[haunter]

>The only innovative thing that has happened since storytelling died

lol

There are countless already classic modern story driven games which pushing the boundaries of video games forward.

I know nostalgia is a very strong drug and I also love the games I grew up with in the 90s but it's pure ignorance to say that 1, "storytelling died" 2, no innovation happened in video games in modern times (whatever that even means)

[reactordev]

You are misconstruing my love for nostalgia games for when you think I believe storytelling died. It didn’t die in the 90s, it died in 2010s. Everything since 2018 that I have played has been relatively easy to guess the plot line or it didn’t ever materialize to begin with.

[josephg]

These days there's 200-350 new games released on steam every week. There's plenty of excellent narrative driven games if that's what you're after, mostly from indie developers.

If you're looking for deep narrative from AAA games, then the best you'll find are games like Cyberpunk 2077 - which have some decent writing in between all the action. But if you want something that'll really scratch a strong narrative itch, you gotta go deep on indies. That's where all the experimentation is happening.

You might also just be getting more genre savvy with age. When you're a kid, story beats are mind blowing. But most narratives - especially in games - tack pretty close to classic hero arcs. Once you've seen 100 of them you can often predict the entire narrative arc once you've seen the end of the first act. In other words, it might not be that games have gotten worse. It might just be that you've gotten better at understanding classic narrative structures, so it takes more to surprise you.

[reactordev]

It’s definitely an age thing. Wisdom of experience and being able to dissect storytelling elements for what they are.

Don’t get me wrong. I love games. Obviously. I just see, as you said, 300+ games being released weekly and have really no desire to pursue them. I’ll occasionally jump on the bandwagon of steams top 100 but I don’t feel connected to the games I play anymore. I still play them. It’s good entertainment. I don’t care about buying battle passes, season passes, trinkets, cosmetics, DLC content, etc. If the game is good, sell the game.

[gambiting]

>>Everything since 2018 that I have played has been relatively easy to guess the plot line

Be honest- you guessed the plot of Claire Obscure before you got to Act 3? Or the plot of Death Stranding 1 & 2 before you finished them?

What kind of games have you played since 2018? Because yeah, there is a lot of predictable cookie cutter AAA games out there, sure. But each year there are games which are surprising in their storytelling, same as somehow there are still new and surprising films despite film being much older than gaming. Not to mention books.

[YurgenJurgensen]

Anyone who didn’t guess the ‘plot twists’ of Clair Obscur at least 10 hours in advance wasn’t paying enough attention to even remember how to spell the title of the game. It’s structurally extremely standard if you’ve played Dark Souls and more than a couple of 90s JRPGs, and its foreshadowing is about as subtle as being hit in the face with a stale baguette.

[gambiting]

I didn't realize until Act 3 what the real story was, and to be honest I don't really understand how anyone could. But maybe I'm just not good enough to understand all these subtle themes :-P

[reactordev]

Yup, town plagued by supernatural, everyone depressed, just another Ubisoft title they could have had but didn’t.

By Act 2 the story was already falling apart. The game just leaves you feeling depressed. I guess since you felt something that makes it GOTY.

[gambiting]

>Yup, town plagued by supernatural, everyone depressed, just another Ubisoft title they could have had but didn’t.

Ok, so you haven't played it then. I mean just say so, instead of making things up?

[reactordev]

You can’t make up The Paintress. Awful writing.

[gambiting]

>>Yup, town plagued by supernatural, everyone depressed,

But that's literally not what the game is, which is why I'm asking why are you making up the fact about playing it? It sounds like a quick judgement based on a trailer or watching a 30 minute analysis video on YouTube.

What other games have awful writing according to you? Out of curiosity. Or is it just anything written after 2018?

Maybe a better question is - what do you mean when you say "good" or "bad" writing in games?

[12_throw_away]

Ok, this was a pretty well-done troll, you totally had me until this.

[reactordev]

No troll, I paid full price. Expedition 33 wasn’t well written.

[shakna]

> Or the plot of Death Stranding 1 & 2 before you finished them?

... Yes? I mean, the games are not that subtle. Lore dump, sly smile, more game, repeat.

[mrguyorama]

You thought the height of video game storytelling was the era of Mass Effect 3 and Halo Reach?

Have you played Disco Elysium? "Thank goodness you're here"? Cruelty Squad?

[reactordev]

It’s been downhill since.

Yes I have played those games. DE is ok. Just because a game provides different story arcs doesn’t make it good.

I have not played Cruelty Squad yet.