Wednesday 16 December 2009

Storytelling in Games

If a game involves a story line , it needs to be well thought out and rounded. For me, characters are pretty important in getting me wrapped up in the game. There is nothing worse then a damn idiot of a lead character… Tidus out of FFX is the perfect example of an ear bleeding whine of  a lead. FFVII, however, had a brilliant plot and great characters. Square have proven to be superb story tellers but when you have to commit 40-50 hours to a story, it had better be a good one.

Games like The Sims give you the chance to make up your own story. Second Life replaces a story line with dull social interaction. I don’t really understand games like Habbo Hotel, normal human conversation is such a fundamental thing… why on earth do we need a website to talk to new people? Can we not just join a club, or make some friends in real life?

Do you need a good story line in a game like Call of Duty? The game play and graphics seem to push the experience along just fine, and often war games with in depth storylines feel kind of corny. I guess when you just want an hour of shooting, a decent story is negotiable.

Many games are highly enjoyable without any whiff of a story. Addictive games like Tetris and Jewel Quest do just fine without a missing princess or the destruction of the world. In fact the Jewel Quest on my mobile decided to add a highly embarrassing plot set in Egypt involving a complicated love triangle - they blatantly just threw that in at the end. If it ain’t broke, don’t ruin it with a crud story!

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