So with ER being nominated for the best narrative or whatever this discussion has once again arisen.
My thoughts on that from the previous topic:
-Every item description in the game is literally exposition. That whole video is made from information gathered in game designed to give clarity and definition to the world, past and present events- the definition of exposition.
I'd consider the exposition technique in from games as incluing or indirect- but there is more in them than most traditional "story" games or whatever we're trying to differentiate that as.-
The God of War guys are trying to crush ER for not giving them a popcorn eating viewing experience.
The Ring of Elden is gonna take home GOTY I predict while GoW probably nabs a bunch of other categories. And honestly with this years noms, with the exception of Stray which I have no idea why that’s up for GOTY even though I love me some kitties, the rest I’d be happy with them taking home the gold.
I'd give Elden Ring GOTY too. Horizon: Forbidden West and the new A Plague Tale were both very good though, and I haven't played the new God of War yet. Stray was OK, but I don't really understand the GOTY talk around it.
Miyazaki-San took GOTY with Sekiro in 2019. He shall do the same in 2022. The man’s sole purpose on this planet is to just simply know what hardcore fans want.
I haven't played too many games this year, but I don't see how you give it to anything other than Elden Ring. It's one of the few AAA games that actually prioritizes gameplay over story-telling. I might change my tune after playing Xenoblade 3, but I'm waiting on all of the DLC to come out before I dive into that one.
It’s flaw is that it’s dark souls 3 with a half assed open world that is unnecessary. It’s a proclamation that making dark souls amenable to the masses while also making it popular -showed everyone how great the series is. This entry is not that special- just mainstream and accessible. Dark souls has always been great and is frequently better then ER IMO.
>> It’s flaw is that it’s dark souls 3 with a half assed open world that is unnecessary.
>> It’s a proclamation that making dark souls amenable to the masses while also making
>> it popular -showed everyone how great the series is. This entry is not that special-
>> just mainstream and accessible. Dark souls has always been great and is frequently
>> better then ER IMO.
>
> Which is honestly still goty in 2022 I'm afraid.
>
> ...
So just above the greatest game of all time. I can see that.
Because as we all know the order of the games is as follows:
1. Elden Ring 2. Dark Souls 2 3. Demon's Souls 4. Dark Souls 3 5. Dark Souls 6. Kings Field 4 7. Bloodborne 8. Kings Field 3 9. Kings Field 2 10. Kings Field 1 11. Sekiro
The biggest problem I see here is people taking literary terms and trying to apply them to video game media. If I can walk into a dark crypt and slay a beast and see it happen- I don’t need a narrator for this exposition. It’s a pretty shallow take.
Another hilariously ironic part of this narrative talk- God of War is a bastardized take on thousands of years old stories. Yet that ain’t lazy…
It's the story-telling versus lore argument. God of War/Horizon want you to experience the plot in a very specific way. The Souls series wants you to discover and piece together fragments with a strong possibility of it making no sense at all. I'm glad both types of games exist. I love the Elden Ring lore but I had to do a lot of outside reading and follow a guide to actually experience it all. I bounced hard off of Forbidden West because they never shut up. There's a happy medium somewhere.
I like taking my own notes and trying to piece things together. I've never watched a lore video. Doing all of it yourself is definitely not for everyone and that's perfectly okay. It's just when people say there is no narrative in these games that annoys me. Though it is somewhat amusing to see essentially the same arguments that were happening on forums shortly after DS1 came out being rehashed on a massive stage (twitter) via various journalists and such.
Without YouTube, I'd be lost with the lore of the Souls series. Absolutely love the games, but I like to kill crap and be told a story my ape brain can understand.
I told myself the second play through of ER that I was gonna read all the item descriptions... I did not... I I killed crap, and had fun.
Yeah I'm the same. As much as I love to play and experience them, I'm a dope when it comes to the SoulsBorne series. I much more resonate with the cookie cutter popcorn flick God of War like storytelling format.
I mean ER in itself is like GoT with the confusing fudging names. Two play through and 200+ hours later... I still don't know who's who.
I read stuff on reddit every couple days and I'm amazed at how intense the level of nerdery is over this game. It's impressive but... I'll rely on others to cliff note my way through it all.
As much as I love games like Horizon, God of War, Mass Effect, etc, I appreciate that I can just turn on Elden Ring or Dark Souls, and just go. I love stories and exposition in games as long as it entertains me, but there's something to be said when a game just lets you kinda go off on a journey of self discovery sometimes. And then games like Little Nightmares 1 and 2 which takes it a step further than even Souls games, and just tosses you in with nothing and lets the environment tell the story. I wouldn't like it if it were the norm because it would be done poorly and many would use it as an excuse to not even bother with lore but when games break a mold with a clear idea of what they want, I can get behind that.
Yeah, as much as I do like story-based games like God of War unless it's something super special I could never call it Game of the Year. Games like Elden Ring/Dark Souls have way more replayability due to builds and different playstyles. Story-focused games give little reason to replay unless you want to refresh for the next game. I wish they'd make a Little Nightmares 3. Such a good series.
