Storytelling

I have a full review for Radiant Historia up on the site, so check it out. I'll also get back to wrapping up Gotta Train 'em All tomorrow. There's already a full wrap-up on the site, but I'll get into more specifics about lv 50 stats here.

I've never given much credibility to games as a platform for compelling storytelling. Games are primarily an interactive art between a problem and the player. Imagine my surprise when the multiple timeline narratives and complexities in interacting with both impressed me in Radiant Historia. I'm not saying that we're at Inception levels of handling parallel narratives, but it's definitely a cut above most of the shlock that gamers endure. Some have even been enamored with modern games' stories. Ugh.

The problem with writing compelling stories in games is that the players transfer themselves into the characters of the game, which is completely natural because the players execute the actions of the character. For all intents and purposes, they are the characters. So there's a disconnect when a character in a game says or does anything uncharacteristic of the player.

Not to mention that all video game writers need serious lessons in writing dialogue and subtlety. I'm looking at you, Square-Enix. Most characters in games are either melodramatic to the worst degrees of after-school specials, or unbelievably emotionally constipated.

Anyway, I'll get off my soap box until I can prove that I'm better.