Caporegime
- Joined
- 30 Jul 2013
- Posts
- 29,450
Does anyone else share this feeling that games plots are sometimes just really confusing or needlessly complicated?
I just finished the latest Assassins Creed (Mirage) and frankly, I had no idea what was happening at the end. Obviously I can't discuss specific plot details without spoiling that game but it focuses on a character who was in the previous game (Valhalla), albeit released almost 3 years after the game.
When I grew up we had very rudimentary text based games on the BBC Micro at school. And at home with the NES and Mega Drive, game plots were laughable. Often a bit of text to congratulate you when you completed them or a few paragraphs in the instruction manual to give it context. I guess DOOM is the equivalent on PC.
Then we had early FMV games which were usually **** poor. But as we reached the CD and 3D era you started getting some vague semblance of story to justify the gameplay. Games like Resident Evil 1 and 2 were decent for the time, though quite laughable by today's standards.
Other than point and click adventure games, I think the first game plot I was genuinely impressed by was Price of Persia: The Sands of Time on Xbox in 2003
Open World games that leave you to your own devices are probably the worst offenders. You can often find yourself doing a bit of story, then playing side missions or just exploring for 4-5 hours before the next story based mission, so it doesn't flow very well at all. I understand why they do this. Games now cost so much to make, that they often give you busywork so you feel you got value for money but there's a big difference between watching a 2 hour movie and playing a game that takes 100 hours to complete.
I do worry about my ability to retain plot points of games sometimes. I have no issue reeling off what happened in a movie I watched months ago but game plots often go in one ear and out the other.
Game plots from the last 20 years that I think good:
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Mass Effect 1-3
God of War (2018)
Guardians of the Galaxy
Horizon: Zero Dawn
Arkham Asylum games
I just finished the latest Assassins Creed (Mirage) and frankly, I had no idea what was happening at the end. Obviously I can't discuss specific plot details without spoiling that game but it focuses on a character who was in the previous game (Valhalla), albeit released almost 3 years after the game.
When I grew up we had very rudimentary text based games on the BBC Micro at school. And at home with the NES and Mega Drive, game plots were laughable. Often a bit of text to congratulate you when you completed them or a few paragraphs in the instruction manual to give it context. I guess DOOM is the equivalent on PC.
Then we had early FMV games which were usually **** poor. But as we reached the CD and 3D era you started getting some vague semblance of story to justify the gameplay. Games like Resident Evil 1 and 2 were decent for the time, though quite laughable by today's standards.
Other than point and click adventure games, I think the first game plot I was genuinely impressed by was Price of Persia: The Sands of Time on Xbox in 2003
Open World games that leave you to your own devices are probably the worst offenders. You can often find yourself doing a bit of story, then playing side missions or just exploring for 4-5 hours before the next story based mission, so it doesn't flow very well at all. I understand why they do this. Games now cost so much to make, that they often give you busywork so you feel you got value for money but there's a big difference between watching a 2 hour movie and playing a game that takes 100 hours to complete.
I do worry about my ability to retain plot points of games sometimes. I have no issue reeling off what happened in a movie I watched months ago but game plots often go in one ear and out the other.
Game plots from the last 20 years that I think good:
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Mass Effect 1-3
God of War (2018)
Guardians of the Galaxy
Horizon: Zero Dawn
Arkham Asylum games
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