Are video games better without stories? (Gaming)

by cheapLEY , Friday, April 28, 2017, 20:21 (2548 days ago) @ Harmanimus

I think it is disingenuous to claim that most of he games deconstructing player agency within the narrative are attempting to insult the players or that they are somehow bad stories to tell. Bioshock, specifically, deconstructs many things beyond just player acceptance of violence in narrative. Jack is sympathetic in regard to the actions he takes and it is central to the discourse of the individual v. group that is core to the games plot. I think suggesting it is a case of mocking the player for being complicit totally skips over almost all the games value.

That might be true. I have no problem admitting that I probably missed a lot of the nuance in that game's story. That game was boring as hell from a gameplay perspective, so I tuned out pretty quickly (but still somehow finished the game).

I can at least accept that Bioshock doesn't really talk down to you like I think Spec Ops does.