4 ms·

Horizon zero dawn has great writing and storytelling too

by firtoz 3y ago

tyleo 3y ago
Agreed, some of the best in any game I’ve played. The Last of Us and Witcher 3 also have excellent writing.
- wharvle 3y ago
  Piling on the H:ZD love. Sequel ain’t awful, either. Kentucky Route Zero is maybe the most literary game I’ve played, if that makes sense. Damn good.
  - corethree 3y ago
    Disco Elysium is pretty literary.
  - Andrew_nenakhov 3y ago
    Try Betrayal at Krondor (1993).
    - bluefirebrand 3y ago
      Interesting example, considering it was written by an actual novelist, who also published the novel for the game: "Krondor: The Betrayal" Raymond E Feist became one of my favorite fantasy authors for a long time because of Betrayal at Krondor
      - Andrew_nenakhov 3y ago
        I just understood that this game is not 20 but 30 years old. Oh man...
KittenInABox 3y ago
I have some mixed feelings. I thoroughly loved and was heavily invested in horizon zero dawn. But I don't know if I would describe it as great writing. Many of the characters were pretty one-dimensional and forgettable. Aloy herself is just another chosen one story. The antagonists are by and large cartoonish in their manner. I do want to emphasize I really enjoyed the game and felt the way it was laid out to be way more enjoyable than, say, Skyrim. I don't know about the Witcher 3: it basically opened with softcore porn and I was immediately too turned off to continue with it. Several people who are huge fans of it later told me the wank bank material is pretty much an essential part of the Witcher experience, so I filed it away as a similar cache of any number of romance books on Amazon. Which, to be clear, makes a ton of money, isn't easy to pull off consistently as a product, etc etc. I just don't know if I would consider it great literature.
- wharvle 3y ago
  Like an average HBO series, then. Open with a bunch of sex, maybe tell a good story after (with, occasionally, more sex, sometimes with plot mixed into it).
  - KittenInABox 3y ago
    I also don't think "average HBO series" and "excellent writing" are in the same significance though, don't you agree? [Unless you're saying that HBO productions are so consistently good that their average series is excellent?] That's all I'm saying. I'm not saying they're bad. I just have mixed feelings if they should be considered "excellent".
    - wharvle 3y ago
      Oh, no, lots of them aren’t great. A few are (The Wire…) and some more are at least pretty good. [edit] also I think there are a lot of different definitions of “good” in this thread. The average HBO show probably does have better writing than 99% of narrative-presenting video games.
    - kranke155 3y ago
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

Horizon zero dawn has great writing and storytelling too

by firtoz 3y ago

Horizon zero dawn has great writing and storytelling too

tyleo 3y ago

Agreed, some of the best in any game I’ve played. The Last of Us and Witcher 3 also have excellent writing.

wharvle 3y ago
Piling on the H:ZD love. Sequel ain’t awful, either. Kentucky Route Zero is maybe the most literary game I’ve played, if that makes sense. Damn good.
- corethree 3y ago
  Disco Elysium is pretty literary.
- Andrew_nenakhov 3y ago
  Try Betrayal at Krondor (1993).
  - bluefirebrand 3y ago
    Interesting example, considering it was written by an actual novelist, who also published the novel for the game: "Krondor: The Betrayal" Raymond E Feist became one of my favorite fantasy authors for a long time because of Betrayal at Krondor
    - Andrew_nenakhov 3y ago
      I just understood that this game is not 20 but 30 years old. Oh man...

KittenInABox 3y ago

I have some mixed feelings. I thoroughly loved and was heavily invested in horizon zero dawn. But I don't know if I would describe it as great writing. Many of the characters were pretty one-dimensional and forgettable. Aloy herself is just another chosen one story. The antagonists are by and large cartoonish in their manner. I do want to emphasize I really enjoyed the game and felt the way it was laid out to be way more enjoyable than, say, Skyrim. I don't know about the Witcher 3: it basically opened with softcore porn and I was immediately too turned off to continue with it. Several people who are huge fans of it later told me the wank bank material is pretty much an essential part of the Witcher experience, so I filed it away as a similar cache of any number of romance books on Amazon. Which, to be clear, makes a ton of money, isn't easy to pull off consistently as a product, etc etc. I just don't know if I would consider it great literature.

wharvle 3y ago
Like an average HBO series, then. Open with a bunch of sex, maybe tell a good story after (with, occasionally, more sex, sometimes with plot mixed into it).
- KittenInABox 3y ago
  I also don't think "average HBO series" and "excellent writing" are in the same significance though, don't you agree? [Unless you're saying that HBO productions are so consistently good that their average series is excellent?] That's all I'm saying. I'm not saying they're bad. I just have mixed feelings if they should be considered "excellent".
  - wharvle 3y ago
    Oh, no, lots of them aren’t great. A few are (The Wire…) and some more are at least pretty good. [edit] also I think there are a lot of different definitions of “good” in this thread. The average HBO show probably does have better writing than 99% of narrative-presenting video games.
  - kranke155 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]