TheGreen
is climbin' in yo windows
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2010
- Location
- San Antonio
There's a topic that's been brought up with me recently, and that is how varied the story in a video game can be. Obviously it needs to be a compromise, but I think each is manageable if done correctly.
I have a few examples:
Stagnant Story
Also called collection. A lot Zeldas are guilty of this. The most criticized is probably Wind Waker (the triforce shard collection). After then initial event happens, then your off with nothing really happening except for you giving up the game because you simply don't have the ruppees.
Crowded Story
Sort of like trading sequences. Twilight Princess is a bit guilty of this, but not terribly so, so for this example I'll use a recent game Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. At the beginning of the game you are given one task: Get the Mountain Roc's feather to repair this flyin' machine. Simple enough, but of course, baddies try to take over an ancient power. That's all fine and dandy, but there's a section after the baddies are introduced where you have to fulfill at least... well I don't even know how many events, before you can finally resume your original quest for the feather. First you must find Rief, then attempt to cross the Mountains in Passaj, then try to enter the castle in Athuay, then meet a king in another city, then return to Athuay, the a bit of a dungeon (<3 puzzles ^_^), then back to the city where you met the king, then another dungeon, then back to Passaj where you can finally pass the mountain range and continue with your quest.
The challenge with the first situation is readily apparent. There are examples of this done very well. ALttP is one of the best examples, as well as the pokemon games, but the second is a bit more complex. The story is very rich, and that's a signature of the Golden Sun games and a benefit of this style, but the challenge that I personally face with these games is that I have trouble keeping the same devotion to each sub quest that I did for the larger quest. After all, I'm worried about the end of the world, but it's hard to keep my eye on the prize when first I've got to find this prince, retrieve this mask, find these orbs and so on.
Don't get me wrong, Dark Dawn may have been the most fun 32 hours of my life, but this small criticism is a good example for the larger issue.
So how can these problems be balanced? Should you begin on one side of this scale and work towards fixing the problem? or should you begin with a compromised story?
I have a few examples:
Stagnant Story
Also called collection. A lot Zeldas are guilty of this. The most criticized is probably Wind Waker (the triforce shard collection). After then initial event happens, then your off with nothing really happening except for you giving up the game because you simply don't have the ruppees.
Crowded Story
Sort of like trading sequences. Twilight Princess is a bit guilty of this, but not terribly so, so for this example I'll use a recent game Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. At the beginning of the game you are given one task: Get the Mountain Roc's feather to repair this flyin' machine. Simple enough, but of course, baddies try to take over an ancient power. That's all fine and dandy, but there's a section after the baddies are introduced where you have to fulfill at least... well I don't even know how many events, before you can finally resume your original quest for the feather. First you must find Rief, then attempt to cross the Mountains in Passaj, then try to enter the castle in Athuay, then meet a king in another city, then return to Athuay, the a bit of a dungeon (<3 puzzles ^_^), then back to the city where you met the king, then another dungeon, then back to Passaj where you can finally pass the mountain range and continue with your quest.
The challenge with the first situation is readily apparent. There are examples of this done very well. ALttP is one of the best examples, as well as the pokemon games, but the second is a bit more complex. The story is very rich, and that's a signature of the Golden Sun games and a benefit of this style, but the challenge that I personally face with these games is that I have trouble keeping the same devotion to each sub quest that I did for the larger quest. After all, I'm worried about the end of the world, but it's hard to keep my eye on the prize when first I've got to find this prince, retrieve this mask, find these orbs and so on.
Don't get me wrong, Dark Dawn may have been the most fun 32 hours of my life, but this small criticism is a good example for the larger issue.
So how can these problems be balanced? Should you begin on one side of this scale and work towards fixing the problem? or should you begin with a compromised story?
