Question of the Day, July 30, 2010
- Thread starter The Escapist Staff
- Start date
Other - because there was no "All of the above" option. Plotholes tick me off, but bad dialogue makes me want to laugh... if it wasn't so goddamn sad.
Many of these, I can live with. Awful Dialogue can be charming, ala Resident Evil 1 (which is probably the exception to the rule, come to think of it). As long as the plot doesn't have holes so big you can coast a Death Star through, even that's fine. As for confusing instructions? Well, I play Eve Online.... and moving on.
Unnecessary information is boarderline, since it's really subjective what's unnecessary. On the one hand, it could be world building. There was a lot that came out of the Metal Gear Solid games, but they weren't all necessary.
I where went with Poor Characterization. All the rest could be well and good. I find recent JRPGs do this; The world will be laid out, and it will be stunning. The concepts and plot direction are all there, with enough slack in them to not really give the impression of a strong plot hole. NPCs from all over are all worthy of nothing but intern voice actors and one offs trying to make it big. It's all there, tollerable, and then the camera settles on the main cast....
Lo, and behold, for it is Cookie Cutter roles! Archetype "Lead Character" is atypical lead material, with mannerisms liken to that of 15 different (but all very same characters at the same time) other leads that use the same hair spike gel. And his best friend, a girl, that could very well be his sister, or he'll at least call "big sis" because she acts like one. She'll scold him, because he is supposed to grow up. He's a man now (reading the manual bio at this point would show that he's just turned 15, or some junk), and needs to start acting like one. Then his best friend, who is younger, and looks up to Generic Lead. This characters gender doesn't matter, ultimately. It's spineless, whatever gender may be overlain here.
And that's just a start. If you've played JRPGs, I'm sure you'll find I'm not far off the mark. A few adjustments to the cookie cutter, and you go from ginger bread man to cactus, but it's still a cookie cutter with all the same ingredients.
I can't play these games anymore, thanks to these tropes. I find it hard to even enjoy anime now, because these character tropes are not exclusive to video games. I used to LOVE anime... then I started to feel like I've seen these characters all somewhere before.
Anyway, bad characterization goes a long way for destroying a game experience for me.
Characters have always been one of the most important parts of any narrative for me, but it's even more important to me in a video game (Particularly action games) seeing as I actually have to both interact with these people and be motivated to want to fight for them and their cause. In fact, lack of proper characterization was almost a game-breaker for me in Dead Space (It's only saving grace being the interesting world it's built up around itself). The main problem lay in that the game expected me to feel sympathy for Isaac even though, him being a silent protagonist, I have absolutely no emotional connection to him whatsoever. Characterizing Nicole would have done the job just as well, but she's absent most of the game (Albeit for goods reasons) so I have no emotional connection to her either and, as a result, no real motivation to want to help her (As I should if the point was to fully immerse me into Isaac's role). So lack of proper characterization was able to turn what should and could have been a great game into a merely competent game.
I voted other, because I really hate it when your character isn't part of the story. By this I mean when your character isn't really affecting anything and just kind of getting pushed through the story by plot devices. It's like you're flailing around just waiting for the next thing to happen because god forbid you mess with their pristine and epic storyline.
Unnecessary information can be cool if it's interesting. Plotholes and awful dialog I can deal with. Poor characterization is a big one for me though. I like believable characters who change and grow with the story.
And yeah confusing instructions always suck. I hate it when you're told to do something and it can be interpreted several ways so you have to figure out how the developer wanted you to interpret it.
Unnecessary information can be cool if it's interesting. Plotholes and awful dialog I can deal with. Poor characterization is a big one for me though. I like believable characters who change and grow with the story.
And yeah confusing instructions always suck. I hate it when you're told to do something and it can be interpreted several ways so you have to figure out how the developer wanted you to interpret it.
SEQUAL HOOKS.
just... Motherf**k. what if you dont MAKE a sequal? what if it sucks? what if what if?
just... be self contained. PLEASE.
just... Motherf**k. what if you dont MAKE a sequal? what if it sucks? what if what if?
just... be self contained. PLEASE.
Poor characterization. If I don't give a shit about a character, then they die and everyone is very sad, my eyes are half closed in contempt for whoever thought that this was effective.
I love awful dialogue and the Resident Evil series!Kiefer13 said:
My personal hatred is for Unclear Instructions. It makes me waste so much time trying to work out what I'm meant to be doing and I lose because I took too long. Then I have to repeat, repeat, repeat until I finally work it out
I can deal with "bad" dialogue - It's one of my favourite things about Divinity 2.
I can deal with plotholes as long as they're not tooooo huge.
I can deal with "poor" characters - I just laugh.
I can't deal with bad instructions. It's so frustrating to get started on a quest and find out the game's sent you in the completely wrong direction. One of my problems with RPGs is how poor some of the quest texts can be.
I can deal with plotholes as long as they're not tooooo huge.
I can deal with "poor" characters - I just laugh.
I can't deal with bad instructions. It's so frustrating to get started on a quest and find out the game's sent you in the completely wrong direction. One of my problems with RPGs is how poor some of the quest texts can be.
Other: Introducing plot elements and then doing nothing with them. Especially when the developer has made a big deal about how much they're paying attention to story in the game.
Examples:
Gears of War 2:
- The Sires. What are they? Who made them? Do they have anything to do with the Locust?
- Maria Santiago - one and a half games of tease, wrapped up in three minutes and a bullet.
- The Locust Queen. Holy shit! She's human! What does that - wait, where'd she go? Why does no one care?
- Adam Fenix. What have we done? Blown shit up, the same thing we've been doing since last game. Now you come along after two games' conspicuous and unexplained absence and try to make us feel guilty?
Transformers: War for Cybertron:
- First mission: Megatron mentions a betrayal that led to Starscream being posted to the orbital platform where we find him. Next mission is all about Starscream and the Seekers. Betrayal never gets mentioned again.
- Zeta Prime: Is almost as much of a megalomaniac as Megatron. This is interesting! There's all kind of fodder there that could tie into Optimus' character; maybe he didn't stand for the position of Prime becuase he saw what it did to the previous title-holders. It's only touched briefly by the Autobot Council of Elders when they appoint Optimus as the new Prime, and he doesn't even object.
- Kaon Prison Break: Megatron calls Optimus "the prodigy", and Optimus refers to something that happened in both of their pasts "long ago". Neither point ever gets mentioned again, outside of Ironhide's happiness that Optimus "finally stepped up".
Examples:
Gears of War 2:
- The Sires. What are they? Who made them? Do they have anything to do with the Locust?
- Maria Santiago - one and a half games of tease, wrapped up in three minutes and a bullet.
- The Locust Queen. Holy shit! She's human! What does that - wait, where'd she go? Why does no one care?
- Adam Fenix. What have we done? Blown shit up, the same thing we've been doing since last game. Now you come along after two games' conspicuous and unexplained absence and try to make us feel guilty?
Transformers: War for Cybertron:
- First mission: Megatron mentions a betrayal that led to Starscream being posted to the orbital platform where we find him. Next mission is all about Starscream and the Seekers. Betrayal never gets mentioned again.
- Zeta Prime: Is almost as much of a megalomaniac as Megatron. This is interesting! There's all kind of fodder there that could tie into Optimus' character; maybe he didn't stand for the position of Prime becuase he saw what it did to the previous title-holders. It's only touched briefly by the Autobot Council of Elders when they appoint Optimus as the new Prime, and he doesn't even object.
- Kaon Prison Break: Megatron calls Optimus "the prodigy", and Optimus refers to something that happened in both of their pasts "long ago". Neither point ever gets mentioned again, outside of Ironhide's happiness that Optimus "finally stepped up".
awful dialogue completely breaks immersion. it must be well written/acted or its worse than nothing.
but its sooo hard to choose, plotholes break immersion too; plots are like tails or third arms; a good one is a really great thing, but if you do it wrong you end up looking goofy, having to replace your entire wardrobe, and dealing with a colossal pain in the ass that could make sitting a problem.
but its sooo hard to choose, plotholes break immersion too; plots are like tails or third arms; a good one is a really great thing, but if you do it wrong you end up looking goofy, having to replace your entire wardrobe, and dealing with a colossal pain in the ass that could make sitting a problem.
