Something wrong with the fantasy genre

[TheDuckbunny]

I've always been a great fan of the fantasy genre. From Lord of the Rings to The Elder Scrolls, I drooled over them. But lately my enthousiasm for this particular genre dipped below a certain point where I didn't really care for it anymore. Something was missing, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

I made the transition to playing other games - not limiting myself to playing just fantasy themed games - and picked up a copy of Mass Effect. I fell in love with the game, the story, the action, but most of all the sheer amount of depth and content. And that's when it hit me. Fantasy doesn't do that.

Have you ever wondered why Orcs are actually green? How magic works? Why Elves have pointy ears? I have. But in fantasy there are no answers.

And I'm saddened to say that this gets to me. I wish more fantasy games would do this. Explain certain things, take away from the mediocre-ness of your standard orcish or elvish race. Explain the use of magic.
I'd like to immerse myself into a world full of wonder, but I need to have something to hold on to. Something to make me feel like that world could actually exist.


So I'd like to know, would you care for more depth in the fantasy genre or do you think the genre is one that shouldn't be explained?

 

[Cargando]

I take it you mean of games? Because if you are talking about the fantasy genre as a whole, you can't more in-depth than LOTR.

Anyway, in games, The Elder Scrolls have a lot of history, just read the books.

 

[Sassafrass]

I look at this way.
>_>

Ok, now on to my point. I don't really think about that stuff, TBH. I just like to lose myself in the story, setting and game characters, if possible. I did wonder when I first started playing but now I just wait and see if they explain stuff and if it doesn't, just forget about it.

So, to some up, I would like a little explanation but if they haven't put any in, it doesn't really matter.

 

[sms_117b]

I take it you mean of games? Because if you are talking about the fantasy genre as a whole, you can't more in-depth than LOTR.

Anyway, in games, The Elder Scrolls have a lot of history, just read the books.

That is a mission on it's own, especially with some mods (OOO especially)

OT, You have a point, but with something like magic, not knowing quite why it works adds to the......magic? I mean, a lot in reality is still a mystery, so, I'm not sure the point I'm trying to make anymore...

 

[Gabanuka]

Some books do explain magic but as for the Orcs being green and Elves haveing pointed its just a cliché.

 

[Fetzenfisch]

Well there are a few games which explain certain things like magic, but video games hardly explain the whole world, its not really necessary, look out for games which are based on PnP Rpgs like Drakensang, there are a huge mass of Books explaining everything down to the mechanics of magic. Ok Elves have pointy ears because they do, in combination with the slightly bigger eyes its a sign for superior senses perhaps. Really hard to talk about fantasy evolution, its kindof one level with debating about the startrek technology. its fiction and it works because the story needs it.

 

[SomethingUnrelated]

If a game is based on in depth storylines, then i guess it would fit in. But most people take elves' pointy ears and the like for granted.

 

[AvsJoe]

So I'd like to know, would you care for more depth in the fantasy genre or do you think the genre is one that shouldn't be explained?

I've said it before on this site and I'll say it again, I loves me some story. I wouldn't mind some depth and backstory, like how did Orcs come to be. Did they evolve from another species or are they from another planet? I wonder about that kind of stuff all of the time, especially when daydreaming.

And did you just change your avatar or am I mistaken?

 

[Kaboose the Moose]

I made the transition to playing other games - not limiting myself to playing just fantasy themed games - and picked up a copy of Mass Effect. I fell in love with the game, the story, the action, but most of all the sheer amount of depth and content. And that's when it hit me. Fantasy doesn't do that.

Have you ever wondered why Orcs are actually green? How magic works? Why Elves have pointy ears? I have. But in fantasy there are no answers.

And I'm saddened to say that this gets to me. I wish more fantasy games would do this. Explain certain things, take away from the mediocre-ness of your standard orcish or elvish race. Explain the use of magic.
I'd like to immerse myself into a world full of wonder, but I need to have something to hold on to. Something to make me feel like that world could actually exist.

I understand where you are coming from but I think one of the defining characteristics about the fantasy genre is, that it doesn't take itself too seriously. It doesn't try and explain things for the reader/viewer/player, it lets the audience come up with their own explanations.

Think about it, it's a fantasy world with fantasy themes. There is no room for hard science or logical thought there. If it did, it wouldn't be a fantasy genre anymore, it'll belong to the science-fiction/science-fantasy genre.

The fantasy realm needs imagination; active, vivid imagination. You should questions those things that you read but to enjoy it, you have to come up with your own answers that satisfy you. If you apply critical thinking, then you will only go as far as science fiction will take you.

 

[Roxilla84]

Dragon Age ought to be the cure for what ails you.

 

[Valate_v1legacy]

It isnt my fantasy, its mostly based on LotR... Mabye some of it is the other crazy guy who made the books about 'hyboria'.

 

[Umwerfer]

Do we consider imaginary sci-fi science superior? No. Anyways, limiting yourself to one genre is pointless, read/play the best each one has to offer

 

[TheDuckbunny]

I take it you mean of games? Because if you are talking about the fantasy genre as a whole, you can't more in-depth than LOTR.

Anyway, in games, The Elder Scrolls have a lot of history, just read the books.

Yea, it's mainly games. Oh, and I recently read up about the Elder Scrolls games and was surprised with the content it actually had. It's just a bit of a shame that with the transition from Morrowind to Oblivion they kinda lost some depth in the game world.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

I can tell you why orcs loo the way they do in The Elder Scrolls. Yeah, I'm sad like that.

Basically, they are the children of the Ancestor Spirit Trinimac, and they were a type of elf. But for reasons I forget Trinimac was eaten by the daedroth prince Boethiah and was transformed in Boethiah's insides, and so the Orcs were changed as well. When Trnimac came out of Boethiah he had been transformed into Malacath, god of loners and stuff (this is why orcs are ugly). Technically, he isn't actually a Daedroth prince. The Orcs proper name in ES is Orismer, meaning 'Pariah folk'.

Jesus christ, how could you not know that?

 

[TheDuckbunny]

Dragon Age ought to be the cure for what ails you.

I'm really hoping Dragon Age delivers. It sounds amazing and Bioware has yet to let me down but I shouldn't get my hopes up before I play it.

 

[Slash Dementia]

Explain the use of magic.

The use of magic depends on the person writing the story. In most games, magic is just used by your magic bar, therefore being a consequence; in Fantasy books, the consequence, again, depends on the writer's imagination. Magic can cost blood, limbs, a life, concentration, et cetera, but it all depends on the creativity of the writer. Games just have to balance it out and how would they explain your magic bar; don't they do that in the beginning of the game?

I agree with you, the fantasy games are becoming a bit bland and I hope Dragon Age: Origins can make that much needed step that it needs. I would love a fantasy game that explains everything, though...