I guess I am not a typical gamer. (rant about games)

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

And calling people who like Halo fanboys just means you haven't taken the time to understand why they like it.

But you see GamesB2 and Funkiest Monkey, I have played Halo/Halo 2/Halo 3, and the only thing that was 'enjoyable' was the multiplayer. And whenever I talk to anyone about how much I dislike, sorry, hate Halo, they say that 'Halo is about the multiplayer'. Well what the hell. When I pick up a game, I would like to have a good experience with a structured story and meaningful characters. I really didn't receive that on single player. Yes multiplayer was amazing, but this post is about a singular experience.

But you non't need to rant about people who do like it.

You are saying they are wrong for liking Halo and you are right for like MGS.

Accept that some people have different opinions than you and stop putting people down for a liking a popular franchise.

 

[FinalHeart95]

I couldn't help but read the OP in an old man voice. It started happening when you said how much better old games are probably.

Anyway, you don't need some deep involving plot to have a great game. You say your favorite games are from the SNES era, yet they probably have less plot as a whole than modern games. Could you explain to me the deep plot behind games like Super Mario World and Turtles in Time? No. Are they good games? HELL YES. Story isn't everything, and, to be honest, gameplay takes precedence over it.
Halo is great by the way. Are they my favorite games of all time? Well... no. But they're great games. I still have a blast in Halo 3 custom games, or even just playing some co-op with friends. FFVII was a great game as well, although not "GRATIST GAM EVAR" status. FFVI was better, but FFVII was by no means bad, it's still one of the better games of the series.

Although the last paragraph was just opinions, so I can't really argue that, I suppose.

 

[old account]

And calling people who like Halo fanboys just means you haven't taken the time to understand why they like it.

But you see GamesB2 and Funkiest Monkey, I have played Halo/Halo 2/Halo 3, and the only thing that was 'enjoyable' was the multiplayer. And whenever I talk to anyone about how much I dislike, sorry, hate Halo, they say that 'Halo is about the multiplayer'. Well what the hell. When I pick up a game, I would like to have a good experience with a structured story and meaningful characters. I really didn't receive that on single player. Yes multiplayer was amazing, but this post is about a singular experience.

But you non't need to rant about people who do like it.

You are saying they are wrong for liking Halo and you are right for like MGS.

Accept that some people have different opinions than you and stop putting people down for a liking a popular franchise.

But I'm not really attacking anyone, and I'm not saying that I'm better because I like MGS, I'm just saying that if Bungie would have put some time in developing a story, in my opinion Halo could have been a great game without the 'need' for a multiplayer option instead of having the multiplayer make the game. You see I'm one of those indie guys who love to drown myself in story and history, and it made me sad when Bungie, a group a college kids made a game with the bare amount of anything besides explosive mechanics. I just would have thought it would have been better.

 

[Mr. Google]

Look: Games, just like movies, are made to entertain. Not everyone always wants moving plot to be entertained everytime. Sometimes I'm playing for only 20 minutes. I don't want to have this heavy, deep story weighed on my in 20 minutes. I just want to play for fun.

Take movies: Some movies I love, but wouldn't watch on a whim. Like Schindler's List.
Amazing movie. Always moves me to tears at the end.

But if I have a lazy Saturday afternoon where I feel like watching a movie, I'm not going to put that in. Why? Because it's really heavy (Is there a problem with the gravity in your time?? - Cookie for reference). I want to watch a movie to kill time, not blubber my way to the end. So what do I put in? Something fun: Kung Pow, Zoolander, Shoot 'em Up, The Transporter. None of those movies are 'good', really. They all have bad acting, terrible, if not cliched stories, and don't really 'advance' film as a medium.

And guess what? That's ok. I just want to kill a few hours.

Games are the same way.
There are absolutely games that push stories and ideas better then others. Red Dead Redemption had an excellent story, Mass Effect's characters are great, Heavy Rain push storytelling in the gaming medium, and, of course, the beloved Half-Life series!

But those games, and the others that I'm sure I missed, don't diminish games like Halo or MW2. I still play and love those games too! Because I don't always want to get into a complicated dialog tree with moving plot devices. Sometimes I just want to have fun. And those games are fun.

And, for the record, there are more then enough 'crappy' games with crappy plots from the SNES era.
That era of gaming was no better then this one is.

100% this!

 

[old account]

i agree with most of that but you get depressed over video games? thats like getting depressed that snakes and ladders has fewer ladders and more snakes

OMG! I had to pull out my out bored game to check this. hahahahahaha

 

[old account]

Try Assassins Creed 2, Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age

AC2- played
Mass Effect - have not played
Dragon Age - played
And I've been getting so so so many messages from everyone telling me to play Portal. Come on guys, really? You all think I haven't played that game yet. I'm just waiting for Portal 2 this November.

And Vodka Dude, Dragon Age was amazing. I'm a D&D player, and I love how many adventure rpg games are allowing you to pick your choice of actions. They have improved since the old computer Star Wars games haha

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

But I'm not really attacking anyone, and I'm not saying that I'm better because I like MGS, I'm just saying that if Bungie would have put some time in developing a story, in my opinion Halo could have been a great game without the 'need' for a multiplayer option instead of having the multiplayer make the game. You see I'm one of those indie guys who love to drown myself in story and history, and it made me sad when Bungie, a group a college kids made a game with the bare amount of anything besides explosive mechanics. I just would have thought it would have been better.

You just did it again right there. Attacking Bungie. They made great games and a huge amount of backstory and media and you call them college kids.

Stop putting other people down and acting so superior. I love story too, I freaking loved Metro 2033 and the book, I also love everything Warhammer 40,000 because of the immense amount of detail put into it. Halo has a huge backstory in books and comics. If you don't like it fine just don't act so superior because you don't like it.

 

[Hyper-space]

snip

Your probably the most common gamer archetype in modern gaming communities. Congrats.

Listen, not every game NEEDS a complex and layered story: f.x. Super Mario Brothers, Doom, Quake, Zelda, Portal, Pac-man e.c.t. The most popular video games of every generation has always been simple and straightforward with a VERY basic story, sometimes none at all.

The importance of story versus the importance of game-play or visuals is entirely subjective.

 

[old account]

But I'm not really attacking anyone, and I'm not saying that I'm better because I like MGS, I'm just saying that if Bungie would have put some time in developing a story, in my opinion Halo could have been a great game without the 'need' for a multiplayer option instead of having the multiplayer make the game. You see I'm one of those indie guys who love to drown myself in story and history, and it made me sad when Bungie, a group a college kids made a game with the bare amount of anything besides explosive mechanics. I just would have thought it would have been better.

You just did it again right there. Attacking Bungie. They made great games and a huge amount of backstory and media and you call them college kids.

Stop putting other people down and acting so superior. I love story too, I freaking loved Metro 2033 and the book, I also love everything Warhammer 40,000 because of the immense amount of detail put into it. Halo has a huge backstory in books and comics. If you don't like it fine just don't act so superior because you don't like it.

xD I didn't mean college kids in a bad way, what I meant by that was that they are the similar age as me, so I thought they would bring this indie vibe to the industry, but they just made another mainstream game, which is fine, just not what I was wishing for.
And yes, Anything Game Workshop did was with full detail. Warhammer Fantasy and 40k are just remarkable. I once just sat down to read the books for back story and was just amazed.

 

[4484448444844484]

Sounds like someone hasn't played the Half-Life series.

Well, what is Gordon Freeman? He doesn't say a single fucking word. He's just a scientist that gets roped into this thing, he has a suit and a crowbar, and that's it.

I have played Half-Life GIJames, and Funkiest Monkey, I'm sad to say you are right. Gordon Freeman is just a scientist that for some out of dialogue explained reason starts arming himself with automatic weapons and starts going postal in this workplace (do note that his workplace has been invaded by extra dimensional beings).
It really bothers me when I think of that. Why the hell does a scientist start shooting at these monsters rather then... I don't know, escape. But the development there I guess is that he needed to get out alive, and that meant for him to use force (even when the army started to close in on the facility).

snip

I was actually referring to the other plot points, not necessarily the main character, which are IMO very well thought out and implemented (at least as soon as HL2 starts.) I can see your point though; I agree that Gordon Freeman not talking doesn't help the game's case much.

 

[Wolfram23]

There's a lot of shit coming out. Yep, we knew that. Ever see Wii game lists??

There's also a lot of games with the graphics and the story. I'm sure some people will disagree, but for example STALKER: Call of Pripyat is a great RPG/FPS. BioShock is well renoun for story and plot elements. Metro 2033 I thought was pretty stellar. Cryostasis was doing something rather unique in its story telling and gameplay.

Demon's Souls is a fantastic RPG, a very sublime story which is told more through experience than any real story elements. It's also an extremely difficult game and has an interesting death mechanic - you can play as a phantom.

 

[spartan231490]

sorry to say, i only read about 3/4 of your post, it's too long. and i have re-read 4000page plus fantasy book series. On topic: I agree with you about graphics, they are irrelavant, and i do enjoy good plots. But i can enjoy playing a game with fun gameplay and no plot(pick ur fps) but i cannot enjoy playing a game with a good plot and shitty gameplay. in short: gameplay>plot>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>graphics.

 

[old account]

There's a lot of shit coming out. Yep, we knew that. Ever see Wii game lists??
.

Actually, the reason I bought the Wii was for 'The Last Story'. Can't wait for that to come out!

 

[spartan231490]

the reason i bought the wii, oh wait, i respect myself enough not to buy into a cheap gimmick./sarchasm anyway, just joking, but seriously, i agree with yahtzee on the subject of motion control, it's going the wrong direction. we need to controll our characters with smaller more efficient motions to reduce the gap between thought and on-screen action. The wii does the opposite, forcing you to exagerate your motions so the machine reads your movement, and then you pray it read your motion correctly.

 

[Crops]

I used to think a lot like you. Then I started thinking some more, and went back to the older days to find that games really weren't that much better back then.

-Graphics vs. Gameplay vs. Plot; yes, gameplay/plot are important factors in a game.
But honestly, I won't buy a new-gen game for full retail price if I think it looks bad.
My standards aren't very high, but I won't accept 64-bit graphics on my HD consoles, a good experience excuses a lot, but not everything. Might be hypocrisy, but that's just the way it works for a lot of people.
As for plot vs. gameplay, I think others have said it well enough. A good plot does not excuse bad gameplay. I like games with a strong -and preferably surprising and original- plot, but if they're no fun to play, I'll go read a book.

-Storyline; These are (generally) much better now than they were in the SNES days. Sure FFVI has a better storyline than Halo, but that can be expected from comparing a story-based genre to an action-based genre.
Modern-day shooters have more story and gameplay elements than they did during the SNES days. Even if -Like me- you don't like the direction they've taken gameplay-wise, it's hardly fair to say the games have gotten worse than 15 years ago.
One hero to save the universe isn't really something new. Mario got killed plenty of times before defeating Bowser, Robotnik probably won the fight more often than Sonic did, and the Game Over screen in any classic Final Fantasy has been seen a lot more than the end credits.

-I'll skip the FFVII rant. I'm not a big fan of the game myself, but that's all up to personal preference really.

-Old vs. New; Personally, I don't think games have really gotten that much worse. We just tend to remember/replay only the good games from our childhood, turning them into a more glorious memory than they really deserve.
Comparing the average games from those days to the average games of today will probably show that games have gotten a lot better. Of course there are some gems from back then that are hard to beat in whatever they were best at, but that doesn't mean everything was better.

Apart from that, people grow older, and after playing a lot more games we've become a lot more demanding than we once were. When you were young, you probably liked children's books a lot more than you do now. Doesn't mean modern books suck, it means you have different needs and demands than you did 15 years ago.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

And breathe, OP!

You're proposing that a game needs plot to be great? I'd say that depends. RPGs need plot, they're story driven right from the word go and I'll support you 110% on that score. But FPS games don't need plot - it's nice if they have it, CoD4 proved that - but it's by no means necessary as the original Doom proved - there's hellspawn, keep shooting 'til you die. And as far as driving games go? If I played a driving game that even attempted to have a plot I'd throw it out of the window for it's sheer arrogance - plot has no place in the world of racing (regardless of what Ferrari think).

Just like there should be a balance between graphics and gameplay, so should there be a balance between plot and pace. If the pace of a game is too fast, gamers won't want the constant interruptions of cutscenes slowing their adrenaline buzz. If the game is too slow, it'll need a really robust plot to keep gamers interested.

I agree with you that not enough games focus on storylines these days (or at least believable ones, MW2!), but bear in mind that too much story and not enough game is just as bad, if not worse.

this. he might just get a hernia via the internet...


OT: so...you complain about the realism of obviously non realistic games in any sense?

halo was not meant to be real. at all. so being the "demon" as the covenant puts it, is perfectly acceptable, and its an fps that THE GAMES are not meant to be super deep in, now the halo universe as a whole, is incredibly deep and interesting, the books are amonsgt my favorites, but anyways getting offtrack, the games, are meant for some random balanced multiplayer mostly, the single player has good co op, but the single player actual aspect of it..is not the most amazing and deep, i will highly agree to that, but its not meant to be either. so please stop complaining to and about hte fanboys on that, they dont rave about that..at least the ones that i have seen.

i personally, love stories and character development in games more than anything and anyone. but i know for a fact that games dont NEED IT To be awesome, such as left 4 dead and team fortress 2, both a hoot but they have shite for stories and whatnot.

now i do agree that graphics should be toned down for now. we have more than good enough graphics these days and we dont need to keep pumping money and time into them over money that goes into possible story or puzzle mechanics.