So I was speaking with my brother over this Father's Day weekend when the topic of the greatness of Bioware came up (for those who are interested, this was brought about by my admission that I had ordered "Raw Danger" from ebgames due to the frequent mention of the plotline in this gamespot review). Specifically, he stated that Bioware had never made a bad game and that the plotline to KOTOR was one of the best in the last 10 years (seeing that plot-based games are only about 17 or 18 years old, he was this close to saying "all-time"). This evaluation was based in large part on the (light spoiler warning) Revan reveal, which he felt was handled perfectly.
As a gut reaction type point, I stated that MGS 3: Snake Eater had a better plotline than either KOTOR or KOTOR 2, in that it changed the way we looked at a venerated series. This is specifically the case with the introduction of the concept that (light spoiler warning) Big Boss may have been justified in creating Outer Heaven, and that it was Snake along who was unenlightened. He disagreed fairly vehemently with this notion, while admitting that the MGS3 storyline was still quite good.
I relate this to you all because I am curious. I basically purchased a game (Raw Danger) due entirely to my belief in that game's story. I have no illusion that the gameplay of said game is likely terrible. Similarly, I have enjoyed a number of games in the past with "great" stories and negligible game play (Shadow of Destiny springs to mind). So I'm curious, what are your favorite stories in games (completely independent of how they play as games), and have you ever purchased a game for its story even though you knew that the gameplay likely wouldn't be enjoyable?
As a gut reaction type point, I stated that MGS 3: Snake Eater had a better plotline than either KOTOR or KOTOR 2, in that it changed the way we looked at a venerated series. This is specifically the case with the introduction of the concept that (light spoiler warning) Big Boss may have been justified in creating Outer Heaven, and that it was Snake along who was unenlightened. He disagreed fairly vehemently with this notion, while admitting that the MGS3 storyline was still quite good.
I relate this to you all because I am curious. I basically purchased a game (Raw Danger) due entirely to my belief in that game's story. I have no illusion that the gameplay of said game is likely terrible. Similarly, I have enjoyed a number of games in the past with "great" stories and negligible game play (Shadow of Destiny springs to mind). So I'm curious, what are your favorite stories in games (completely independent of how they play as games), and have you ever purchased a game for its story even though you knew that the gameplay likely wouldn't be enjoyable?
2 comments:
Well, KOTOR had a good story, and I like the choose-your-own-adventure aspect. I guess maybe Halo was good too. Even maybe Hitman: Blood Money too, I liked the funeral thing at the end.
Well Manimala, I agree that I probably didn't give enough credit to the fun of "moral choices" in KOTOR when I was discussing the issue with my brother. As for Halo, I'm afraid that I can't get on board until the story is complete. Bungie has weaved a good 2/3 of a story so far, but I withhold judgement until 3 drops.
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