The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

Re: The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (greybob) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:16:17 GMT

If your computer ever turns emo, just download lots of pictures of kitties and puppies and bunnies onto it!

Re: The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (TaroSH) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 22:22:20 GMT

What Seabu said. There's also SHODAN in System Shock and I'm pretty sure Galerians (sp?) for the Playstation is about a corrupt AI as well. Rez is also about a computer running everything, except it doesn't decide to wipe out humanity it just goes all emo.

Re: The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (greybob) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 20:48:41 GMT

That remind me: have you ever noticed that ever since 2001 came out, all evil computers and robots act like HAL? There was HARDAC in Batman TAS, that little auto-pilot robot in WALL-E, etc. etc. Even KARR from Knightrider shows "influence" from the grand-daddy of all corrupted AI.

Re: The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (CLOUDBOND007) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 20:41:13 GMT

It's pretty obvious after about 10 minutes that GlaDOS is unhinged. After 2001 and countless other stories with deranged computers, it doesn't really come as much of a surprise that she eventually becomes homicidal.

Re: The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (greybob) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 20:31:10 GMT

Oh, and I forgot to mention A Link to the Past. To be fair, it's an early attempt to implement an actual plot into a game, let alone a Zelda game, but it's definetly got problems. For example, there's a Big Reveal/Scooby-Doo Unmasking/Irrelevant Twist when Agharrhim (or however it is that you spell the wizard's name) is revealed to be Ganon. When I figured this out, it was like "So what?" We already knew that the wizard was working directly as Ganon's pawn, so...

Re: The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (greybob) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 20:25:52 GMT

That evil reveal thing is in Portal, too, where GlaDOS is guiding you through the game with a promise of "cake" at the end, but in reality she's trying to kill your character.

I used to think the story of Final Fantasy 7 was "brilliant" but now I know it's just convoluted. :P In fact, Tetsuya Nomura seems to be a big storytelling sinner, in general. FFVII had alot of these cliches, FFVIII had the Last Boss Out of Nowhere, amnesia, and probably others that...

Re: The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (TaroSH) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:03:25 GMT

Perhaps a broader rewriting of my earlier post is, when somebody or something pretends to be on the hero's side, but then, surprise surprise! At or towards the end of the game we find they're evil and were just using the hero for their own gain.

Bioshock combines this with the Scooby Doo unmasking. There's this guy named Atlas talking to Jack through a walkie-talkie like he's going to help Jack through Rapture, and from the start I knew that guy was going to backstab...

Re: The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (Flying Omelette) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:56:07 GMT

I don't mind an ending setting up for a sequel just so long as the current story has resolution. The ending of Arc 4 took care of the final boss, but everything else that had been addressed in the story before that (remembering that he only came into it at the last minute anyway) is left hanging. And then the sequel is a clusterfuck that answers nothing.

Re: The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (Crawl and 1OOO) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:44:13 GMT

The original Grimm's Fairy Tales had the exact opposite of that in some stories, where a character wanted something gruesome (to have their own head and feet cut off or something), and the hero refused to do it, but when the hero finally relented, it turned out that was the condition to breaking an evil curse, so it wasn't gruesome after all.

Re: The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (TaroSH) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:41:21 GMT

Another popular form of "big reveal" is when a being, usually obscured, promises the hero their fondest wish if they do a favor for it, only for it to be revealed the being was evil and was using the hero to release its power, and now that's it's free its first victim is/will be the hero.

See: Wario Land 3, Shadow of the Colossus. Also, just about every cartoon ever made.

Re: The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (lighthouseboy) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:32:28 GMT

Actually, I like the "sequel" ending sometimes. That's one of the things I thought was collest about Arc the Lad 1

Re: The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (Crawl and 1OOO) — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:57:32 GMT

What word do you like more, existential, or indie?

Re: The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (da dick) — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:54:41 GMT

BTW Flying Omlette, you forgot to mention the BIGGEST victim of #11: Legacy of Kain 2: Soul Reaver.

LoK had vampys which weren't emo fags, and the great big evil in the "big reveal" in the ending of the last game had tentacles. what's more evil than evil tentacles who control your destiny!?!? can't ever feel sorry for the game series. it's so evil and existential. on 2nd thought, i don't like games which always make the...

Re: The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (TaroSH) — Fri, 23 May 2008 18:48:41 GMT

CRAWLand1000 wrote:
Kojima has broken almost all of them. He might have been one of the prime inspirations for the list to begin with.

Or Suda51.

Re: The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (Kitsunexus) — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:49:41 GMT

CRAWLand1000 wrote:
Kojima has broken almost all of them. He might have been one of the prime inspirations for the list to begin with.

Actually, re-reading the list, you are exactly right. He broke all 12 with MGS2 alone! 0____0

Re: The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (CRAWLand1000) — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:26:03 GMT

Kojima has broken almost all of them. He might have been one of the prime inspirations for the list to begin with.

Re: The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (Kitsunexus) — Fri, 23 May 2008 11:52:43 GMT

Kojima broke like rule 8 at least:

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=189543

Re: The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (Stepchan) — Wed, 21 May 2008 20:01:45 GMT

No. 6 makes me think of Malroth/Sidoh from Dragon Warrior/Quest 2... Although after playing 1, 3 and 4 beforehand, it wasn't that big of a surprise.

Re: The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (Kitsunexus) — Tue, 20 May 2008 04:36:13 GMT

BTW Flying Omlette, you forgot to mention the BIGGEST victim of #11: Legacy of Kain 2: Soul Reaver.

Also, Terminator 2 is great in the sense of cinematography (I enjoy film), but the first has a better story.

Re: The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (Kitsunexus) — Tue, 20 May 2008 04:32:58 GMT

The biggest sin of storytelling in video games is that the stories usually suck. I hate all the art fuckers trying to make videogames "art" by adding deep stories and FMV and shit like that.

I just want a fun game. I don't want videogames to surpass movies as a storytelling medium.

The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (Flying Omelette) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 13:11:40 GMT

1. The Big Reveal
When information is purposefully witheld from the audience so that a single important plot point that "explains everything" can be revealed near the climax or end. Prime example: Dr. Harris's vague threats all throughout "D" contitute the only semblance of "plot" the game has...until the "moment of truth" occurs. Also of note are games that have more than one "big reveal", especially games that have every chapter...