Assignment 8 - Once Upon A Time
Video games never had to endure the obligation to add a 'story' before technology advanced so greatly everybody has a console or PC in their home to play games on.
It was a form of entertainment not like films or books - but an interactive 'doing' thing.
I remember The Legend of Zelda's very short overview of the objective of the game during the opening credits informing the player to save the Princess. Then throughout the game there is no more help instead you lived the legend rather than read it.
RPGs have always been story-driven and it will continue to do so. The imagination can run wild when reading a book and you experience verisimilitude when watching a film. So for a video game to stretch the expectations and imaginations of it's audience with a deep and immersive storyline along with excellent gameplay is nothing short of brilliance.
However that's not to say a great plot makes a good game. Terrible mechanics can lead to a very sloppy and unappreciated game. Konami's Zone of the Enders suffered this fate. Directed and written by Hideo Kojima (the man behind Metal Gear Solid...can I get through one blog without mentioning this game? I think not) Zone of the Enders brought mech-anime to video games with a compelling plot involving a young boy sharing and eventually 'teaching' emotions to a heartless artificial intelligence unit inside of a giant mechanical tool of war.
The game is considered a let down due it's short length and lack of variety in gameplay.
The premise is simple: travel to the directed location, destroy a bunch of mechs, defeat a boss and sit back and watch the realtime cut-scenes unfold the plot. The lack of variety ruined the games chances of being hailed as great as Kojima's other work and falls flat on it's face when compared to MGS.
Sports titles, EA's most successful franchises, still sell incredible numbers even though they lack any depth to them beyond the competition and 'beat your opponent' game play.
Story telling is dependent on the genre of game you're selling and inevitably like all things: your target audience.
As I have previously stated: console RPGs thrive on their story depth and incredible twists and turns, although an online MMORPG doesn't necessarily need that same element as it could possibly break the fluidity of the game play and many gamers do not want to be sitting through CG cutscenes while others go on ahead of them. Whereas in the comfort of isolation you can sit through hours of FMVs absorbing the plot with no reason to skip ahead to get to the fighting.
A story is what you make it. It's an experience retold. You can tell a story about a game you played last night online. WoW, Guild Wars, Second Life, and most other online games do not NEED an already present story to push the player further. Game play and the experience of playing with others creates that 'need to carry on'. You can invent your own story in your own world when playing such games.
In gaming, a story is an experience relived. Whether it be the hundredth time you reveal Cloud's secret in FFVII or it be the millionth time you played a Team Death Match on Metal Gear Online and you told your coursemate about how you succeeded the next day. Storytelling is what you make it. Since gaming is such an interactive medium of entertainment it's not always necessary for the game itself to create that entertainment for you; YOU do.
It was a form of entertainment not like films or books - but an interactive 'doing' thing.
I remember The Legend of Zelda's very short overview of the objective of the game during the opening credits informing the player to save the Princess. Then throughout the game there is no more help instead you lived the legend rather than read it.
RPGs have always been story-driven and it will continue to do so. The imagination can run wild when reading a book and you experience verisimilitude when watching a film. So for a video game to stretch the expectations and imaginations of it's audience with a deep and immersive storyline along with excellent gameplay is nothing short of brilliance.
However that's not to say a great plot makes a good game. Terrible mechanics can lead to a very sloppy and unappreciated game. Konami's Zone of the Enders suffered this fate. Directed and written by Hideo Kojima (the man behind Metal Gear Solid...can I get through one blog without mentioning this game? I think not) Zone of the Enders brought mech-anime to video games with a compelling plot involving a young boy sharing and eventually 'teaching' emotions to a heartless artificial intelligence unit inside of a giant mechanical tool of war.
The game is considered a let down due it's short length and lack of variety in gameplay.
The premise is simple: travel to the directed location, destroy a bunch of mechs, defeat a boss and sit back and watch the realtime cut-scenes unfold the plot. The lack of variety ruined the games chances of being hailed as great as Kojima's other work and falls flat on it's face when compared to MGS.
Sports titles, EA's most successful franchises, still sell incredible numbers even though they lack any depth to them beyond the competition and 'beat your opponent' game play.
Story telling is dependent on the genre of game you're selling and inevitably like all things: your target audience.
As I have previously stated: console RPGs thrive on their story depth and incredible twists and turns, although an online MMORPG doesn't necessarily need that same element as it could possibly break the fluidity of the game play and many gamers do not want to be sitting through CG cutscenes while others go on ahead of them. Whereas in the comfort of isolation you can sit through hours of FMVs absorbing the plot with no reason to skip ahead to get to the fighting.
A story is what you make it. It's an experience retold. You can tell a story about a game you played last night online. WoW, Guild Wars, Second Life, and most other online games do not NEED an already present story to push the player further. Game play and the experience of playing with others creates that 'need to carry on'. You can invent your own story in your own world when playing such games.
In gaming, a story is an experience relived. Whether it be the hundredth time you reveal Cloud's secret in FFVII or it be the millionth time you played a Team Death Match on Metal Gear Online and you told your coursemate about how you succeeded the next day. Storytelling is what you make it. Since gaming is such an interactive medium of entertainment it's not always necessary for the game itself to create that entertainment for you; YOU do.
posted by The Horror @ 6:48 pm
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