Blog: "What videogames lack: Deeper intent"

**Thomas** · 10-02-2010, 10:27 PM

Some thoughts on the lack of truly passionate intent behind games.

http://frictionalgames.blogspot.com/2010...ntent.html

**Sexbad** · 10-03-2010, 12:37 AM

If you can afford a nicer computer after the sales of Amnesia, you should play Cryostasis. Seriously. Fucking A, with deep meaning and all that. I cannot recommend this enough. It surpasses any book I've ever read or film I've ever watched in terms of deep meaning and passion for telling a story.

**superluser** · 10-04-2010, 01:26 PM

I think I need to make an objection here. There's no reason why people can't enjoy a few hours of The Legend of Soul Tar, or Mined-Out. There's no reason why all games need to tell a story. It's just that when they do, they ought to be good at telling it.

**Thomas** · 10-04-2010, 03:34 PM

Of course. I like very abstract games and games that are all about the fun.

Just saying that we lack videogames that have deep intent, that it is very unfortunate and need to change.

**Bek** · 10-05-2010, 09:03 AM

I agree, although like I mentioned in my other comment different people take away different experiences. This is however why I love games like Deus Ex - Have you ever heard of or played it by any chance? I only discovered it last year (And being quite young I've only played more modern games and was very humbled after finishing it, and wondered how it could be that nothing (That I had played) since 2000 had managed to improve on it.

**Thomas** · 10-05-2010, 09:30 AM

Only played the demo for deus ex, and although I got an overall impression, I guess it gets better later on.

Kinda off-topic: At the turn of the century (around when DE came out). There where lots of games (big commercial ones even) coming out that started to take use of the medium. Planescape: Torment, Fallout, System Shock 2, etc. But since then there has not been much advancements and the best games of today often copy these, often in a sub-par manner.

**Bek** · 10-05-2010, 12:10 PM

I just bought planescape from GOG.com recently, only played a little bit of SS2 (because of the good things I've heard about it). Looking at activision selling crazy amounts of COD titles doesn't really encourage innovation though, which is depressing.

If you get a chance, Deus Ex is well worth looking into - Dx3 is in the works too, although it probably won't be the same thing.

**CD Set** · 10-06-2010, 10:42 PM

System Shock 2, Deus Ex are classic games, as well as Thief. Not sure if I actually enjoyed the story as much as everyone else did with DE, but it's still a favourite of mine.

I guess Pathologic could qualify as a game focused on "deeper intent". I mean, the game isn't very known, it's very flawed gameplay-wise and not even the overall experience can really be described as fun or pleasant. The game is gloomy, the story is depressing and fatalistic, and at times you almost feel like part of the infected townspeople the game revolves around. But that's the beauty of it, I can't think of any other game that actually tosses away any trace of "pure fun" or shallow gameplay tricks in favour of actually pulling you into the narrative. It's not so much a game as it is an experience.

**hollowleviathan** · 10-07-2010, 01:44 AM

A recent game that struck me as being lovingly and well-crafted was Zeno Clash, the only first person brawler that I can recall, coupled with an inventive and very unique world, told through narration as well as the environment and character design.

The final level of Braid combined the ongoing game mechanics into the story-telling and level design so well as an interactive narrative short, it was well worth the sometimes slack text-popups that led to that point.

Noncommercial games like Korsakovia and Dear Esther have been using current tech to push the envelope of story-based games. Korsakovia is difficult to immerse in, because frustration and confusion is delibeate, but once there it frightens me as much as Amnesia.

It feels like the advancement of physics and graphics has not yet plateau'd, the explosion of the gaming crowd hasn't slowed enough that graphics and uninspired repetitive gameplay cannot carry a title.

**Adventurer4Life** · 10-10-2010, 11:16 AM

I think the meaning you are wishing for games is not achievable... like at all. games can make us laugh, or scare us (after fps were invented)... but make us cry.. make us really get emotionally involved? I do not think that is possible.

An actor just craps all over a drawing or sprites or 3d.. even mega hardcore things like Avatar and Lord of the Rings fail (with many peopole0 to emotionally engage us, as the characters were are looking at are simply unable to express the nuances of emotion that we see in a real human face,... or even a pets like a dog or cat.

No matter how complex and amazingly written a game is i do not believe it is possible for us to connect on a deep emotional level. At the very best we have a intellectual understanding of what the story is saying.. oh these guys are falling in love... we understand that on a intellectual level but we will not, imo, ever cry if they have some tragedy and do not get together like all those movie my wife balls her eyes out at.

I think this is due to 2 reasons, one I have already said concerning the inability of a game character to express complex emotions physically, the other is that WE are playing the game characters, usually involved in extraordinary events way beyond our own experiences, or even what we are capable of. I think this will always make a gap between us and computer games at this time. No matter how often the game says something like "your in love with this character".. you the player... just aren't... while watching films, reading docos or w/e we are relating emphatically to someone ELSE that is in love...

This is a HUGE HUGE difference, it is also why sub characters can evoke strong reactions while the protagonist you play can not... like say some side kick dieing, who had been with you form the start of the game.. this is a different response, an empathic one... witch it totality different to the experience of BEING the character yourself. Again... No matter how much we say "the character you are playing is emotionally disturbed by watching their parents die at the hands of the elves as a child".... we, as in the players... just ARE NOT emotionally disturbed....

A perfect example of sub charicters provoking responses beyond the character we play is in the recent fable 2. Were you had a dog that followed you the entire game, you taught it tricks all sorts of stuff... and then as part of the main story it dies, and in a reward for teh "love" ending is that gets revived back to life.... people raged quit teh game, tremendous reaction to this character death, and of course when it came alive at the end teh player felt awesome, witch complimented... even replaced the emotional high of the story concluding with the love story... though it happened at the same time so people got fooled.

(man i talk to much lol... home alone with teh wife and kids out.. bad news)