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What happened to games that allowed your imagination to run wild?

Slayer-33

Slayer-33

Liverpool-2
Your imagination to run wild?

Who misses the sort of games like FF7 etc, were the characters didn't have a voice for the face and you had to imagine them in your mind. Simple grunts or emotions displayed in simple terms or contrasting musical scores that just added more to the immersion/emotion of past games. Specially the psx generation, which struck a balance in simplicity and expression of game characters as interpreted by us the players.

Bring back text bubbles that don't have any VA to go with them god dammit.

/rant
 
S

Salsa

Member
Good thread title.

This kind of stuff seemed to work well with Metroid, if other M rage is to be taken seriously.

I mean apparently everyone got their own version of Samus personality in their heads, without knowing almost anything about her.
 
T

Tears For Fears

Banned
Slayer-33 said:
Your imagination to run wild?

Who misses the sort of games like FF7 etc, were the characters didn't have a voice for the face and you had to imagine them in your mind. Simple grunts or emotions displayed in simple terms or contrasting musical scores that just added more to the immersion/emotion of past games. Specially the psx generation, which struck a balance in simplicity and expression of game characters as interpreted by us the players.

Bring back text bubbles that don't have any VA to go with them god dammit.

/rant
Click to expand...


Right, rolleyes.
 
T

The Take Out Bandit

Member
Slayer-33 said:
Your imagination to run wild?

Who misses the sort of games like FF7 etc, were the characters didn't have a voice for the face and you had to imagine them in your mind. Simple grunts or emotions displayed in simple terms or contrasting musical scores that just added more to the immersion/emotion of past games. Specially the psx generation, which struck a balance in simplicity and expression of game characters as interpreted by us the players.

Bring back text bubbles that don't have any VA to go with them god dammit.

/rant
Click to expand...

They got more "cinematic" in the misguided desire to compete with Hollywood and if you look at reviewers now they'll bitch and complain about silent protagonists.

For that matter you could take this argument one step further and ask, whatever happened to games with no story? Space Invaders, Wizard of Wor, and Pac-Man were all great and I had a ton of fun imagining random stuff as a kid.

Hell, back in high school my buddies and I would concoct stories for SF2 characters during lunch. We didn't write it down, so we avoided the damnation of fanfic. :p

I'm in agreement though.

OT:
Just hit me tonight, The Shield was a great ass TV show and the average season was around 10 hours total. Is there any reason video games with far less engaging stories demand such an investment of time?

I just want to shoot, punch, stab stuff for a couple hours. Not take on a second job.
 
Slayer-33

Slayer-33

Liverpool-2
I honestly miss the simple days of gaming, I'm not talking about going back to the late 80s or early 90s but cmon dev's, stop going over the top all the time.
 
S

Shinjitsu

Banned
Trust me, if it was possible to have FF7 fully voice acted I'm sure they would have done it.

I doubt they really had "imagination" in mind while writing that dialog.
 
G

Gravijah

Member
Slayer-33 said:
I honestly miss the simple days of gaming, I'm not talking about going back to the late 80s or early 90s but cmon dev's stop going over the top all the time.
Click to expand...

handheld gaming, indie gaming, etc
 
T

TheFLYINGManga_Ka

Member
I guess that's why I appreciate games like Shadow of the Colossus or Demon's Souls even more because those do a awesome job of conveying the deepest emotion and immersion with less text or dialogue.

I enjoy cinematic games as well. Uncharted 2 is one of my favorite games. I have no problems with cinematic games.

But something about Shadow of the Colossus and Demon's Souls that stand out. These games tell a great story through the worlds you experience and through the gameplay. And I think in some ways it's more powerful than seeing polygon characters acting out a script to tell a story or having a ton of pre-rendered CG cut-scenes.

Which is probably why a lot of people say that games like SotC or Demon's Souls isn't for everybody.
 
ULTROS!

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
They're mostly on PSN/XBLA/WiiWare.
 
S

StarEye

The Amiga Brotherhood
MNC said:
lol, let your imagination run wild, and you come up with FF7?
Click to expand...

I think the idea was that the little moves that the character does when showing emotion (like squats, shaking their heads, looking down on the ground, stuff like that) which is something FF7 did incredibly well. This is missing today, because everything is emulating movies, where the emotions doesn't need to be interpretated by your own imagination.

Maybe subtlety is the word? Nothing's really subtle anymore - it's something of a lost art in games nowadays.
 
U

UFRA

Member
2z9i71v1.jpg
 
M

MNC

Member
evil solrac v3.0 said:
it was an example of games that didn't use voice acting, did you not see the Etc. or are you being an intentional troll?
Click to expand...
I saw it. I thought having no voice acting is a pretty rough example of 'imagination running wild', which is basically the only 'imagination' thing FF7 has. Plus I got upset with his shitty thread title, it's almost becoming...

a common trend.


Edit: See, StarEye has a pretty good response! Thank you StarEye! :D
 
R

Regulus Tera

Romanes Eunt Domus
I would argue the 2D Final Fantasies are better at "igniting your imagination" solely because the character interactions are more abstract than with the following entries. It's one thing to see a 3D model sighing or stomping the ground and another to deduce it from a text box because a character sprite has almost no animation (I'm pretty sure the overworld sprites consisted of only a walking animation until FFV).
 
N

Nocebo

Member
Slayer-33 said:
Your imagination to run wild?

Who misses the sort of games like FF7 etc, were the characters didn't have a voice for the face and you had to imagine them in your mind.
/rant
Click to expand...
:lol Gimme a break. More like games like FF1-FF6 where you also had to imagine facial expressions and body language for the most part.
 
S

Spike

Member
Slayer-33 said:
Your imagination to run wild?

Who misses the sort of games like FF7 etc, were the characters didn't have a voice for the face and you had to imagine them in your mind. Simple grunts or emotions displayed in simple terms or contrasting musical scores that just added more to the immersion/emotion of past games. Specially the psx generation, which struck a balance in simplicity and expression of game characters as interpreted by us the players.

Bring back text bubbles that don't have any VA to go with them god dammit.

/rant
Click to expand...

2qw0f4i.jpg
 
T

thetrin

Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
Actually, one thing I loved about VVVVVV is that the simplistic graphics and the crazy gameplay made my imagination run wild with what was really happening.

What an awesome game.
 
M

mollipen

Member
Slayer-33 said:
Your imagination to run wild?

Who misses the sort of games like FF7 etc, were the characters didn't have a voice for the face and you had to imagine them in your mind. Simple grunts or emotions displayed in simple terms or contrasting musical scores that just added more to the immersion/emotion of past games. Specially the psx generation, which struck a balance in simplicity and expression of game characters as interpreted by us the players.
Click to expand...

So... hand on. Final Fantasy VII gives me characters like Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie, etc. Characters with pre-set looks, pre-set names, pre-set storylines, pre-set skills, pre-set roles in the party, pre-set beginnings, pre-set endings, and pre-set everything in between... any yet not giving them a voice allows my "imagination to run wild"?

No, just, no. At that point, they're a designed character specifically made NOT to give me the freedom to decide who they are and where they came from, so I'd much rather have them have voices. And hell, an RPG that gives you WAY more freedom when it comes to a running-wild imagination - Mass Effect - has character voices.

Out of everything I might complain about in the progression of gaming, voices certainly aren't one of them. If an RPG doesn't have voices at this point, it had better be on the DS or else it has no excuses in my mind.
 
E

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
The idea that voice work is inherently superior to text is one of the most annoying attitudes in the industry today. At least, for me.

Writing dialogue to be read and dialogue to be spoken are two very different things, and quite frankly, developers are often better at writing the former. Not only does 90% of the latter writing in gaming suck, but most of the time VAs suck balls as well.

I see having to 'read' text and character dialogue as, itself, a design style. Not something out-dated, not something old, and not something that should be avoided. I like reading, and I like it when character dialogue (see: old WRPGs) is written not just as what the character is saying, but also how they are acting and what they are doing, much like reading a book.

But no. Today's gamer wants a fully voiced cast of Nolan North's and a cinematic Hans Zimmer score, because they're imaginatively bankrupt and not after anything more than cheap, disposable entertainment.

YES I AM BITTER.
 
G

Gravijah

Member
shidoshi said:
So... hand on. Final Fantasy VII gives me characters like Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie, etc. Characters with pre-set looks, pre-set names, pre-set storylines, pre-set skills, pre-set roles in the party, pre-set beginnings, pre-set endings, and pre-set everything in between... any yet not giving them a voice allows my "imagination to run wild"?
Click to expand...

Hey, you can rename everyone in FFVII! And I did!
 
A

Advance_Alarm

Member
Back when I played on my Dreamcast I remember being awed everytime there was a tiny voice exclamation (usually yea/ok/uh-huh) during the text parts of Skies of Arcadia. Then when I played Grandia 2 there were cutscenes with 10 seconds or so of voice acting and it blew my mind, especially the part where the beast dude dies on the moon *spoilers, but the game is old*
 
G

Gravijah

Member
Advance_Alarm said:
Back when I played on my Dreamcast I remember being awed everytime there was a tiny voice exclamation (usually yea/ok/uh-huh) during the text parts of Skies of Arcadia.
Then when I played Grandia 2 there were cutscenes with 10 seconds or so of voice acting and it blew my mind, especially the part where the beast dude dies on the moon *spoilers, but the game is old*
Click to expand...

FUCK GUY THERE'S A SPOILER TAG AND IT TAKES 5 SECONDS TO ADD
 
M

Momo

Banned
When I was a kid, I played the entire Nekketsu series in Japanese. I didn't understand a lick of Japanese back then so I would always make up these elaborate Riki and Kunio stories in my head :lol
 
P

Palette Swap

Member
Slayer-33 said:
Your imagination to run wild?

Who misses the sort of games like FF7 etc, were the characters didn't have a voice for the face and you had to imagine them in your mind. Simple grunts or emotions displayed in simple terms or contrasting musical scores that just added more to the immersion/emotion of past games. Specially the psx generation, which struck a balance in simplicity and expression of game characters as interpreted by us the players.

Bring back text bubbles that don't have any VA to go with them god dammit.

/rant
Click to expand...
I can get behind your point but the irony here is that back in the day, FF7 was seen by some people as a betrayal of imagination, particularly because of its extensive use of CGI movies that made too obvious details you had to imagine before.

edit: I also remember some PC gaming mags hating Ultima VIII when it was released because it showed too much and left too little to imagination. :lol
 
D

Dragmire

Member
Was I the only one that was a teenager (16) when FF7 came out, yet thought it was seriously flawed and absolutely failed in regards to the hype? Granted, I grew up on fast, streamlines RPGs like Phantasy Star IV, and I had experienced FMV in PC games for years. But I thought FF7 was a hodge podge of art styles, incredibly slow and tedious gameplay with a story that may have been decent but had horrid, absolutely atrocious presentation. But almost every single person my age that I talk to about it thinks it's one of the greatest games ever made. It had some great things going for it, but was marred beyond belief by shoddy, rushed design and dated RPG gameplay (yes, I realize that dated gameplay is still around but it was so sluggish and uneven in FF7).
 
T

thepotatoman

Unconfirmed Member
Bioware games do that for me these days. I really like trying to come up with main characters that arent just good or just evil or just myself.

For old fashoned games the first game that came to mind was the very first Phantasy Star. They pretty much don't explain in that game while having tons of interesting elements scattered about. The colorful, unique, and detailed world really helped it set apart from the other dont explain anything rpgs of the 8 bit era which really aided in me wanting to create a logic behind everything. In fact I think I have just now found out why that game has left such an impression on me. I always felt I was insane for liking it so much.
 
A

abstract alien

Member
Considering how terrible the VA, story, and overall narrative of most modern games tend to be, I can't help but miss those days. Sometimes less does in fact turn out to be more, so if you can't get it right, leave it out. Most people like the horrific displays of narrative we get in most games today, so I can't see it going away any time soon.

Ah well, this is why Nintendo exists, amongst a few others.
Also, the character models in MGS were awesome. Detailed, yet so vague :D

Side Note: Where the fuck is Legacy of Kain when you need it? So good when it came to story, voices, and dialog.

Gravijah said:
Animal Crossing style gibberish makes me a happy person.
Click to expand...
Yep, very happy.
 
Y

ymmv

Banned
C'm on, OP, let's go all the way and damn all games for visualizing the whole plot.

Bring back text adventures so we can imagine *everything*.

zork1_ending.png
 
A

abstract alien

Member
I'd like to pimp this game right about now.


This is 3D Dot Game Heroes, and if you have a PS3, you should be sticking this deep inside of it right now. It will take you where you need to be.
 
Slayer-33

Slayer-33

Liverpool-2
ymmv said:
C'm on, OP, let's go all the way and damn all games for visualizing the whole plot.

Bring back text adventures so we can imagine *everything*.

zork1_ending.png
Click to expand...
Cmon nah man :lol


I saw it. I thought having no voice acting is a pretty rough example of 'imagination running wild', which is basically the only 'imagination' thing FF7 has. Plus I got upset with his shitty thread title, it's almost becoming...

a common trend.


Edit: See, StarEye has a pretty good response! Thank you StarEye! :D
Click to expand...

"Simple grunts or emotions displayed in simple terms or contrasting musical scores that just added more to the immersion/emotion of past games"
Click to expand...

I meant what he said with this as well.


P.S the elitist stance (by the masses in here, I mean you guys are so COOL) against FF7 is just astounding :lol, it just an example guys.

It's simplistic approach to displaying character interaction/emotions is a perfect example of what I was trying to convey to you guys with my OP.
 
C

CTLance

Member
While I'd never ever used FF7 as example, I certainly agree that "cinematic" games are getting far too much attention from the big devs nowadays. Then again, I have learned to cope with this situation by evading and focusing more on lesser-known devs and games. I have a deeprooted bias against 3D rendering and favour odd games anyway, so I guess everything works out fine. So, as has been mentioned before: these kind of games are still there, you just have to know where to look.
 
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