My Angel, definitely. Game plays like crap, but the storyline is so good I find myself replaying it again and again.
Bastardos The Great
🎉 Celebrating 25 Years of GameDev.net! 🎉
Not many can claim 25 years on the Internet! Join us in celebrating this milestone. Learn more about our history, and thank you for being a part of our community!
The best storline ever?
My Angel, definitely. Game plays like crap, but the storyline is so good I find myself replaying it again and again.
Bastardos The Great
It doesn''t surprise me that some people think that there are games with better plots that PS:T - although they are obviously wrong :D
What surprises me is that they pick Baldur''s Gate as their candidate? Even Bioware have ''admitted'' that a lot less thought went into the plot of BG2 than PS:T because they and Black Isle (who made PS:T) wanted to have Infinity Engine games that covered the whole spectrum: Total hack''n''slash, plot-centered, and a hybrid between the two - the results being, Icewind Dale, PS:T and BG/BG2.
Let''s face it - BG2 tries to have a plot, but it''s very shallow.
*BG2 spoilers*
When you DO find out why you''ve been hunted down, captured and involved in the whole deal, it turns out that it''s simply because an Evil Wizard wants Eternal Life - a huge disappointment since you''re from the beginning led to believe that it all has to do with *your* past .. but no, you''re just a tool, not important to the plot. So to sum it up: Evil Wizard wants Eternal Life - finds Guy With Immortal Life, decides to suck it out of him. Nothing more. The rest is a hunt for revenge.
You might argue that PS:T can be summed up Amnesiac Tries To Discover His Past, but in doing so, you''ve summed up what you know from the intro. The real plot unfolds during the search, and turns out to be so huge, so all-encompassing that I still find myself thinking about it a lot. Also, PS:T dares to have an ending video that''s open to interpretations (the whole "What can change the nature of a man" question), something that you don''t see in a lot of games and CERTAINLY not in BG2 where the ending shows Evil Wizard fall into a Lava Pit. Cool, huh? That''s like the plotless films where the hero and the heroine walk into the sunset after defeating the bad guy, because the film and its characters have no more substance once the climax is over.
As for the characters - give me a break. Sure, I can''t convince those who don''t want to be convinced that PS:T''s characters are superior, just as you can''t convince die-hard Eddings fans that GRRM is better, but the evidence is all there. In BG2, ''characters'' are a bunch of portraits that at random points in the game will give you a random bit of wisdom. Unfortunately, that wisdom always centers around the exact same thing:
Minsc: Always a joke about his pet - sooo boring in the long run.
Aerie: Losing her wings and facing it.
The Annoying Gnome: Always a turnip joke.
.. and so on. You can envision the character sheets that were developed during the production of BG2. Right under STR, DEX, CON and so on for each NPC, you have ''Big Motivation / Conflict'' that all conversations are based upon. This is Eddings.
In PS:T, not only will characters, as in BG2, make random comments (for those who think that''s fun), they''ll also constantly make comments that are related to the situation at hand. In addition, they''ll play off each other with far-reaching consequences whereas in BG2, when two NPC''s converse, it''s just a matter of Turnip Jokes vs. Hamster Jokes or Hamster Jokes vs. Losing Your Wings Whining.
Two more things that make PS:T''s characters superior are the fact that you can at any given time talk to them about a multitude of subjects (that will change during the game, of course) - and sometimes change the characters'' perception and ways of life (Dak''Kon and Nordom being the prime examples, but also with Vhailor and Morte). In BG2, you just get the ''-X has nothing to say to you'' message, which speaks for itself and sums up my point neatly.
The other superior thing is that, where BG2 characters have a minimum of past that''s probably filled in under Short Background Description on the character sheet ("Aerie was captured by a traveling circus and caged..."), the characters in PS:T are cleverly linked to yourself. Seemingly unimportant events can suddenly lead to the discovery of a link between an NPC''s past and your own. Morte''s link is a sad sub-plot in itself, but Dak''kon''s, Vhailor''s and Nodrom''s are neat little surprises too. There''s a real reward in trying to getting to know the characters.
This is GRRM.
That''s my 117 cents anyway. For the record, I do think BG2 is a great game - I''ve played through it and ToB several times, and it''s one of the best RPG games still, but not because of the RPG qualities. BG2 is still primarily an action game, but it''s only when you''ve tried the real cRPG experience that you''ll be able to tell the difference...
***
Looking for a music composer for your game? Go to my page to listen to samples of my orchestral pieces and find info on how to contact me.
What surprises me is that they pick Baldur''s Gate as their candidate? Even Bioware have ''admitted'' that a lot less thought went into the plot of BG2 than PS:T because they and Black Isle (who made PS:T) wanted to have Infinity Engine games that covered the whole spectrum: Total hack''n''slash, plot-centered, and a hybrid between the two - the results being, Icewind Dale, PS:T and BG/BG2.
Let''s face it - BG2 tries to have a plot, but it''s very shallow.
*BG2 spoilers*
When you DO find out why you''ve been hunted down, captured and involved in the whole deal, it turns out that it''s simply because an Evil Wizard wants Eternal Life - a huge disappointment since you''re from the beginning led to believe that it all has to do with *your* past .. but no, you''re just a tool, not important to the plot. So to sum it up: Evil Wizard wants Eternal Life - finds Guy With Immortal Life, decides to suck it out of him. Nothing more. The rest is a hunt for revenge.
You might argue that PS:T can be summed up Amnesiac Tries To Discover His Past, but in doing so, you''ve summed up what you know from the intro. The real plot unfolds during the search, and turns out to be so huge, so all-encompassing that I still find myself thinking about it a lot. Also, PS:T dares to have an ending video that''s open to interpretations (the whole "What can change the nature of a man" question), something that you don''t see in a lot of games and CERTAINLY not in BG2 where the ending shows Evil Wizard fall into a Lava Pit. Cool, huh? That''s like the plotless films where the hero and the heroine walk into the sunset after defeating the bad guy, because the film and its characters have no more substance once the climax is over.
As for the characters - give me a break. Sure, I can''t convince those who don''t want to be convinced that PS:T''s characters are superior, just as you can''t convince die-hard Eddings fans that GRRM is better, but the evidence is all there. In BG2, ''characters'' are a bunch of portraits that at random points in the game will give you a random bit of wisdom. Unfortunately, that wisdom always centers around the exact same thing:
Minsc: Always a joke about his pet - sooo boring in the long run.
Aerie: Losing her wings and facing it.
The Annoying Gnome: Always a turnip joke.
.. and so on. You can envision the character sheets that were developed during the production of BG2. Right under STR, DEX, CON and so on for each NPC, you have ''Big Motivation / Conflict'' that all conversations are based upon. This is Eddings.
In PS:T, not only will characters, as in BG2, make random comments (for those who think that''s fun), they''ll also constantly make comments that are related to the situation at hand. In addition, they''ll play off each other with far-reaching consequences whereas in BG2, when two NPC''s converse, it''s just a matter of Turnip Jokes vs. Hamster Jokes or Hamster Jokes vs. Losing Your Wings Whining.
Two more things that make PS:T''s characters superior are the fact that you can at any given time talk to them about a multitude of subjects (that will change during the game, of course) - and sometimes change the characters'' perception and ways of life (Dak''Kon and Nordom being the prime examples, but also with Vhailor and Morte). In BG2, you just get the ''-X has nothing to say to you'' message, which speaks for itself and sums up my point neatly.
The other superior thing is that, where BG2 characters have a minimum of past that''s probably filled in under Short Background Description on the character sheet ("Aerie was captured by a traveling circus and caged..."), the characters in PS:T are cleverly linked to yourself. Seemingly unimportant events can suddenly lead to the discovery of a link between an NPC''s past and your own. Morte''s link is a sad sub-plot in itself, but Dak''kon''s, Vhailor''s and Nodrom''s are neat little surprises too. There''s a real reward in trying to getting to know the characters.
This is GRRM.
That''s my 117 cents anyway. For the record, I do think BG2 is a great game - I''ve played through it and ToB several times, and it''s one of the best RPG games still, but not because of the RPG qualities. BG2 is still primarily an action game, but it''s only when you''ve tried the real cRPG experience that you''ll be able to tell the difference...
***
Looking for a music composer for your game? Go to my page to listen to samples of my orchestral pieces and find info on how to contact me.
... actually, the BG2 NPCs play off each other quite strongly, since they can get into fights, kill each other, and leave your party if they SERIOUSLY don''t get along... the Torment party is a bit more centered around the Nameless One and not so likely to fragment. They tease each other a little but it doesn''t get out of hand.
... well, okay, the two ''bad'' characters can possibly cause some trouble, but ISTR Ignus only causes a ruckus if you provoke him by asking the wrong sorts of questions, and most people never find Vhalinor-whatever-his-name-was anyway, do they?
(Torment is still a better story, but BG2 did do good work with the NPCs.)
Annah will go hostile under the right circumstances, too - either if you betray her trust or in rivalry against Grace.
***
Looking for a music composer for your game? Go to my page to listen to samples of my orchestral pieces and find info on how to contact me.
***
Looking for a music composer for your game? Go to my page to listen to samples of my orchestral pieces and find info on how to contact me.
Eternal Darkness has a superb storyline. If you like Lovecraftian tales, it''s a must play. Unfortunately, most people assume it''s a survival horror resi-ripoff. Which couldn''t be further from the truth.
Torment''s story is great too, and I would agree it has a better storyline than BG2. By far.
However, the best storyline in my opinion is that of Grim Fandango. But I''m biased as I happen to think it The Greatest Game Ever!(tm). Well, I like it a lot anyway.
Torment''s story is great too, and I would agree it has a better storyline than BG2. By far.
However, the best storyline in my opinion is that of Grim Fandango. But I''m biased as I happen to think it The Greatest Game Ever!(tm). Well, I like it a lot anyway.
When talking best story I''d say the old adventure games beat a lot of the newer games to a pulp.
Why? Well, the only thing they had to show was story and gameplay (ie puzzles) and a lot of them did it very well. No shiny gfx to brag about, no weird monsters to kill. No "physical" obstacles, only cognitive (and I believe that way the player got more attached to the Player Char)
Of those, I''d say these were the best
Day of the Tentacle
Death Gate
Indiana Jones and the fate of atlantis
The Dig
Full throttle
Shannara
Why? Well, the only thing they had to show was story and gameplay (ie puzzles) and a lot of them did it very well. No shiny gfx to brag about, no weird monsters to kill. No "physical" obstacles, only cognitive (and I believe that way the player got more attached to the Player Char)
Of those, I''d say these were the best
Day of the Tentacle
Death Gate
Indiana Jones and the fate of atlantis
The Dig
Full throttle
Shannara
It''s quite an interesting topic, what are the best storylines every played out in a game, however looking through a lot of the games listed here so far it does show that nostalgia can affect a lot of our judgement since I''ve seen all the LucasArts titles mentioned and Final Fantasy VI. Which are games I absolutely love, but all the FF titles before VII had interesting but largely cliched stories. As fo the LucasArts games, I played everyone of them and as fun as they were the storylines were generally just a comic mish-mash that provide some fun and puzzle solving, the narrative is never really that strong in any of them.
Now IMHO only a handful of titles like Deus Ex, Metal Gear Solid 2 and Silent Hill 2 have managed to get past the endless cliches and predictability that covers most gaming storylines. As much as we can enjoy the story in many of the games we play, they are for the most part incredibly weak and you could not use such contrived and derivate stories in any other format such as books.
Now IMHO only a handful of titles like Deus Ex, Metal Gear Solid 2 and Silent Hill 2 have managed to get past the endless cliches and predictability that covers most gaming storylines. As much as we can enjoy the story in many of the games we play, they are for the most part incredibly weak and you could not use such contrived and derivate stories in any other format such as books.
Don''t limit ourselves to storylines of games. Why don''t we discuss about storylines in movies, TV shows, fiction novels? All these are relevant to game writing.
This topic is closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Popular Topics
Advertisement