Current Events > Video games have terrible writing

(+) Yeah! (+)

There are a few exceptions but by and large this is true

coh posted...

There are a few exceptions

like Bugsnax

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g0ldie posted...

like Bugsnax

And Fortnite

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how dare you question art?

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True, one of the reasons I'm not a big fan of those action adventure titles that try to be movies

True.
Im curious though, what videogames do you think have good writing? Im bout to potentially shit on your taste.

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Super Maryo Sue

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yeah, I rarely play games for narrative

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Prestoff posted...

And Fortnite

https://imgur.com/vTk1tG1

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Yup, even a LOT of games that gamers supposedly hold up as having "good writing", like Uncharted or MGS.

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They aren't the pinnacle of writing, but I've always disagreed when people say like "They're not even B-movie level!"

I think there are a bunch of video games that tell better stories and have better acting than A LOT of movies and TV shows.

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at the end, I feel that the quality of a story is something for the individual to decide.

like, I'm not going to argue that Metal Gear Solid 3 is on the same level as The Godfather, for example, but I'm not going to argue that it isn't, either.

some people might legitimately feel that way (I personally don't), and who's to tell them that they're wrong? some reviewer? some academic?

as long as you're entrained, engaged, come out feeling something, etc., that's all that matters.

IMO, at least.

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We've made great strides. The Last of Us, Red Dead Redemption II, God of War 2018...uhhhh.

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GameGodOfAll posted...

We've made great strides. The Last of Us, God of War 2018...

Nope

The bar isn't high, if people like David Cage gets praised for his writing in video games...god damn

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GameGodOfAll posted...

We've made great strides. The Last of Us,, God of War 2018...uhhhh.

What!?

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Witcher 3 had top notch dialogue/writing.

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Games are about what you; as a person, experience playing them. it's not a book or movie. The writing isn't supposed to be as "developed" as other forms of media, because they can be played many different ways so you can create your own narrative in some capacity. They're better written than most books because of the plethora of outcomes, but they also lack the enticing suspense factor.

comparing Movies/Books to Video Games in terms of story telling is like comparing apples and tomatoes; sure they're both fruit, but you'd only use one of them in a fruit salad.

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Planescape: Torment

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stop playing "AAA" games. they have terrible writing because they're designed to invoke "the feels".

even before the writers sit down and pen the stuff they're already salivating at the idea of how much they can make their target audience "feel".

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https://twitter.com/aedison/status/1347507063145058307


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Octodad has great writing too!

i mean, an octopus pretending to be a dad? Oscar worthy material right there fam!

I will forever stan New Vegas

I'm also excited for Disco Elysium in this regard
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TC has no intention of returning to this topic, he was just cashing in on some easy bait

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MedeaLysistrata posted...

TC has no intention of returning to this topic, he was just cashing in on some easy bait

That doesn't sound like him oh wait it sounds exactly like him.

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The Dragon Age series is pretty good

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RDR2, TLoU, and Berseria all come to mind when I think of games that have good stories.

Though I guess good stories isn't the same as good writing.

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"Stand, sir. Or wouldst thou arrive in hell squatting upon thy arse?"

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The Last of Us/Part 2
Red Dead/Red Dead 2
FFVII Remake
Hades
Ghost of Tsushima
Cyberpunk (even if the game is meh at best)
Witcher 3
Trails of Cold Steel series
GTAV
God of War

There are quite a few really good ones. Video game storytelling has only gotten better, for the most part.

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AsucaHayashi posted...

stop playing "AAA" games. they have terrible writing because they're designed to invoke "the feels".

even before the writers sit down and pen the stuff they're already salivating at the idea of how much they can make their target audience "feel".

What a strange statement. Making people feel stuff is generally one of the main points of art.

No one said warcraft?
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JE19426 posted...

What a strange statement. Making people feel stuff is generally one of the main points of art.

subjective feelings should come naturally as a byproduct of the art. that's why you can't objectively aim to make people "feel" a certain way.

creating something intentionally to "invoke the feels" is pretentious fishing at best and awards whoring at worst.

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This is why Xenogears will always be the greatest plot in video game history, phenomenal writing

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AsucaHayashi posted...

subjective feelings should come naturally as a byproduct of the art. that's why you can't objectively aim to make people "feel" a certain way.

creating something intentionally to "invoke the feels" is pretentious fishing at best and awards whoring at worst.

You think they should just put random stuff together and hope people get feelings from it at the end?

that's why you can't objectively aim to make people "feel" a certain way.

No, you can objectively ensure people feel certain ways because everyone's life and experience is different, but you can certainly aim to make them feel a certain way.

JE19426 posted...

You think they should just put random stuff together and hope people get feelings from it at the end?

"writing randomly" is apparently the counter to the point i'm making.

JE19426 posted...

but you can certainly aim to make them feel a certain way.

when you're metaphorically suggesting writers to use a shotgun instead of a pistol to hit their target audience, you shouldn't really complain when bystanders are involved in the crossfire and end up criticizing your precious, horrendously written "AAA" games.

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how can you tell if the writing is "good", anyway? like, if a person enjoys a story, it makes them feel what the creator intended, and so forth, then isn't the writing good for that person?

is there some kinda objective scale that allows us to gauge a creative work's quality?

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AsucaHayashi posted...

"writing randomly" is apparently the counter to the point i'm making.

Is it?

when you're metaphorically suggesting writers to use a shotgun instead of a pistol to hit their target audience, you shouldn't really complain when bystanders are involved in the crossfire and end up criticizing your precious, horrendously written "AAA" games.

Good thing I'm not suggesting anyone use a shotgun to target audience, also I'd suggest you don't commit genocide.

g0ldie posted...

like, if a person enjoys a story

job well done on the writer's behalf

g0ldie posted...

it makes them feel what the creator intended

you wouldn't know for sure what the writer intended which is the point, so it's entirely on you to make up your own mind which only adds to the quality of the material. this is why badly written shit stands out so much because you 100% realize what the writer's intention is even before the story is over.

g0ldie posted...

is there some kinda objective scale that allows us to gauge a creative work's quality?

there probably is, but intending to make an audience feel a certain way isn't it.

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g0ldie posted...

is there some kinda objective scale that allows us to gauge a creative work's quality?

No of course not. The vast majority of it is subjectve.

The main reason a lot of people come out against video game writing is that it's pre-handicapped by the very nature of the medium, and how video games for the most part cannot tell stories in the same way books, movies, and TV shows can.

With the player having a greater freedom of how the story progresses and which way it goes, it's nigh impossible to account for things like pacing and linear progression of a narrative.

The more successful stories, in that regard, are the ones that take freedom away from the player.

The even more successful ones are those that fool the player into thinking they had control over the narrative progression when in fact they did not.

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Not one mention of Earthbound? Games could have just stopped existing after that and I think everyone would have been fine with it.

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coh posted...

a few exceptions

Tetris, Pong, Space Invaders.

I will always consider Xenogears the pinnacle of JRPG writing back in the late 90s though some might disagree.

Metal Gear was doing fine, but I do admit it got weird sometimes that could have hurt its complete story.

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The Popo posted...

I want to point out that FF8 was rushed; they cut ALOT of story out just to get the game released in time.

For all we know that strange sequence was probably either lost in translation or their GFs were actually producing it (who knows honestly).

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Agreed. There are a few exceptions like Superstar Saga, Portal, Psychonauts, Rhythm Heaven, A Short Hike, etc

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Im really enjoying Trails in the Sky SC, even though some of it is predictable. I think the writing is pretty good

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AsucaHayashi posted...

subjective feelings should come naturally as a byproduct of the art. that's why you can't objectively aim to make people "feel" a certain way.

creating something intentionally to "invoke the feels" is pretentious fishing at best and awards whoring at worst.

What a silly post

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