of my favorite games. The main storylines there are made of the same predictable stuff as other games. But those games are so good because of all the little extra stuff. M'aiq the liar. A quest where you end up inside a painting. Etc. I rather have a good game with a lot of that fluff, than a good game with only a good story. I rather read a book. :)