Drowsy Emperor

Interesting collection of texts. http://www.tale-of-t...ales/index.html A real gem is Ueda's "Game Design Methods of Ico" presentation at the end of the page.

I didn't know how badly a Hitman game could be made before I read this. It sounds like even the first game is better than this.

Well since we have been slinging **** at each other on this forum for such a long time you're entitled to a fair (and long) response. There's no disputing that BW makes games to a fairly high standard in an industry that doesn't have any standards at all. That's so obvious I don't even see the need to point it out. And the gaming media and a horde of loyal fans recognize this and support them for it, so its not like they get unfair treatment by the majority. Indeed the places where they're actively criticized are few. But we aren't representatives of either (at least I'm not) so I can only speak for myself. And after 12 years in this hobby, if it even deserves to be called that, I've seen it all (though this may sound pompous you'll agree that games aren't really hard to encompass) and I'm tired of the mainstream. I'm on the lookout for the under 1% of games that push the artistic and creative boundaries of what a game can offer, in the vein of the upcoming "The Last Guardian" - basically gaming (poor) equivalent of art film. Bioware simply isn't there. They're 100% mainstream through and through. Top class in it too, which is great for people that can still derive enjoyment from it. I hoped considering how well funded they were, considering how other RPG dev teams mostly died away and considering that they did a great thing with BG, which is my first love in the hobby that they might do something experimental and daring after so many years of experience making games. In retrospect it was a silly thing to hope for, the very success they achieved and the huge risks carried by big budget projects practically made it certain that they mustn't experiment or alter a winning formula. That's my position on this issue, and I have to look at BW's and indeed everyone's offerings through these "high artistic standards" because I don't really want to spend time playing anything else other than that 1%, especially in the RPG genre where I've played so many games and of whose tropes I'm rather tired. I just can't justify the huge time invested and, indeed, the hobby itself otherwise (at my age too). PS: regarding the BG games. In all honesty, Planescape Torment's spot in that 1% I describe is far more certain than the Baldur's Gate series which I think were perfect games, in the sense that its maybe even impossible to make a better, more fulfilling game than BGII. I think the trilogy is more than the sum of its parts (which is considerable in itself) when you take into account of how many game series devolve into rubbish over time, fail to resolve their stories, fail at even basic plot coherence or continuity. Granted the trilogy is more of 2+half a game but in the video game world you could say it had the good sense to wrap things up decently and bow out when it was time to leave. It took the engine, the gameplay, the story and the characters as far as they were going to go and for video game standards that was pretty far indeed. It may not be art house, but it sure is the pinnacle of something - and for they at least have to be taken into consideration when BW releases any new game.

In term of general storytelling (as in world literature or something) there weren't any obviously. In terms of what computer games have done before (or since) BG series was (and is) pretty fresh. It seems to me a fact that their post ToB games focused on the standard "save the world" as jedi/specter/grey whatever tripe according to a set formula. Except perhaps Jade Empire, but that game had other problems. I'm indifferent towards Bioware, really - I was much more interested when I hoped that they might make a truly original game again. That's not going to happen. So *shrug*. Its really not their fault, like with music bands or directors you get one groundbreaking work, maybe two - the rest is mostly repetition until people start to mind and then the emperor suddenly has no clothes and the game is up.

As opposed to what games, curious? When Bioware is concerned, everything post ToB. Looking beyond Bioware, its more or less the state of the hobby itself.

Not gonna happen. (unfortunately)

I find the instant kill gimmick more off putting personally

I only had the fever but when it reached 38.8c/101.8f I felt like passing out. All gone now thankfully

Recuperating. Had a horrible fever yesterday, didn't know where I was or what I was doing at some point.

I hate to disagree, intentional ambiguity is the crux of Morrowind's main quest, it's not just about looting some dungeons and running off to Dagoth Ur to kill the big bad. I've pondered over the guilt of the Tribunal and the true fate of Nevervar (and the Dwemer) just as much as The Nameless One..more in fact. I know you said that having to dig for plot is bull**** and in a GTA game I'd agree but I stand by my opinion that Morrowind is an archaeology sim and really not for everyone Well since its you who's saying it I'll give the game another go some day and slog through the not-so-favorable first, second or even third impression.

It was a joke you fruitcake.

Oh, the story is great, no doubt, but the combat is so unbelievably awful that I just can't bring myself to play it any more. Somehow they managed to make the combat even worse than in the previous games, if that's even possible. I think it's because they added sticky cover. In theory that should have been an improvement, however it's implemented extremely poorly and the game relies on it a lot. Plus, the controls in combat are even less responsive than in previous GTAs, which, again, is an incredible feat. Also, as with every successive GTA game, they focus more and more on combat and this only increases as you get later in the game. I like driving around, I love the story, but I just can't deal with the combat any more, it actually hurts (both physically and emotionally) to play the game it's so bad. I'm just going to watch the final few missions and cutscenes, and the ending, on Youtube and save my sanity. I don't remember the combat being much of a problem, considering how easy the game was overall. I remember having to redo certain missions in GTA III and Vice City many times, but not in GTA IV. In fact the game was disappointingly easy in most respects, especially running away from cops. I agree with mkreku that the game is boring compared to the previous GTA's although, really I was bored with San Andreas already (after having played Vice City to death) so at this point I don't think there's anything they can do to make GTAV interesting for me. Really, its probably time to retire the series for good. No such luck though.

Agreeing with you is doing nothing for my reputation.

GTAIV has a very good story that's worth playing through to the end. In fact its the only GTA game to have a good story.

Look whenever anyone tells me that I just have to delve in deeper to really get it, I'm inclined to call bull****. I played Morrowind for about 20 hours and the game had nothing to show for it, especially in the story department. If by good design you mean the story beginning with an NPC telling you to "level up more and come back", having to spend hours of mostly running around doing nothing while waiting to get served with the next piece of exposition then all I can do is shrug. The result is me not actually caring about the story at all because the game fails at piquing interest, giving me a reason to care about the world, characters - anything. Not to mention the ever growing list of dialog options that makes it harder and harder to actually tell important information from gibberish, a crappy journal that doesn't help you sort through what you already know. In fact to get anything out of Morrowind you have to work and work hard at it. Same as in every Bethesda game, because they're all half baked - otherwise they wouldn't need mods to fix everything from the interface to the world map. Its really not that hard to conclude that people at Bethesda are just lazy. Or inept. Btw if you took the above as anything more than a personal opinion then you're just silly.

Everything in that video is ridiculous.

Is a lack of hand holding really a problem? How is Morrowind not intentionally ambiguous? You're (deliberately or not) presenting the issue as an extreme: "its either the way I like or its hand holding". That's not how thing are, between Morrowind story buried in miles of meaningless dialog and scattered books and literal hand holding there are a thousand ways to tell a compelling story. Morrowind's is literally, the most annoying, indirect and lazy way possible. I don't have 100 hours to waste going through samey brown dungeons and brown world looking for tiny morsels of story here and there. Intentionally ambiguous as in being purposefully left open to interpretation, like you could ponder over the Wander's quest from Shadow of the Colossus or Nameless one's fate in Torment etc. That's simply not the idea behind MW, or any Elder Scrolls game. They're a fantasy Grand Theft Auto (and you could even make some parallels with factions and gangs in those games) with a main quest for the sole reason that there needs to be one. I can understand that people like, or even love the "do what you want" sandbox gameplay of ES games. But selling them as good storytelling in any shape or form is just unrealistic.

Well, if they dump as much money into making a game as hollywood does with an average movie is pretty much obvious that they're looking for the same kind of revenue and that they're going to follow the same soulless design philosophy. Remember, hollywood doesn't make films, hollywood makes money. Big budget games work the same way. At least we have kickstarter to look forward to. And even a big company will sometimes fund a more artistic project - for prestige if nothing else. After all, it was Sony that threw down money for Shadow of the Colossus after Ico sales failed to meet expectations. (Personally though, I feel the Japanese simply have more respect for artistry than Americans)

Except it doesn't bother to devote even 5 minutes to explaining any of those, instead leaving it all up to the player to piece everything together. Unless a game is intentionally ambiguous, which Morrowind is not, there's only one way to describe a game where a player has to go out of his way to experience the story and that's - lazy.

Yeah, the King Kong thing made the game really embarrassing if you were trying to sell ME2 to some bystanders as an example of maturity in video games.

Oh DEAR. NURSE!

I do the same thing! I tend to enjoy those first 15-20 too, but then I'm just done. Happens with every Elder Scrolls game, Fallout was the first game they made that I actually finished. I think it has more to do with enjoying the setting for me, I just lose interest in the enter world after awhile. I may have finished Fallout 3 as well but that was probably due to the main quest being so quick and easy. Although I don't remember anything about it so, yeah... I really need a reason to play a game through be it a compelling storyline, playing with friends or some other reason. The sandbox thing runs out of interesting diversions quickly. Considering that the stats show that most games are never finished by players, the sandbox thing is tailor made for people that are going to play for a short while and move on. I think that's why so many people have a great impression of Bethesda's games, because they've never really sat down and played for dozens of hours through the whole mind numbing experience. If they did I doubt we'd hear so much of the "GREATEST RPG EVER" chant.

And just when I thought you finally got your act together. Tsk tsk.

I don't know, I gave up on every Bethesda game about 15-20 hours in, as a rule, when it became obvious that the next xy hours are going to be pretty much the same thing as those 15.

Wiki says its Nintendo DS. Do you have one to lend me? :D