Aerothorn on 4/7/2010 at 17:02
So this ties into my book-project-thing, but figured it deserves its own topic. Basically, I want to compile a list of every single historically important/distinctive game narrative (as I'll probably have intertitles that dedicate a paragraph per game). Obviously it's debatable what is/isn't "important," but give me any you can think of. Even a single feature can be worth mentioning: for instance, despite any failings it may have, I'd say Mass Effect would qualify just for its slightly new dialog system. Ones I've already got listed (some of these are debatable, but as I said, I'm trying to list more rather than less at this point):
Ace Combat 04
Baldur's Gate series
Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden
Civilization series
Dear Esther
Deus Ex
Dreamfall
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Fahrenheit
Fallout
Final Fantasy VII/VIII
Front Mission 3
Grim Fandango
Half-Life
Half-Life 2
Heavy Rain
Killer7
Legend of Mana
The Longest Journey
Mass Effect
Max Payne
MGS Series
Myst
Pathologic
Portal
Planescape: Torment
Sam & Max (Telltale version)
Secret of Monkey Island
Shenmue series
Silent Hill 2
System Shock series
Ultima series
Please add any - particularly stuff from the '80s, which is where my knowledge is most lacking.
SubJeff on 4/7/2010 at 17:53
Captain Blood for its interaction/symbol language.
Eye of the Beholder for its "hey there is all sorts of stuff going on down here and I only need to get involved if I want to". It was the first time I played anything with incidental plots anyway.
And most of the titles in your list are fairly new, one could argue. There are a lot of ZX Spectrum, C64, Atari ST and Amiga 500 games (can't say for the consoles) that are important in that there are significant narrative leaps or quirks in them.
Muzman on 4/7/2010 at 17:55
Thief isn't there, I note. You likely think everything it did is covered by other games like System Shock or Half Life or Metal Gear. I probably wouldn't rate the series all that highly overall. But I reckon the first one particularly represents the pinaccle of first person story telling for the time and one of the most refined users of the mission-cutscene-mission progression, with readables and overheard details.
Bits and pieces of what it does have been done by others, but I don't think anyone at the time put them together as well for storytelling and world building purposes, yet still permitting open ended gameplay, and it has rarely been matched since.
It depends what you're after though. Sometimes these histories only care about who did what technical innovation first. In that case I'd point to Thief as a benchmark for level design and AI that has now become the basic expectation for most vaguely realistic dgames.
Sulphur on 4/7/2010 at 17:57
Surely, you need to have the Colossal Cave Adventure/Zork somewhere in there. Interactive fiction in the 80's - A Mind Forever Voyaging and Trinity signalled proper narrative chops coming through in the medium, where experiences diverged from being simple, playful 'gamey' fiction to featuring serious and mature narratives.
Sierra's King's Quest during the 80's was pretty much the birth of adventure games. And Dragon's Lair, probably the first FMV game to be made and was pretty much all narrative.
You also might want to add experiments like (
http://www.interactivestory.net/) Façade which attempt realistic and organic reactions to player text input.
Also, from a more modern point of view, Far Cry 2.
june gloom on 4/7/2010 at 17:59
How about Bioshock? Sure, it's just another System Shock, but one thing I thought it did well- both games- was bring certain heady topics- like the question of of individual freedom, in addition to being essentially a very pointed critique of objectivism (BS1) and collectivism (BS2)- to a mainstream audience. Other games had touched on these topics were either limited to a small reference pool or generally inaccessible, but when Bioshock came along, it got a few Halo fanboys really thinking about something that matters.
SubJeff on 4/7/2010 at 18:06
Wait, Far Cry 2 is a benchmark in gaming narrative? I have it but haven't played it beyond the first mission. Bodes well if what you say is true.
Tonamel on 4/7/2010 at 18:10
Well, since you're looking for more rather than less, I'll just do a brain dump:
Cryostasis - For incorporating playable flashbacks that you can alter to change the present
The Path - For abstracting the story into complete symbolism
Dragon Quest/Warrior 4 - For letting you play the daily life of a merchant for a good while before having him enter the main plot
Earthbound/Mother 2 - For being almost dadaist in its weirdness
Contact - For not having a 4th wall
Planetfall - For being one of the earliest examples of "that game made me cry"
Another World - For telling a complete story with no dialog
Age of Conan (first 20 levels) - For creating a story for an MMO in which the player feels like the main character
The World Ends With You - For creating an extremely rigid framework for the story to exist in, then slowly breaking it until there's almost nothing left
Persona 3 - For letting you decide who your friends are
The Void - For having deceptive NPCs that seem trustworthy
I'll probably think of more later.
Sulphur on 4/7/2010 at 18:15
Quote Posted by Subjective Effect
Wait, Far Cry 2 is a benchmark in gaming narrative? I have it but haven't played it beyond the first mission. Bodes well if what you say is true.
Not in terms of best story ever told - though the Heart of Darkness undertones and the lead up are brilliant if you can get around the respawning check points and samey missions. In terms of dynamic and adaptive open-world narrative, it's quite something.
@Ton: Pathologic did that before The Void, to an extent.
Koki on 4/7/2010 at 18:42
God allmighty, again? Does every single wanabee pseudo-intelectual gamer need to write a fucking paper about narrative in video games?
june gloom on 4/7/2010 at 18:46
It pains me to say this, but, better pseudo-intellectual than anti-intellectual.
