Unexpectedly good stories in games

[AntiFritz]

A friend told me I'm a BlazBlue tsundere for talking shit about the game but liking the story. It's surprisingly good and complicated for an arcade fightan.
http://i.imgur.com/CSE1Fjp.jpg

While I'm a fan of blazblue (although with chrono phantasma being ps3 only...) and I quite liked the story of calamity trigger. But I feel it started to get convoluted and silly in continuum shift.

[Ed Oscuro]

(Prior to COTM, KCET should've been banned from making futher "Underground" anythings).

I wonder if there's a zombie pit lurking in THIS candle?

[BIL]

Is there a single tale of desertion and disobedience in the history of videogaming?

Yes.



"IMMA GET YOU NEXT TIME"
"BAHAHA, THINK IT OVER AFTER THIS MONTH'S LOUSY PAYCHECK SOLDIER GIRL"



SHEENA HOW COULD U ;__;

[Ed Oscuro]

Oh, I just remembered the most unexpectedly good story in a game ever - the criminally overlooked Gohda reaction series from the original Tenchu: You disappoint me, you will bring only shame!

I know this is more words than "welcome to violent city" but this encompasses the true range of human striving.

Add in the amazing soundtrack to fill in the gaps left unspoken by the cockeyed voice acting.

[BIL]

Ah, choppy PlayStation-era voice acting.

With the script, unnaturally broken down into discrete sentences.

The original Silent Hill does the same thing.

And there are probably many more examples!

In a just world, that delightful music would play after every failing grade ever.

BRB, making a ringtone.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Didn't James' voice actor from SH2 say that they had to record lines separately (i.e. without the other actors around) so that's why they sound a bit off?

[BIL]

Not sure about the circumstances in which SH1's script was performed - I've not read much of Guy Cihi's commentary. But regardless, the console loads each line of dialogue sequentially, even when only one character is speaking.

So even without the SOTN-quality acting,

It would inevitably sound a little off.

Harry.

Harry Mason.

I came here for a vacation.

[Ed Oscuro]

Didn't James' voice actor from SH2 say that they had to record lines separately (i.e. without the other actors around) so that's why they sound a bit off?

That's pretty typical for a low-budget studio recording session.

[BIL]

Was reminded of this topic by Double Dragon II: The Revenge, arcade version. It actually has a really neat little narrative, totally swerved away from by the FC reworking. In AC, Willy repays the Lees for sparing him by personally murdering Marion. After he's beaten again, the Lees are mysteriously rewarded with M̶a̶r̶i̶o̶n̶'̶s̶ ̶r̶e̶s̶u̶r̶r̶e̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ a pair of vicious dopplegangers to fight off. And that's it. Marion lives on only in the ending's old photo, miracles denied save for a tiny gesture - a teardrop - as resonating as anything in the most heavingly produced modern cutscene. The port ditches hateful Willy for Magical Ninja Man, relegates the dopplegangers to his magical bag, and chickens out on Marion's death with DBZ bullshit™.

The difference extends to the general mood, too. The FC's climax is an ass-kicking showdown set to anthemic new BGM "Roar of the Double Dragons." M.N.M. appears and then departs with pro wrestling bombast. The AC's final boss BGM "Wicked God" is pitch-dark and was shuffled away to the FC's new haunted mansion stage. The AC's dopplegangers laugh as they manifest from your shadow. They laugh as they wound you, and when they finally disperse, it's to that same idle laughter. Although AC and FC share Kazunaka Yamane's wistful ending theme, their outcomes give it diametrically opposing effects.

So, we've got a revenge 'em up for dead lover action game story with actual revenge, actual dead lover, and even an artful bit of thematic exploration*. With a bit of inference (always preferable to unskippable cutscenes**) it does seem that in AC DD2, the Lees royally fucked up by letting Willy live, proceeded to slaughter the gun-toting pussy*** in a rage, and in the anguished aftermath with his brains dashed on the floor were faced with the personifications of their fruitless savagery. A simple, honest and violent little tale with a bittersweet coda, efficiently delivered. I like it!

SILVER LINING THO: I also like how the superlatively great Double Dragon Advance resolved the AC/FC differences by giving Magical Ninja Man his own little place in the story, as some guy who was just looking for a good fight and disliked Willy's cowardly ways (and they kept his BADASS BGM). Also since DDII was initially just an upgrade kit, DDA's ending deftly has the Lees and Marion GTFO of town before Willy can bust a fuckin cap.

*predating Shin Contra by over a decade!

**WHAT. THE. FUCK WERE YOU THINKING IN GUARDIAN HEROES, TREASURE >_< I CAN JERK OFF AND BUST BEFORE KANON FINALLY SHUTS THE FUCK UP

***or beat him so severely his rectum prolapsed and he was forever condemned to chugging down Metamucil, or something - I dunno, he dead in my book

[Obiwanshinobi]

Ah, choppy PlayStation-era voice acting.

With the script, unnaturally broken down into discrete sentences.

The original Silent Hill does the same thing.

"..."
"Have you seen a little girl?"
"..."

[Necronopticous]

GODS WILL BE WATCHING

[Squire Grooktook]

I kind of like Etrian Odyssey 3 from a story/atmosphere perspective.

It's definitely a "you have to play it" to get it kind of affairs, but I did find myself getting attached to some of the npc's, and as a result enjoyed some of the dramatic moments. The pseudo-lovecraftian elements that gradually get introduced definitely compliment the isolated dungeon crawling well too.

"it's biggest plot twist is that it has a plot"

[Mischief Maker]

I generally hate anime writing, so I was pleasantly surprised by Radiant Historia's story in that none of the characters were irritating, and there wasn't a quick and easy reset-button method of curing the world's ongoing environmental degradation. Such a shock for the main character to actually act like the professional he's supposed to be instead of being either an emotional spaz or an emo bitch.

[Ed Oscuro]

And on a similar note, I actually enjoyed the Mint campaign in Threads of Fate quite a bit. Didn't play much of Rue's story yet, but it seems alright. Not likely to be as fun as Mint's story / playstyle, so I've put it on the shelf for a while.

Oh, and Castle in the Darkness. haha! Just kidding! What a miserable pile of cliches :/ The "references" come on thick enough that it feels like they're there in place of a story, which is annoying.

[Squire Grooktook]

Missed this:

A friend told me I'm a BlazBlue tsundere for talking shit about the game but liking the story. It's surprisingly good and complicated for an arcade fightan.
http://i.imgur.com/CSE1Fjp.jpg

While I'm a fan of blazblue (although with chrono phantasma being ps3 only...) and I quite liked the story of calamity trigger. But I feel it started to get convoluted and silly in continuum shift.

IMO I think they had a nice little visual novel-fighter tie-in going, but they kinda ruined it by making it a franchise.

If they had made BB's story mode a self contained affair, maybe spanning 3 games, I think it would have been a lot more fun. As it stands though, the need to introduce new characters, new plot points, and keep it going at all costs with each yearly expansion just turns the whole thing into a complete clusterfuck. Same thing happened to KH after the first game imo.