Quote:
Originally Posted by Artdogg
lol why? It's a completely different way of doing a game. Movies are limited to three hours or so. It would take at least 3 movies to tell the story of some of these games. And obviously the story is just part of it, while in a movie or a TV series it would be the entire thing.
A completely non-linear game can't have the same emotional poll as a linear game can. I don't see how you can compare the two at all.
I should try not to use the word "linear", because ultimately almost all games are linear (depending on how we're defining it). In games like GTA you can sometimes choose between a few different missions, but in the end you're doing all of them at some point and the game is not going to change based on what you did first.
I reject the premise that to have "emotional pull" you need to have set characters doing things in non-interactive scenes. That's stuck in a movie/book mindset. (I also reject the premise that "emotional pull" is what art is supposed to strive for, but I'll stick with that for now). Having a 10 minute long cutscene in which a character dies and it's sad, all of it out of your control, is not utilizing the medium properly. It's obviously the norm for now, but hopefully will not be forever.
Going with the emotion angle, games have the opportunity to have you personally involved. For example, games that allow you to cultivate relationships, force you to make tough choices, etc. BioShock tried to do this but mostly failed in my opinion. They should have made things significantly more difficult for you if you were going to do "the right thing" and save the little girls, for starters.
Anyway this is discussion for a more general theory thread. Hopefully my point is clear that JRPGs try to evoke emotion by showing (and they do this more egregiously than most genres), whereas I believe that games should attempt that by having you "do".
I still have enjoyed many JRPGs in the past, and will probably play games such as Vagrant Story and FF IX for the first time if they ever go free on Playstation Plus.
Quote:
Originally Posted by madnak
I can appreciate your desire for innovation in gaming. I get really frustrated at times because some of what's possible in the medium just isn't happening. And where it is happening, it's happening at a snail's pace. Partly because the market for what I like is small, and even though I think it will explode eventually, that doesn't put money on the table (especially for conservative players like EA, who control most big game budgets).
But there are millions of people who want to pay $60 for a rigid story told in video game format. They have alternatives, and instead they choose these games. That seems like pretty strong evidence the games provide something of value (actually I know they do because I like JRPGs, but let's stay objective).
When modern cinematic techniques were invented, the market for filmed stage plays dried up in favor of real films. If new games are produced that "better" than traditional JRPGs in a similar way, the same thing will presumably happen to the market for traditional JRPGs. But so long as there's a strong market, these games are clearly "justified" by the fact people want to play them.
Agree with all of this.
