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The best storyline in game history?
froody1911:
^That "one overarching theme" is something that anyone fairly clever person who plays the game would realize while playing it. It's not subtext. Neither is the significance of the ending sequence, which was more or less in-your-face.
The whole Dormin thing, though? Bullshit.
Think about it this way: Wander is told that if he kills 16 giants, his love will be cured. He knows absolute jackshit about the giants. To him, they're just monsters. He has the capacity to kill them. So he goes and does it. After all, why wouldn't he?
Does his decision have any deep thought put into it? Does it have any consequences that he knows of, other than Mono being cured? Nope.
TMRNetShark:
--- Quote from: froody1911 on September 05, 2011, 04:37:45 AM ---^That "one overarching theme" is something that anyone fairly clever person who plays the game would realize while playing it. It's not subtext. Neither is the significance of the ending sequence, which was more or less in-your-face.
The whole Dormin thing, though? Bullshit.
Think about it this way: Wander is told that if he kills 16 giants, his love will be cured. He knows absolute jackshit about the giants. To him, they're just monsters. He has the capacity to kill them. So he goes and does it. After all, why wouldn't he?
Does his decision have any deep thought put into it? Does it have any consequences that he knows of, other than Mono being cured? Nope.
--- End quote ---
The PLAYER knows (or believes) that Wander will die trying no matter what. He injures himself, gets his horse killed, and the player (as in YOU) can try as long as you like to struggle against the vortex. In the end, it was all for nothing. Are you saying that the plot and story and ending didn't move you at all? You felt nothing after experiencing that?
froody1911:
No, because the "message" of the game was something I realized as a child.
That's not the point here. The point is that the entire game had a simple and cliche story. And at the end, there was a message BAM in your face.
It was an excellent game, but I do not consider this anywhere near one of the best storylines in agame.
TMRNetShark:
--- Quote from: froody1911 on September 05, 2011, 05:32:44 AM ---No, because the "message" of the game was something I realized as a child.
That's not the point here. The point is that the entire game had a simple and cliche story. And at the end, there was a message BAM in your face.
It was an excellent game, but I do not consider this anywhere near one of the best storylines in agame.
--- End quote ---
Explain why the story was simple... please give examples.
Explain why the story was cliche... please give examples.
I shall now retort:
In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, the audience is made to care about Ophelia and we are made to feel sadness knowing that she will not survive even though we wish for her to struggle on. In SoTC, we play as the character who struggles on... and we are meant to care because of Wander's guilty for killing Mono. Even though both relationships are doomed, the audience wants and yearns for both people to endure the struggles and overcome death. This is called dramatic necessity and does have an impact on the audience. You would agree that there are dumb people out there who wouldn't get why Hamlet was such a great play... well guess what? If there are people who don't get Hamlet, there are gonna be people who don't get SoTC's story and view it as "simple" or cliche. ::)
In Hamlet's play, we infer that Ophelia is going to die in the play. If Hamlet was a video game, then we would have the choice for Ophelia to either forget about Hamlet or let her kill herself. Having choice in the matter allows you to take either path, but this destroys what is called TRAGEDY and eliminates your hopes being dashed (that Mono would be revived and Wander & her live happily ever after). Now I know you didn't know what "tragedy" is as a kid, and SoTC was a great example of a video game having classic Shakespearean tragedy. You see, in games like Mass Effect (that one might claim is a good storyline driven game), one would have the choice of either saving Ashley Williams or letting her die. That choice may not have been as black&white as one might think, but it's by no means Shakespearean tragedy if you decided (as the player) to let her die because it ruins the emotional power of lack of choice in the matter. The reason being is that the player (as the audience) has their hopes for Wander to succeed, yet to make it a tragedy, the game needs to have the opposite of what the audience wants to happen... creating that emotional power. Is it still simple and cliche as I am making these connections for you?
Now please, to make something simple... it would NEVER be comparable to Shakespeare's Hamlet (arguably one of the greatest stories of our modern age) yet I just drew a parallel between Hamlet and SoTC. So it's clear that you either don't get SoTC (and therefore do not get Hamlet)... or you really didn't play the game.
As for cliche, please... name 5 other games/movies/TV shows that has the same themes of SoTC and are executed the same way that SoTC did it. (Shakespeare and Shakespearean related movies excluded seeing as how SoTC took themes from Shakespeare)
Osmo:
--- Quote from: TMRNetShark on September 05, 2011, 03:01:14 PM ---
Explain why the story was simple... please give examples.
Explain why the story was cliche... please give examples.
--- End quote ---
Here's you answer:
--- Quote from: froody1911 on September 05, 2011, 05:32:44 AM ---No, because the "message" of the game was something I realized as a child.
--- End quote ---
They realized it as a child. Realized it as a child.
It was realized as a child.
Realized it was a child.
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