3 ms·

I'm a game designer and a hobbyist writer, and I traditionally have had a terrible time of putting stories into my designs...but yeah, there's some really fun i

I'm a game designer and a hobbyist writer, and I traditionally have had a terrible time of putting stories into my designs...but yeah, there's some really fun interactive narrative / rpg games out there and I don't think the author has bothered to give them a try (he's only focused on the recent 'walking sim' genre in the article). Phoenix Wright, Danganronpa, Persona 4 and 5, Life is Strange... all really great, and that's just what I've played in the last year. I've already got Nier Automata on deck for whenever I finish Persona 5. I also tried playing Steins;Gate this year, one of the more influential graphic novel games, but I'm having a harder time getting into that one (I already saw a good chunk of the anime, so the game feels like a major downgrade visually). The multiple path/ending thing is something books and films have never done terribly well. Clue is the most effective and successful movie that has attempted multiple endings, and even that could only provide 3 ~5 minute endings to an otherwise static (but really fun) movie. Meanwhile quite a bit changed in my playthrough of Life is Strange based on my choices (although still not quite as much as I would have liked, certain plot points couldn't be altered), and I got 3 different endings in Persona 4 Golden, with each of the endings leaving some of the mysteries left unanswered (I haven't gotten the 'true' ending yet).

mcphage 10y ago
> I don't think the author has bothered to give them a try The author is Ian Bogost, a veteran game designer, developer, and and critic. Check out his biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Bogost#Bibliography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Bogost#Bibliography
- cableshaft 10y ago
  Ah, Ian Bogost. Yeah, I'm familiar with him. Professional critic, seems to turn just about everything he writes into the equivalent of literary criticism; full of vocabulary but lacking meaning and authenticity. Also obsessed with 'games as art pieces or commentary' and not for fun and entertainment. Two examples: Cow Clicker, a commentary on human's instinctual responses to Skinner Box design, and A Slow Year, a game about 'observing' where one of the mini-games has you drink coffee while staring at a window, which how that won awards is beyond me. It's working great for him, I wish I had half the success he's had, and I do read his work from time to time, but we definitely don't have the same approach to games. He spends most of his time thinking about academia and politics, while I prefer to spend my time thinking about interesting mechanics and making things fun. I'd say both are important, and before he came around his side wasn't really out there at all, so I'm glad he's around, but it's not surprising we have different opinions on the matter.
  - mcphage 10y ago
    > I'd say both are important, and before he came around his side wasn't really out there at all, so I'm glad he's around, but it's not surprising we have different opinions on the matter. I certainly don't always (often?) agree with him, either, but I do expect he's at least familiar with what's going on, especially in regard to game narratives.
    - cableshaft 10y ago
      Yeah, he most likely is, although it's certainly difficult to keep up to date with all games out there. There's just so damn many of them nowadays. I still haven't gotten around to playing the highly acclaimed Gone Home he talks about in his article myself, for instance, and I've stopped trying to keep up with most mobile or Steam releases. And my backlog of games I actively want to play is at least 20 games long at this point, and then I've got 50 more that own but have barely played, but not actively wanting to play (maybe eventually, when/if I play the others). I mainly made that comment without realizing who the author was. I'm sure he's at least heard of games like Phoenix Wright and Life is Strange, even if he hasn't been able to play them.

mcphage 10y ago

> I don't think the author has bothered to give them a try The author is Ian Bogost, a veteran game designer, developer, and and critic. Check out his biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Bogost#Bibliography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Bogost#Bibliography

cableshaft 10y ago
Ah, Ian Bogost. Yeah, I'm familiar with him. Professional critic, seems to turn just about everything he writes into the equivalent of literary criticism; full of vocabulary but lacking meaning and authenticity. Also obsessed with 'games as art pieces or commentary' and not for fun and entertainment. Two examples: Cow Clicker, a commentary on human's instinctual responses to Skinner Box design, and A Slow Year, a game about 'observing' where one of the mini-games has you drink coffee while staring at a window, which how that won awards is beyond me. It's working great for him, I wish I had half the success he's had, and I do read his work from time to time, but we definitely don't have the same approach to games. He spends most of his time thinking about academia and politics, while I prefer to spend my time thinking about interesting mechanics and making things fun. I'd say both are important, and before he came around his side wasn't really out there at all, so I'm glad he's around, but it's not surprising we have different opinions on the matter.
- mcphage 10y ago
  > I'd say both are important, and before he came around his side wasn't really out there at all, so I'm glad he's around, but it's not surprising we have different opinions on the matter. I certainly don't always (often?) agree with him, either, but I do expect he's at least familiar with what's going on, especially in regard to game narratives.
  - cableshaft 10y ago
    Yeah, he most likely is, although it's certainly difficult to keep up to date with all games out there. There's just so damn many of them nowadays. I still haven't gotten around to playing the highly acclaimed Gone Home he talks about in his article myself, for instance, and I've stopped trying to keep up with most mobile or Steam releases. And my backlog of games I actively want to play is at least 20 games long at this point, and then I've got 50 more that own but have barely played, but not actively wanting to play (maybe eventually, when/if I play the others). I mainly made that comment without realizing who the author was. I'm sure he's at least heard of games like Phoenix Wright and Life is Strange, even if he hasn't been able to play them.