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Games that let great backstories/setups go to waste.
- Thread starter Odoul
- Start date
Chairmanchuck
Member
FFXII
You have this superbig world, with lots of different lore.
And what do you get?
A story about politics...
You have this superbig world, with lots of different lore.
And what do you get?
A story about politics...
Spieler Eins
Member
Xenoblade. Story is terribly cliched and predictable, except for the 20 final minutes or so, even though the setup is so unique.
Slamtastic
Member
The fighting genre.
I'm gonna go with Final Fantasy XII. A lot of great, complex lore that eventually doesn't factor into the main quest at all. There's also a shitload of crap you could do in the Mass Effect universe (before ME3 takes place) if they would ever make a game where you play as someone other than a human soldier.
That's kind of what made it unique from other JRPGs.
With Killzone I think the problem is that there's only so much you can do story-wise with a first person shooter. If they made a Killzone strategy game or RPG it could be much more interesting.
FFXII
You have this superbig world, with lots of different lore.
And what do you get?
A story about politics...
That's kind of what made it unique from other JRPGs.
With Killzone I think the problem is that there's only so much you can do story-wise with a first person shooter. If they made a Killzone strategy game or RPG it could be much more interesting.
ShinoguTakeruKoeru
Member
Everything .hack starting from G.U.
They basically nuked the original .hack universe and built a pale imitation on top where they relegated all but a few of the original characters to in-jokes or obscure cameos. The mythos of the original series became nothing but window dressing, and now we get either the same story told over and over again (Did we really need a manga, novel AND CG movie about the G.U. story?) or the same 3/4 character models in another story (Hello Kite/Balmung/Orca/Blackrose repeats).
They basically nuked the original .hack universe and built a pale imitation on top where they relegated all but a few of the original characters to in-jokes or obscure cameos. The mythos of the original series became nothing but window dressing, and now we get either the same story told over and over again (Did we really need a manga, novel AND CG movie about the G.U. story?) or the same 3/4 character models in another story (Hello Kite/Balmung/Orca/Blackrose repeats).
Chairmanchuck
Member
Wasnt the "mythos" crushed because CC-Corp made "The World 2.0"?
It still references some of it in G.U. though. Like the forbidden grounds.
bengraven
Member
Poor framerate and below par visuals killed it. Great concept though.
Ever since Demi was banned, I never see this around anymore. Completely forgot it even existed.
I love that game but I didn't even know it had a story.
SuperEpicMan
Banned
Uncharted 3 - I was playing through the game, and there are loads moments that you think will have relevance to the story, but you get to the end and they don't get a mention.
Spiders
Talbot and his stange happenings lol
Firstly I was expecting
And the ending
Spiders
Talbot and his stange happenings lol
Firstly I was expecting
Talbot to be a djiinn, which would explain how he was shot and how he was sending Nate on head trips as well as controlling the bald guys mind. This could also have explained the spiders, which could be hallucinations instead
And the ending
was a bit of a let down, you never really learn what Marlowe's motivations were for finding the brass talisman, overall come the end of the game i got the impression some important story got cut out
ShinoguTakeruKoeru
Member
Do I use spoiler tags? Eh, why not.
Sure, in-universe there was a mad experiment to
bring Aura back to The World or was it The Internet itself because when she left then CC-corp forgot that they didn't have their own maintenance team to fix The Internet's problems lol
It does make sense that the series' past characters would move on from the game in-universe (and I admit, you didn't need about 80% of the original games' characters for the core plot) because that happens in real life and all. Those references in G.U. are just that though, and I guess I personally wanted more of the original series to bleed through into G.U. and affect those events more than they did.
The Bungie Halo games are a perfect example. Aside from many moments in Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, which really expanded the in-game lore, the game stories have been shallow cliche-ridden tripe. The books and comics really expand upon it, and 343i is really talking about expanding the story in Halo 4, so perhaps there is hope.
FFXII
You have this superbig world, with lots of different lore.
And what do you get?
A story about politics...
that's why it's so amazing. less animu tropes and angsty assholes, more hardcore political backstabbing. so, so awesome.
Which would be fine, if I was a politician in that game. Rather than a random nobody.
Jo Shishido's Cheeks
Member
Final Fantasy XIII definitely.
The post-game trips around Pulse uncover little nuggets of info as to what happened there in the past but nothing is established or built-upon, just a whole bunch of disappointing hints.
The post-game trips around Pulse uncover little nuggets of info as to what happened there in the past but nothing is established or built-upon, just a whole bunch of disappointing hints.
Definitely Metroid for me.
I want to know more about Samus' relationship with the Chozo and Mother Brain, and how they impacted her.
In Other M, the Chozo weren't even mentioned... in favor of talking about how important Samus' military service under Adam was to her development. You kiddin' me, bro? You devote a game to Samus' backstory and don't talk about the enlightened society that made her into a genetically superior weaponized badass?
Also, they shouldn't have killed off all but one of the titular antagonists in the second game of the series. Good job, knuckleheads! Now we're stuck with interquels and cloning crap for the rest of eternity.
I want to know more about Samus' relationship with the Chozo and Mother Brain, and how they impacted her.
In Other M, the Chozo weren't even mentioned... in favor of talking about how important Samus' military service under Adam was to her development. You kiddin' me, bro? You devote a game to Samus' backstory and don't talk about the enlightened society that made her into a genetically superior weaponized badass?
Also, they shouldn't have killed off all but one of the titular antagonists in the second game of the series. Good job, knuckleheads! Now we're stuck with interquels and cloning crap for the rest of eternity.
EmCeeGramr
Member
Ehhhhh. Nier has a lot of great backstory that sounds like Cavia was honestly planning at least one (or multiple) games set in it, and while that's a shame that they'll never be made, Nier itself is just plain Nier.
It's about a dude named Nier, they don't need to go into the extensive backstory involving Maso and the Grimoire project and White Chlorination Syndrome and the Legion and Red Eye.
bengraven
Member
Fable.
You had this beautiful world: slightly generic but in a tongue-in-cheek cool way.
The little stories you would read in the books or through random dialogue was so compelling. Then the story was only 10 hours long with nothing afterwards.
There was the Lady Gray backstory, for example. Then there was the hints of the Hanging Tree that made players want to try and find it in-game and hope for a secret. The tree was later found near the Hero's Guild and was later used for Lost Chapters but the backstory was shelved.
I remember finishing Fable 1 and wishing the writers would make a "world of Fable" book with tons of backstory and lore. Never really happened because the games became more and more bland and the world grew stale.
You had this beautiful world: slightly generic but in a tongue-in-cheek cool way.
The little stories you would read in the books or through random dialogue was so compelling. Then the story was only 10 hours long with nothing afterwards.
There was the Lady Gray backstory, for example. Then there was the hints of the Hanging Tree that made players want to try and find it in-game and hope for a secret. The tree was later found near the Hero's Guild and was later used for Lost Chapters but the backstory was shelved.
I remember finishing Fable 1 and wishing the writers would make a "world of Fable" book with tons of backstory and lore. Never really happened because the games became more and more bland and the world grew stale.
FFXII enriches its world with mass amounts of lore to help it feel more cohesive and real, it's what most fantasy settings need to do, it helps you feel that all this fantastical stuff happening in the story aren't just being made up on the spot for your enjoyment, your story is a small part of a bigger real history.
XIII did this all wrong, nothing really fits together and nearly everything you hear about directly relates to what you're doing, and by all you know there could be no world or history outside of what you're experiencing.
XIII did this all wrong, nothing really fits together and nearly everything you hear about directly relates to what you're doing, and by all you know there could be no world or history outside of what you're experiencing.
Have to agree with this, that game had a generally weak plot benefiting from a solid mythological concept.
Sgt.Pepper
Banned
Predictable?
Lion Heart
Banned
Pretty much every game in existence. 99% at least.
Lost Odyssey.
Every single one of the short stories is more interesting than the story presented in the game.
The son of a judge, the knight framed for killing a king, and heir to the throne are random nobodies? lol.
Every single one of the short stories is more interesting than the story presented in the game.
The son of a judge, the knight framed for killing a king, and heir to the throne are random nobodies? lol.
True, but it sure would've helped if they had gone with the original plan to make Basch the main protagonist and not Vaan. I understand the choice, and you need your "fish out of water" protagonist in fantasy settings usually, but in this case he was just too much of an outsider and didn't even serve his purpose well.
Seventy_X_Seven
Member
First reply nails it
Doh, I'm late.
It's really such a damn shame.
Navidson REC
Member
Possibly Gears "universe" spoilers (I'm really not sure with this one):
Isn't there also this huge, underlying twist regarding the Human/Locust War that's never explicitly stated? That the humans are the actual invaders?
Is that even true? I think I heard that at some point and wouldn't that have made for a great twist? Why was this never uttered, not even at the end of Gears 3 (which was lacking at any rate, in my opinion).
Yeah, this. Bungie didn't do a bad job, but neither an excellent one (all things considered). That said, 343 seems to plan on rectifying this. Really excited about that.
Definitely.
Seriously, that's the impression I get reading this thread, ha.
ColonelColon
Member
Mass Effect 3 wastes the Mass Effect universe imo, but not because of the ending. None of the locations really feel fleshed out and expansive. Each level is a cramped series of corridors where you shoot every enemy in your way until you reach the next scripted event. The enemies are more diverse, but there is hardly any variety in the mission design at all, unfortunately. The sense of exploration and discovery has been completely drained from the series.
devilinanewdress
Banned
The Bioshock sequel.
The Anti-Monitor
Banned
Killzone had lots of potential and it seems like only the fans realized it. It's a shame, because it'll most likely never be explored.
Mass Effect 1 did explore the universe somewhat (loved all the missions that could be seen as throwbacks to all sorts of Sci-Fi universes, from Star Trek, to Aliens, to even Starship Troopers). The second game did have a hand on it with Omega in all its hive of scum and villainy glory. And the Reapers are pretty much the Lovecraftian mythos in spaceship form. But at the end of the day, we never see more of it. We know the Mass Effect universe is amazing, we get a small taste of it, and nothing more.
Metroid, similarly, builds up an incredibly awesome backstory, but we simply do not get to explore anything beyond Samus' missions, which is a shame. There's a lot more to it than we see.
Mass Effect 1 did explore the universe somewhat (loved all the missions that could be seen as throwbacks to all sorts of Sci-Fi universes, from Star Trek, to Aliens, to even Starship Troopers). The second game did have a hand on it with Omega in all its hive of scum and villainy glory. And the Reapers are pretty much the Lovecraftian mythos in spaceship form. But at the end of the day, we never see more of it. We know the Mass Effect universe is amazing, we get a small taste of it, and nothing more.
Metroid, similarly, builds up an incredibly awesome backstory, but we simply do not get to explore anything beyond Samus' missions, which is a shame. There's a lot more to it than we see.
FFXII
You have this superbig world, with lots of different lore.
And what do you get?
A story about politics...
Wait, what? I was going to say FFXII for almost the EXACT OPPOSITE reason. The story about politics could have been so good. The game started off with such amazing potential with the setup of an actual intelligent political fantasy drama with so much promise and then....here's this kid in the sewers killing rats! Then he joins up with the real characters in the game and they all go on fetch quests together! Sigh. The game was still pretty great despite the complete disintegration of its plot, but still, what could have been...
FF XIII was also another waste of potential, as the Datalog reveals a really detailed and fleshed out universe that the game basically does not explore in the slightest bit.
It's sad because previous FFs have all done a brilliant job of bringing their worlds to life and making you feel really important within that world (even XI, which is maybe the most brilliantly executed world in the entire franchise).
What? I heaps of information about the lore and Universe out of the first 2 games at least from the various conversations and missions. Failing that the books have shitloads of backstory aswell. Unless your specifically talking about ME3 or something.
Took a while before that was explained and before you noticed who the main char was. In the major part of the game you are doing stuff and shown cut-scene's seemingly unrelated to you. Got bored way before everything came together.
You know who Bach and Ashe are right off the bat. Only Balathier is a mystery.
Yeah and they where irrelevant to the happenings in the first part of the game. The whole you control Vaan thing first really didn't help.
Cool. Doesn't change facts.
If you want to talk facts then Vaan is the main character and irrelevant to the story.
The Wheel of Fortune
Member
Agreed. Such a waste, sadly.
IMO Epic Mickey and Killzone. They could have done marvelous things with those settings...
Vaan is just the viewpoint character. He even admits to it in game when he says he's just along for the ride.
The Primes do use the lore well. The main line (1, 2, Super, Other M, and Fusion) doesn't use the larger universe to any advantages.
The Tallon IV Chozo from the Primes are a clan that were more religious than the Zebesian Chozo in the main line, and they didn't have a single hand in teaching Samus anything... yet we know more about them, their nomadic culture, and how they influenced numerous other societies' technological advancement. There are traces of them all over in the Primes (as it should be, since they were an influential nomadic tribe).
The Chozo that actually meant something personal to the main character always end up pushed aside to talk about the Federation, which is basically a copypaste of every other corrupt futuristic human government organization ever made.
Not really. Vaan is a vehicle through which the story is told. I'd argue Ashe is the main character since the plot revolves around her. I agree that he's largely irrelevant to the story, but that doesn't really matter since once you meet Balthier and Fran, you don't need to control him except for running around towns.
Yup.
Sapphire Dreams
Member
Am I the only one who is going to say Assassin's Creed ?
I mean we have a whole slew of back stories about various assassins around the world and who are we focusing on ? Desmond, one of the blandest and most boring characters ever !
Also, Ubisoft making three games focusing on one assassin didn't help.'
I mean we have a whole slew of back stories about various assassins around the world and who are we focusing on ? Desmond, one of the blandest and most boring characters ever !
Also, Ubisoft making three games focusing on one assassin didn't help.'
beelzebozo
Jealous Bastard
no freaking way.
The fact that the scifi part exists at all annoys me.
The Mana Legend
Banned
Resonance of Fate is the king of letdown after an amazing premise. Seriously, I was so damn letdown.