Comments on: Mechanical Narrative http://tleaves.com/2005/05/03/mechanical-narrative/ Creativity x Technology Sat, 17 Mar 2012 05:09:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Adam Rixey http://tleaves.com/2005/05/03/mechanical-narrative/comment-page-1/#comment-1346 Adam Rixey Wed, 04 May 2005 02:55:04 +0000 http://tleaves.com/?p=368#comment-1346 I've actually been pretty happy with recent single player plots and writing. You've already touched on some of them like Jade Empire (excusing some of the overly-complex dialog that's nothing like how people talk). Two others of note: God of War did a great job at keeping me captivated. The little reward nuggets of story are doled out at a great pace, and truly do feel like rewards. Much of this was also interwoven in actual gameplay, too. Psychonauts just blew me away on so many levels. Smart writing and unique characters, and not only funnier than most games but most tv and movies, too. I'd actually categorize this as an old-school adventure game, with platforming thrown in. The best part that I found was that so much of the narrative was totally optional. If you wanted to only fly through all the platforming you could...but you'd probably be missing a few hours of conversations, backstory, and random things. Oddly enough, both of those games (and Jade Empire as well) seem to fall down the most at the end. The story just drops, or trails off, or the final level/boss fight is more a chore than a fun experience. What makes the final act so difficult for game developers? I’ve actually been pretty happy with recent single player plots and writing. You’ve already touched on some of them like Jade Empire (excusing some of the overly-complex dialog that’s nothing like how people talk). Two others of note:

God of War did a great job at keeping me captivated. The little reward nuggets of story are doled out at a great pace, and truly do feel like rewards. Much of this was also interwoven in actual gameplay, too.

Psychonauts just blew me away on so many levels. Smart writing and unique characters, and not only funnier than most games but most tv and movies, too. I’d actually categorize this as an old-school adventure game, with platforming thrown in. The best part that I found was that so much of the narrative was totally optional. If you wanted to only fly through all the platforming you could…but you’d probably be missing a few hours of conversations, backstory, and random things.

Oddly enough, both of those games (and Jade Empire as well) seem to fall down the most at the end. The story just drops, or trails off, or the final level/boss fight is more a chore than a fun experience. What makes the final act so difficult for game developers?

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