@Volt I saw this in that Twitter thread and cracked the hell up 
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Oh geez, the meme right below it.
Except when you look at all game writing from a purely writing perspective it is bad writing.
Like ever read a stage play or a film script, its rather very dull, very descriptive writing with alot of stage directions. Game writing is inherently worst as you have at some point turn over that story telling to game play, which breaks the narrative of the script.
Looking for good writing in a game is like looking for good writing in a hard-core porno.
You aren’t going to find it, and its not even that necessary. It’s why with the exception of a few game genres I avoid story driven games (where the narrative drive the game rather than the game drive the narrative), as it frankly going to suck regardless how you look at it. TLOU2 and TLOU1 is always going to fall apart writing wise if looked under heavy scrutiny, most games would in the same inspection.
Like for example: everything Square Enix did, including their back catalogs, if you look just at the game story writing, its all horse shit. If you want to get good writing out of a game you are basically looking at a interactive movie, a visual novel, or something to that effect where there very little if any game play.
That is a steaming hot take. I’d even call it bullshit blazing.
Consider the following:
- Books and movies are not interactive. Games are. You have a massive advantage with game writing because of the sheer immersion players can have.
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Actually Look at the rules all writers need to follow to write a compelling story, games do not follow all those rules.
Keep in mind I am not a professor of writing or a professional writer
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/eight-rules-for-writing-fiction
- Show, don’t tell. …
- Create three-dimensional characters. …
- Choose a point of view. …
- Give your characters motivations. …
- Write what you know. …
- No tears for the writer , no tears for the reader. …
- Revize, revize, revize. …
- Trust yourself.
I can tell you video games break those first two rules too offend.
Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 rules for writing a short story
- Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
- Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
- Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
- Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action.
Also keep in mind I think Steven King is a lousy writer who just happens to be creative enough to make up for his lack of writing skill. The movies he has full creative control over are never as good as the ones where the director tells King to back the fuck off and get off the set.
Got a list handy? Because I’m not buying that at all.
In fact, from a storytelling perspective, TLOU1 was straight up good. It’s just the overall plot that is braindead formulaic and predictable.
Characters are solid, the storytelling works, the gameplay isn’t disconnected from the story… There aren’t glaring flaws in it.
I added it to the previous post.
Complete bullshit.
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So is the whole series.
But actually show me one game other than TLOU1 (as it was garbage) that had actual good writing.
The Legacy of Kain series. The Deus Ex series. The Witcher series.
3 off the top. Games have different rules for writing. They arent books and They aren’t movies which also have their own unique rules for writing good stories within the confines of their medium.
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Man they all have there serious writing flaws, even the Witcher books has the problems.
Legacy of Kain is weak writing wise, starts off strong every title, but I loose what the focus of the story is.
Everything has flaws. Doesn’t mean it isn’t good.
That’s not an inherent problem with VGs as media.
In fact, the first one is the easiest to enforce in Video Games since you have to you know, play through things.
You’re wrong about how VGs as story telling media are flawed. They’re clearly not.
What ever, I done arguing over it.
Cool.
Korean dude destroys the Last Of Us 2 disc after the scene with Joel lol
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It pisses me off how there are no “choices” to be made in the game and alternative Endings to go after. Which would have helped a LOT to smooth things over, regarding the events of the game. It’s basically like playing through the events of a movie and helpless to watch as things unfold, with Zero input on your part.
I know thats technically no different than stuff like Super Mario Bros 1 and Dragon’s Lair back in the day but, for games in this day & age that tout themselves as being so much more sophisticated experiences? There’s no excuse not to give players more freedom in what they do and or alternate endings to hunt for. Things are just pre-determined to end badly for everyone, especially your favorite characters, and you’re just forced to endure it, or play something else.
Story choices is not something the game needs. You aren’t playing as yourself in these games, you’re playing as that character. They just need to make sure that character is actually staying in character.
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