ZylonBane on 6/7/2010 at 00:23
Quote Posted by Shakey-Lo
Wikipedia seems to vaguely disagree with me on this but having studied game design at uni I'm sure I read Donkey Kong was the first game with cutscenes and the first with anything resembling a narrative.
Pac-Man had cutscenes (aka "intermissions"), and it came out a year before Donkey Kong.
Even Space Invaders Part II (which came out the same year as Pac-Man) had a simplistic cutscene which would occasionally trigger between waves.
fett on 6/7/2010 at 02:42
Good call, ZB - I wondered if that counted too.
I notice that everyone pretty much just ignores Koki in here. Is that coping mechanism, collective plan to get him to leave, or both? :laff:
Either way, I approve.
Dresden on 6/7/2010 at 02:42
Quote Posted by Sulphur
Reread the title.
He is right about the Wing Commanders though. Wing Commander 2 was the first game I ever played where I thought "Wow...this is epic"...except maybe Final Fantasy IV. The characters certainly
felt real.
EvaUnit02 on 6/7/2010 at 03:17
Quote Posted by Zygoptera
It's WC3 Heart of the Tiger & WC(5) Prophecy, having just seen the boxes up in the attic yesterday. I'd presume WC3 was meant as Prophecy's story is pretty weak from what I remember of it and it certainly didn't leave an impression.
I interpreted his post as WC3 through to Prophecy. But you could be right, he didn't bother to read the thread's subject before posting after all.
Aerothorn on 6/7/2010 at 16:40
This is immensely helpful. Some of these I knew and just totally slipped my mind when posting this, others are fresh recommendations. Thanks much - the intertitles on these games will really help flesh the book out.
As far as Mass Effect - I was selecting it less for the pseudo-grayness and more for the dialog - the way you pre-selected choices and could interrupt characters. It's small potatoes, sure, but it is new, so it made the list.
As far as the cutscenes go - Pac-Man actually had cutscenes, which I believe predates Donkey Kong and Ninja Gaiden. Incredibly basic cutscenes, mind you, but they are there.
Sulphur on 6/7/2010 at 17:10
Quote Posted by Dresden
He is right about the Wing Commanders though. Wing Commander 2 was the first game I ever played where I thought "Wow...this is epic"...except maybe Final Fantasy IV. The characters certainly
felt real.
WC2 - 4 will forever be part of the reason why I started gaming to begin with (afternoons after school mashing the keyboard and cursing the Kilrathi followed by wildly energetic discussions about missions and sudden, unforeseen PLOT TWIST X with friends over the phone), but as historically important narrative, they simply don't cut the mustard just because they were compelling or enjoyable.
icemann on 6/7/2010 at 18:45
Sorry had misread the title in my last post. Thought it was historically important games. Stand by what I said about Wingcommander though. Fair enough Prophesy was very average, but 3 & 4 were excellent games with good storylines.
Another vote for Mass Effect also. Great storyline. More so in the first game (it being more pure rpg) than the second game.
Sulphur on 6/7/2010 at 19:08
Um, sorry to seem pedantic, but apart from item whoring and slightly more freedom to spend experience points, how is ME1 more of an RPG than ME2? The combat is slicker in ME2, but the gunplay was always there in the original. And how does this translate to ME1 having a better story?
Zygoptera on 6/7/2010 at 23:36
In ME1 your character's stats actually do have some effect, there's reticle and 'bullet' spread based on your character's skills. In ME2 the combat is entirely 3ps and you don't have to do anything to your character at all, Bioware was pretty clear that it was designed specifically so that someone who forgets that they can upgrade Shepherd will still progress fine. From that respect many will regard it as a Gears of War style action game with less homoeroticism and a (better) story with dialogue choices rather than an RPG.
fett on 7/7/2010 at 02:39
Quote Posted by Tenkahubu
I'll offer No One Lives Forever 1&2
This, if only for the way it seemed to spoof the stereotypical dialogue (sp? I hate that fucking word) tree. Kate was also an extremely well developed protagonist, excusing some of the overly long cutscenes used to convey it. I've probably only been more invested in Garrett.
