EGM scores. Some pretty big games.

[OB1]

I love it when you edit posts to add entire paragraphs to it. Just make another post!

I'd say The Curse of Monkey Island was close. That one's probably my second favorite LA adventure (not having played more than the demo of Sam & Max), and it's got a brilliantly executed story and world... very funny, great artwork, good story...

MI3 is great, but not at the level of GF in the aspects that I mentioned.

I said great for a game (and a handheld game in particular). Overall, yeah, it wouldn't get past good. But as I said if it was going to be a book it'd be expanded on and improved (which given how much story there already is would be easier for this game than for most -- it wouldn't need as much alteration as many games would).

You see, you use that phrase "great for a game" like everyone does, which basically means "game stories suck compared to books' and movies', so it's good compared to this much lower level". Despite knowing that you said that you can't tell the difference between the quality of story-telling in games, movies, and books.

I should call you Dr. Contradicto from now on.

As I said above, not for older games.

What? That didn't make a hint of sense.

Non-graphical games obviously, but even graphical games for a long time (and still to a good extent today)... because of how different games are from other mediums they take influences from all of them. I wouldn't say that games have been by far most influenced by movies, because I don't think it's true...

Please quote me where I said that games in the past have been influenced by movies more.

Please, go ahead and try. Maybe in your search you'll figure out what I actually said.

I was exaggerating, but by the point I was at in the game it sure felt like that. Earlier on it's much less, but as you progress the cutscenes get longer and longer... gameplay? The gameplay is limited in how it effects the story. Most of the time you do things then watch as the really important events unfold. Now, this is often true in games, but more so in MGS2 than in most others. And it also doesn't have branching or something... like for instance Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis with its three paths that let you choose between a more puzzle-oriented, a more action-oriented, or a cooperative oriented mode with mostly puzzles but some action. And each way the story unfolds somewhat differently. Or Quest for Glory (II-IV) (or Torment, obviously!) where how you act to others in the game will affect your gameplay experience and even the ending.

So now linear games are no good according to you? Talk about a flip-flopper! I don't think you have a single consistent opinion on anything, you just change it to fit your current argument at the time.

Alternate paths are great when the story doesn't matter, but in the case of Metal Gear linearity is the only way to go. Having control over a story is not the meaning of interactivity. Very few games offer that, in fact. And when they do there's usually only one good story branch (see: Deus Ex games). With non-linear gameplay you have to sacrifice the story. When a game has a very strong story, non-linearity is simply not a realistic option. There's plenty of gameplay in the Metal Gear games, some of the best out there. Certainly more interaction in the actual gameplay than Baldur's Gate. Can you fool around with enemy AI for hours on end in BG? I don't think so.