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which game this gen is the WORST story-wise?

Three way tie between MGS4, Heavy Rain and Mass Effect 3.
 
Enchanted Arms and Torchlight II. They're the only examples where I completely stopped reading the text within the first hour or so.
 
RoboPlato said:
There are many, many games that are far worse than Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Most of what I was going to mention has been said but I really need to add Vanquish to the list. Brilliant game but the story makes no goddamn sense at all. It was pretty much incoherent. Characters that betray you become good again right before they die for no reason. And the most confusing part is the last scene of the ending into the credits.
The president kills herself
and then the credits start playing upbeat music while the heads of the dev team fly by in space for you to shoot.
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Vanquish is pretty much the modern equivalent of the throwaway stories of old Arcade games. Except a surreal variation of them given some of those events, like the one you mentioned. At any rate I didn't find it terribly offensive since it took so little of your time away from shooting up more robots.
 
ElTopo said:
Dead serious. I can't recall a decent explanation as to why the story is not utter shit.



No. No no no. It's not just disappointing. It's just incredibly fucking stupid. As awesome as many moments/characters/dialogues are, the plot itself is horrible. Not just disappointing, but shit.
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the really curious thing is the overlap between this and the other thread.
many people voted Deus Ex for best story... it really is a polarizing game
 
Yeah, with something like Vanquish, the story is such a peripheral element that it doesn't really make sense to rail against it. With Heavy Rain, the story and its inane convolutions, laughable presentation, and rampant incoherency are pretty much the whole game. The entire thing is predicated on a farcical miscarriage of narrative, executed in a way that is simultaneously pompous and ponderous.
 
ElTopo said:
It had (by far) the worst story of any game I played this gen. If there's worse stories I guess I dodged a bullet, though to be fair I had a lot of fun with DE:HR until I realized it's all bullshit. It's a good game, there's some great writing and good design, it's just the actual plot that angers me. I see a game that could've been so much better, but is held back by the plot (and some other decisions). It's a shame, really.
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Deus Ex ate my hamster.

Mass Effect 2 has a worse story than Deus Ex, just to start. I'm going through the third one at the moment, and it's doing a good job of emulating the second, so maybe a new winner.
 
People saying SO4, MGS4 and other games, definetly never played 3rd Birthday. And I know those games have bad story. But 3rd Birthday trumps them all.

I really think that Toriyama had no idea what was writing at one point because I'm sure the game dosn't make sense at all. AT ALL. Is a mess a biblic proportions with one of the most non sensical plot twists ever conceived.
 
Just Cause 2. I dont care if it was "tongue in cheek".. It doens't excuse it for disgustingly bad dialogue and stupid storytelling. It wasn't even funny just plain awful.
 
Eusis said:
Vanquish is pretty much the modern equivalent of the throwaway stories of old Arcade games. Except a surreal variation of them given some of those events, like the one you mentioned. At any rate I didn't find it terribly offensive since it took so little of your time away from shooting up more robots.
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Ya, Vanquish's story is comically terrible, but a linear narrative isn't what you're playing the game for.

Saying Vanquish has a bad story is like saying Super Mario Bros. has a bad story. It's a means to an end to give context to the gameplay, which was obviously the sole focus. It's trite, simple, and silly, but it should be mostly ignored for this thread, because the developers clearly weren't trying to tell any narrative or give any depth to the characters. It's about shooting shit. It's like trying to give Geometry Wars a plot.
 
daviyoung said:
Deus Ex: HR's story takes a proper nosedive into slurry when it reveals itself about halfway through, but it's not really too far removed from the original's, just with more zombies. It's hard to pull off apocalyptic scenarios nowadays.
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The original's is coherent with numerous memorable moments. The story in HR is neither of these things.

Zweisy1 said:
Just Cause 2. I dont care if it was "tongue in cheek".. It doens't excuse it for disgustingly bad dialogue and stupid storytelling. It wasn't even funny just plain awful.
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Nah, the last mission in JC2 is legitimately awesome.
 
antitrop said:
Ya, Vanquish's story is comically terrible, but a linear narrative isn't what you're playing the game for.

Saying Vanquish has a bad story is like saying Super Mario Bros. has a bad story. It's a means to end to give context to the gameplay, which was obviously the sole focus. It's trite, simple, and silly, but it should be mostly ignored for this thread, because the developers clearly weren't trying to tell any narrative or give any depth to the characters. It's about shooting shit. It's like trying to give Geometry Wars a plot.
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exactly!
games that are not trying to actually tell a story but they have one just as a mere excuse to give context to the gameplay do not count
 
Eideka said:
Mirror's Edge's story is not that dreadful. It's very basic but efficient.
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I thought the concept of runners being the only option for people to share information was very cool but the actual story was average at best.So much wasted potential IMO.
 
Three titles, GAF:

1. MGS4: all went wrong when Kojima decided this crap with Liquid's arm connected to Revolver Ocelot. Oh and that wedding in the end, I was so happy nobody walked into the room...
2. FFXIII: so dissapointing, and if that's wasn't enough we got FFXIII-2 as icing on the rotten cake...
3. The 3rd Birthday: I still pretend it doesn't exist after the great I and the good II
 
whalleywhat said:
The original's is coherent with numerous memorable moments. The story in HR is neither of these things.
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It is certainly a mess.

antitrop said:
I would love to hear these reasons, because people talk so much shit about it but never expound upon their statements.
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Well it's chock-full of adventure-movie cliches, almost to the point of parody, with quite unlikeable characters and obvious, cringey dialogue and character development. Its Indiana gimmick of having something crazy happen in the final act is pretty spurious.

But it's meant to be like that, its tone is consistent and obviously tongue-in-cheek. There's no way it can have the worst story, since (almost all of) it makes sense in its world.
 
Heavy Rain or GTAIV. Both seemed embarrassed about being a video game. Heavy Rain would be laughed at if it was a movie, and I actually like GTA 4 but like the other thread pointed out the story it tried telling is a mess when you account for the gameplay.
 
Final Fantasy XIII's story was an embarrassment to the franchise.

What in the absolute fuck is a Pulse l'cie and a l'Cie and a fal'Cie. Jesus Christ, my head hurts just thinking about that game. It's fucking trash.
There is absolutely NO character development over the course of the game, they all just fucking suck. You might like a few characters here and there, but I wasn't sure if I was playing Final Fantasy XIII or attending a Broadway production of RENT.
 
I see where the dislike for Human Revolution's story is coming from. It started off well with the futuristic corporate sabotage angle but IMO they introduced the
Illuminati
-type elements from the first game too quickly and by the end I felt like I got an ending to a different story than the one the game started with. I really enjoyed the game but they didn't need to go so full-on Deus Ex with the story, it didn't feel natural.
 
Sonic 2006 is the obvious winner, but some (awful) runner up are Enslaved, Ninja Gaiden 3, FF4:The After Years, Other M and Last Rebellion
 
All MARIO games.. and they will continue the stories on the Wii-U.. lol (ohhh OP said No mario games)

then it must be God of War games... 1 was good.. rest was lol worthy (even though the games themselves are good)
 
The Crusty Juggler said:
...LA NOIR just so many.
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Really can't help but call attention to this title as well. There are huge gaping holes in not only the overarching logic of the story, but also in the way things operate on a base level. It's one thing when something like Other M has an awful story, but LA Noire hangs its hat on the story while floundering along.
 
Eusis said:
Vanquish is pretty much the modern equivalent of the throwaway stories of old Arcade games. Except a surreal variation of them given some of those events, like the one you mentioned. At any rate I didn't find it terribly offensive since it took so little of your time away from shooting up more robots.
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Oh I completely agree. It's nowhere near as offensive as some other games. In fact, it probably adds to the charm. I just needed to share that end scene since I was so baffled by it.
 
antitrop said:
There is absolutely NO character development over the course of the game, they all just fucking suck.
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I don't agree with that, the characters have development, for exemple Hope is a whinny cry baby at first, then he tries to kill Snow (which is totally understandable as he's annoying as hell), and then he grows up and act more like an adult. And all the character have some similar developpement, they're pretty anal at first about something personnal, then they stop and get focused on their mission. Well, you could argue that it's shitty character development, but that's still character development I think.
 
in a sea of laughably written stories, if we consider context, genre, the will to take your game seriously, Heavy Rain, definitely. It's just a piece of rotten arse
 
RockmanWhore said:
I don't agree with that, the characters have development, for exemple Hope is a whinny cry baby at first, then he tries to kill Snow (which is totally understandable as he's annoying as hell), and then he grows up and act more like an adult. And all the character have some similar developpement, they're pretty anal at first about something personnal, then they stop and get focused on their mission. Well, you could argue that it's shitty character development, but that's still character development I think.
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I love how you proving me wrong was with a backhanded insult at FFXIII.
 
LA Noire.
The fact that EVERY homicide investigation you arrest the wrong person because it's all a coverup for the serial killer is the dumbest decision ever. You get to the premiere MOST INTERESTING department and all the little insights into LA Life in the time period just get thrown out of the window. Unforgivable.
. I still enjoyed LA Noire, but that, and the "eclectic" way the interview scenes go make this a game worth playing, but one that leaves you lamenting the lost opportunity of such a rich adult plot.
 
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