Beyond Good and Evil

[A Black Falcon]

that IGN review says that there ARE in fact twists and enough to keep the story interesting. so i don't know why ABF is quoting it to defend his argument as it shoots it right in the head.

While Michel Ancel's story may teeter on the edge of heavy-handedness, it manages to be both less profound and more successful than the premise suggested.

Heavy-handed it most certainly is... I'm not sure about the 'more successful' part, but 'less profound' is probably true too.

i also never viewed the "stealth" segments of the game as being "stealth segments" the sneaking was always a puzzle. i thought the game played a lot like the original oddworld (which i loved) but was also tons better in a lot of ways. mainly in terms of storytelling.

Yes, that is what they are, puzzles. Oddworld... not a bad comparison actually, because that's also got that 'solve the puzzle here and progress' level design...

i think what blew me away was the WAY in which the story is told. the integration of cinematics into the gameplay. the amazing voice acting and music. it's onr\e of the best fusions of story and gameplay i've ever seen. i loved hearing radio broadcasts and newsreels slowly become audible as i approached and fade away as i walked away from the speaker. i liked to be able to sit at the radio and listen to what was happening in the world and that those things would change as i progressed in the game.

IGN talks about this, and GR, and you, and others... but I just don't see it in anywhere near the same degree, as I've said in plenty of detail many times. There are just far too many things that hurt the illusion the game seems to have gone partway towards creating (and then abandoned and reverted back to a more normal console-game feel)... one of the reasons I stopped playing is that I just don't really care about the story enough to really want to finish it. Sure, it's mildly intresting, but there are lots of games out there with better stories, not to mention books or TV shows...