[ SECRET POST #2737 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2737 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 041 secrets from Secret Submission Post #391.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

08. http://i.imgur.com/NZS2FPF.png

[peablossom]

I wouldn't call it terrible. It is effective for what it is, and often very enjoyable. I don't require the finest of fine literature in my video games.

[cushlamochree]

I think the funniest thing about this might be the person who is apparently comparing Catcher In The Rye and Twilight in terms of quality

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah. Honestly, between the two, I'd rather read Twilight than touch Catcher in the Rye again. It was so terrible it actually pissed me off.

[cushlamochree]

Well, that wasn't exactly what I was going thinking, but fair enough.

Really, whatever you think of the merits of the two books, it's pretty funny that those are the two books you go to and group together to represent Quality Literature.

[rubbertea]

tears can't be your friends

a tear can't be pertinent

this is terrible

[greenvelvetcake]

That writing sample is a masterpiece of bad writing.

[(Anonymous)]

A Bulwer-Lytton entry perhaps, if it didn't come from the man himself.

[(Anonymous)]

You're comparing apples to oranges, OP. You might as well be trying to compare a movie script to a piece of literature, which obviously won't work. They're two entirely different formats that are designed to tell stories in two very different ways.

Of course they aren't going to be comparable.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

This might be a stupid question, but what's wrong with comparing scripts to literature? English teachers do it all the time.

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

DA

You're talking about two entirely different forms of media, and what works in one doesn't work in the other. Movies have a visual element that literature lacks which means that it doesn't rely solely on the writing on the page, but also on the visual "language"* used when shooting it. It's why a movie can have a fantastic script, but be horrible because the visual side falls short, or why a horrible script can be saved to some extent by the visual language used.

Video games have an even bigger gulf between them and novels since they have not only the visual element they have to work with, but also an interactive one which changes how things have to be written as well.

As far as English teachers doing it - every English teacher I've known whose done that [and I've known a fair amount] has either done it as 1. Comparing a play to a movie, which isn't the same thing since a play actually has more in common with movies than it does with novels, or 2. They've pretty much given up on ever getting their students to read the literature involved and can't be bothered to care enough to try.

*Visual language doesn't just involve the acting, btw, but also things like framing of the shot which communicate different things to the audience. [EX. Dutch angles on a scene will communicate a different context of a scene than a normal shot will.] Admittedly, I'm not a film major so I'm not the best person to explain this, but that's a general gist.

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

SA

Forgot to mention!

In terms of WRPGs, there's also the fact that the narrative has to be fairly loose since WRPGs tend to take a more sandbox stance and/or allow the player to create their own characters so they can't rely on a set character/personality for the story telling. That creates a lot of constraints, and Bioware actually is one the ones whose handled better than most and still managed to have a relatively semi-tight story.

JRPGs don't have that problem so much since they are far more story based, and have a consistent main character...though the Japanese game industry is having some problems from what I've heard so we'll see what happens.

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you!

[toku_mei]

That's quite the generalization. Of course, you seem pretty determined to think that, and I have to wonder how large your sample pool is. But I think plenty of games have absolutely fabulous writing, both in Japan and the West. I'm going to go ahead and say I think there are games out there that have absolutely brilliant writing in pretty much every way, though I guess if I listed examples you'd probably disagree. Which is, you know, cool.

[cloud_riven]

I somewhat agree with OP, concerning most mainstream games, but I'm mostly of the mindset that games' stories suck when they're trying to emulate cinema or literature, rather than deliver a story effectively using game mechanics. Different beef, and very unrelated, though.

You could list those games anyway, for those of us (ie: ME) looking for recs :)

[(Anonymous)]

Most of these aren't RPGS, but I consider them to be examples of genuinely good writing, period:

Silent Hill 2
The Walking Dead
Spec Ops: The Line
Tales of the Abyss
Okami
Alan Wake
Bioshock 1 & 2 (haven't played Infinite to be able to judge that one)

OP

[(Anonymous)]

I disagree. Last Scenario (an indie RPG) is definitely well-written, and it really obviously emulates a fantasy novel. The poster below you mentioned Tales of the Abyss, which I personally dislike but must admit is well-written--that's another very novel-like game. The point where problems start is when you try to write like a novelist or a filmmaker and don't have the necessary skills to write a good novel or a good film. (He doesn't make RPGs, but I think David Cage is very representative of this--he'd be a bad filmmaker, so he makes bad games that look like films.)

(Then again, I'm someone who sees "interactive branching novel" as a valid and legitimate genre of game.)

[cbrachyrhynchos]

I agree, although I've not played much in the JRPG genre.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, dear. Is that parody writing? I fear for us all if it is not.

[(Anonymous)]

Hm, and here I didn't think that was that bad (I've certainly read a hell of a lot worse). In fact, I've decided I kind of like it.
Oh well, it takes all kinds, I guess.

If you really want to hear about it,

[(Anonymous)]

the first thing you'll probably want to know is what Vault I was born in, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before the war came and never changed, and all that Pip Boy sort of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the OH GOD RADSCORPIONS

Re: If you really want to hear about it,

[(Anonymous)]

Too bad this is so far down in the comments, nobody's gonna see it. because I love it.

[mimi-sardinia.livejournal.com]

Well I am not trying to compare the games I play to any novels (though I did compare Alistair to Anomen - Alistair is a lot more tolerable), and even if a dozen people say that Dragon Age is badly written, I am enjoying it.

[(Anonymous)]

I didn't see the comment this secret refers to, but it's really funny that Fallout gets the catcher in the rye comparison. anyone familliar with japanese modern media (includig books and movies) would probably know that that novel has influenced the psychology and cultural output of modern japanese men like no other. Ask any (male) japanese author. They'll all have to tell you something about their personal relationship with Salinger's writing.

[(Anonymous)]

From your responses, you basically are a book elitist and want everything to be like novels.