Gaming

It’s definitely like that with current day games, barring a special few obviously. I hate that gamers can’t accept when games have dogshit stories but then claim it’s skyrimesque( cough elden ring is complete dog shit story cough)

Games aren't inherently bad at storytelling, it just has to be handled differently than a movie or show. You couldn't make a movie like Outer Wilds or a TV show like The Stanley Parable.

Even something like The Last of Us which has sometimes been derided as a "movie game" takes advantage of the medium by letting you naturally build a relationship with Ellie and explore the setting. You can see that it the show; as good as it is, Ellie and Joel's relationship progression is a little more abrupt simply because it can't be done as slowly and thoroughly as the game can.

I think the answer of this is just "It Depends"

Some Games are very good at story telling and making a compellint narrative

Others are genuinely awful at ir

But thata just like any piece of consumable media, not all of it is good

Games can get away with bad stories because sometimes it’s more about the gameplay. But games in no way inherently have bad storytelling.

Nobody says this.

I disagree completely, games can be far better at storytelling since their story doesn't have to be squeezed into 1 and a half to 3 hours, and being the player yourself you're far more engaged with the plot.

Metal gear solid has to be one of the craziest, most convoluted stories ever and I was 100% down for every moment of that crazy shit. Mgs4 had me crying seeing old snake in the cemetery, knowing full well he was gonna die soon. I can't remember who but think it was Otacon that offered him a cig at the end and he's like "nah, those things will kill you.". Yeah it was Otacon. Had to Google it. Also who can forget the cow things?

I wouldn't remember this shit all these years later if the storytelling was whack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRmc9IPGmiA

I don't think they are bad. They are just slow in telling the story.

I personally think they are. But that's coming from someone who reads books more than i have time to play video games.

At best, stories in video games are very short stories. If you just write down the story, it's not going to take you even an hour to read the whole thing. This doesn't leave you any time to tell a really good story. Games rely on the player to make up the difference in the storytelling through their actions.

Some games do better than others, but they're never going to tell a story as well as an actual novel would be able to tell that same story.

No, people are bad at paying attention. They get all wrapped up in the game, what comes next, what do I do now, etc, that they don't stop and listen. They just have to go go go, and then complain that they don't understand the story. Maybe take time and slow play instead of trying to beat everyone to the end. It's more fun that way.

I don't play games that try to force a huge narrative on you. Those aren't games, they're things created by people who were not good enough to get their story told in traditional media and not good enough to flesh out a decent game in and of itself.

Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not that important.

- John Carmack

In other words, set up the setting of the game and then for the most part, stop telling your story and let the game speak for itself. What a concept.

Idk to me it's kind of like saying "TV series' aren't good at storytelling" because it really depends on what game you're playing. I've played games that I think have fantastic storytelling that ties the whole experience together and I've also played games whose bad storytelling ruined the gameplay. On average, I think most games have at least decent storytelling, but I think it's improved a lot with newer titles.

Most of them. Lore and story are two different things, as are characters.

No, they’re not. Hell, I’ve played games that have better stories than many movies & TV shows.

Yeah, some games don't really nail the storytelling aspect, but what's really getting on my nerves is that most games just stick to the same old formula for telling stories.

Which game are you talking about??

There are tens or hundreds of thousands of games out there. Which ones are you talking about?

I much prefer mechanics driven games and story driven books.

As an avid reader and casual gamer, I have yet to play a game as compelling narratively (gameplay excluded) as a good book. It's not that games can't tell stories well but that they seem limited in what they can (or can't) convey. There's hardly a game, for example, that I find comparable to, say, Don Quixote or even Candide, or the novels of Kafka, Coetzee, Hemingway, Atwood or Huxley (some of my admired authors)... and they are just some bright stars in the vast galaxy of brilliant writers.

Mostly yes, because most of the time it's not the point of the games. You don't need storytelling in 1994 Doom, Civilization IV, Rocket League, and Candy Crush. You do need them in Final Fantasy VII, Planescape: Torment, and The Last of Us.

It depends on whether the developers are focused on storytelling or not. Arguably games like Planescape: Torment and Knights of the Old Republic are better than most novels because it's not just a story that's being told, but the games are also asking you to respond to what's being said, which is borderline impossible on other medium.

Don’t listen to people who don’t play video games talking about video games

Depends on the games and the point of view. It is very subjective.

Slay the Princess has entered the chat

Play life is strange and then come back to me

I like story driven games

Yea. Just go watch Mappa if you wanna be stunned by good storytelling.

I heard from people online about something anecdotal, let’s ask another group of online about their anecdotes.

Outer Wilds has better storytelling than most movies. The witcher 3 and pillars of eternity did an amazing job weaving the lore into the game.

The complete opposite.

Most are. Some aren’t

A good game will show you enough context that you don't need to read up on anything unless you want to. Learning about the world and its lore, science, religion and politics should be integral to story and the player should want to learn more.

This gives players context for moving around the world and motivation for completing objectives.

The exception to the rule is something like Dark Souls, where the context of the world is kept kinda vague so the element of horror and surprise are kept intact.

Games are a great storytelling device if done well.

I'd say on average a highly praised game's story is not as good as a highly praised TV show/movie when you really compare them. Few games use videogames to their strengths for story telling

Total unmitigated bullshit.

I strongly disagree, learning along with the characters gives it a much better perspective in my opinion, I don’t feel left behind and it doesn’t feel unnatural either

Playing devil's advocate a bit, gameplay can sometimes get in the way of storytelling. Most games aim to be "fun" as well as tell a story, but you sometimes see games lean too far one way (You have to win this boss fight in order to get a cutscene that shows you losing), or the other (The game does cutscenes that are way too long with maybe quick time events, or they'll expect you to behave a certain way for the story to work then you dont read the games mind and do what it wants). There IS a challenge to telling stories through video games but thats arguably a result of trying to do more than one thing at the same time. Like imagine doing an action movie filled with explosions and fight scenes, but ALSO try to do a story that makes sense that isnt lost in all the chaos, and also a wellmade love story that is more than just love at first sight; Its hard to do.

Video games are also somewhat unique in that they have a "shortcut" to the player based on game controls and mechanics. You can make a character feel weak by literally taking abilities away from them, or you can make the player physically need to struggle to push an object open or something. Alot of games have used the players desire to see the game through to the end to FORCE them to do morally despicable things, like needing to hit a button in order to beat a character you've grown to love, to death. It can hit people really hard if done right.