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Does any game have a story that you’d put up next to the greats in other media (film, books, tv, etc.)?
- Thread starter ToddBonzalez
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I didn't know about this, just looked this up. How I have never heard of this baffles me, but I'll watch this tonight.
Thank you so much for bringing it to my attention! :D
Gaming is at a disadvantage here because most genres require some sort of padding for gameplay purposes, and that's going to negatively impact story. To answer the question, I'm going to say No, but I understand why and I'm not going to fault games for that. I don't think it's something that most games can easily overcome, it's more complicated than just writing a better story.
Mass Effect. is for ne on a level like Star Trek... The Lore is amazing... I would liove to watch a Mass Effect TV Series
I think games can be on par with movies and perhaps some already are, but the story telling is structurally quite different, direct comparisons difficult. In games, the story telling can result from the player's own exploration of an interactive environment, and there's not really an equivalent experience in movies. On the book side, I don't think games can compare to novels, but perhaps to short story anthologies and comic books.
I think the bigger divide is simply quality of writing. While there are standouts, most games with any story haven't graduated from pulp at best.
I think the bigger divide is simply quality of writing. While there are standouts, most games with any story haven't graduated from pulp at best.
The Wind Up Bird Chronicles would absolutely work in the medium as a point and click adventure game.
Many, however I will just stick to a few favourites.
1. Prince of Persia:Sands of Time
2. Star Wars: Knights of the old republic
3.Final Fantasy VI
4. Horizon Zero Dawn
5. Mirrors Edge
6. Batman Arkham City
7. Tales of the Borderlands
There are many other honerable mentions. You also see the reverse where films start to take more influence from games IE Fast and Furious 7 directly paying homage to Uncharted 2s opening, Star Wars TFA lifting a scene almost directly out of KOTOR ect
1. Prince of Persia:Sands of Time
2. Star Wars: Knights of the old republic
3.Final Fantasy VI
4. Horizon Zero Dawn
5. Mirrors Edge
6. Batman Arkham City
7. Tales of the Borderlands
There are many other honerable mentions. You also see the reverse where films start to take more influence from games IE Fast and Furious 7 directly paying homage to Uncharted 2s opening, Star Wars TFA lifting a scene almost directly out of KOTOR ect
its hard to put them head to head. A film, TV show or novel is a story being told me as a reader, I am simply along for the ride (in most cases)
Some of the older Bioware stuff holds up pretty well. The original Mass Effect had a great story even if they ran it into the ground in the next installments. The KOTOR games are far better Star Wars stories than any of the modern movies (I know one was from Obsidian) and Baldur's Gate was a pretty epic fantasy tale.
Does it really matter? Games, books, television and films all tell and prioritise their stories in different ways that I generally don't find comparing any of them very helpful.
Ben Hur is Pretty comparable to a standard Assasins Creed plot all things considered
The overall Soulsborne narrative is freaking incredible. I'd rank that leagues above most other narrative driven games. It's the only thing that has ever scratched the Book of the New Sun itch other than rereading Book of the New Sun for the umpteenth time.
Other than that, Vagrant Story has an amazing narrative with some of the best cutscene direction in any game. It really stretches the limited options available to the engine to create a really cinematic and compelling experience.
I think The Last of Us and RDR/2 have great stories, though I don't 100% know if I'd put them up there with "the greats". They are certainly good, though!
Silent Hill 2 and Shadow of the Colossus are very literary and playlike, I enjoy those as well. Same with Pathologic and The Void.
Other than that, Vagrant Story has an amazing narrative with some of the best cutscene direction in any game. It really stretches the limited options available to the engine to create a really cinematic and compelling experience.
I think The Last of Us and RDR/2 have great stories, though I don't 100% know if I'd put them up there with "the greats". They are certainly good, though!
Silent Hill 2 and Shadow of the Colossus are very literary and playlike, I enjoy those as well. Same with Pathologic and The Void.
Up there with the actual best? Absolutely not.
I would say Shadow of the Colossus is up there with some of the Neil Gaiman/Guillermo del Toro fairy-tale-metafiction sort of stuff, and that Silent Hill 2 is better than some things David Lynch has done, but those are just things that I *like* and not really the top echelon of storytelling of all time.
Then again, movies are pretty much categorically worse than novels are at pure storytelling too, and they've got other strengths to make up for that.
I would say Shadow of the Colossus is up there with some of the Neil Gaiman/Guillermo del Toro fairy-tale-metafiction sort of stuff, and that Silent Hill 2 is better than some things David Lynch has done, but those are just things that I *like* and not really the top echelon of storytelling of all time.
Then again, movies are pretty much categorically worse than novels are at pure storytelling too, and they've got other strengths to make up for that.
Does any video game story compare to the best movies, books or TV stories? No, absolutely not.
Are there stories that are competitive with books, TV and film despite not reaching top literary heights? Absolutely. Suikoden II is a great example. The Witcher 3 is another one. They may not be competitive with literary masterpieces but that doesn't mean their stories are bad.
Are there stories that are competitive with books, TV and film despite not reaching top literary heights? Absolutely. Suikoden II is a great example. The Witcher 3 is another one. They may not be competitive with literary masterpieces but that doesn't mean their stories are bad.
RDR2 is among the finest westerns ever created and stands at the top with the best film has to offer.
Oh you're this guy https://www.resetera.com/threads/wh...-is-a-guaranteed-to-have-massive-sales.75188/
I think in this instance you're wrong as well.
Oh you're this guy https://www.resetera.com/threads/wh...-is-a-guaranteed-to-have-massive-sales.75188/
I think in this instance you're wrong as well.
I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy and I would hold these games up as comparable to many of the genre greats:
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (which it manages to tell without words), Horizon: Zero Dawn, God of War (recent), What Remains of Edith Fitch, Mass Effect Trilogy (sure the ending, but 99% of the rest was awesome), Witcher 3, and KOTOR, Chrono Trigger, The Gardens Between, and Lost Odyssey.
Most games you can almost see where the narrative gets shuffled to the back for a mechanics or cropped due to time to polish other aspects, or were shoe horned in to explain an objective regardless if it didn't match up with the established character/s. Very few do story well and often it's they do it 'good for a video game'. Those I mention not only do it well but blend so well with the interactive portions that instead of feeling like they're competing for the player's attention or merely existing in service to the other, that it shows off what a unique story telling method games can be.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (which it manages to tell without words), Horizon: Zero Dawn, God of War (recent), What Remains of Edith Fitch, Mass Effect Trilogy (sure the ending, but 99% of the rest was awesome), Witcher 3, and KOTOR, Chrono Trigger, The Gardens Between, and Lost Odyssey.
Most games you can almost see where the narrative gets shuffled to the back for a mechanics or cropped due to time to polish other aspects, or were shoe horned in to explain an objective regardless if it didn't match up with the established character/s. Very few do story well and often it's they do it 'good for a video game'. Those I mention not only do it well but blend so well with the interactive portions that instead of feeling like they're competing for the player's attention or merely existing in service to the other, that it shows off what a unique story telling method games can be.
Bioshock. Not in terms of just the story, but in the overall experience. No other game to this day (or before it) told a story that was unique to the medium of video games like Bioshock did. Everything from the story, the gameplay, the lore, the setting - all of it together with what that game was meant to express resulted in a really amazing package.
I remember when I finished it, I had that feeling of wanting everyone to experience it - same way I've felt after reading certain books, seeing certain movies, listening to certain albums, etc.
I remember when I finished it, I had that feeling of wanting everyone to experience it - same way I've felt after reading certain books, seeing certain movies, listening to certain albums, etc.
At least someone gets it.
Most movies' stories are utter crap compared to the best literature has to offer. What does that tell us about movies' ability to tell stories?
There are a number of video games out there which have great stories, either because they are deep and well written as such, or because they are a great complement to the "game part" in providing context and motivation even though, taken as is, they may not be interesting/original stories. There are quite a number of games which fall into the latter and I don't see on which ground you could say "but if you take away the game part, strictly the story part isn't good". This makes no sense.
If you remove the screenplay, many movies are utter crap. Who would have guessed?
And I won't even mention all that could be said about the emergent narratives many games allow which is often disregarded unconsciously even though that's undoubtedly a fair deal of the game story the player experienced. The game "story" isn't necessarily limited to what the writer(s) directly intended, like you can always find subtexts in stories which the author didn't even consider.
This isn't really a fair comparison. Comparing the story in a game to the story in a book. That's all a book is. That's just a small part of a game. I think when you take every part of a game together it can easily surpass a book. But just the story itself? Nah, at least not yet. Same with a movies. The interactive nature of games has to be taken into account.
I thought Quantum Break had a really solid time travel story but it was just spread between in-game cutscenes, live-action TV episodes, and scattered lore collectibles.
+1 for Xenosaga. Xenogears also.
I'd also throw in Yakuza, I find the cut scenes as well directed as most crime shows/movies.
Nier Automata for the way the story and gameplay are constantly messing with audience expectations.
Plenty of golden age ps1 JRPGs.
Not necessarily on the level of great literature or film, but I'd argue to some players they are just as important or more.
Xenogears >>>>>>>>> Ulysses
I'd also throw in Yakuza, I find the cut scenes as well directed as most crime shows/movies.
Nier Automata for the way the story and gameplay are constantly messing with audience expectations.
Plenty of golden age ps1 JRPGs.
Not necessarily on the level of great literature or film, but I'd argue to some players they are just as important or more.
Xenogears >>>>>>>>> Ulysses
All my favorite movies' plots involve the protagonist running around in circles wondering where to go next for large periods of time.
Couldn't transplant a games story to the screen without changes regardless of how good it is anyway so kinda moot. Like something such as spec ops wouldn't work the way it is in game on the screen because it hinges on "you" doing the stuff for the adaption to work.
I know it's based on heart of darkness but that adaption only works in a game, for a movie you'd need to go along the lines of apocalypse now.
I know it's based on heart of darkness but that adaption only works in a game, for a movie you'd need to go along the lines of apocalypse now.
