I would disagree heavily on this. You don’t just take in what you see; you need to learn to read into things. I can (and plan to, in a blog maybe) write essays on games like FFVIII and FFIX (especially FFIX). There is alot to extract from these games.
Remember that the visual side of the game is also part of the story; it may seem like the story is dumbed down because say “It doesn’t have as much words as books” but an obvious fact that you may not have realised is that over 80% of a books content is descriptive. Games don’t exactly need to do that do they?
If you know how to spot the symbolism, the denotations and what they connote, the speech and what it says about the character, their actions and what they prove, their goals and what they represent, their beliefs and how we tie it with this worlds etc etc.
FFIX is the best example, but it can be done with most FF’s. People love to hate on VIII having the worst story, and they love to hate on Squall…but they would never give you a definitive reason.
And if you tell me that FFVIII has no depth…the well, you ain’t looked nearly hard enough.
Little things, like how these students who live in ‘Gardens’ are called 'SeeD’s. Or like how their is a GF called Eden. Who Ultimecia is (she’s NOT Rinoa) and why she had Greiver. What is the meaning of her coming from the future? If she’s from the future, why does she live in a Baroque-esque castle, when clearly the current period has no such thing and is so much more developed? What is the meaning behind the 12 Baroque and Renaissance paintings in her castle? What is the significance behind alot of the names in FFVIII (Krysta, Trauma, Ultimecia, Squall, Balamb etc)? What can you say about the recurring theme of a woman and her ‘knight’? Why is Rinoa and Squalls relationship unique in the way it ties in with Laguna and Julia? Why does the game never tell you about who Rinoa’s mother was and who Squalls father was, instead leaving hints? The succession of Witches? Pertaining to the aforementioned, have you noticed the female reign? But why is it still that a woman and/or witch without her night will fall? etc etc
Some of these are basic and obvious questions people have asked. And there is so much more to say about it. There are symbols, themes and other things you can delve into very deeply.
One criticism about FFVIII, is that it never delved deeply enough into certain subjects (i.e, I would’ve liked to have learnt more or even seen the ‘Sorcerress War’). However, maybe the left that to our imaginations? Because it sure as hell worked mine.
People underestimate games and what they are capable of. To most people, a game is just ‘a game’. They do not truly think of it as an amazing medium in which Art, Music and Literature come together in unity to create an experience another medium can’t. What the interaction does, is allow you to take things at your own pace. If your watching a movie, looking at a photo or a piece of artwork…maybe you want to see the rest of what is being shown to you. When watching a movie, it is a constant stream, and maybe you want to stay abit longer in a certain moment, a certain area…and pausing never does the job does it?
You can explore the real world, but is there a convenient musical backdrop? Is it as beautiful? Games are an art you can interact with on a satisfying scale and actually engage with. However it depends of the developing team not to undermine it, and it depends on the audience not to undermine it; because most people will say “Oh I just don’t thing the game is good. The story’s a train wreck reh reh reh”…but it would mainly stem from the undermining of the medium. People have a preconceived notion for alot of things in life, and they run with it all too often and all too ignorantly. They underestimate the effect of different points of view, and how it can change perception appearance and actually improve your knowledge on alot of things.
I’ve had this debate many times before…and no one ever really does explain exactly why and why they don’t like the game and it’s traits (be it the characters, story, music, art etc). They use the scapegoat of “Well it’s my opinion” and try and steer the argument into some human rights BS.
I have much more to stay, but I’ll stop it here. So sorry for the essay, but I dislike it when people undermine RPG’s/games and what they are capable of. And games, just like books, also require your imagination…and it can even be harder. because people’s visual analysation is sorely lacking when they don’t aren’t looking at something they know should be visually analysed…they take things as they are. That’s one of the reasons why books are so successful, you are told, with words, the description and allure of things…in games, people take that shit for granted, it’s all about ‘graphics’ now isn’t it?
I’d like to see a writer play Metroid Prime, and then describe it’s world to me in a way that makes me feel as I did when I played through the game. They would do it well, but not well enough. The vision is of essence…after all, all novels do is feed you visual elements through words don’t they?
Anyway, rant over.
