Torticoli

@9inchsamurai

You make a good point (even though I don't entirely agree with it) and I think Portal 2 was an example of "not amazing story, but great storytelling".

@PN04

Honestly, to give a Final Fantasy example, claiming that the story in FF XII, XIII or XIII-2 is "no worse" than the story in FF VI or VII, for instance, is kinda like claiming that Twilight is no worse than The Lord of the Rings.

Let's be serious now. Of course they are worse.

You remind me of people claiming that movies don't need a good story if they have a lot of action and flashy visuals. While I agree that RPGs have other things to offer (or at least, they should) than their story, I'll never support the current trend of writing video game stories that are worse and worse over the years : RPGs are the one genre in gaming where a good story should be a requirement.

I mean, seriously now, If you're telling me that, for instance, Final Fantasy VI (or, to a lesser extent, VII) didn't need its story and characters to be good, then I don't know what to tell you aside from "yes it did". And it goes beyond RPGs, as well (the Metal Gear Solid series comes to mind).

Good stories are one of the biggest strength in gaming, as so many games should have taught us : they can be much more powerful and immersing than any book or movie ever could. We should embrace that fact and encourage developers to include amazing stories in their games, especially in RPGs, instead of wondering "well, do we really need those, actually ?".

If we want to preserve gaming as an art, and not just as a form of entertainment, we have to do this.

@Shadowbender The point of Dark Souls is to be extremely difficult while always being fair, from the very start. Yes it's frustrating, yes it's hard, and no, it's not for everyone.

It's 100% fine to feel like this is not the game for you after being stuck in the first part of the game for a long time. The game itself is still stellar in its extreme, tight, no-compromise vision : "If you're not good enough and if you're not willing to learn, from the get-go, how to correctly play this game, you'll die, a lot".

You can't expect Dark Souls to feel like "yeah, it's hard, but come on, after a certain point, the game will cater and give me some sort of boost/hint/whatever to allow me to progress despite my failure". Other games do, this one doesn't.

@dakoe3 If "acting like Activision" means CoD-style yearly franchises and things like World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm, then no. No, we don't want that.

Working way too long on a game is definitely not good, but I wouldn't look at Activision's business practices as anything that should be recommended to anyone.

My bet is that this game won't happen, and that we'll have to continue looking back on Ico and Shadow of the Colossus as the go-to examples of art in video game form.

And maybe Okami, too.

@Apakal DDO is free-to-play, and it's a good game, better than, say, WoW on several levels. Just saying.

On the one hand, I'm glad to see a court realize that virtual goods are worthy of attention and do have value, since they represent time and energy investment. The time of "This sword you worked for in this video game doesn't have any kind of value whatsoever, even though you spent dozens of hours getting it, because it's made of pixels and not metal" may be coming at an end.

On the other hand, the idea that taking virtual items from someone, items that can be easily replaced at no cost and don't require any kind of supply (they're digital items that can be copied infinitely at no cost) can be considered "stealing" is a problem. The problem here is the agression, not the "theft", I think. I don't know, it's weird.

So, it'll be actually possible to lose at Bioshock now ? Rejoice !

Cowards and hypocrites.