Post 147743 by somem@shigusegubu.club
(DIR) More posts by somem@shigusegubu.club
(DIR) Post #147645 by thatcosmonaut@knzk.me
2018-09-23T09:12:32Z
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while i'm dropping 2AM hot takes i fucking love the souls series but i find it infuriating that its mechanics and approach to storytelling have basically become design shorthand that is mindlessly copied by fucking everyone to indicate seriousness and "good game design"
(DIR) Post #147662 by Tasnyx@knzk.me
2018-09-23T09:15:22Z
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@thatcosmonaut my take is environmental and non-linear storytelling is only good if you're a really good writer (the reason why a lot of later elder scrolls environmental storytelling is very bad cause they lost all their good writers)
(DIR) Post #147673 by thatcosmonaut@knzk.me
2018-09-23T09:17:04Z
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maybe souls is unexpectedly the fabled "citizen kane of games" in that we will never escape the long shadow it cast over merging its storytelling with the strengths of the medium
(DIR) Post #147702 by sad_bitch@soc.ialis.me
2018-09-23T09:21:37Z
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@thatcosmonautThese are fascinating takes. Dark Souls is like Kafka in that regard: you can't copy it, you have to learn it's lessons about the medium/form.
(DIR) Post #147705 by Tasnyx@knzk.me
2018-09-23T09:17:20Z
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@thatcosmonaut souls convinces people that stories need to be told through item descriptions and corpses on the ground and the only problem with that is you need to have a substantial narrative and an interesting world for any of that to matter. i cant speak to the mechanics elements but i can say, a lot of people just try to ape souls storytelling and it isnt great a lot of the time
(DIR) Post #147706 by thatcosmonaut@knzk.me
2018-09-23T09:21:47Z
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@Tasnyx it is, in fact, extremely fucking bad because it is looking at the finger and not the moon. souls works because everything about the game is about picking through the bones of a rotten world that needed to be overthrown eons ago and the existential process of overcoming your own limitations to achieve that necessary change through the strength of your will. if your game doesnt have themes like that narratively, its just fucking boring, theres nothing to pick through
(DIR) Post #147720 by Tasnyx@knzk.me
2018-09-23T09:23:13Z
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@thatcosmonaut totally, there's a deep world inside of the items you find and bodies and enemies, if you have none of that to back you up, then your environmental shit means nothing. i dont give a shit about the skeleton.
(DIR) Post #147743 by somem@shigusegubu.club
2018-09-23T09:23:34.464732Z
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@thatcosmonaut are there any good games that copy the mechanics but especially story telling of the souls series though?
(DIR) Post #147769 by thatcosmonaut@knzk.me
2018-09-23T09:29:27Z
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@somem i honestly cant think of any, there are many games i've enjoyed that learned from its approach to mechanics, and i think game design has benefitted enormously from the series reminding everyone that endless nagging and handholding is a terrible approach to game design, but nothing that copied its mechanics comes close to understanding the power of its mythological storytelling
(DIR) Post #147854 by thatcosmonaut@knzk.me
2018-09-23T09:37:35Z
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@sad_bitch absolutely, souls is about repetition and perserverance and growth through failure, which is certainly a way to frame the design of many games. but it's very possible to think outside of those terms as well and i fear a world where we can't think seriously about games outside of that framework
(DIR) Post #147894 by sad_bitch@soc.ialis.me
2018-09-23T09:42:00Z
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@thatcosmonautYeah, if I was making games, I'd probably try to ask "How can I achieve a unity of content and form akin to Souls?" rather than "How can I remake Souls, or at least it's structure?" Maybe gaming needs a Modernist movement, but that's my literature brain talking lol.
(DIR) Post #147910 by thatcosmonaut@knzk.me
2018-09-23T09:46:16Z
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@sad_bitch oh lord yes please.