Why do games have to be 'epic', why can't they just be hilarious?

[Innocent Flower]

I would seriously trade all the dragons in skyrim just to overhear a sense of humour in one of the taverns. I'd Get more entertainment from a soldier's black humour than i would from watching another helicopter turn into a fireball.

It's just an issue in games. If they're trying to be funny, they're laughing at themselves. No one lives forevermight be making fun of itself and the 50/60's spy genre as a whole.. but nobody really tells any good jokes and convincing character Witt is about as common in dialogue as elegance in crab disembowelment.

You might get discussions which might be funny, but I wanted orange, they give me tipping lime. Which roughly translates to 'They can make dialogue humorous, but they can't make the characters funny' If it IS the character who's making a joke... It's always bad. Like Alyx and her zombines or duke nukem and his verbal shit.

There are games which are simply really funny. Like portal. In the sequel I probably had more fun listening to Stephen Merchant than solving the puzzles. Yet at the same time the humour seemed to break all ties to the half life universe that the first game loosely held too. Yes, i did want to see mantis men, Yes every word made me laugh. But no, i didn't feel like i was in a real world in comparison to HL2.

Maybe the marines from Bungie's Halo games or the numbered citizens of half life are the good examples of Humour. They don't really communicate with each other as i'd like them to. They just shout contextual information that happens to give them a personality and me an occasional smirk. I don't care for nifeskizkils or overly dramatic stunts,strong silent types or all american leaders. I care for people who make me happy.

 

[skywolfblue]

But no, i didn't feel like i was in a real world.

Personally I don't need a game to feel like a "real world" to enjoy it. In fact I think it's better when games take liberties and have fun then constrain itself.

I would like to see more humor in games. I'd agree skyrim is a pretty good example of a game that tries to take itself way to seriously at times. Dragon Age: Origins would be another (it was nice to see that 2 had a lot of hilarious moments). As it's counter example, I'd say World of Warcraft excels at not taking itself seriously, from whacky quests to achievement titles that poke fun at common jokes of the community.

 

[krazykidd]

Humor is subjective thus hard to pull off. Plus in a game , a joke is only funny the first time , after that it becomes annoying . In a game where you may past the same person several times ,or you may play again , it becomes annoying . Humor is best left out of games .

Capcha : Red , white and blue . Capcha as turn to the dark side , he is now french.

 

[Jimmy T. Malice]

Speaking of mantis men, they should definitely be in Half-Life 2: Episode 3 on the Borealis as enemies. If it ever comes out.

 

[Scrustle]

Because most games are power fantasies. Heck, the aggregation of power is one of the defining aspects of an RPG.

But apparently to be powerful you must be humourless. I guess devs think that their power fantasy will be more fulfilling if its set in a world where everything is serious, so people take your power seriously all the time. Killing dragons is dangerous and brutal, and it seems there's no room for a joke when the world's about to get eaten.

That doesn't mean that there can't be humour in a game which is a power fantasy. I could name several, but that's just my guess behind the logic as to why so many of these games are without humour.

 

[AD-Stu]

Short answer is they don't all have to be epic, and not all of them are. But it's horses for courses. Some games need to be epic because that's the way they're conceived, they simply wouldn't work or be as engaging as comedies. Something like Skyrim almost certainly falls into that category. Compare that to something like Brutal Legend, which never would have worked as a straight-faced game...

To partly answer your question, good comedy is a LOT harder to write than a straightforward epic, and some of the best examples of comedy games (the old Lucasarts adventure games, for example) have tended to be linear games rather than open-world ones because it's just so much easier to set up jokes that way.

There are some games that I think manage to balance the two really well - KOTOR2, for example, is filled with dark humour to go along with the serious stuff, for example.

 

[shrekfan246]

Because nobody liked Nathan Drake.

Sorry, I might be oversimplifying things here.

Hilarity doesn't always come from jokes, though. Personally, I think that many segments of Persona 4 are absolutely hilarious, but it's not because the characters are trying to be funny, it's because their personalities and the situations they get placed in make for amusing, relateable situations.

And maybe I just missed a paragraph somewhere, but I can't make out what you're actually complaining about because it looks like you're complaining both about the lack of jokes, and about jokes being used. Or is it just when the jokes being used are bad? If the latter, then... well, yeah. Video game writing as a whole pretty much sucks - That goes for comedy as well. They've got problems characterizing secondary characters, and sometimes the main characters, you think the cannon fodder troops you only see for five minutes are going to have any personality?

 

[Vault101]

I dont know what your going on about

its all about the game having a tone...what tone is good/bad is all personal preference

But apparently to be powerful you must be humourless. I guess devs think that their power fantasy will be more fulfilling if its set in a world where everything is serious, so people take your power seriously all the time. Killing dragons is dangerous and brutal, and it seems there's no room for a joke when the world's about to get eaten.
.

it depends on what kind of humoru and how its handled...

personally I really don't like "funny" or "meta" stuff (think adventure time) I want to be emotionally engaged, somtimes that IS the case like with portal...somtimes it isnt

in Mass Effect series theres alot of serious shit going on...but the occasional peice of humour..just like in the real world...same with the fallotu series (excpet fallout is a little mor removed from anything real)

also...

Because nobody liked Nathan Drake.

the problem there was its actually not that funny because its 99% of ALL the firggen dialouge (the rest being an awful attempt at drama)

in mass effect I find Garrus needing clarification on what "like fish in a barrel means" alot more funnyer than I should...because admists the seriousness of the situation its a nice break

 

[shrekfan246]

also...

Because nobody liked Nathan Drake.

the problem there was its actually not that funny because its 99% of ALL the firggen dialouge (the rest being an awful attempt at drama)

in mass effect I find Garrus needing clarification on what "like fish in a barrel means" alot more funnyer than I should...because admists the seriousness of the situation its a nice break

See, I don't get that. Maybe everyone else just had a lot more situational dialogue than I've seen, but Drake barely says anything more than "Gotcha!" or exasperated laughs and grunts during combat, and sure he's sarcastic and cocky during the cut-scenes, but it never seemed overwhelming to me. It's balanced out just as much by him being confused or worried for one reason or another.

Sure, there are certain really stupid things like the "Marco! . . . Fish out of water!" lines in the rooftop pool, but then there's also really small, funny things like "There's an enemy above you, there's an enemy above you!" *Drake throws enemy down into the water* "There's an enemy below you, there's an enemy below you!"

 

[Vault101]

See, I don't get that. Maybe everyone else just had a lot more situational dialogue than I've seen, but Drake barely says anything more than "Gotcha!" or exasperated laughs and grunts during combat, and sure he's sarcastic and cocky during the cut-scenes, but it never seemed overwhelming to me. It's balanced out just as much by him being confused or worried for one reason or another.

Sure, there are certain really stupid things like the "Marco! . . . Fish out of water!" lines in the rooftop pool, but then there's also really small, funny things like "There's an enemy above you, there's an enemy above you!" *Drake throws enemy down into the water* "There's an enemy below you, there's an enemy below you!"

I dont know what it was but drake just didn't work for me....

all I remember is the back and fourth between drake and co.....It felt like it was just making up for oeverall medicore writing

 

[shrekfan246]

I dont know what it was but drake just didn't work for me....

all I remember is the back and fourth between drake and co.....It felt like it was just making up for oeverall medicore writing

I don't begrudge the people who didn't like him or anything, I just feel like from my own experiences with the Uncharted franchise, the level of his sarcasm and quipiness (I'm making that a word now) is harshly overstated.

 

[Vault101]

I don't begrudge the people who didn't like him or anything, I just feel like from my own experiences with the Uncharted franchise, the level of his sarcasm and quipiness (I'm making that a word now) is harshly overstated.

I think the problem is aside from all the "joking" overload...theres just not much there

I mean what IS the deal with Nathan drake? he's too headstrong? too much of a hero?..as yahtzee said those arent flaws...the "drama" I felt just boiled down to DRAKE IS UNHAPPY NOW BECAUSE REASONS

 

[Dryk]

Humor is subjective thus hard to pull off. Plus in a game , a joke is only funny the first time , after that it becomes annoying . In a game where you may past the same person several times ,or you may play again , it becomes annoying . Humor is best left out of games

That can be fixed by weighting the chance of lines of NPC dialogue showing up. It might be a hard balance to strike between the joke not showing up too often and showing up often enough that people can hear it again if they want.

 

[shrekfan246]

I don't begrudge the people who didn't like him or anything, I just feel like from my own experiences with the Uncharted franchise, the level of his sarcasm and quipiness (I'm making that a word now) is harshly overstated.

I think the problem is aside from all the "joking" overload...theres just not much there

I mean what IS the deal with Nathan drake? he's too headstrong? too much of a hero?..as yahtzee said those arent flaws...the "drama" I felt just boiled down to DRAKE IS UNHAPPY NOW BECAUSE REASONS

I think that's where the best complaints can really flourish. Naughty Dog had a great opportunity with 3 to break Drake's cocky outer shell and show his broken true persona that he keeps hidden behind a wall of sarcasm, but the payoff just never actually happened and at the end of the game he's exactly as he was at the beginning. No character growth at all, he's still basically the same guy he was at the beginning of the first Uncharted. And I mean, that's why I don't begrudge people who didn't like him. I just think there should be more of a reason than "he was too much of a joker" or some such variant.

 

[Vault101]

I think that's where the best complaints can really flourish. Naughty Dog had a great opportunity with 3 to break Drake's cocky outer shell and show his broken true persona that he keeps hidden behind a wall of sarcasm, but the payoff just never actually happened and at the end of the game he's exactly as he was at the beginning. No character growth at all, he's still basically the same guy he was at the beginning of the first Uncharted. And I mean, that's why I don't begrudge people who didn't like him. I just think there should be more of a reason than "he was too much of a joker" or some such variant.

yeah...I have said that drake essentially learns nothing in all 3 games and his on again/off again bullshit with elana is "lazy romance writing 101"

as for the "too much of a joker" thing...I think mabye that is (as I said) he actually doesnt have anything interesting about him aside from his dumb jokes

I think with uncharted 3 you can tell they are trying but....its the same thing again

 

[randmonds4]

They will never suspect...

 

[deathbydeath]

Games are epic because that's easier to make and market. Always have been.

 

[TheDoctor455]

Humor is subjective thus hard to pull off. Plus in a game , a joke is only funny the first time , after that it becomes annoying . In a game where you may past the same person several times ,or you may play again , it becomes annoying . Humor is best left out of games .

Capcha : Red , white and blue . Capcha as turn to the dark side , he is now french.

Unless its the kind of joke that's only funny in retrospect.

Try playing through Vampire: The Masquerade again as a Malkavian. There's a lot of 4-wall breaking humor in your dialogue options that only makes sense if you've already played the game.

Plus, I don't agree that humor is only funny once.

I never get tired of listening to George Carlin's acts. They're still just as funny now as they were when I first saw them (several years ago).

Its the quality of the jokes that matters, I think.

Anyway...

I'd rather see a videogame try to be 'intimate' rather than 'epic.' Namely because 'epic' has been done to death.


I'd love to see a game that focused more on characters. Heavy Rain was... a heavy-handed attempt at this... and it fails spectacularly. Mass Effect was somewhat more successful, but I think there was some room for improvement.

The Walking Dead, however... I think, is a great example of an 'intimate' game. Yes, there's a threat gobbling up the whole world in madness and death, but you're not concerned with that. Rather, you're much more concerned with keeping the people around you safe... from the zombies, from bandits and cannibals, and each other.

 

[Vegosiux]

It's been a while since I came across a truly epic game. "Push a button and something awesome happens" isn't epic simply because the market is so saturated with it. You can't eat the same soup every day, even if you like it. It was said jokes get old. Well, so does over-the-top roaring and hamming it up and chest-thumping. Even faster than jokes, even.

Luckily there's enough variety out there for us picky snobs too.