What a poor comparison. A video game where you are tasked with performing actions and the goal is not to have you just watch the action but be engaged in it almost constantly versus a movie that is literally designed to just be seen and is tailored for the amount of action and drama to be viewed.
I get it, it's the same ole thing as the Uncharted series and Nathan Drake is a mass murderer. But, that's the goal of video games, to keep you performing actions related to their gameplay and concept. Comparing it to a completely different medium doesn't make for a good argument, it makes for realizing the differences in the medium. Kind of the same way books go into detail of scenes and let you use your imagination whereas movies remove imagination from it entirely and tells you what the scene is and how it looks.
“But, that's the goal of video games, to keep you performing actions related to their gameplay and concept”
The point the author is making is the gameplay in some of these games can directly contradict or invalidate the story, themes or whatever else.
We all get it; they’re games and it’s fun. I personally don’t really care about the contradictions. But it’s not unlike a video game to have you kill 50 people and then have a cutscene depicting the main character showing compassion to their enemy or something. These could happen right after one another.
There’s no rule that says what the gameplay is supposed to be like. You could just as well have gameplay that supports the narrative or who the character is. What you do as Kratos in gameplay fits perfectly with the everything else, for example.
Sure, so let's just have terrible cutscenes one can't take seriously and just be quiet about it, because it's games we're talking about, so screw the stories and screw the cutscenes, right ?
Well, no. Some of us are more than glad that games can be a narrative medium, and we play games to experience stories in a different way than litterature and cinema. And guess what ? We enjoy it !
Also, you misread or misunderstood the article. The point is, you can't buy the protagonist fearing for their life in a cutscene if you, as them, are overpowered during gameplay. It's just common sense. I'm glad for you if you enjoy skipping cutscenes or being fed nonsense... Just don't blame others for wanting more quality and thoughtful experiences.
You're reading a ton into my statement that I didn't see.
Video Games are not just a storytelling medium unless you remove gameplay. Simple as that.
*** let's just have terrible cutscenes one can't take seriously***
Sounds like bad writing to me.
***Some of us are more than glad that games can be a narrative medium, and we play games to experience stories in a different way than litterature and cinema.***
Where did I say this isn't so?
***The point is, you can't buy the protagonist fearing for their life in a cutscene if you, as them, are overpowered during gameplay.***
I mean, how do you handle playing on easy mode then?
*** I'm glad for you if you enjoy skipping cutscenes or being fed nonsense...***
I'm a massive RPG enthusiast and I love experiencing everything. I'm just not blind to the medium and what it means for storytelling versus gameplay.
***Just don't blame others for wanting more quality and thoughtful experiences.***
It is out there. Just like any medium, there are better representations of good storytelling and mixed gameplay. Don't act like RDR2 and the like have to conform to that, though. Gaming is a very diverse medium, not just what you want it to be.
"When Arthur Morgan single-handedly dispatches 40 or 50 or 60 Saint Denis officers, his later conversations with Dutch, about how the gang has to keep a low profile and is at risk of being killed by the pursuing law, become very hard to take seriously."
I think that's a good point for me rdr2 had a morality system so that's less of a conflict in my view the morality system and the nature of the story outlaws who may not always be honest with one another kind of gives it that wiggle room.
But watchdogs 2 is my main example of a game that in every cutscene presents the protagonist as a good guy never hurt a fly but then you can go through that entire campaign literally murdering everyone that looks at you funny.
The one game I can think of immediately though that ensures you can't steer the protag off their moral compass for lack of a better term is scarface on PS2 Xbox and Wii. I clearly remember you couldn't shoot civilians but everyone else was fair game so I think not all games fail to stick to a script but some play fast and loose
I think the piece is less about morality and more about : you can't take seriously cutscenes where survival of the protagonist is at stake when the player seems overpowered during gameplay. What Die Hard does is hurting its protagonist's body through the movie. Thus MacClane sounds human and we can relate to his fight for survival.
I don't think we have this issue in survival horror games, precisely because the gameplay makes survival a challenge and you can't easily fight off the creatures.
I did also but I'm way more into Sci fi so that helps. Red dead 2 though is a great fing game. I just enjoyed cyberpunk more. Just wish they didn't f it up so much. I'd never buy day one from them again that's for sure
Something like this could exist, but it'd have to be pretty straightforward. Today's "Big Thing" is open-world games, and that regularly kills narrative and creates "cutscene dissonance". Imagine a modern Die Hard movie, hitting those points. Instead of 20 different guns, you'd have different movesets. There'd be an air vent level, vaulting between floors with a grip meter or staying quiet whilst an enemy below shoots the vents. Or maybe a rooftop level, with meters to convince the innocent to get off the top of the building before the helicopter comes. The biggest issue there is each level has completely different mechanics. I personally would LOVE to see this. I'd "play a movie" and learn a new move set with each level, but the cost involved in making it and spreading the team across so many ideas would as a whole dampen the quality, as well as the replayability.
Again, I would LOVE games like this. But in today's financial world, "bang bang shoot shoot kill shoot kill" is easy to make and if the mechanics are well done, will sell. Here's hoping narrative ideas can come back in vogue.
What a poor comparison. A video game where you are tasked with performing actions and the goal is not to have you just watch the action but be engaged in it almost constantly versus a movie that is literally designed to just be seen and is tailored for the amount of action and drama to be viewed.
I get it, it's the same ole thing as the Uncharted series and Nathan Drake is a mass murderer. But, that's the goal of video games, to keep you performing actions related to their gameplay and concept. Comparing it to a completely different medium doesn't make for a good argument, it makes for realizing the differences in the medium. Kind of the same way books go into detail of scenes and let you use your imagination whereas movies remove imagination from it entirely and tells you what the scene is and how it looks.
Just different, not comparable.
Loved the piece.
"When Arthur Morgan single-handedly dispatches 40 or 50 or 60 Saint Denis officers, his later conversations with Dutch, about how the gang has to keep a low profile and is at risk of being killed by the pursuing law, become very hard to take seriously."
Word.
I genuinely enjoyed Cyberpunk 2077 way more than RDR2
Something like this could exist, but it'd have to be pretty straightforward. Today's "Big Thing" is open-world games, and that regularly kills narrative and creates "cutscene dissonance". Imagine a modern Die Hard movie, hitting those points. Instead of 20 different guns, you'd have different movesets. There'd be an air vent level, vaulting between floors with a grip meter or staying quiet whilst an enemy below shoots the vents. Or maybe a rooftop level, with meters to convince the innocent to get off the top of the building before the helicopter comes. The biggest issue there is each level has completely different mechanics. I personally would LOVE to see this. I'd "play a movie" and learn a new move set with each level, but the cost involved in making it and spreading the team across so many ideas would as a whole dampen the quality, as well as the replayability.
Again, I would LOVE games like this. But in today's financial world, "bang bang shoot shoot kill shoot kill" is easy to make and if the mechanics are well done, will sell. Here's hoping narrative ideas can come back in vogue.