Does Story Matter in Modern Gaming?

[Hourai]

The more I play modern games, the stranger I feel about their stories. I used to play games primarily for the story, but these days, something feels off. Why do so many of them come across as strange or cringy? Sure, there are exceptions like Mafia, which has a fantastic narrative, but plenty of games feel like a drag.

There was actually a huge debacle on this, centered around Veilguard and how cheap and sanitized it is. How all the edges were sanded off and everyone is afraid of being mean. A lot of writers are seen as not worth keeping around, because can't everyone write? How hard can it be? Some of it is also societal.

Here's some of that stuff, said by people more articulate and informed than I. If this wasn't part of a larger issue extending far past a company that was lauded for their ability to write compelling stories for a WRPG, I'd be very surprised.

And for what it's worth, Demons Roots - my favourite game, precisely because of its writing - came out in 2021 in Japanese and 2023 in English.

 

[GardeniaSky]

YES