Video Games...Discuss Them

[Amnesiac]

Yeah, I decided to try Gears 2 out. It's been pretty fun so far. I'm at the run-down facility/warehouse/whatever where that "semisentient" security system, Niles, is talking to you and you're shutting down all the security lasers.

Going inside that giant worm was pretty neat. I haven't seen that sort of idea explored in a game since Lord Jabu Jabu back in Ocarina of Time (one of the better parts of that game).

[megladon8]

I never heard what that "huge game announcement" for the Wii was (the one that's supposed to be coming out later this year), and now I can't find anything on it.

Anyone read anything more about what that is?

[Sycophant]

With E3 a month away, I'd expect you've got at least four weeks to go before you hear much more about whatever this announcement is supposed to be.

Meanwhile, I preordered Muramasa: The Demon Blade today.

Hoping I pick up the pace on Odin Sphere soon. But BSG keeps eating my evenings.

But Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is awesome. I don't know how long the game's going to end up being, but I'd wager I'm about a third to halfway done with it. This game does atmosphere very well.

[megladon8]

Ah, for some reason I thought the announcement was 6 days away, so I thought it was out already.

And yeah, "Symphony of the Night" is a great game.

[Morris Schæffer]

http://www.gamersyde.com/stream_10658_en.html

An incredible boss battle from Capcom's Lost Planet 2.

I recall playing the demo for Lost Planet eons ago and thinking it was insanely astounding. Then the reviews came and for some reason decided to skip it.

Is there a consensus on that one here?

[Dukefrukem]

Lost planet sucked. The story made zero sense and there was no point in caring about the characters. I suspect they realized the mistakes they made and improved on the 2nd game.

[Morris Schæffer]

Lost planet sucked. The story made zero sense and there was no point in caring about the characters. I suspect they realized the mistakes they made and improved on the 2nd game.

Does anybody really ever care about videogame characters? In Gears of War 2? In Call of Duty 4? in GTA IV?

But yeah, I heard about the wobbly story.

[Ezee E]

Does anybody really ever care about videogame characters? In Gears of War 2? In Call of Duty 4? in GTA IV?

But yeah, I heard about the wobbly story.

I would like to care about them. Fallout 3 had some interesting characters such as the cyborg on the run, and the child that you rescue from the scorpions. Final Fantasy kept me playing for hours because I wanted to see where the story went (unfortunatly, I'd get frustrated by not saving; dying; and never playing again).

So, yes, character development has its advantages in video games.

[Sycophant]

I want more games that make me cry. Should be possible.

[Morris Schæffer]

So, yes, character development has its advantages in video games.

Oh no doubt. And developers should keep trying!

[D_Davis]

I want more games that make me cry. Should be possible.

The Countdown to Tears

"Countdown to Tears"

Five years ago, prophecies by Steven Spielberg and EALA's Neil Young charted a course of new, untold emotional resonance, and the future of video games was irrevocably changed. As Game Developers Conference 2009 approaches, the clock ticks ever closer to the video game singularity: Prepare for the countdown to tears.

Neil Young - Can Games Make You Cry?

[monolith94]

Does anybody really ever care about videogame characters?

Ummm... yes?

For example, in Myth 2, if you survived a map, all of your surviving warriors went on to the next map with you, leading them to become more experienced over time. You really start to care about your soldiers if you can't simply replace them with just-as-good clones.

[D_Davis]

Ummm... yes?

For example, in Myth 2, if you survived a map, all of your surviving warriors went on to the next map with you, leading them to become more experienced over time. You really start to care about your soldiers if you can't simply replace them with just-as-good clones.

But is this you caring about the characters, as in their personalities, their arcs, their desires (like you would in a book or movie), or is this you caring about the system in which they operate - if they die it makes the game harder for you because you have to build up other pieces.

It's like chess. Do you care about losing the Queen because she is a queen, a married woman, important to the kingdom, or because she is a piece with great offensive capabilities?

[bac0n]

When I was building up my character in the MMO City of Heroes, I had a tremendous amount of time invested in him by the time I stopped playing - many hundreds of hours worth of leveling, tweaking, filling in backstory, rounding out his powerbase, so you're damned right I cared about him.

[D_Davis]

When I was building up my character in the MMO City of Heroes, I had a tremendous amount of time invested in him by the time I stopped playing - many hundreds of hours worth of leveling, tweaking, filling in backstory, rounding out his powerbase, so you're damned right I cared about him.

MMOs offer up a very different set of experiences and circumstances because of the time investment and the social aspect.

Did you care more about your time investment, gear, and lelves, or the meta-story you built up around your character?

Did you ever actually role-play as the character, or did you just play the game as you using your character only as a visual avatar?

[Sycophant]

But is this you caring about the characters, as in their personalities, their arcs, their desires (like you would in a book or movie), or is this you caring about the system in which they operate - if they die it makes the game harder for you because you have to build up other pieces.

I can't speak for Myth 2, but it seems to me that having a mixture of both "traditional" narrative elements connecting the player to the character and impacting the way the game is played is the best way to establish an emotional connection with the player.

Actually, I've played quite a few JRPGs that do this well, particularly Persona 3 and Persona 4.

[monolith94]

But is this you caring about the characters, as in their personalities, their arcs, their desires (like you would in a book or movie), or is this you caring about the system in which they operate - if they die it makes the game harder for you because you have to build up other pieces.

It's like chess. Do you care about losing the Queen because she is a queen, a married woman, important to the kingdom, or because she is a piece with great offensive capabilities?

I think it's a little bit of both. First of all, the units in Myth 2 are given names, which is remarkably different than most RTS games. In addition, the inter-level storytelling, which tells the tale of the army and its leader and the people they meet from level to level, supports the care you come to feel for your men. The two spheres, interactive game-play and passive story-watching, build upon each other. Making Myth 2 one of the best games ever made, but now I digress.

[monolith94]

Also, I checked out the trailer for final fantasy 13's gameplay, and I just have one question...

Where's the fantasy?

[Ezee E]

We are getting into the aspect of video games that is the main weakness when people discuss the idea of video games as the next wave of storytelling.

[monolith94]

Did I cry in Myth 2? No, of course not. But you don't have to cry to care, and you don't have to cry to be moved.

[bac0n]

MMOs offer up a very different set of experiences and circumstances because of the time investment and the social aspect.

This is true. It is not uncommon for people to continue playing a particular MMO for years at a time. Just take a look at WoW - there are people with 4+ years worth of time invested in that game. I played CoH for a mere three months, and managed to get a single guy up to about level 35. In this time it was not uncommon for me to run across people who had been playing on a regular basis for over 2 years and were working on their 3rd, 4th or even 5th characters, having maxed out all their previous ones (level 50 in the case of CoH).

Did you care more about your time investment, gear, and lelves, or the meta-story you built up around your character?

I would say about an even split, understanding that leveling was a means to an end, that end being getting more powers/abilities which add more dimension to the character and avail one of more epic, challenging missions - which themselves add to the sort of meta-story of the character. So, now that I talk it out, I guess the latter is true.

Did you ever actually role-play as the character, or did you just play the game as you using your character only as a visual avatar?

I gave the old college try, but some times the nature of the character, and playing to that nature, detracted from the experience.

My guy was slow, plodding, methodical, kind of like The Juggernaut from comics. He would lumber straight forward, head first, into the line of fire, telling everyone on his team to get behind him, never in a hurry to get anywhere as a result. To this end, I at first decided to have him walk, not run, at all times - which quickly grew tiresome, as the City of Heroes world is HUGE - it could take you up to 15 minutes to get from point A to point B, and that's if you knew all the shortcuts and had some sort of travel power. So, I rapidly found myself ditching that idea, running until I acquired super jump, and from there, jumping all the hell over the place, cuz I didn't want to blow hours traveling between missions.

And as far as role-playing goes, I generally did - and was usually the only one doing so. But oh well - whatever floats your boat.

[Dukefrukem]

Does anybody really ever care about videogame characters?

Yes.

Play Uncharted. The most likable hero in recent memory. It's pretty much Nathan Fillion in a video game. Exact same look and humor to him.

I can't fucking wait for the sequel.

[megladon8]

I've never actively cared for a video game character, really. Actually, I cared for the dog in "Fallout 3", but that's because he was a dog, and I love dogs more than most people.

I think my biggest problem with video game stories is that because of their linear nature, even the most epic RPG feels like I'm just being told a story, and my avatar is one of the characters in this predetermined narrative. I don't really have any power over the outcome of the game, because it has to end in the way (or one of the ways) that the writers/programmers put on the game.

With sandbox gaming and stuff like "Fallout 3" to use that example once again, we're starting to enter new territory, and I guess that's part of why I find games like this so exciting.

But I've always found that RPG's have very little role-playing involved (particularly in JRPG's) because you're playing through the story the way it was all intended to be played. There's very little impactful decision-making on the player's part, because in the end you're going from point A to point B in a pre-written story.

But I'll say again what I said in Thirdmango's thread - gameplay is king. I don't care how great a game's story is if I'm not having fun playing it.

[Scar]

[Dukefrukem]

God I loved Aeris and Cloud.