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Games' storytelling ability in question

February 17, 2009 in Blog comments 7

Can games tell a great story? If they can, are those stories better or worse than stories from other media? Should they be?

Great narrative requires a conflict, demonstrations of character growth and development and a climax. While conflict is nearly ever present in gaming, character development is often overlooked and climaxes are hit-or-miss.

I really don’t see the medium as being able to weave a tale as complex and profound as The Godfather anywhere in the near future. But it is far more valuable to judge pieces within their media as opposed to comparing to pieces in other media.

Each medium’s capability at carrying a tale has it values and faults. Books are more detailed, but require time to explore their depth. Movies are visual and can be more exciting. Music and poetry require an emotional filter. But can you really say whether the opera Carmen is better then The Great Gatsby or Star Wars?
cornfedgamer via cornfedgamer.wordpress.com »
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  • 0
    nanobyte Feb 18, 09
    I get emotional at most cutscenes because I love watching them. Add some decent music/voice acting and I think games are easily as evocative as films, music, literature etc And what about edge of your seat racing, that's the equivalent of being an adrenaline junkie...
  • 0
    black doom Feb 18, 09
    I have never felt the way I did when playing the part of Twilight Princess where Midna was dying while watching any movie or reading any book.
  • 1
    Play ISDF Feb 18, 09
    I think that telling a story in the form of a game can be more of a challenge then some other mediums, but there are some games out there that have pulled it off and told unbelievably awesome stories that have turned out that much better then a lot of movies and books.
    • 1
      black doom Feb 19, 09
      Mass Effect seems like a pretty cool example of that.
  • 0
    Blaze Feb 19, 09
    I haven't played too many adult games, but SA2B will always stay in my heart.
    • 0
      black doom Feb 20, 09
      That game had a sweet story, brilliantly merging both sides of the plot.
      • 0
        Blaze Feb 20, 09
        Hell yeah, games tell great stories, films tell great stories. Film stories don't lol.

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