Storylines? where have you gone?

[AlisonPrime]

it seems to me, with the death of Playstation 1 and the era Goldeneye ushered in, Storylines in gaming have just...died! On top of that, when a game series takes a bold step to create an epic storyline, its destroyed. I ask where has the storylines gone, dont get me wrong, i will commemorate Metal Gear Solid, God of War, and Silent hill for staying in the game, but nowadays all you need to make a great best selling game is a cocky ass hero or a heroine with an iq of a raisin and tits so unrealisticly large you wonder how she even walks around, let alone bounce like that and not grab her own back. Toss in some witty 1 liners, a storyline my 2 year old daughter could have written in crayon and you got either Halo or the next dead or alive extreme game and your number 1 seller

Then when games like Xenosaga, and .hack take a chance at a storyline, you people bash it because its not "edgy" enough, or bad ass enough. I say the era of excelent storylines in games are over and we have the FPS tribes to blame for that, When was the last time you picked up a game not for the big titted woman on the cover, or the edgy pissy cocky hero, but for the fact it would immerse you in a deep, ethralling story, and really, thats all you played it for?

 

[Anarchemitis]

Storylines are existant, but in the same way as Ferrari Enzos: You have to look for them by affording them, either via your wallet, or your dedication to finding them.
Cept' for the Half-Life franchise.

 

[Logan Westbrook]

Just a few notes...

1. Grammar, punctuation and spelling - make this your mantra.

2. As much fun as Goldeneye was, it was a movie tie-in, so praising it for its story is something of a stretch.

3. There are plenty of games that have good stories and a complete lack of unrealisticly (sic) large breasts and some of them are FPSs

4. Flinging accusations around is not a good way to make friends or to keep your threads open.

 

[M0rp43vs]

You haven't been looking hard. Sure most of the games have storylines probably made by george lucas but there have been some good gems.
What about psychonauts, it was a pretty fun game with a unique storyline and empathetic characters.
then theres okami, a colourful splash of paint in a world mostly gunmetal grey and dog shit brown. beautiful story, actually got me to cry.
there's also elders scroll morrowind.
and if you are willing to risk the trip to jrpg country....
Persona 3 had a pretty gripping storyline(kids who summon demons, characters not what they seem,twists)

Oh, and anything by valve. good storyline is not dead, there is still hope

 

[Copter400]

Uh...

Bioshock? Ico? Eternal Sonata? Anything made by Valve, including TF2? Howzat grab you?

And as for Metal Gear Solid: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2001/11/30/metal-gear-stupid/

 

[AlisonPrime]

Just a few notes...

1. Grammar, punctuation and spelling - make this your mantra.

2. As much fun as Goldeneye was, it was a movie tie-in, so praising it for its story is something of a stretch.

3. There are plenty of games that have good stories and a complete lack of unrealisticly (sic) large breasts and some of them are FPSs

4. Flinging accusations around is not a good way to make friends or to keep your threads open.

to number 2 i was mentioning goldeneye as the FPS that brought FPS to life as the dominant gaming genre

 

[AlisonPrime]

im just saying storylines nowadays are RARE, and hard to find, I pick up a game nowadays and i have to FORCE myself to enjoy it.

This never happened on SNES and Playstation 1. I put in a game, and it was FUN! it captured my attention from start to finish.

I just ask, why is it when an epic storyline comes along, its not really appreciated, but when a game like Halo and Devil May Cry (its fun, just not a good storyline) comes along, its treated like a man who shits gold bricks, everyone wants it!

 

[M0rp43vs]

Why was do people want piercings or drugs or comform to one style or become an emo?
Because some one else was doing it and they wanted to be in on it. If everyone is doing it, they have to too. and if they don't like it?
they go into denial so they still can be cool.
Don't know why but it is.

 

[jezz8me]

What sells sells and the casual gamer market is largely expanding. They want something they can ick up and enjoy possibly with friends not a deep art form to move them.

I agree story is an under appreciated and not considered important when it can make a grea game but the game industry is a business and these tacky bad ass stories sell.

It is the same with movies mostly is it not?

 

[jezz8me]

DELETE DOUBLE POST

 

[Mr. Fister]

Alison, you seem to me like the type of person who would enjoy the Phoenix Wright series. The storylines are much deeper than they first appear.

Anyways, storylines are not dead, and there were crappy stories in older games just as there are crappy stories now.

 

[Woe Is You]

Then when games like Xenosaga, and .hack take a chance at a storyline, you people bash it because its not "edgy" enough, or bad ass enough.

No, Xenosaga gets bashed because it's a hodgepodge of pseudophilosophical bullcrap that rarely makes any sense. It's like they looked at the worst of Xenogears and said "this is what we want in our RPG!". Mind you, I liked Xenogears until they started crucifying mechs.

The .hack series on the other hand gets bashed not because it's not badass enough, but because the game around the story is a effing chore of a grind. I might as well be playing a real MMORPG then. In fact, Age of Conan is more fun than any .hack game ever was.

As for story, surely you've seen all the adventure games and RPGs on the DS, right? There's tons of them for it. Even the 360 has been getting some JRPG love recently, which is surprising considering how well the console has been doing in Japan.

 

[Eyclonus]

Storylines aren't dead, more like zombie versions of previously good ideas. Excepting of course Half-Life and quite a few from Japan.

I guess the reason why is that too often they pitch games to the publishers the same way movie pitches are made, eg: "This is my movie right. Now think Jaws, but instead of a shark, its a monkey, and instead of killing people, it turns them into zombies!!" Hence Brain Dead, Dead Alive or whatever fucking title they used in your region.

 

[OurGloriousLeader]

Personally, I really enjoyed the stories for both Halo and DMC. Or rather, I enjoyed the universe they created. Pretty much every story in literature, films and games, is about evil triumphing over good. 90%, anyway. To make that something new and exciting, the story has to take lace in an interesting and exciting universe. Take Lord of the Rings: good guys can't win, good gus face adversity, good guys win. But it was just such an exciting, real world, with its own history and languages. FTW.

Halo interested with its war between men and aliens. It's geeky, it's not original, but it sucked me in. Devil May Cry was about Hell battling for Earth, and a half demon fighting it. I liked it.

 

[Mathew952]

Alison, you seem to me like the type of person who would enjoy the Phoenix Wright series. The storylines are much deeper than they first appear.

Anyways, storylines are not dead, and there were crappy stories in older games just as there are crappy stories now.

Bu Bu Bu teh Prez is kidnapped by Nijas! I'm a Bad enuff Dude!

 

[GuerrillaClock]

I look for stories second only after gameplay. That's why the likes of Zelda and Mario are so good - their stories may not be massively original, but a better designed series of games does not exist. Except for Phantom Hourglass, I'm not counting that, because it was awful. After all, they are called GAMES, meant for playing. This is why MGS always got a 'meh' from me. I didn't see the appeal in staring at a screen while hammy actors droned out mataphors for things which Robocop already did much better. Just because its' in a game does not make it special. A good story is only good when woven in with the gameplay - I want to feel what I'm doing is working towards a tangible goal. The likes of Eternal Darkness did this exceptionally well.

 

[Alex_P]

Enh, MGS is mostly melodrama, and God of War gets so wrapped up in its own violence that it totally loses any kind of real thematic insight it might've been building up to (Kratos is going to metaphorically save his family by KILLING EVEN HARDER, yawn).

-- Alex

 

[JDLY]

Some games I think have a good storyline. (these are opinions)

1. Resistance: Fall of Man
2. Assassin's Creed
3. the Splinter Cell games

 

[Stammer]

If you want a story, pick yourself up a nice RPG. If you want a game that's 99% story, pick yourself up a JRPG.