Dreiko said:
remnant_phoenix said:
For me, it doesn't come down to "that's the way it's always been;" it's a matter of preference.
I prefer my video game stories to be self-contained and fully experienced through the standard playing-though-the-game experience, and then any extra reading to be supplemental, rather than essential. Yes, this the way that "it's always been" in most RPGs and every main series FF that came before XIII, but that's not why I like it. I like it because, in my opinion, that it's a superior way to present a story.
At the very least, I feel that some kind of heads-up would be a appropriate. Some sort of "Hey! If you don't read the Datalog or any of the online novellas, the plot will be confusing and the characters will be poorly developed!" would have been nice. I wasn't aware that this was a problem until AFTER I played the game. Because every FF that came before was self-contained, I had no reason to expect that XIII wouldn't be.
So yeah, that's what's bothersome about it, for me anyway. The self-contained approach is, in my view, the superior way to tell a story, and I had every reason to believe, based on RPG and FF conventions, that that is what would happen with XIII.
That's fair and if you go (way) back in this topic you'll see I mentioned I played the JP version back when the USA version wasn't out yet so that is what I based my experience on. It is fair to take these issues with it I agree. The thing though is that this is not what FFXIII was for me due to all of these aspects that we have already fleshed out too much as is. For me it all was done well and I was informed and everything, which resulted in the awesome experience I describe.
When I ask you why you like it, telling me you like it because you believe it's the superior way to tell a story doesn't actually explain why that is. I'm asking what it is that makes it superior in your eyes. Obviously you prefer it cause you think it to be superior, why do you think so?
I was (and still am) neutral about this. I just judge on a game by game basis. XIII did it in its own way and it worked, so I like it in that instance. I don't try to come up with a maxim to say that all game stories are better told in fashion X because that in my eyes is needlessly restrictive. I just take each game for what it is with an open mind and see what comes out of it. This is how I approached XIII. Also, back then since the game wasn't even out yet, reading the novels was a great way to quench the thirst and make the wait til the release a lot more bearable. That's honestly what lead me to them in the first place.
I had to think about this one for a while, but I think I have a clear answer now.
The self-contained version is, in my mind, the superior way to tell a story because it doesn't alienate potential audience members. See, there are multiple types of would-be fans of something:
You have your "Type A" fans who were fans of what came before in a series or fans of the creative people behind the work. Type A fans are going to digest and take in every possibly morsel of an upcoming release. They're never going to miss a teaser, interview, or announcement. They're going to get on forums and stuff to talk about every teaser, dissecting them for clues. If the people behind the game post that there is online reading material that leads up to the release, they're going to read it excitedly. When the game, movie, book, or album releases, they're going to not only experience the thing itself, but pore over every little thing. For an album, they're going to go over the album artwork and read the lyric sheets meticulously. For a movie, they're going to want to watch it again with commentary tracks and watch every deleted scene. For a game, they're going to unlock every in-game text blurb and read them all.
You have your "Type B" fans who were fans of what came before in a series or fans of the creative people behind the work, but they're more devil may care than your Type A fans. They may watch some trailers or read some pre-release info, but they're not going to get into, and probably won't even be aware of, the extra stuff like online novellas. They're just going to play the game when it comes out.
You have your outsiders, people who don't know anything about the game or the even the series it comes from, but they could be introduced to it.
There are others, I'm sure, but these are the broad categories.
The self-contained approach works for all kinds of people, while the FFXIII approach only works for Type A fans.
