Square got way too far up their collective ass on that narrative. I can deal with obtuse storylines (I'm enjoying Killer is Dead), but FFXIII's is just plain boring.
A friend of mine blew my mind last night with his theory as to why Star Ocean 4's storyline was so garbage.
He pointed out that, in Star Ocean 3,
we find out that the previous entries in the series are essentially in-universe works of fiction, as they're part of the game/TV show/whatever the hell it is construct for the enjoyment of the people in the 4D world
. This essentially means that everything before that in the timeline, and thus Star Ocean I and II
weren't "real" and were the creations of someone else in the universe
. Star Ocean 4, of course, is a prequel to the other games in the series.
This means that is also a work of "fiction" in-universe, per canon, like the first two games in the series. However, as it predates them, it looks to be the first work of fiction created by the in-universe "writers" of the plots of SO1, SO2, and SO4.
The reason Star Ocean 4 is completely trope-filled garbage from a story, character, and writing perspective is because
it's a canon, in-universe JRPG, and it's the writers' "first"
we find out the universe is the result of an ongoing simulation by the 4d beings.
It's not a story
because there are no writers it's just a simulation of the universe and everything within that simulation acts as if it were real and many creatures specifically the humanoid ones have free will.
So it's just
a set of previous events within that Universe a Universe which by many counts is "real"
Yeah. Still more plausible than Indoctrination Theory, though.
I mean I watched the whole alternate Earth crazy cutscene sequence again last night and the only way I can see someone thinking it was a good idea was if it was satire.
we find out the universe is the result of an ongoing simulation by the 4d beings.
It's not a story
because there are no writers it's just a simulation of the universe and everything within that simulation acts as if it were real and many creatures specifically the humanoid ones have free will.
So it's just
a set of previous events within that Universe a Universe which by many counts is "real"
even as a simulation, there's clear interference going on, so who knows? Perhaps the SO4 plot was the first time those damn meddling kids got involved!
Virtually every AAA game this generation. I wish I was being hyperbolic too.
The sad part is these are the games that are going out of their way and sacrificing gameplay and player interaction to have a stronger focus on the story. Games that come to mind immediately are Tomb Raider and Far Cry 3 since we were just talking about it in the Steam thread.
AC3 was also brutal and they didn't even bother piecing together a complete story. I remember several times where the story just randomly jumps forward to a point and you're meeting characters who know you like you've been friends for years but you (the player) have never seen them before until that moment. That's just lazy.
FF XIII isn't so bad.
You can complain about the characters and the details, but in the core it's the same as VI, VII, VIII, IX...
Rebels against govermment and then rebels against a enemy that wants to destroy the world (or do that time thing, never really understand the VIII plot)
Starcraft 2 not been mentioned? I was under the impressions fans disliked them of flanderising some characters and retconning some things. I guess they are not bad per-se but disappointing and also it is not the main attraction of the game (nor a distraction like Other M becomes).
Yeah. Still more plausible than Indoctrination Theory, though.
I mean I watched the whole alternate Earth crazy cutscene sequence again last night and the only way I can see someone thinking it was a good idea was if it was satire.
I know, but let me hold on to my dream. Heck,
even as a simulation, there's clear interference going on, so who knows? Perhaps the SO4 plot was the first time those damn meddling kids got involved!
F.E.A.R. 3. Some of the most offensively stupid, boring and pointless shit I've even seen in a video game. It's even a bit worse than the older F.E.A.R. games, which is a feat.
I gotta disagree with L.A. Noire though. I really liked that game and I consider it a collection of short atmospheric crime stories, rather than a united coherent narrative of some kind. You can't say it has a bad story, because it just basically doesn't have one.
Metal Gear Solid 4 wasn't just shit. It actively ruined previous games in that series for me and possibly destroys any interest I have in future MGS games.
Metal Gear Solid 4 wasn't just shit. It actively ruined previous games in that series for me and possibly destroys any interest I have in future MGS games.
I agree that LA Noire might not be the worst one, but it's definitely the one that stung the most. It had so much potential, and it was unable to make good on it as far as I'm concerned.
Starcraft 2 not been mentioned? I was under the impressions fans disliked them of flanderising some characters and retconning some things. I guess they are not bad per-se but disappointing and also it is not the main attraction of the game (nor a distraction like Other M becomes).
na, the game is great IMO. Some people hated it at first because of nostalgia goggles (which is a normal thing considering the legacy of SC:BW), and I don't feel like the downfall of SC2 is due to the game's quality. It's a pretty sad story though
It manages to ruin the characterization of an iconic character, is terribly edited/written, and has monologues that might as well have come straight out of twilight.
F.E.A.R. 3. Some of the most offensively stupid, boring and pointless shit I've even seen in a video game. It's even a bit worse than the older F.E.A.R. games, which is a feat.
I gotta disagree with L.A. Noire though. I really liked that game and I consider it a collection of short atmospheric crime stories, rather than a united coherent narrative of some kind. You can't say it has a bad story, because it just basically doesn't have one.
Mario games. I mean... how many times do we have to save that princess? Give her a taser, a sword, a gun or something. Put some real bodyguard around her, not some weak mushroom people. And kill that damn Bowser already.
StarCraft II Heart of the Swarm probably battles Diablo 3 in pure badness.
FF XIII and MGS 4 are rare gems and if you're bitching about them that means they were especially made for an exclusive club called "not for you". they were not spoon fed, they were demanding and extremely original. get over it.
Assassin's Creed III was awful. So many time jumps and loose connections that every time a cutscene started up I found myself what the heck was happening.
The story in MGS4 was complete, unsalvageable garbage. Anyone who thought it was any good must be braindead. I have no doubt it's the worst story of the generation. LA Noire gets second place.
it's hard to think off the top of my head what I believe was the worse story of this generation is but I do remember being extremely disappointed with Heavy Rain. The twist actually makes the story weak and they were clearly trying to have that 'aw shxt... I didn't see that coming moment' but completely failed at it in my opinion.
Another game that comes to mind is Bioshock Infinite. Now I won't really say it's a bad story... I just didn't get it; so maybe if someone explained it to me better I would have a better understanding but now I thought that game's story was confusing and convoluted.
Starcraft 2 not been mentioned? I was under the impressions fans disliked them of flanderising some characters and retconning some things. I guess they are not bad per-se but disappointing and also it is not the main attraction of the game (nor a distraction like Other M becomes).
I mentioned Heart of the Swarm a few pages back, yeah.
That game is literally character assassination on Sarah Kerrigan. The love plot between Raynor and Kerrigan is handled with the subtlety of a middle school Valentine's Day card.
Legacy of the Void is going to be a shitshow, the Protoss have almost no involvement in StarCraft 2's story at all. They're going to have to make up a bunch of random excuses for them to even make Legacy of the Void (and the Protoss race) fit into the story. I'm expecting retcons ahoy.
It's clear that Metzen wanted StarCraft II to only be about Raynor and Kerrigan's relationship from the very conceptual stages. All that interesting universal political intrigue shit from the first is almost gone.
It's just a sappy love story between an alcoholic, bald space marine and a mutated creature-woman.
The sad part is that StarCraft, as a series, is about so much more than that, but they just ignored all of that for StarCraft 2 to focus on those two. Ugh.
Killzone 3 hands down. I mean Colonial Marines is close, but in Killzone 3 the characters dosen't even realise what the consequences of their actions are, as things unfold right before their eyes.
Anyone saying Mass Effect 3, MGS4, or even the Assassin's Creed series clearly haven't played through the Killzone games, because those are truly abysmal. The Resistance franchise was also quite terrible in that regard.
For a largely story driven game, the story was pretty hollow. Pacing is way more important than story in video games, and it had that going for it though, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.
What the fuck happened?
Why was the story like this? Why didn't you just give us a straight forward story like the first one? I was utterly disappointed, especially with a game that had such a fun gameplay.
If Square really wanted to apologize for something, they should apologize for this shit. Give us a proper PE game, not this shit
Yeah, in my opinion, it doesn't belong here, but to each their own!
Call of Duty 4's single player campaign had some good moments, but overall the plot completely lost me. Why am I shooting this guy at the end? Who am I again?
When I heard that IO were actually making an effort with the story, I was optimistic. Hitman has never really needed a good story, but it would have been a welcome addition.
For a game all about story, it made zero sense by the end, had no consistency, and had enormous plot holes the devs I suppose just forgot about by the end of it. What a letdown.
The worst was Final Fantasy 13-2, and this doesn't stop at "this generation," FF13-2 is the worst video game story period.
It is a jumbled mess of the English language, tossed together in random strings of time travel shlock, with nonsensical characters that wouldn't be realistic in a fever dream, and the worst part is... it takes itself seriously. It leans so heavily into its story with a confidence that can only come from a writer who is an egomaniacal psychopath.
Oh yeah I forgot Tomb Raider: Underworld on my list too. It's resolution of the overarching plot is so bad it retroactively ruins everything vaguely interesting about Legend's plot too, and by being based around underworld myths it somehow takes some of the humanity's most creative mythology and does almost nothing with it.
MGS4 is probably the worst written but it has some interesting shots and the affection I gained for Snake and Raiden from previous games caused the story to be enjoyable in some parts to me.
GTAIV's story is offensively shallow and obnoxious and is probably the least funny parody I've experienced so I would lean towards it. Definitely the most irritated I've been at a game story this gen.
Dishonored: What an insult. At the very beginning of the game, you could imagine the absolute most predictable and obvious twist, and joke that they wouldn't actually go through with it considering several other games have used the same twist already this generation. Nope! That's what they went with! I really lost interest in playing the rest of this game after that point.
Dead Space 3: It's almost comical how this game wrapped up the trilogy. Oh wait, they couldn't just do that, could they? Of course not, EA needs more sequels/DLC that further embarrass this series. I burst out laughing after the end credits because I knew what was going to happen as soon as the credits started to roll.
Resident Evil: Revelations: There are exactly 328 plot twists in this game. Trust me, I counted.
Tomb Raider: Lara is the perfect soldier in this game, but sure, I'll believe you Crystal Dynamics when you tell me this is a "tale of survival"...
Darksiders II: Even Eiji Aonuma would blush at how the entire story is based around "you need to go get this other item first."
There are several more that annoyed me, but these were the most egregious.
EDIT:
Oh yeah, L.A. Noire as well. The whole "cheating on his wife" turn midway through the game was executed so poorly and never came across once as believable.
