3 ms·

I don't think it's reasonable. When you release part of an episodic story, you are making an implicit promise to your audience that you will finish the story! E

I don't think it's reasonable. When you release part of an episodic story, you are making an implicit promise to your audience that you will finish the story! Even more so if you end on a cliffhanger. This applies just as much to George R. R. Martin, btw.

Mistletoe 2y ago
I think a lot of video game companies get into this trap. I can't speak for others but for me, I don’t care about technical innovation, just give me more Skyrim, Witcher, Fallout, Half Life, Baldur’s Gate, Elden Ring story. It’s not rocket science. Put all the money you wanted to give to tech guys that want to revamp the engine every year into hiring amazing writers and art direction people.
- bartread 2y ago
  I don't know: then you just end up with the videogame equivalent of the MCU which, at my most charitable, I would describe as uneven reaching mid at best. However, if we look at the median of how I feel about MCU, I'm just bored to tears with it. It's utter bilge. You just end up with this meaningless churning out of endless content for content's sake that goes nowhere and signifies nothing. Destiny 2 is actually a great example of this in the world of videogames.
  - DrillShopper 2y ago
    > then you just end up with the videogame equivalent of the MCU We've been there for a long time - just off the top of my head: Call of Duty, Halo, Assassin's Creed, World of Warcraft (doubly so now with Classic), Fortnite Some people really just want to go back to the old and comfortable.
    - usrusr 2y ago
      True. But is that market really that big? Once you've fallen behind a few releases you just don't care for the latest, and the not-latest lack any of that novelty appeal that video games tend to rely on quite a bit.
- fidgetPing 2y ago
  Video-games fundamentally don't work like that. Stories are told through gameplay, which is an interactive medium expressed through engine, assets and direction. The best video-game storytellers are the tech guys. Most of the franchises you've listed have fairly rudimentary writing by the standards of any other medium, but it's elevated because it is so fun to play. Even something as story-centric as Baldur's Gate, Disco Elysium or Pathologic rests on a ton of technical innovation.
  - bigstrat2003 2y ago
    That is one perspective, but not the only one, and it certainly isn't true that video games fundamentally work in the way you claim. Many people are perfectly happy to enjoy a story in a video game which isn't driven by the technical, interactive bits. The entire JRPG genre is like this, for example, as are visual novels. By your logic those genres shouldn't exist, and yet they not only exist but are very popular.
    - fidgetPing 2y ago
      Visual novels are the genre where the writers reign supreme, yes, but that's very explicitly not the games that GP was listing. Skyrim, Fallout, Witcher and Elden Ring are very much not writing-driven experiences.
      - Wowfunhappy 2y ago
        Circling back to the original topic, I would say that if the only way to finish HL2 was to release episode 3 as a visual novel, do it. Just finish the story!!!
      - astrange 2y ago
        A lot of game criticism gets confused about visual novels, like how people call them "dating sims" when an actual dating sim (Tokimeki Memorial) is a difficult game with tons of gameplay. I think everything would be clearer if we all agreed a visual novel is a kind of ebook and not a video game.
      - 2y ago
mrbungie 2y ago
I mean, no product is better than a shitty product in this case.
- Wowfunhappy 2y ago
  I actually don't agree! They need to resolve the cliffhanger. Leaving it unresolved retroactively makes the whole package worse. That's not to say I'd be happy with a Mass Effect 3 style ending, but it doesn't need to be some earth shattering gameplay experience.
  - bartread 2y ago
    Nope, nope, nope. Think about the Matrix series. The first Matrix film was iconic, the second was decent but sort of mid, the third was absolute drek and it taints the entire franchise as a result. I can't watch The Matrix any more without knowing how they fucked up the third film and without that slightly ruining the experience. The fourth I watched but I must admit that it hasn't really left any kind of impression on me. Resolving at any cost is way worse than leaving something hanging. I think it's why Firefly is so well regarded: it didn't last long enough to fall to enshittification. And when they did resolve it they only had a feature film's length to do it, so they had to focus and we got Serenity, which is excellent and how they resolved the origin of the Reavers is still a great piece of storytelling.
    - bigstrat2003 2y ago
      I mean, the third matrix movie was by far the best in my book. But taste is subjective and all that.
      - ClassyJacket 2y ago
        I simply don't believe you.
        bigstrat2003 2y ago
zeroCalories 2y ago
Bro it's just a video game, and at the end of the day you need inspired people to make a art. I would prefer they just stop and refocus instead of forcing out some corporate slop.

Mistletoe 2y ago

I think a lot of video game companies get into this trap. I can't speak for others but for me, I don’t care about technical innovation, just give me more Skyrim, Witcher, Fallout, Half Life, Baldur’s Gate, Elden Ring story. It’s not rocket science. Put all the money you wanted to give to tech guys that want to revamp the engine every year into hiring amazing writers and art direction people.

bartread 2y ago
I don't know: then you just end up with the videogame equivalent of the MCU which, at my most charitable, I would describe as uneven reaching mid at best. However, if we look at the median of how I feel about MCU, I'm just bored to tears with it. It's utter bilge. You just end up with this meaningless churning out of endless content for content's sake that goes nowhere and signifies nothing. Destiny 2 is actually a great example of this in the world of videogames.
- DrillShopper 2y ago
  > then you just end up with the videogame equivalent of the MCU We've been there for a long time - just off the top of my head: Call of Duty, Halo, Assassin's Creed, World of Warcraft (doubly so now with Classic), Fortnite Some people really just want to go back to the old and comfortable.
  - usrusr 2y ago
    True. But is that market really that big? Once you've fallen behind a few releases you just don't care for the latest, and the not-latest lack any of that novelty appeal that video games tend to rely on quite a bit.
fidgetPing 2y ago
Video-games fundamentally don't work like that. Stories are told through gameplay, which is an interactive medium expressed through engine, assets and direction. The best video-game storytellers are the tech guys. Most of the franchises you've listed have fairly rudimentary writing by the standards of any other medium, but it's elevated because it is so fun to play. Even something as story-centric as Baldur's Gate, Disco Elysium or Pathologic rests on a ton of technical innovation.
- bigstrat2003 2y ago
  That is one perspective, but not the only one, and it certainly isn't true that video games fundamentally work in the way you claim. Many people are perfectly happy to enjoy a story in a video game which isn't driven by the technical, interactive bits. The entire JRPG genre is like this, for example, as are visual novels. By your logic those genres shouldn't exist, and yet they not only exist but are very popular.
  - fidgetPing 2y ago
    Visual novels are the genre where the writers reign supreme, yes, but that's very explicitly not the games that GP was listing. Skyrim, Fallout, Witcher and Elden Ring are very much not writing-driven experiences.
    - Wowfunhappy 2y ago
      Circling back to the original topic, I would say that if the only way to finish HL2 was to release episode 3 as a visual novel, do it. Just finish the story!!!
    - astrange 2y ago
      A lot of game criticism gets confused about visual novels, like how people call them "dating sims" when an actual dating sim (Tokimeki Memorial) is a difficult game with tons of gameplay. I think everything would be clearer if we all agreed a visual novel is a kind of ebook and not a video game.
    - 2y ago

mrbungie 2y ago

I mean, no product is better than a shitty product in this case.

Wowfunhappy 2y ago
I actually don't agree! They need to resolve the cliffhanger. Leaving it unresolved retroactively makes the whole package worse. That's not to say I'd be happy with a Mass Effect 3 style ending, but it doesn't need to be some earth shattering gameplay experience.
- bartread 2y ago
  Nope, nope, nope. Think about the Matrix series. The first Matrix film was iconic, the second was decent but sort of mid, the third was absolute drek and it taints the entire franchise as a result. I can't watch The Matrix any more without knowing how they fucked up the third film and without that slightly ruining the experience. The fourth I watched but I must admit that it hasn't really left any kind of impression on me. Resolving at any cost is way worse than leaving something hanging. I think it's why Firefly is so well regarded: it didn't last long enough to fall to enshittification. And when they did resolve it they only had a feature film's length to do it, so they had to focus and we got Serenity, which is excellent and how they resolved the origin of the Reavers is still a great piece of storytelling.
  - bigstrat2003 2y ago
    I mean, the third matrix movie was by far the best in my book. But taste is subjective and all that.
    - ClassyJacket 2y ago
      I simply don't believe you.
      - bigstrat2003 2y ago

zeroCalories 2y ago

Bro it's just a video game, and at the end of the day you need inspired people to make a art. I would prefer they just stop and refocus instead of forcing out some corporate slop.