Should every fantasy RPG be based on (good) books?

[Irmekroache]

Look at Bethesda, those guys that created Oblivion. They were obviously lacking good writers, and look exactly where Oblivion ended up; Generic, boring, and totally uncreative.

Now looks at Gothic 3 (whose game-world was based on a book), I played the demo, and even though it was a demo, I was totally absorbed, my imagination and curiosity was caught when I first saw the world. Something that oblivion definitely couldn't do. Basing the game on the works of a good writer definitely helps make a good game.

So should we see more of this stuff in the future?

 

[TomNook]

A company could hire some good writers.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

I don't think novels convert well into games. Hell, only games can be games. Designers just need to hire writers.

 

[Amnestic]

A company could hire some good writers.

BLASPHEMY!

 

[Fanboy]

I really couldn't stand the Witcher, and that was based on a book. I don't think it matters.

 

[klakkat]

While I agree a skilled writer needs to be involved for any good RPG project, I don't think they need to work with pre-existing material. There should be enough creativity to write the story from scratch; this also has the advantage of the developers completely controlling rights to that setting, etc.

Of course, basing it on a book (or collection of them, or established setting) means a lot of the work is already done. It can be a bit restrictive and predictable if the developers choose to follow the story to closely, but if the use it more for ideas than as a strict model, the results can be great.

Overall, I think I value creativity more than the decreased production time and increased sanity that following a book usually brings. I'd rather play something that I can't just go read. Some of them may suck, but the same can be said about games in any category.

 

[ffxfriek]

itd probably be best left alone

 

[Sethran]

I can already point out the flaw in this argument >_>

For one, video game experiences are subjective. Personally I thoroughly enjoyed Oblivion. It had a deep and interesting story, and if you'll forgive the minor glitches and the lack of a deep voice talent selection it is an enjoyable and replayable game. It is in no way generic or borning to my mind, and I've never seen anything wrong with the storyline. Nobody's ever really been able to point to something wrong with the story itself. Even gaming's toughest critic [Yahtzee] didn't mention any problems with the story, just with the mechanics designed to build the story.

Now, as to the question at hand--

High Fantasy is just as subjective as how much you enjoy a video game. There are many books that I consider good that others would consider bad, and good books that I don't think would make good video games. Not only that, but fantasy is such an open-ended genre that it's endlessly customizable. There is no 'you can't do this' point, so why restrict it to a person's book?

 

[GloatingSwine]

No more than they should be based on movies.

 

[axia777]

No, companies should just hire great writers. Oh wait, that would actually cost some cash in stead of the hacks that they are hiring now.

 

[Gxas]

So... what you're saying is that people's differing opinions should run the games industry? A good book to me may not be good to you. Its all a matter of opinion.

 

[cainx10a]

I don't think novels convert well into games. Hell, only games can be games. Designers just need to hire writers.

The Witcher.

Just bought the extended edition, it's certainly a wonderful experience so far.

 

[Erana]

Only if a battle every ten seconds would fit into the book's storyline.

 

[axia777]

I would really like the video game RPG's I play to have in depth all original stories so that I am *gasp* actually surprised by the story! I know, it is a crazy idea.

 

[Irmekroache]

No, companies should just hire great writers. Oh wait, that would actually cost some cash in stead of the hacks that they are hiring now.

I can already point out the flaw in this argument >_>

For one, video game experiences are subjective. Personally I thoroughly enjoyed Oblivion. It had a deep and interesting story, and if you'll forgive the minor glitches and the lack of a deep voice talent selection it is an enjoyable and replayable game. It is in no way generic or borning to my mind, and I've never seen anything wrong with the storyline. Nobody's ever really been able to point to something wrong with the story itself. Even gaming's toughest critic [Yahtzee] didn't mention any problems with the story, just with the mechanics designed to build the story.

Now, as to the question at hand--

High Fantasy is just as subjective as how much you enjoy a video game. There are many books that I consider good that others would consider bad, and good books that I don't think would make good video games. Not only that, but fantasy is such an open-ended genre that it's endlessly customizable. There is no 'you can't do this' point, so why restrict it to a person's book?

I actually didn't complete the main quest of Oblivion because the invasion from hell idea isn't that great, and when I was talking about writing I wasn't talking about the story, I was talking about the lore.

There was none in Oblivion.

 

[axia777]

I actually didn't complete the main quest of Oblivion because the invasion from hell idea isn't that great, and when I was talking about writing I wasn't talking about the story, I was talking about the lore.

There was none in Oblivion.

I agree, but Lore is part of the story. It is really called the 'Back Story'. All real writers do it as it adds proverbial 'flesh' to the story. But I do agree with you, Oblivion had very little actual 'Lore'. Again, they need to write better writers. I hope that Fallout 3 has more Lore as it is all ready fleshed out for Bethesda from the previous games.

 

[SnowCold]

meaby about the 'His Dark Matirials' Universe, not the books, the whole setting in general

 

[axia777]

meaby about the 'His Dark Materials' Universe, not the books, the whole setting in general

Man, that is controversial. Christians hate that shit, well, most them do at least. It IS a good setting though. It would make a good Oblivion style game.

 

[ZeroMachine]

I actually didn't complete the main quest of Oblivion because the invasion from hell idea isn't that great, and when I was talking about writing I wasn't talking about the story, I was talking about the lore.

There was none in Oblivion.

I agree, but Lore is part of the story. It is really called the 'Back Story'. All real writers do it as it adds proverbial 'flesh' to the story. But I do agree with you, Oblivion had very little actual 'Lore'. Again, they need to write better writers. I hope that Fallout 3 has more Lore as it is all ready fleshed out for Bethesda from the previous games.

Um... there was actually quite a bit of lore in there. Not as much as the Warcraft universe or some other things, but if you read the books you find in Oblivion, it's there. It's definitely not a very immersive game, though that was my only problem when it came to story with it.

As for basing games on books, I think the shouldn't be directly based on them. Maybe based in the same universe, but books are to linear to be able to go into game form. It can work vice-versa if it's done right (not the best example, but the Halo book The Flood does this), but games require to much in terms of player input. A lot of players would feel to constricted, and many that liked the books would say things like "omg u ruind the story n00b".

 

[axia777]

I agree, but Lore is part of the story. It is really called the 'Back Story'. All real writers do it as it adds proverbial 'flesh' to the story. But I do agree with you, Oblivion had very little actual 'Lore'. Again, they need to write better writers. I hope that Fallout 3 has more Lore as it is all ready fleshed out for Bethesda from the previous games.

Um... there was actually quite a bit of lore in there. Not as much as the Warcraft universe or some other things, but if you read the books you find in Oblivion, it's there. It's definitely not a very immersive game, though that was my only problem when it came to story with it.

I found the books in Oblivion to be shallow and dry. Maybe it is just me. Again, better writers would have helped make Oblivion a deeper and richer game. I hope they do so for the next Elder Scrolls game. BTW, I still love Oblivion. It is just a great game, it just needs deeper writing. The characters were another thing that was seriously deficient with it. The same lines over and over again really hurt the character interactions. I would have shelled out for more writing and more voice acting.