1st February 2005, 1:39 PM
DJ has a good point about MGS2, though it's not quite about not being able to control the cut scenes. That wasn't really the point. There were cut scenes because that was the best way to tell the story. But I understand what's she's saying, and she's absolutely right about having to finish the game before you can comment on its storyline or cinemas (attn: ABF).
And LL, I agree that the best way to tell a story in a game is during gameplay, but there are very few games that have been able to do that well, and they don't do it in a way that can be easily reproduced. ICO is really the best example out there. It uses very few cinemas and tells its emotionally complex story through the actual gameplay. It's difficult to describe so you'll just have to play it for yourself. But while game designers are still trying to figure out how to make a game tell a story, there are a few easy-to-copy methods that at least do the job, the best one being cut scenes. That is basically just putting a movie into a game which I do not believe is the best way to go about it, but it's still better than the other standard alternatives (putting emotionless pages of dialogue via text into a game--and no that was not an invitation to restart that argument, ABF). I have a few ideas of my own which I hope to implement into a future game, but it's certainly not going to be an easy task to accomplish, and will most likely take several tries before I get it somewhat right. :)
And LL, I agree that the best way to tell a story in a game is during gameplay, but there are very few games that have been able to do that well, and they don't do it in a way that can be easily reproduced. ICO is really the best example out there. It uses very few cinemas and tells its emotionally complex story through the actual gameplay. It's difficult to describe so you'll just have to play it for yourself. But while game designers are still trying to figure out how to make a game tell a story, there are a few easy-to-copy methods that at least do the job, the best one being cut scenes. That is basically just putting a movie into a game which I do not believe is the best way to go about it, but it's still better than the other standard alternatives (putting emotionless pages of dialogue via text into a game--and no that was not an invitation to restart that argument, ABF). I have a few ideas of my own which I hope to implement into a future game, but it's certainly not going to be an easy task to accomplish, and will most likely take several tries before I get it somewhat right. :)