Thread 714596678

Is it possible for a video game story to have genuinely good writing? As in not just good by the standard of games.

>>714596678 (OP)
The top two in your image are the only well-written ones.

"good writing" is just some stupid subjective abstraction everyone should ridicule.

>>714596678 (OP)
Maybe we should create more Hollywood aping moviegames to find the answer to that question. I'm sure Sony and Naughty Dog are right on it.

>>714596970
Cool words bro, you're right.

>>714596678 (OP)
Video game writing is a meme. It will never be good and neither are any of the games in your image.

>>714596678 (OP)
>Is it possible for a video game story to have genuinely good writing
My honest answer is yes. It's just very hard to do. DE I think is a good modern try at one

>>714596678 (OP)
>Undertale

>>714596678 (OP)
Nintendo did it right by not caring about story at all

>>714596892
Sorry, I meant the left two

>>714596678 (OP)
Does Planetscape Torment still hold up? The game is like 30 years old

>>714596678 (OP)
one of these things is not like the others

>>714598529
Funny because I don't even know which one of the 4 in the image you are referring to.

>>714596678 (OP)
Steins Gate sucks

>>714596892
>>714598196
Sorry, meant the top left one

>>714597918
Undertale is as good of a story as zoomers are ever going to write.

>>714598983
toby is a millennial

>>714596678 (OP)
>not just good by the standard of games.
Then no it isn't possible because games are not a written medium. Games like Portal and OoT are cool because the atmosphere tells most of the story, and that's something you can't do in other media.

>Planescape
A great game where good writing contributes to the experience. The writing itself is young adult fantasy-tier though.

>the other 3
I haven't played these games

>>714598409
Yeah it rocks anon. Very smooth laptop trackpad type game.

>>714598734
>Xenogears mentioned

>>714598734
So does Xenogears.

>>714597062
>t.seething Nintendie

>>714596678 (OP)
Yes. Try Citizen Sleeper 1+2 or 1000xResist.

>>714596678 (OP)
Maybe, but they have to not be written by mindless committees and that's a tall order.

>>714596678 (OP)
Visual novels are not games. Undertale is barely a game.

>>714596678 (OP)
The walking dead series

>>714597918
Undertale has a great story presented in a way that can only work as a video game

>>714596678 (OP)
>planescape torment is a great game enhanced by good writing
>DE is a bad game barely kept afloat by alright writing
Planescape does it right and is the gold standard for good videogame writing

>>714600528
This got me thinking. It would kinda be impossible to adapt undertale into a film for normie audiences without fundamentally changing the way saving was presented. Unless you made it distinctinctly video gamey.

>>714600863
Yeah, but imagine Jack Black as Sans.

Planescape is

You can exclude Steins Gate and Fata Morgana. Both are anime tropes galore

>>714596678 (OP)
undertale gets by on being charming and fun, it's not well-written

>>714599524
how many times a day do you post this poor bait and how many times do you actually get an angry response

>>714601512
Ok, so it's well written

>>714598128
That's just making games for kids.

>>714596678 (OP)
Sure, nothing stops a video game from having good writing. But how many of them wouldn't be better off as a book, TV series, or visual novel?

>>714602784
Honestly? Most of them, I seriously fail how could you properly adapt games like say Undertale or Hotline Miami

>>714602965
Hotline Miami would work just fine as a film

>>714600863
pretty much

it would be like adapting an action movie to a book, it just doesnt work

>>714601512
>Undertale is not well written, it just has an entertaining plot and charming characters

what do you call well written? for me personally 80% of "well written" are the characters, id they are not good im not going to pay attention to the plot

which is why most of the FromSoftware dont have good stories by my standards, good games, i just dont know what the fuck is going on

>>714596678 (OP)
Steins;Gate is not well written and it's not even a game.

>>714602965
Hotline Miami could still conceivably work as a movie, i bet Tarantino would be great for it, with all the violence and non-linear narrative

Undertale, it just doesnt work, a lot of the plot hinges on the concept of saving and loading, a couple of characters even are aware you are saving and loading the game, but at the same time its never presented as

>le video game characters le know they are in a le video game

saving is simply a concept that exists in undertale and its one that connects both the game and the player, pulling you into the narrative

>>714603165
No, not only would the themes of the game get lost in the making, but also some crucial moments would be unadaptable because they relied on game mechanics (like when Jacket gets shot by Ritcher) or throughout repetition (any beard scene including the Ritcher hallucinations). And don't get me started on the Biker part of the game, let alone the sequel

>>714603923
Anime site election tourist

>>714596678 (OP)
Yes, but not the games in your image
Assuming you meant writing as in the prose and not storytelling, infocom is your friend. Brian Moriarty is my favorite writer

>>714603385
How so? Because it wouldn't have explosions? Well written action exists, even if it's not the same feeling as being in a theater getting yelled at.

>>714603601
It uses words well. Rhythmic, melodious sentences that sit well on the ear. There's a lovely little short story by Melville, called the Encantadas, and it has precisely zero characters in it. It's just one long description of the Galapagos Islands, and its writing is just delicious.
>Take five-and-twenty heaps of cinders dumped here and there in an outside city lot, imagine some of them magnified into mountains, and the vacant lot the sea, and you will have a fit idea of the general aspect of the Encantadas, or Enchanted Isles. A group rather of extinct volcanoes than of isles, looking much as the world at large might after a penal conflagration.
>It is to be doubted whether any spot on earth can, in desolateness, furnish a parallel to this group. Abandoned cemeteries of long ago, old cities by piecemeal tumbling to their ruin, these are melancholy enough; but, like all else which has but once been associated with humanity, they still awaken in us some thoughts of sympathy, however sad. Hence, even the Dead Sea, along with whatever other emotions it may at times inspire, does not fail to touch in the pilgrim some of his less unpleasurable feelings.
>And as for solitariness, the great forests of the north, the expanses of unnavigated waters, the Greenland ice fields, are the profoundest of solitudes to a human observer; still the magic of their changeable tides and seasons mitigates their terror, because, though unvisited by men, those forests are visited by the May; the remotest seas reflect familiar stars even as Lake Erie does; and in the clear air of a fine Polar day, the irradiated, azure ice shows beautifully as malachite.

>>714604128
I think you're trying to think of how they would do a 1:1 adaption, when those things could easily be adapted instead and still keep the core feeling of the game.

>>714596678 (OP)
It's possible, just hard. But I think people overestimate how well written the average movie or tv series is.

>>714605563
This, weren't the biggest tv shows last decade like GoT, the Walking Dead and Breaking Bad? BB is the only one of those that is even arguably good.

>>714596678 (OP)
Aren't critics shitting and pissing themselves giving awards to TLOU, which is a direct adaptation of the games story? That at the very least shows games can have better writing than than most T.V shows. Personally I think games stories are inherently superior to all other mediums since no other can compete with their level of immersion when done well.

>>714604568
That's not well written that's slop disguised as quality

>>714606913
Walking Dead was good for 2 seasons, and then they tried to make 10 more.
Game of Thrones was said to be good for 4 seasons but even then it just felt like a juvenile gore and sex fest a lot of times.
Breaking Bad is fine but has more anime writing than people are willing to admit.

>>714596678 (OP)
Well, it depends what you mean. Good writing for games will necessarily have to be different than good writing for books or movies, because the way you interact with the medium is different. So by that token, I don't think you can entirely separate good game writing from the standards of game writing. If you're asking whether a game's writing can move you in a way a good book or movie can, then I think it's certainly possible, since I myself experienced it with games like Undertale. To what extent is that a universal reality? Hard to say.

>>714596678 (OP)
Disco Elysium and Steins Gate are poser trash. Undertale is soulful but basic. Planescape is the only genuinely fantastic title here.

>>714608115
Good writing in movies and in games can resemble each other, see Expedition 33.

>>714603923
Vn tards don't care they're the same retards that are okay with casualization because they suck at games by default. They're faggots that buy blazblue for the story the faggots that ruined Guilty gear.

>>714607581
Fine, here's some real art:
>My sweet little whorish Nora I did as you told me, you dirty little girl, and pulled myself off twice when I read your letter. I am delighted to see that you do like being fucked arseways. Yes, now I can remember that night when I fucked you for so long backwards. It was the dirtiest fucking I ever gave you, darling. My prick was stuck in you for hours, fucking in and out under your upturned rump. I felt your fat sweaty buttocks under my belly and saw your flushed face and mad eyes. At every fuck I gave you your shameless tongue came bursting out through your lips and if a gave you a bigger stronger fuck than usual, fat dirty farts came spluttering out of your backside. You had an arse full of farts that night, darling, and I fucked them out of you, big fat fellows, long windy ones, quick little merry cracks and a lot of tiny little naughty farties ending in a long gush from your hole. It is wonderful to fuck a farting woman when every fuck drives one out of her. I think I would know Nora’s fart anywhere. I think I could pick hers out in a roomful of farting women. It is a rather girlish noise not like the wet windy fart which I imagine fat wives have. It is sudden and dry and dirty like what a bold girl would let off in fun in a school dormitory at night. I hope Nora will let off no end of her farts in my face so that I may know their smell also.

>>714608287
It very much depends on the game. You can have something resembling old text adventure games, and those can be very similar to books. Or you can have games that are basically spectacles on rails with limited player input, which you could argue somewhat resemble movies. But then you have games where the game mechanics are more tightly integrated with the writing, and then it turns out you couldn't really tell such a story with any other medium without losing a lot.

>>714597062
Nu-God of War is good.

>>714596678 (OP)
Most of those aren't that good.

>>714596678 (OP)
No video game has good writing.

>>714608629
Imagine the absolute smell

>>714611847
Yes they are.

>>714596678 (OP)
>Planescape Torment
It kind of falls apart once they introduce The Transcendent One in the middle. He sounds like a children's cartoon villain.
>Disco Elysium
Pretty good, but a bit too meta and tongue-in-cheek at times.
>Undertale
Way too meta.
>Steins Gate
Didn't play.

>>714613014
Nothing wrong with being meta if it's done well. Read If On A Winter's Night A Traveller. Undertale's problem is just plain old bad writing.

>>714596892
>>714598196
>>714598750
Sorry, meant none of the above.

>>714596678 (OP)
Lisa the painful unironically has better writing and lore than undertale

>>714596678 (OP)
pic related, along with its sequel and "prequel" have some of the best written video game dialogue of all time. It actually sounds fantastical. Kain actually sounds like an ancient vampire rather than a modern Californian.
The stories are a bit more mixed. Soul Reaver 1/2 are absolutely filled with metaphors but the actual narrative is kind of weak.

>>714614616
Having played both, I can't say I agree. It's still a good game, though. One of the best games from the Earthbound lineage.

>>714601097
okay, now what

>>714614863
If it was writter today i'd be "Fock you! vampire shcum!"

>>714596678 (OP)
Disco Elysium is a game I kind of struggle with. I absolutely love it, but the writing feels far too modern for the time period. It doesn't really fit. However, it is undeniably good. It is a game that consistently made me laugh while also making me pretty sad/emotional at points. It is a game I still think about years after beating it. It is absolutely in my top 10 of all time, but I guess that makes me more critical of it because I think it is above your average game.

I also do find the *constant* use of *asterisk* to be pretty *annoying*, honestly.

>>714612268
What is Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga then?

>>714596892
Steins gate isn't well written at all

>>714614616
Black Souls 2 > Lisa > Black Souls 1 > Undertale

>>714615042
Pretty much. You watch some Blood Omen, Soul Reaver, or Soul Reaver II cutscenes and you wonder what the fuck happened to video game writing.
We went from Kain and Raziel debating the nature of good and evil, fate, the gods, legacy and destiny to fantasy games now being "So... uhm... I'm non-binary" or even BG3 just being filled with quips and dumb shit like ogre sex even though I still really like BG3.

>>714615226
Larian games in general tend to have garbage writing. BG3 is an IMPROVEMENT over D:OS, believe it or not.
Owlcat games generally have better writing, especially Rogue Trader, but their gameplay and freedom are nowhere close to what Larian has to offer.

>>714596678 (OP)
S;G is great but it's pretty basic

>>714614863
>>714615042
https://youtu.be/6WH0nvpU5fQ?si=YxspKRQeEowSA9hl

>>714615496
Oh, I know. I actually played Divine Divinity and Divinity 2: DKS as well. They've always leaned into humor which to me comes across as a crutch. I mean yeah, the stories aren't outright comedies but they have so many jokes it is hard to take any of them seriously.
As for Owlcat, I want to like their writing but I almost universally hate every companion they write. I haven't played Rogue Trader, but in both PF games I think there are like 2/3 likable companions. Everyone else is either an asshole, a bitch, or just plain annoying. Meanwhile I really liked the entire main cast of BG3 (except for Wyll Smith who is very boring).
Gameplay wise, yeah, BG3 is so much better than PF that it is not even close. I've played BG1/2, IWD1/2, Arcanum and others and I still dislike RTWP and I think that Owlcat games might actually have the worst combat of them all because they are so fucking hard that nearly every fight is a prebuff fest and you can, GENUINELY, have like 20 spells to prebuff and that is not an exaggeration.

>>714615764
I could never get into Pathfinder games, but Rogue Trader seems to fix most of their problems. No prebuffing fiesta, fewer garbage encounters because the game is designed around turn-based instead of RTwP. Companions are still a hit-or-miss, but I really liked Abelard, Cassia and Pasqal.

>>714600378
The first season at least

>>714596678 (OP)
And yet somehow Bug Fables is better than all of all four of these

>>714596678 (OP)
a mostly pointless question because anons have zero confidence to admit they think something like undertale has good writing

to answer your question, there're games with good stuff in it if you look for it

>>714596678 (OP)
Yes, Stein's Gate and Undertale are not well written though

>>714596678 (OP)
Only PS:T has good writing out of the games you mention. Most games fall into a trap of trying to tell a story like you'd find in a book, TV drama, or film. The problem is, that sucks for games, and it just makes me want to mash to get back to the action.
The key to writing a good game is actually making the gameplay reward player agency and choice before the narrative reacts. PS:T is a good example of this. All of Troika's games also accomplish this (with the exception of VTM:B which is fine but more stripped back). Fallout also but to a lesser extent. Bethesda games are the lowest rung but still have better narratives that any movie game or visual novel just by virtue of having a world where the player can actually experience osmosis.

>>714616491
I mean Undertale is well written in being quirky, I guess. It also utilizes the fact that it is a video game to tell a story, which is good. But it is not very profound or deep or meaningful. So it really depends upon what your definition of "good writing" is. For some people that means War & Peace or some other high brow classic. For others well written can mean something like Robocop which combines humor, scathing satire, and action to tell a story.

I am not giving my opinion on either. I am just saying I can understand the argument from both sides. Most people tend to not point at things that rely a lot on humor as "well written" which is why things like comedies never win awards even though they are an ancient artform.

>>714596678 (OP)
Undertale's legacy is furry porn. No one gives a shit about the "writing" or the "gameplay" or the "story." I guess they also like one song from it.

>>714600528
>self defense is LEL BAD
wow profound story

>>714616821
I don't really have anything to add to this comment but I feel exactly the same as you and I've never been able to put it into words. Thanks anon. Have a great weekend.

Pic rel mogs every game posted in this thread

>>714617393
50% chance you're baiting but it'd be cool and interesting if you were actually being serious.

>>714616821
I mean, sure you can just say it's subjective and move on but at that point we might as well not have and share opinions about anything remotely artistic ever.

I think it's quite apparent when there's craftsmanship in the writing of something however, I don't really agree with you there, though I understand where you're coming from. I think it's easy to tell when dialogue is clunky and bland and when it's not for example.

>>714616821
Any one who pretends all art has to be high art to be good is just being pretentious

>>714616821
>I mean Undertale is well written in being quirky, I guess.
The game having moments of levity doesn't mean that it's all just that. It runs the full gamut of emotions. From funny, to cheerful, to somber, to tear-jerking, to dark, to bone-chilling. If it was just le quirky skeletons making puns, nobody would give a fuck. Instead it's held up as one of the best games of the 2010s.

>>714600528
Based

>>714618345
>Instead it's held up as one of the best games of the 2010s.
By furfags and underageb&.

I think people who don't read a lot are the most likely to assign "good writing" as some unattainable ideal that can only be had in those "high brow" books they kinda paid attention to back in high school/college. As if characters, drama, and conflict aren't all you need to make shit go hard, and as if videogames are by some intrinsic quality always to be found lacking in any or all of those. A vidya story isn't gonna be told like a novel or a film because they're not the same things and thinking direct emulation of a "higher brow" medium is the only mark of quality is the stance of the pseud or the insecure.

>>714596892
Sorry, I meant that I haven't played any of them but I said that before because I wanted to seem cool

>>714618345
>From funny, to cheerful, to somber, to tear-jerking, to dark, to bone-chilling
You don't actually believe this right? Undertale is good writing because it does not try to do anything it knows it can't, and that means being a quirky and overall cheerful style. The darkest parts are made up by fans and there is at no point anything "bone-chilling" unless you were 5 when you played it.

>ITT: faggots who have never read a single book in their entire life pretend as if they have
Friendly reminder that literature is overrated as shit and none of you have read a single book in your entire life

>>714618647
Anon, retards can't actually, genuinely enjoy things. They can only ironically enjoy things. They can only pretend to enjoy things. They have to limit their enjoyment of things. Why? Because if they didn't, then retards who also don't read will laugh at them because vidya can't be allowed to be good because it isn't "real literature."

>>714618820
The only one ITT i'd make an exception for is the one who posted james joyce's brap letter

>>714618820
I'm currently finishing up Ulysses. I love how unapologetically horny it is.

>>714600585
Planescape has terrible gameplay even for crpg standards, is unfinished, and would be completely forgotten if not for the great story.

>>714619032
where?

>>714619139
I dropped it after chapter 3. I read it, reflected upon what I just read, realised it just just schizodrivel, closed the book, and never read any further.

>>714600585
>planescape torment is a great game
You have not played PST if you think this is true, as someone who loves it the entire game is trivialized by Morte and combat is extremely braindead with no variety

>>714618704
>You don't actually believe this right? Undertale is good writing because it does not try to do anything it knows it can't, and that means being a quirky and overall cheerful style.
You obviously haven't played the game, and your exposure to it is only from annoying twitter faggots. So stop talking.

>>714619320
it's just the odyssey written by an irish drunkard

>>714618820
there are games as good as books.

>>714618820
lies
I've read berserk

>>714619320
Chapter 4 is IMO where it started to get good. Or maybe it's just the chapter where I started getting used to the narration. Its warmth also contrasted strongly with chapter 3.

—Milk for the pussens, he said.
—Mrkgnao! the cat cried.
They call them stupid. They understand what we say better than we understand them. She understands all she wants to. Vindictive too. Cruel. Her nature. Curious mice never squeal. Seem to like it. Wonder what I look like to her. Height of a tower? No, she can jump me.
—Afraid of the chickens she is, he said mockingly. Afraid of the chookchooks. I never saw such a stupid pussens as the pussens.
—Mrkrgnao! the cat said loudly.

And then it started really taking off from Scylla and Charybdis onwards. Cyclops was fucking hilarious:
>The viceregal houseparty which included many wellknown ladies was chaperoned by Their Excellencies to the most favourable positions on the grandstand while the picturesque foreign delegation known as the Friends of the Emerald Isle was accommodated on a tribune directly opposite. The delegation, present in full force, consisted of Commendatore Bacibaci Beninobenone (the semiparalysed doyen of the party who had to be assisted to his seat by the aid of a powerful steam crane), Monsieur Pierrepaul Petitépatant, the Grandjoker Vladinmire Pokethankertscheff, the Archjoker Leopold Rudolph von Schwanzenbad-Hodenthaler, Countess Marha Virága Kisászony Putrápesthi, Hiram Y. Bomboost, Count Athanatos Karamelopulos, Ali Baba Backsheesh Rahat Lokum Effendi, Señor Hidalgo Caballero Don Pecadillo y Palabras y Paternoster de la Malora de la Malaria, Hokopoko Harakiri, Hi Hung Chang, Olaf Kobberkeddelsen, Mynheer Trik van Trumps, Pan Poleaxe Paddyrisky, Goosepond Prhklstr Kratchinabritchisitch, Borus Hupinkoff, Herr Hurhausdirektorpresident Hans Chuechli-Steuerli, Nationalgymnasiummuseumsanatoriumandsuspensoriumsordinaryprivatdocentgeneralhistoryspecialprofessordoctor Kriegfried Ueberallgemein.

>>714619448
I did, multiple times, the flower becoming a TV did not make me piss my diaper

>>714598409
why wouldn't it you fucking retard

>>714619765
I don't believe you, that you played it. Otherwise you wouldn't produce your blatantly incorrect assessment of the kind of emotional responses that the game tries to elicit from the player. It fine if you think that those moments don't work, but to say that the game "does not try to do anything it knows it can't, and that means being a quirky and overall cheerful style" isn't a matter of opinion, it's factually incorrect.

>>714619565
Correct.

The problem is when retards say that no video game has a good story and that you should go read a book despite the fact that they haven't read a single book in their entire life.

>>714619668
Ah, I see. Carry on then, good sir.

But, in all seriousness, the only good part of Berserk, except for a few panels, is the golden age arc.

>>714619753
Interesting. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I might actually finish it, then.

>>714620196
I liked the horse rape part too

>>714596678 (OP)
Games in general are just not a very good medium for direct storytelling, you're crippled when writing for games.

>>714620196
If nothing else, at least read Cyclops. I laughed my ass off reading this chapter.
>The figure seated on a large boulder at the foot of a round tower was that of a broadshouldered deepchested stronglimbed frankeyed redhaired freelyfreckled shaggybearded widemouthed largenosed longheaded deepvoiced barekneed brawnyhanded hairylegged ruddyfaced sinewyarmed hero.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-LyFMCIpok

And lo, there entered one of the clan of the O’Molloy’s, a comely hero of white face yet withal somewhat ruddy, his majesty’s counsel learned in the law, and with him the prince and heir of the noble line of Lambert.
—Hello, Ned.
—Hello, Alf.
—Hello, Jack.
—Hello, Joe.
—God save you, says the citizen.
—Save you kindly, says J. J. What’ll it be, Ned?
—Half one, says Ned.
So J. J. ordered the drinks.

>>714620196
>The problem is when retards say that no video game has a good story and that you should go read a book despite the fact that they haven't read a single book in their entire life.
Agreed, /v/ doesn’t even play games, let alone read books

>>714600528
>Undertale has a great story
No
>presented in a way that can only work as a video game
Not a special thing given it's not a good story, the same could be said for a ton of other bad game stories

>>714620865
>No
Why?

>>714621217
The story hinges on multiple extremely contrived highly specific counterintuitive "rules" solely so the rugpull shock moments can happen, which is a hallmark of amateur writing

>>714596678 (OP)
Steins;Gate doesn't have good writing.

>>714622182
Why?

>>714622182
Idk, I haven't played it, so I have no opinion on it. Might be the greatest thing ever made. Guess I'll never know.

>>714596678 (OP)
Out of those only Planescape has good writing.

>>714622242
Everyone in the story is either annoying, has very shallow characterization, or both.

>>714596678 (OP)
>waifu gate
>trannytale
is this a bait? next time put ico/sotc or dark souls instead. a picture is worth a thousand words and these games spoke volumes with no reading required.

>>714614863
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7SQ2Wu6PvI

>"You said it yourself, Kain. There are only two sides to your coin."
>"Apparently so. But suppose you throw a coin enough times... suppose one day, it lands on its edge."

Still gives me shivers to this day. The dialogue in SR1, SR2 and Defiance was magnificent.

>>714618820
I've read 45 books so far this year. I've read about 280 since 2021. I love reading.

>>714622897
>or dark souls
Are you serious? Dark Souls is a great game, but it doesn't have an engaging plot. It has plenty of lore, but lore isn't a substitute for a plot. Dark Souls is more about atmosphere and gameplay. It's not a story-heavy game. And I'm saying this as someone who considers it to be one of my favorite games.

>>714623143
good for you, anon

>>714622449
I liked Okabe a lot more when i watched the 0 anime but yeah i think it's the weakest in the op

>>714623393
I played the vn for 0 and it was pretty damn good
the anime kinda sucked

>>714621439
Tell me one of these rules

>>714623957
>the monsters that had to be banished underground by humans.. are actually pathetically weak to physical human attacks and a human child can easily kill them by the scores

>>714596678 (OP)
>disco elysium
>genuinely good writing
?

>>714624239
Monsters are incredibly weak compared to humans, that's why a child can decimate their entire empire. Their bodies are made of magic, which leaves them frail but capable of weilding magic. Humans are incredibly OP, even their soul persists after death. What Humans feared is the power monsters would gain if they were to absorb a human soul, which is the final boss of most routes. Don't get me wrong, toby does try to guilt you a bit about the monsters, but humans are just built different.

>>714598529
>Steins Gate
The only VN
>Planetscape Torment
Only one with actual gameplay
>Undertale
The only one with a normie following
>Disco Elysium
Only one I haven’t played

Which one is it?

>>714625216
Yes, like I said those are extremely contrived highly specific counterintuitive "rules" that exist solely for the twist, ideally twists make sense while operating on logical consistent rules, not insanely specific universe rules made specifically for that twist and nothing else

>>714625354
But these rules are laid out in the first town of the game. I'll give you that the EXP and LOVE reveal was ham fisted and gay, but if you paid attention, it really wasn't a twist at all.

>>714624239
Yeah, but if they manage to kill one human it could snowball out of control, it would be like if bunnies had a 0.2% chance of dropping a nuclear bomb every time the hop so obviously they would be exiled

>>714625632
>>714625862
The point is that it's a universe rule invented solely for the one twist and never used anywhere else, to give you a comparable example
>movie starts
>protagonist does something in his house while the news are on
>you can faintly hear in the background the news saying "another dog rescue has activated a nuclear bomb killing millions"
>movie goes on as expected following regular logic and rules
>at the end of the movie the protagonist has to make a choice between being evil or being good by choosing to rescue a puppy or not
>he rescues the puppy activating a nuclear bomb killing millions
>the twist is that he chose to be evil because in this universe saving puppies activates a nuclear bomb
>this is fine because the rules were established earlier on in the movie
You see how this sort of logic bending just for one situation is bad writing, and Undertale contains several of those, like EXP and LOVE, or monsters attacking you

>>714596892
Sorry, I meant all of them but bottom right.

>>714597062
How bad is Intergalactic gonna flop now that the world has gone anti-woke?

most people wouldn't recognize good writing if you rolled the script into a bat and bashed their faces in with it

>>714596678 (OP)
if we're talking about screenplay only then yes it's always possible to have good writing and it's only the fault of the writers. writing in a way to compensate for game mechanics and the flow of the story in a game in general is more challenging. world building is also easy and there's much more opportunity to do it in a video game than in a 2 hour movie.

>>714596678 (OP)
Steins;Gate is garbage, there are better visual novels that you could've put in that image if you really wanted one to be there.

if we're going to include vns... i found myself enjoying Full Metal Daemon Muramasa more than S;G.
probably my favorite non-book book.

>>714596970
It's not completely subjective, there are some things many people agree are signs of good writing or bad writing.

>rpgs = good writing
Only retards read fantasy novels.

>>714596678 (OP)
>you wrote something
>people like it and and get invested in it
that's all it takes to have good writing, desu. and plenty of games have stories and characters people generally like

>>714628092
a million flies cannot be wrong, eat shit!

>>714600378
True actually, I recently watched a streamer play it again after years and it still holds up

>>714599547
>Citizen Sleeper 1+2
Dogshit character designs and boring gameplay, even by RPG standards. The writing isn't even that special either.

>>714628257
If you were a fly, then eating shit would certainly be advisable.

>>714596678 (OP)
Is the Steins Gate game actually good? Just finished the anime and was thinking about trying it.

>>714617067
No no, it's more like
>Self Defense BAD
>Killing kids OK (when a lesbian does it)
>Your dad bad (Hollywood loves this)
>Transgender two year olds GOOD but only on even numbered days or something
>Gross negligence resulting in dozens of people glued together in infinite agony OK (when a lesbian does it)

>>714598734
You dont get to complain about a video game while posting one where the second disc is pretty much just a slideshow showing you the cut content they couldnt develop.

>>714629303
Depends on how much you liked the anime I guess. The vn is like a longer version of the same thing.

>>714629556
I can, actually.

>>714629556
Xenogears is a revolting piece of shit. Only a millennial whose parents paid for it would forgive an unfinished game. That garbage would not fly today.

>>714629854
Would you say that Evangelion was unfinished because of the last two episodes?

>>714598734
pretentious garbage

>>714629967
I don't watch anime, loser.

>>714630091
filtered
>>714630124
anime site, loser.

>>714614863
RIP Tony Jay

>>714630174
You are 35 years old and obsessed with a 14 year old anime girl. Get help.

>>714598128
Bing Bing Wahoo are basically toys for kids.

>>714630880
NTA but you do know that video games are toys for kids, right?

>>714626158
>The point is that it's a universe rule invented solely for the one twist and never used anywhere else
But the rule is presented in multiple ways, like introducing Determination which in turn is relevant for other characters like Undyne or Alphys as well as being crucial for the meta commentary, or showing characteristics of other characters like Asgore who could have sucked the souls of the previous children but doesn't or Asriel who could have killed the villagers who attacked him but doesn't.

>>714596892
arcanum mogs both you low taste uncultured mong

>>714615146
You have only watched the anime

>>714629854
>Unfinished game
>Would not fly today
Masterful bait

>>714596678 (OP)
Undertale doesn’t have a good story

Everything else is fine tho

>>714596678 (OP)
yeah OP pic very related. add Pathologic 2, E33, FF7 too

>>714630959
Nintendo games are for small kids.

>>714596678 (OP)
Video game writing should be held to different standards because it needs to do different things.

>>714633569
This!
I agree

What are these standards may i ask? maybe we also agree on that.

>>714635030
>What are these standards may i ask?
I don't consider myself a sufficient authority to make that decision for other people.

>>714596678 (OP)
>Planescape
I'd rather read a book
>Steins Gate
I'd rather watch the anime
>Disco Elysium
I'd rather read a book
>Undertale
Okay but i think its mid. Why do you thinks its well written? you think a skeleton dumping on you his whole life story the moment he saw you is good writing?

>>714596678 (OP)
<-- Underappreciated super well written story.

>>714596678 (OP)
Yes, but most games can't do it.

>>714635134
>you think a skeleton dumping on you his whole life story the moment he saw you is good writing?
Good thing that that's not what happens

>>714596678 (OP)
You should read books until you stop worshiping them. Doesn't take long.

>>714596678 (OP)
Only Planetscape and Disco Elysium are good out of those four.

>>714596678 (OP)
i love orges writing but got a little silly at the end

>>714598409
Just play it man.

>>714608629
Get back in your cage, /lit/, or so help me god I'm gonna get the spray bottle again