Unpopular Geek Media Opinions

[Thourne]

I have never played Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. But is that game not famous for its story rather than its gameplay?

It got a lot of write ups and word of mouth based on the story and themes.
I honestly don't recall a single article covering the gameplay.

 

[el-remmen]

Don't play many games?

Mass Effect, KotOR, HZD, various rpgs?

I'd say I've played enough to know (including Mass Effect, though I never got past Mass Effect 2 because I just didn't like it enough to stick with it past a certain point).

Edit to add: I am not saying I don't like the games, just that the so-called "Story" aspect is not the reason (and I smash buttons to get past cut scenes even on a first play through).

 

[Scribe]

Too much nostalgia for products of gaming’s early years is at heart a Faustian yearning to be freed from the burden of knowledge, to be morally innocent and not required to recognize evil or expect to do anything about it. (Ok, this is hyperbole and then some, but this kind of threads needs more sticks stirring things.)

I feel attacked.

 

[Autumnal]

I feel attacked.

As well you should I mean very sorry to hear it.

 

[MarkB]

(and I smash buttons to get past cut scenes even on a first play through).

Then how would you know if they had a good story?

Honestly, we're living in a golden age of story-driven games, Sony in particular loves them for their Playstation exclusives. God of War 2018, Spider-man, Ghost of Tsushima - not just some of the best stories in games, they're some of the best stories across any media.

 

[el-remmen]

Then how would you know if they had a good story?

I thought this was "share you unpopular geek media opinions" not "defend your unpopular media opinions."

I know because

1. I have played through enough video games to know what is considered a good story by many
2. Because I am a retired literary scholar well acquainted with narrative and very good at determining how it is going to go/be presented even before it is
3. Because story elements are not only presented in cut scenes but are played out through missions, interactions with NPCs, and the inclusion of various thematic elements.

Let's put it this way. I am totally willing to have missed out on something that might actually be good (though I doubt it) because I have other ways I scratch that itch. Mostly I want to blow stuff up and explore settings.

 

[Rabulias]

As @Autumnal notes, the prequels capture many elements of democratic collapse and rising fascism, but I think they often fail to place these elements against a cohesive background. In Attack of the Clones in particular, the goals and membership of the key factions are vague enough that I'm not convinced even the writers had a clear conception of them.

Count Dooku, for instance, is initially described as a "political idealist", but we never see what the idealistic side of the separatist movement looks like and how it aligns (or doesn't align) with the corporate oligarchs providing the movement's military power.

Yeah, this reputation as an idealist, and having started as a Jedi, Dooku's turn to the Dark Side would be an interesting and different story.

Amidala, meanwhile, is described as "leader of the opposition". The head of state is a man she helped elevate to power, who formerly represented the same planet in the Senate. Surely this should be a source of narrative tension?

I never understood why everyone in Attack of the Clones assumed it was Dooku and the Separatists who tried to assassinate Padme. She was voting against creating an army of the Republic, which would make it easier for the Separatists to secede. I would have thought they would first look at some anti-Separatist groups.

On the Jedi side of things, the Order's stance on slavery in the Outer Rim is an incredible missed opportunity to add depth to Anakin's journey. After all, Anakin's first question on identifying Qui Gon as a Jedi is "Have you come to free us?... I believe you have. Why else would you be here?" Seeing that political constraints will never allow this to happen (or perhaps hearing it from Mace Windu...) should play an important role in Anakin's disillusionment with the Order, and would give him another, more concrete target for his anger after his mother's death.

There was Anakin's dream from The Phantom Menace where he dreamed he came back and freed all the slaves on Tatooine - we never get a payoff on that. Maybe it was just a little boy's dream and not a vision from the Force?

 

[Dustin Cooper]

• Science fiction and fantasy settings work best when you explain just enough to be evocative and give the story context. The nerdy tendency to fill in all the blanks makes them much weaker. Star Wars worked in part because it showed you weird alien stuff, treated it as if it was just a normal part of this world, and let your imagination run wild about anything beyond that.
• Cannon and continuity between parts of a franchise is not actually that important. What's important is whether a particular work stands on its own and whether what it takes from other things works. It doesn't matter if so-and-so's backstory two movies ago doesn't quite match the flashback in this one.
• A new installment in something can't "ruin your childhood" or whatever. It's a separate work, and if you don't like it, ignore it. Like all the Star Wars I care about at this point is on my laserdisc shelf, and I'm satisfied with that. If it looks like your preferred franchise is going in a bad direction, just read/watch/play something else. There's plenty out there.
• The vast majority of sci-fi and fantasy media isn't deep or meaningful. That's not inherently a bad thing, but sometimes nerds get angry when the critics don't latch onto whatever nerd media is popular and give it all the awards. The Dark Knight wasn't nominated for best picture because it was a well executed piece of action schlock without much to say that didn't really push the medium forward. I say this as someone who often enjoys action schlock.
• You get a lot by stepping outside of nerd media bubbles you're in. Like a few years ago, I decided on a whim to check out a few of those old classic films that everyone says you're supposed to see, but no one ever does. I was surprised by how much I was getting out of what I watched. I started doing it more and more, and it's greatly changed how I look at film in general. Like at this point, I'm 100% on board with what Scorsese says about super hero films, and I wouldn't have that opinion if I hadn't seen what mainstream films are no longer doing.

 

[trappedslider]

Discworld is overrated, I will not be taking questions.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Discworld is overrated, I will not be taking questions.

....you're not wrong.

That said, I understand that it is a VERY LONELY island that we are on, given the nature of this forum.