Though the stereotypical caricatures that the "hero" cast represented was most likely intentional, it didn't do the game any favors at all. If anything, it just made me long for the demise of each and every one of them.
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Worst video game stories of this generation
- Thread starter NotTheGuyYouKill
- Start date
Though the stereotypical caricatures that the "hero" cast represented was most likely intentional, it didn't do the game any favors at all. If anything, it just made me long for the demise of each and every one of them.
Laughing Banana
Weeping Pickle
That's gotta be one of those "it's so bad it's good" cases. I mean, I don't think anyone is even remotely capable of conjuring a story like that, it's kind of incredible in away if you think about it.
AHA-Lambda
Member
Oh yeah, I forgot God of War 3! XD
Ignoring the awful characterisation of Kratos post GOW1, but I remember hating the ending to 3. I can't remember it all too well now but it was anticlimactic, made everything seem for nothing and one character's twist turn really made no sense :-/
Ignoring the awful characterisation of Kratos post GOW1, but I remember hating the ending to 3. I can't remember it all too well now but it was anticlimactic, made everything seem for nothing and one character's twist turn really made no sense :-/
purpletentacle
Member
It's a toss up between MGS4 or Halo 4.
I couldn't tell you what happened in either, however where MGS4 suffered from too much story (thanks to 15 years of backstory which somehow needed to be tied together), Halo 4 had nothing to say. The villain may be the lamest one in video game history, as was that end battle.
I couldn't tell you what happened in either, however where MGS4 suffered from too much story (thanks to 15 years of backstory which somehow needed to be tied together), Halo 4 had nothing to say. The villain may be the lamest one in video game history, as was that end battle.
bobbychalkers
Member
FFXIII....Proper nouns run amok.....still have no idea what the fuck anything that has a Cie suffix is.
Those aren't the kind of games you play for the story anyways.
I'll say Other M as well.
Oh god, I totally forgot about Perfect Dark Zero. I couldn't even tell you what the heck was even going on in that game.
The worst part is that if you actually are one of those people weird enough to go in and read all the ridiculous Lore, it's silly and vague enough in its descriptions there that you still don't really know what's going on.
I spent much of the Summer of 2010 reading plot synopsis blogs and shit trying to understand the story, because I was in denial that it was as bad as it was. It took me like a full year to accept it.
Rage for having the most dialogue despite having virtually no actual story at all. You wake up. Then people order you around. Then the ending sucks. I really hated having to stand around listen to NPCs talk and talk and really say nothing at all.
Bionic Commando (though I love this game) for having some of the most mind-numbingly stupid plot twists ever. And my favorite line of dialogue, "That's people you're breathing".
Other M for being all around offensive and making me angry for about a month.
Bionic Commando (though I love this game) for having some of the most mind-numbingly stupid plot twists ever. And my favorite line of dialogue, "That's people you're breathing".
Other M for being all around offensive and making me angry for about a month.
True, but the stories were significantly developed to the point you could tell the developer put serious effort into them. And Vanquish especially was cringeworthy.
Night_Trekker
Member
Eh... I'm more than familiar with the Silent Hill games (the real ones), but I'm not sure what you're talking about here. Alan Wake is not all that well-written, though, I agree.
And don't misunderstand: I love the game. The atmosphere is fantastic, the soundtrack is great, the voice acting is mostly excellent, and it most definitely has high moments I won't forget. I actually love the battle system.
But... certain aspects of the story are amazingly cliche. The "homage" material is so clearly unoriginal that it distracts from the story. (I'm talking mostly about the Twin Peaks stuff, which is fucking everywhere.) The dialogue ranges from decent to trite silliness. I rolled my eyes over a number of the cutscenes. (I did think the ending was pretty good, though.)
And those manuscript pages are the absolute worst. Considering Remedy had Wake's actor narrating everything in the pages, I wonder if the writing for the manuscript was reworked to be much shorter and more expository than initially planned. (At least, I hope something like that happened. Otherwise, I'm not sure what excuse there is for Lake's work there, who I generally think of as a better writer than that.)
It's really not that complicated. They really didn't need to be nonsense words in a made-up language.
fal'Cie - Gods.
l'Cie - People forcibly contracted by those gods to accomplish something, who are given magic powers in exchange. If they succeed, they turn to crystal, and if they fail, they turn into monsters. You could call them "Servants" or "Slaves" and capture almost everything that word means.
They could explain it better in the game, but Vanille, Hope, how boring every character becomes in the game's back third, and the bullshit deus ex machina ending bothered me way more than the pointless proper nouns.
I like Sam Gideon.
Vanquish's cutscenes are total skip-bait, though.
Yes, that's not difficult to understand, but once they start throwing multiple 'Cie words into the same sentence, shit just gets ridiculously confusing real quick. Even if you had a Lore dictionary right in front of you.
Lacks coherency, big time. The writing is poor, throughout.
I really have to struggle to think of a really bad story in a game from this gen. There's a lot of empty, uninteresting garbage, but nothing that stands out as terribad.
Oh wait...
This. DI is basically a Scary Movie gag that wants to be taken seriously.
Now that I think of it, just a few days ago I watched a couple of terrible shark movies after seeing the top-40 video on Cinemassacre, and I couldn't help thinking "this looks like a videogame cutscene". No, I'm not talking about special effects.
Oh wait...
This. DI is basically a Scary Movie gag that wants to be taken seriously.
Now that I think of it, just a few days ago I watched a couple of terrible shark movies after seeing the top-40 video on Cinemassacre, and I couldn't help thinking "this looks like a videogame cutscene". No, I'm not talking about special effects.
Yes, it's so bad! And the slideshow framerate didn't help. There's a reason why the next game in the series in development hell. Good Lord, I think I might have to go to Youtube and watch it again. It's so insane that I think I might actually enjoy it.
More explication on Other M...
The reason I think Other M's story is irredeemable garbage is that Sakamoto clearly had no interest in actually building Samus's character, even though that was supposed to be the goal of the game. Just look at how her character progresses through the game. She starts out as uncertain and emotionally fragile, and while I think that's bullshit, it at least is a decent start to a character arc. There are multiple scenes that highlight her issues: She questioned Adam's orders and seemed to have a frosty relationship with him as her superior, she cowers in the face of Ridley, she just awkwardly stands around waiting for Adam to tell her what to do. Nothing is really happening in the plot yet, so this is all set-up. When a strong protagonist is given these sort of personality flaws, the story must center around them either overcoming them or dealing with them.
Unfortunately, Samus never resolves her conflicts. Instead of showing extra initiative or maturity in the Sector Zero scene when she disagrees with her superior officer, she breaks down crying and pleading him not to go. When she is given the mission to hunt Ridley and make up for her panic knocking Anthony into the lava, he is conveniently killed off-camera by a different monster. When she is placed in an uncomfortable command situation with the GF Troopers, she again stands awkwardly in place until someone else (Anthony) takes initiative. All of these things show a lack of progression. Samus Aran at the start of Other M is virtually the same as Samus Aran at the end of Other M. For a game that was supposed to be a character study of Samus, she gets no character development! The game seems to malign Samus in other ways too. Samus does literally nothing of consequence to the main story, instead observing other actors like Adam Malkovich, MB, and even the GF Troopers do every action that is plot relevant. She's the equivalent of Watson in a Sherlock Holmes story, except she's supposed to be the cool hero we look up to and want to be. Evidently, Sakamoto doesn't see her that way. I'm not sure who the hero of Other M is supposed to be for him; Samus's reverence towards Adam indicates he's supposed to be the big good guy, but he's such a prick towards Samus (And by extension, me the player) that I was happy when he died.
Note how none of this has to do with other Metroid games. That's because Other M is shit and doesn't need to be compared to other Metroid games to be recognized as such. But while we're on the subject, Metroid Other M takes every single wonderful, glorious, shining memory of Metroid, throws it in a pile, and takes a flamethrower to the whole lot. Metroid Prime has been my favorite game for 9 years, and it's disgusting that some people would say Prime's wonderfully detailed lore "doesn't count" because of the fanfic-grade ramblings of a former great Metroid director.
The reason I think Other M's story is irredeemable garbage is that Sakamoto clearly had no interest in actually building Samus's character, even though that was supposed to be the goal of the game. Just look at how her character progresses through the game. She starts out as uncertain and emotionally fragile, and while I think that's bullshit, it at least is a decent start to a character arc. There are multiple scenes that highlight her issues: She questioned Adam's orders and seemed to have a frosty relationship with him as her superior, she cowers in the face of Ridley, she just awkwardly stands around waiting for Adam to tell her what to do. Nothing is really happening in the plot yet, so this is all set-up. When a strong protagonist is given these sort of personality flaws, the story must center around them either overcoming them or dealing with them.
Unfortunately, Samus never resolves her conflicts. Instead of showing extra initiative or maturity in the Sector Zero scene when she disagrees with her superior officer, she breaks down crying and pleading him not to go. When she is given the mission to hunt Ridley and make up for her panic knocking Anthony into the lava, he is conveniently killed off-camera by a different monster. When she is placed in an uncomfortable command situation with the GF Troopers, she again stands awkwardly in place until someone else (Anthony) takes initiative. All of these things show a lack of progression. Samus Aran at the start of Other M is virtually the same as Samus Aran at the end of Other M. For a game that was supposed to be a character study of Samus, she gets no character development! The game seems to malign Samus in other ways too. Samus does literally nothing of consequence to the main story, instead observing other actors like Adam Malkovich, MB, and even the GF Troopers do every action that is plot relevant. She's the equivalent of Watson in a Sherlock Holmes story, except she's supposed to be the cool hero we look up to and want to be. Evidently, Sakamoto doesn't see her that way. I'm not sure who the hero of Other M is supposed to be for him; Samus's reverence towards Adam indicates he's supposed to be the big good guy, but he's such a prick towards Samus (And by extension, me the player) that I was happy when he died.
Note how none of this has to do with other Metroid games. That's because Other M is shit and doesn't need to be compared to other Metroid games to be recognized as such. But while we're on the subject, Metroid Other M takes every single wonderful, glorious, shining memory of Metroid, throws it in a pile, and takes a flamethrower to the whole lot. Metroid Prime has been my favorite game for 9 years, and it's disgusting that some people would say Prime's wonderfully detailed lore "doesn't count" because of the fanfic-grade ramblings of a former great Metroid director.
If you divorce characters, writing, and delivery from FFXIII's plot, it still has a stupid deus ex machina at the end, but besides that it actually has a pretty interesting "story" hiding under all the failed execution.
That's why I think you can't really separate story from storytelling. A really unique setting means nothing if the storytelling doesn't give you a reason to care about the plot.
Oh yes, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 goes well beyond the typical Clancy game fare.
Easily one of the worst endings of the entire generation. Especially the meltdown of the main antagonist of the game, it's fucking embarrassing. Here, watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=6yJh3hq1ntY#t=186
He's literally about to start crying at any second.
Easily one of the worst endings of the entire generation. Especially the meltdown of the main antagonist of the game, it's fucking embarrassing. Here, watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=6yJh3hq1ntY#t=186
He's literally about to start crying at any second.
Which was worse?
Sonic 06 or Metroid Other M?
....
Sonic is shite beyond repair and manage to put bestiality on top of an unhealthy dose fo crap but Other M is the crap ring to rule them and in the sty bind them all....
I'd say Other M!
Also FFXIII is a Song of Ice and Fire compared to both games here.
Sonic 06 or Metroid Other M?
....
Sonic is shite beyond repair and manage to put bestiality on top of an unhealthy dose fo crap but Other M is the crap ring to rule them and in the sty bind them all....
I'd say Other M!
Also FFXIII is a Song of Ice and Fire compared to both games here.
RockmanWhore
Member
Yeah, but it was so bad in Vanquish that I couldn't finish the game even though I liked its gameplay. You don't play Vanquish for the story, but the story is shoved on your mouth, there are all these radio communications and cutscenes, it's intrusive and annoying. Well, it did piss me off anyway
Same for Bayonetta, I have shivers just thinking about that horrible and super lenghty intro in the cemetary, with that shitty music! Damn, I hate these game's presentation lolI also forgot about Crysis 2, I had no idea what the hell was going on in that game, and once again it was super intrusive.
Night_Trekker
Member
It's Crytek. Nobody should ever expect competent writing from any game they create.
Hell, maybe that's the purpose the Free Radical people will ultimately serve over there. The TimeSplitters games are silly, but they're infinitely better written than anything Crytek has ever crapped out.
EDIT: WHOA, wait a fucking second.
Jesus Christ! Please tell me that's not the last thing he wrote!
nailbombxx
Member
I guess you are referring to Bayonetta's attitude? Because even if you don't like that, there are some pretty great action sequences and the lore of the witches and sages, and the eyes of the world are very fascinating once you wrap your head around the concepts.
Don't know what there is to dislike about Vanquish though, also has some pretty cool action scenes.
Sorry you quit them for that insignificant reason though, those are some of the most rewarding games this gen.
Sapphire Dreams
Member
Wow, I don't usually like to comment on games I haven't played... but wow.
Just saw your edit. If you read those posts, why ignore them? There are plenty of people that have legitimate problems with the story and are willing to have a discusion. I find it a bit childish of you to just dismiss everything you don't agree with as 'drivel' or fabricated backlash, while also not reacting to legitimate criticisms. I'm willing to have a discussion, don't go and just dismiss me or give me a list of other people's interpretations of the story because you don't feel like having one.
Dear lord.
"You'we a mean mommy! You nevew wet me have fun, it's awways my bwothew and sistew. Den you got me a new toy hewicoptew to pway with, but it's now bwoken, and it's aww youw fauwt! I hate you, mommy!"
I wouldn't know, I couldn't push myself to continue on after the thirty hour mark of being bored and annoyed.
I agree and argue the same thing in the best story thread. Especially for gaming, where the gameplay is bidirectionally tied to the protagonist's motivation.
That thread was not a breeding ground for good conversation, that's why I stayed out. It was openly hostile right from the title of the thread. I do have a reputation with the game on this forum, I would have been dogpiled on. Even if I feel comfortable defending myself, and I do (few people comprehend the story of Spec Ops like I do, both on a personal level and because I've replayed the game so many times and have sought out so much supplementary material) it's still just more than I felt like taking on.
I will attempt to address your concerns tomorrow. There were very few actual critical posts of worth in that thread, I'm serious when I say it was just a lot of generalized hate and few articulate specifics.
And once people started championing my expected appearance as some kind of white knight that would come in and vanquish all the naysayers about how great the game is, I knew that I just couldn't post in there.
Bayo has some funny cutscenes, but also a TON of useless dialogues that seem to be there just to waste your time.
Night_Trekker
Member
I just about died laughing. Whew!
GravityMan
Member
- Shadow Complex (thankfully it mostly stayed out of the way of an otherwise great game)
- Final Fantasy XIII-2
FF 13-1's story had issues and is definitely one of the weaker ones in the series, but it would've been noticeably better if the writers simply didn't try so hard. All the fancy words were not necessary. I didn't think the game's story was any worse than your average JRPG. OTOH, FF XIII-2's story was much worse because it's one of the most convoluted plots in videogame history, even by JRPG standards.
I enjoyed Heavy Rain's plot, despite its holes. So it's far from the worst for me.
- Final Fantasy XIII-2
FF 13-1's story had issues and is definitely one of the weaker ones in the series, but it would've been noticeably better if the writers simply didn't try so hard. All the fancy words were not necessary. I didn't think the game's story was any worse than your average JRPG. OTOH, FF XIII-2's story was much worse because it's one of the most convoluted plots in videogame history, even by JRPG standards.
I enjoyed Heavy Rain's plot, despite its holes. So it's far from the worst for me.
Funchameleon
Banned
Diablo 3, not only for being super comic booky and awful at it, but for being presented in just about the worst possible way for the genre.
Fair enough. (as a side note; the one with the hostile name was indeed not very constructive, another one a bit further back was more interesting in my memory.) I'll be looking forward to tomorrow.
Talking about the absolute worst is boring, and I most likely haven't played it.
The worst I played, especially measured up to expectations, was Mass Effect 2. The first game had a pretty exciting and novel (in games) premise (even if more or less lifted wholesale from SF literature). The second one's main story is a low point even in Bioware's recent race to the bottom. Basically, it's just 2 phases: (1) gather characters (2) assault installation of new alien race seemingly introduced only to make humans seem more important -- with one of the most unintentionally comical final bosses I can remember.
The worst I played, especially measured up to expectations, was Mass Effect 2. The first game had a pretty exciting and novel (in games) premise (even if more or less lifted wholesale from SF literature). The second one's main story is a low point even in Bioware's recent race to the bottom. Basically, it's just 2 phases: (1) gather characters (2) assault installation of new alien race seemingly introduced only to make humans seem more important -- with one of the most unintentionally comical final bosses I can remember.
peanutbutterlatte
Member
But unlike Mass Effect the characters are actually interesting to talk to. No point having an excellent (ripped off) plot if all the characters are blank slates of non-emotion.
Lowlander2
Banned
XIII-2 and XIII might seem like obvious choices, but I think the characters of XIII-2 were just enough to save the poor form shown in demonstrating the actual narrative. There is no such saving grace for XIII. A spit in the face of what is colloquially known as good pacing. But ultimately, I don't think I would pick that.
My heart burns for picking The 3rd Birthday, which includes perhaps the second worst butchering of a long-running female character this generation. Unfortunately, the ending was actually pretty good and
No, I would have to go with the obvious choice of Other M. I cannot think of a single good decision made in that story, and the Ridley cutscene had me shouting obscenities at the TV long after it was finished. For their efforts to distance the Metroid canon from the Prime series, they came up with that? And because of Other M, Metroid has mostly laid dormant for a good many years, and I think that's why people were pissed off when Retro announced they were working on a Donkey Kong Country Returns sequel. It feels like a waste of talent because it's probably not going to be as good as Metroid Prime, and we especially want another Metroid Prime even after a whole trilogy because we thought Other M was that bad.
And it was, but I still think saying Retro is wasting their talent is disingenuous.
But it was that bad.
My heart burns for picking The 3rd Birthday, which includes perhaps the second worst butchering of a long-running female character this generation. Unfortunately, the ending was actually pretty good and
renders the character butchering meaningless, even if it makes the sexualisation that much more creepy.
No, I would have to go with the obvious choice of Other M. I cannot think of a single good decision made in that story, and the Ridley cutscene had me shouting obscenities at the TV long after it was finished. For their efforts to distance the Metroid canon from the Prime series, they came up with that? And because of Other M, Metroid has mostly laid dormant for a good many years, and I think that's why people were pissed off when Retro announced they were working on a Donkey Kong Country Returns sequel. It feels like a waste of talent because it's probably not going to be as good as Metroid Prime, and we especially want another Metroid Prime even after a whole trilogy because we thought Other M was that bad.
And it was, but I still think saying Retro is wasting their talent is disingenuous.
But it was that bad.
Isn't that basically the plot from Carl Sagan's novel Contact slightly remixed? It sure had some data stored in pi numbers, resolved to a picture of a wheel IIRC.
PsihoPerihelion
Member
Perfect Dark Zero is the only right answer. The game's plot makes no sense at all. Characters are ridiculous and the dialog is almost like some blind guy wrote it while having a heart attack. The enemies are so sexist that is cringeworthy. Also,
What story? All I see is an ass
Joanna's dad dies and there's zero emotional impact. It's her fucking father, for christ's sake. Dude is dead, let's continue with our mission. Son of a bitch, Rare.
What story? All I see is an ass
and that's better than a videogame story
It had a better story than 3. And the second game's story wasn't that bad.
Seth Balmore
Member
Worst I've completed would be The Third Birthday.
It also has one of the most obvious betrayal plot twist of all time.
Word. Game sucks bad man. LTTP lugging through it presently (based free PS+) and some story parts are just outright moribund. Was thinking of grabbing Black Flag initially just because "pirates", but really doubt I'd touch it with a ten foot pole now. With writing as poxy as the recurring mechanical glitches, it's quite honestly the worst thing I've played all year.
"... Something, something... Testament to unbridled devotion... Something, something... Nothing of this magnitude will ever be attempted again."
I'd almost recommend completing it. The ending, pacing, and exposition at the end almost make the game into a farce.
I probably won't touch an Assassins Creed game for a couple years after AC3.
yeah, most of halo