shehrozeameen

Sorry for the late reply.

I thank you for your humbling comment. And you are right – there is plenty of underappreciation when it comes to story telling in video games. The medium is much more involved, although it boils down to the fact that habit prevents a person from actually thinking. Which is why we ignore the actual story.

Bioshock does that pretty well. It does have problems, but as a story it is bar none really well handled.

I liked this article in how it handled its topic and in all fairness, the point about titillating anime is true and, granted, it has definitely become a common “the lulzs for lulzs sake” cliché associated with anime.

HOWEVER, some anime actually handle the darker aspects of titillation and its associations exceptionally well. Especially when they integrate the sexuality in the context of the anime’s in-universe explanation.

I’m referring to two specific examples here: Ghost in the Shell (the original, although I personally prefer Ghost in the Shell 2.0: Innocence) and Shigurui. Now, BOTH, have titillating aspects in them. They’re brilliantly animated, which also makes them stand out. But where they are successful in making both social commentary as well as being innovative as anime, is why I cite them here.

Ghost in the Shell (as well as Ghost in the Shell 2.0: Innocence) have nudity in them, with the former having a very famous opening sequence especially using nudity (and to good effect in my opinion). It succeeded to share some very interesting themes and perspectives (especially in the Japanese version with English subs), and with 2.0, it dealt with very dark themes (I think 2.0: Innocence had moments of child prostitution in it too, as well as child kidnapping).

In contrast, Shigurui. Hyper-realism, gore, and VERY dark means to describe abusive relationships. I cannot overstate how Shigurui handles titillation to tell its story (which in the context of the anime, is actually well told. The manga, however, takes it many steps further. Its really cool).

All the same, I just feel that the West shouldn’t be too hypocritical about Anime. I mean… George RR Martin makes incest look normal (as if his world is Alabama or something).

I don’t always agree with the non-linearity part to be honest. Somehow, being a traditionalist on story-telling structures, I hate it when I have to fill in the blanks by myself and make the story sensible or whatever. That’s lazy pathetic and sloppy work on part of the creators, and fans should know better than to fall into that trap. Unless the game itself treats the story like a badass, I will never tolerate sloppyness as a consumer, let alone a gamer, leave alone a fan.

I think the best example of a game which used non-linearity – which, by my definition, means that the story is not always a straight-forward approach with a clear climax and a conclusion structure to it – is actually DOOM 2016. the story is almost entirely bareboned. BUT, for me, it suits the attitude the game uses. And it uses its approach like a boss. Doomguy literally makes murder great again. And I’m eternally grateful for how DOOM 2016 handles his story.

All the same, to each their own. Bloodborne wasn’t my cup of tea. However, I respect people for why they would like that game. Its non-linear, yes, but it makes up for it through its interactivity, its environment, and all the cues and gameplay mechanics it uses to involve the player with the universe they play as the protagonist.

Unfortunately, I do not know any game reviewers anywhere. Not personally at the very least.

I’ve come to a conclusion that the best way to experience a game is if you hear about it from academic sources, or from very close friends / from family directly. OR, you went into the game blind.

The problem with games are, they don’t really lend themselves to “social context reviews”. This is because the world sees gaming the way we see things we don’t relate with: the whole us-and-them perspective.

I consider myself a gamer. I’ve played games on the following platforms (excluding PC): Gameboy Advance, PSOne, PS2, PS4, Xbox 360, SEGA Genesis, and NES. From the PC I wound up playing games through emulators for: MS DOS and SNES. Unfortunately, gaming is in and off itself, not AS big a community as, say… boxing, or snooker, or table tennis, or even simple cards.

And this is important to realize. Game Reviewers grew up playing traditional games, hell they practically only play traditional games. So if they are put in a situation where they should, for example’s sake, play Bloodborne, I don’t expect them to be very kind to it. Then again, when the game itself is made with good gameplay mechanics, the story has higher gears to fill in, and that works in its favor when its good (such as these games in my article mention).

Its very true, because it is a power fantasy setting. You, the player, are aware that it is a power-fantasy. You are immersed in it, because you as the player understand that in the end, life in the game will not affect life in real life. So the effects are, at best, psychological. Maybe even spiritual depending on how good the game is.

But it has been put into another perspective as well. The false perspective, to the best of my knowledge, comes from games which believe in “save state killing”. DOOM 2016 actually used this technique, and it has been used in games released prior.

The concept is simple: At the highest and most extreme difficulty, if the protagonist dies, there is no extra life. They are dead, therefore YOU are dead. THUS, all trophies and achievements and all collectibles are gone. You therefore start from the ground up.

Bioshock Infinite also has such a mode. But its called 1999 mode.

Unfortunately, the fault lies not just with the determination and the technology of the company making the game, it also lies with the supporters / fans of the company.

No Man’s Sky, for instance. It promised a lot, but it didn’t deliver. THAT, is the claim of the fans, and something which I have noticed a lot of gamers make glaringly obvious.

In contrast, gamers had a middle line perspective on DOOM 2016. I personally LOVED it. I absolutely adore that game. However, I also respect the perspectives and opinions of those who actually thought it was repetitive, tedious, and even from a story-line standpoint, kind of pointless.

More to the point, its not about the money entirely. Its about manpower, determination, adaptability with technology. And generally how to improve or innovate the experiences of the gamers.

Again, that’s my opinion. Money should work in conjunction with imagination and technology, not as a predominant necessity.

Thanks for the comment.

Filming techniques are independent of which genre you pick. In essence, some filming techniques can only be admired and observed due to cross-genre influences. That is why I used a genre-related and chronological means of writing this article.

Ben Hur? Hmm, that is a fair point. Even though there have been significant and copious amounts of reviews and scholarly articles on its importance, in the context of this article, your point is valid because a little more explanation would have been beneficial.

The same goes for other movies like, for instance, Goodfellas, and even Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia and even Star Wars.

Thanks for pointing that out 🙂