The story standards of gamers are low

Mine were relatively low until I played Planscape Torment.

I mean some people think RE4 has a good story :?

while I'm sure there are gamers who care little for the story-aspect of games, it's untrue to say that gamers in general have low standards for storylines.. take a look at the books and movies who enjoys popularity today and you find and abundance of **** story masked by effects, action and/ or some s***ty "based on actual events" gimmick.. i'd say that in my experience, games generally have better storylines than contemporary movies and books.. generalise enough, and you can make every great story ever told seem like sleazy, paperback housewife-porn..shivaskunk9mm

if all you watch are the big hollywood releases and all you read are the #1 sellers like the horrible The DaVinci code then maybe you could say that... but unlike games there is a large underground to film and books. games have retail and then the tiny indie scene that pumps out interesting game concepts but no good stories. even when you are talking about contemporary... games still lose.

I agree TC. I think story is the most important part ofa game, and the only games I let off the hook are first-party Nintendo games.

However, you and I differ on taste. I hold MGS's story in the highest regards. Sure, at times it can be cheesy, and extremely bizzare, but overall it's one of the best I've ever come across in any medium. KOTOR is also one of my favs as well. The whole Star Wars atmosphere andstory-telling is pretty much done to perfection in my book. And, regarding God of War, I think it's just epic.

But, my opinions aside, I agree that gamers need to stop buying games just for teh multiplayerz!11 They need to start thinking about purchasing games with excellent stories, and great storytelling. Games especially like Mass Effect, or Alan Wake.

Mine were relatively low until I played Planscape Torment.

I mean some people think RE4 has a good story :?

gingerdivid

Yeah man I actually did not like Re4 too much largely because of the horrible characters/story/voice acting/dialogue. The gameplay was fun but it got murdered by being stretched thin over a plot that did nothing to keep you going...

I agree TC. I think story is the most important part ofa game, and the only games I let off the hook are first-party Nintendo games.

However, you and I differ on taste. I hold MGS's story in the highest regards. Sure, at times it can be cheesy, and extremely bizzare, but overall it's one of the best I've ever come across in any medium. KOTOR is also one of my favs as well. The whole Star Wars atmosphere andstory-telling is pretty much done to perfection in my book. And, regarding God of War, I think it's just epic.

But, my opinions aside, I agree that gamers need to stop buying games just for teh multiplayerz!11 They need to start thinking about purchasing games with excellent stories, and great storytelling. Games especially like Mass Effect, or Alan Wake.

bstarter29

Good to see that someone here almost fully agrees... I will admit that the MGS story overall is good... its just that when separated 2 stands out to me and the others do not very much. and I gave KOTOR a bit too much flak because some of the character interaction was top notch and the plot twist was ok. Better than most of the stuff people have hyped in here...

[QUOTE="bstarter29"]

I agree TC. I think story is the most important part ofa game, and the only games I let off the hook are first-party Nintendo games.

However, you and I differ on taste. I hold MGS's story in the highest regards. Sure, at times it can be cheesy, and extremely bizzare, but overall it's one of the best I've ever come across in any medium. KOTOR is also one of my favs as well. The whole Star Wars atmosphere andstory-telling is pretty much done to perfection in my book. And, regarding God of War, I think it's just epic.

But, my opinions aside, I agree that gamers need to stop buying games just for teh multiplayerz!11 They need to start thinking about purchasing games with excellent stories, and great storytelling. Games especially like Mass Effect, or Alan Wake.

FlockofSpagheti

Good to see that someone here almost fully agrees... I will admit that the MGS story overall is good... its just that when separated 2 stands out to me and the others do not very much. and I gave KOTOR a bit too much flak because some of the character interaction was top notch and the plot twist was ok. Better than most of the stuff people have hyped in here...

Yeah, MGS2 is incredible, and my opinion changes a lot between it and Snake Eater. I enjoy Snake Eater a little more, but MGS2's story is leagues ahead of the rest, making it possibly my favorite game ever.

And yeah, the KOTOR twist is not nearly as epic as people made it out to be. I think it had to do with the way it was delieverd, it wasn't dramatic enough for me.

[QUOTE="Verge_6"]

[QUOTE="FlockofSpagheti"]

it is more original than Halo's by far and this is coming from a halo fan...

FlockofSpagheti

How? I can think of PLENTY of stories where the main character is manipulated by mysterious entity. And since when did something have to be original in order to be good?

That is not why it was better... the little things are what made it better the way it allowed you to see things without telling you or playing with your expectations or how you find out that the reason the combine are there is to absorb humanity into their army... you just find these things out by playing or even just digging slightly.

You can figure out the little tidbits through playing Halo 3 as well...I honestly think this is just your personal preference as to what is quality story telling, not what actually is.

if all you watch are the big hollywood releases and all you read are the #1 sellers like the horrible The DaVinci code then maybe you could say that... but unlike games there is a large underground to film and books. games have retail and then the tiny indie scene that pumps out interesting game concepts but no good stories. even when you are talking about contemporary... games still lose.

FlockofSpagheti

[QUOTE="FlockofSpagheti"]

if all you watch are the big hollywood releases and all you read are the #1 sellers like the horrible The DaVinci code then maybe you could say that... but unlike games there is a large underground to film and books. games have retail and then the tiny indie scene that pumps out interesting game concepts but no good stories. even when you are talking about contemporary... games still lose.

shivaskunk9mm

critical failure?? i didn't know that my thread was being reviewed...

I agree TC. I think story is the most important part ofa game, and the only games I let off the hook are first-party Nintendo games.

However, you and I differ on taste. I hold MGS's story in the highest regards. Sure, at times it can be cheesy, and extremely bizzare, but overall it's one of the best I've ever come across in any medium. KOTOR is also one of my favs as well. The whole Star Wars atmosphere andstory-telling is pretty much done to perfection in my book. And, regarding God of War, I think it's just epic.

But, my opinions aside, I agree that gamers need to stop buying games just for teh multiplayerz!11 They need to start thinking about purchasing games with excellent stories, and great storytelling. Games especially like Mass Effect, or Alan Wake.

bstarter29

Interesting..I personally think Max Payne has a good story as well as the Ninja Gaiden series.Heil68

Please tell me you are joking. I'm about to vommit.

If you want to talk Final fantasy then Squall from FF8 beats Cloud hands down... for example unlike all other game characters he is not stuck in the past... while he remembers it he is more affected by the events of the game than his "omg dark past".FlockofSpagheti

Guess what your wrong. Squall IS stuck in the past. His entire personality is a front. Completely fake. The reason he is anti-social is becasue he is horrified of being abandoned again. After Ellone left him he was devestated. And hedidn't want to experience those feelings again. Henever wanted to experience thatloss again. So he puts on a facade.

I mean honestly... I know some gamers understand this but most do not. I see people say things like "Final fantasy 7 has the best story ever" constantly... is it that gamers do not read books for the most part? There are only a handful of games (under 20 probably) that actually have good stories... and almost none of them are mentioned by the average gamer because they are for the most part ignored. People hype the stories of things like Final fantasy 7 and 10 and Knights of the old republic like they are good... but honestly... they are pretty bad. Anyone who says this needs to read a book or go watch a (good) movie... or even watch a Tv show because many of those have better plots than games. As long as gamers have low standards like this game stories will continue to be lame... and of course people will say that gameplay is what matters most... but let me tell you this. only a handful of games can get away with that excuse and most of them are either puzzle or Nintendo games. The rest... no... the lack of a good story is crippling and most people do not care because they buy and play it anyway. Please think of how you affect the industry the next time you buy a game that you know has a bad story... you are making it progress backwards.FlockofSpagheti

1. I still think FF7 has the best story ever, so deal with it.

2. Yes I read books, just not story books. I read books that will actually educate me. For example, the last book I bought was to learn Javascript, the one before that was to learn XHTML and CSS.

Sorry, but I stopped reading there because I got bored and realized the rest just wasn't worth reading.

I read my books when I want a thrilling, plot-twisting, unexpected and imaginative storyline. For games... I need something that just builds substance and character. Though, truly there are some good storylines out there, and others that I feel are very high too than the rest. To say a story in a game is as good as a book is perplexing to me truly, because games are more about the entertainment, and the storyline of a game is just built around a way for the gamer to usually play a long exstensive course with some form of purpose. A book is meant to challenge the mind, create images in one's mind, propose a question and answer it or leave the reader guessing, have one escape into a world created by their thoughts yet illustrated through one's words.

final fantasy 7 had an awesome story

of course books have better stories than games, they actually concentrate the whole time on the story, for making games they have to work on the gameplay as well.

halo 3's story was weak though

[QUOTE="ace52387"][QUOTE="FlockofSpagheti"][QUOTE="ace52387"]

Everything i've said is pretty much stated by cloud. He says that he felt spite towards tifa. He says he hated himself for not comming back as a soldier. He said that he hated Tifa's friends, and wanted to impress her alone. The only thing I did is made some assumptions about how all of that affects how he is in the beginning of the game. Reading deeper would be like saying it shows how nostalgia really kind of brightens and glorifies otherwise unremarkable things, which Tifa hints at, so that's not even a stretch. Everything in the above post is surface level because it is stated outright.

FlockofSpagheti

Basically he is emo and hates everyone but the girl he has a crush on... and then tries to impress her but fails and hates himself for it... but in a ridiculous macguffin the jenova cells help him to change his personality into zack's. I am still not seeing what is so impressive...

If we're talking about character development alone, which is the thing I liked most about FFVII, I doubt you'd be able to think of another character in a game that was as specific, emotionally, as cloud. He doesn't just hate himself. He spites Tifa even though he still wants to impress her. Blah the list goes on. I really can't see a point to this argument if you can't agree that Cloud is a very fleshed out character, especially in the realm of video games. Even over characters in video games now, who have facial expressions and that kind of stuff over what he had.

If you want to talk Final fantasy then Squall from FF8 beats Cloud hands down... for example unlike all other game characters he is not stuck in the past... while he remembers it he is more affected by the events of the game than his "omg dark past".

All i'm seeing is that you found squall more personable. Nowhere do I see you saying he's more developed, and to be frank, he's not. His sulkiness is no more than just an attribute of his personality.