What is the context and motivation for Tetris, one of the most played and most popular games of all time?
A game can have a story. But take it away and it’s still a game. It’s a layer on top, it’s not the core art form.
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Of course what I said I didn’t mean as rule to be applied 100% to any and every game, but for most of the relevant cases with core console gaming they are games that usually have story and narrative for that reason. I’ll give an example with Tomb Raider for example, it has one of the worst written and laid out stories in probably the last decade or so, and yet it’s important for the game’s context and structure.
I can take it or leave it. To be honest it has to be a really special story for me not to skip a cutscene. I turned on my console to play a game not watch a (usually embarrassingly bad) movie.
I mean I did specify it doesn’t need to be a cutscene, in-game dialogue or even texts and menus can just work as well, and I consider those narrative tools as well.
There are ways a story can be done well in a game. In-game dialogue is one, and gamefying dialogue is another – one of my favourite games of all time is the Mass Effect Trilogy as I felt like I was ‘playing’ the story as much as I was the game, with frequent interaction.
I also have no issue with ‘interactive stories’ where the main thrust of the title is dialogue choices. Never sure if they really should be classed as games, but I can still enjoy them if they’re good.
My point is not that story is bad, just that it’s ancillary to what a game is and should never be the principle means of judging the quality of a game. Right now we are in a trend where it seems like it is. A great story can make a great game a better overall product, but an average game is still an average game even if the story is a Tolstoy level masterpiece.
Most of my favourite games of all time have no story at all.
Edit:
You bought up Tomb Raider and this and Uncharted are a good way of illustrating my point.
In my opinion, the new Tomb Raider games are better than the Uncharted games. That’s often a controversial thing to say, but to me it’s obvious.
The gunplay (while still not amazing) is miles better, the puzzle shrines shit all over the basic PS2 level puzzles Naughty Dog specialises in, even traversal feels better.
Yet when people disagree with this, their arguments will always centre on things that are ancillary: the story, the acting, the cinematic direction.
My point is this: swap those elements between the two series. Is Tomb Raider now better? Yes. Is Uncharted worse? Yes. As overall products, obviously. But are they better games? No, in this hypothetical the core games are the same. The experience you have playing is identical and that is the actual game underneath.
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I don’t think even Sony could convince folk en-masse to vote R&C as game of the year, though they managed it with Death Stranding so I guess anything is possible.
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Personally , I thought Ratchet and Clank was bland . It had nothing other than Pixar level visuals . The previous one was better .
I played Returnal but it crashed on me 3 times in 2 days and I could not even save the game so I sold it .
Deathloop was good when its multiplayer worked . Better than the two I mentioned above but still , not Arkane’s best game .
I loved Psychonauts 2 . It was amazing . Loved everything about it . Tho I felt it dragged a bit at the end .
Guardians of the Galaxy was a sleeper hit . I’ve yet to finish the game but its fucking amazing . This game has a heart and it feels like I’m playing a xbox 360 game ( if that makes any sense ) . I think this might be my GOTY but again I’ve yet to finish it .
Waiting till Nov 9 to play Forza Horizon 5 .
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I recently played Dead Space 2 and Dante’s Inferno, and I think I know what you mean. The games are just straightforward, no filler, no open world, no extra systems or mechanics that are just unnecessary at all, that plague basically every current AAA game.
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Everytime i read this discussion about games with deeper meaning and story and then i see the killcount 
The Game Awards should just disqualify every game where the main form of interaction with the worlds is killing and lots of it. That requirement would spice things up and make the awards interesting for me.
I believe GAME OF THE YEAR should be the best overall game but in order for that to happen, it must be a complete game. Visuals, audio, combat/gameplay and story/characters. It can’t be missing one of those categories. For example, if FH 5 is a 10/10 in visuals/audio/gameplay but a 0/10 in story/characters, that would only be an average of a 7.5/10 with the second most important category in my opinion being literally a 0/10.
This is why I rarely play sports/racing games and when I do, I don’t rate/review them because I know im going to score that aspect low because it doesn’t exist in the game as it’s not meant to. Sports/racing games are meant for fun and enjoyment but in no way, shape or form should they ever win an overall game of the year.
Should FH 5 win sports/racing game of the year for 2021? Absolutely. It’s by far the best racing game period and depending on how Halo Infinite ends up being, FH 5 could be the Xbox platform game of the year as I do believe platform game of the year should always 100% be a full exclusive game to that platform as opposed to a third party multi-platform game.
But overall game of the year. Nope. Not even close. What’s even funnier is that the majority here are super hyped for all the future RPG’s on Xbox but yet think FH 5 should win overall game of the year but what if all those RPG’s flop in regards to the story/characters? Should those games win overall game of the year? No because it’s missing arguably the most important aspect of an RPG - story and characters with the combat system being the second most important aspect.
It’s not Keighley’s fault or anyone’s fault that Halo Infinite won’t be nominated due to it’s release date which let’s be honest, should have been the favorite to win game of the year just by default because of it’s name and reputation yet it doesn’t release until December which misses the TGA cutoff date. Of course, it’s still going to be the favorite to win overall game of the year, just not at TGA.
Speaking of TGA, I do find it hilarious that so many here are upset or angry that FH 5 will most likely not win game of the year or perhaps not even be nominated while at the same time, don’t take TGA seriously because of it having a November 15th (or whatever the date is this year) cutoff date and not including the entire year.
How does that work? LMAO. People here trying to have it both ways. Don’t take TGA seriously but are pissed that FH 5 won’t win and may not even nominated. This makes no sense to me. How can anyone be upset at something they don’t take seriously in the first place?
The best part though is that even if FH 5 were to get nominated and win overall game of the year at TGA, it still doesn’t matter because when you look up the actual winner, it’s going to be the game that has the most awards given to it for game of the year by all sites, youtubers, forums, magazines, etc. and regardless of how excellent FH 5 is, it’s not going to be the vast majority’s game of the year.
My personal opinion on this will never ever change because when I think of game of the year, im thinking what was the best game that had amazing visuals, excellent soundtrack, voice acting, great combat and gameplay plus an excellent written story with superb characters. In short, what game is giving me the best overall pound for pound experience and isn’t missing on any of those four aspects.
As for actually caring about what game wins game of the year, I don’t give two shits. The site I use and have posted here lists the overall game of the year since 2003 and in those 18 years thus far, my game of the year only matches it 4 times. So the other 14 times, my game of the year didn’t win but it’s not changing anything for me.
At the end of the day, if anyone here believes that FH 5 is their game of the year, then great, that’s why it’s that individual’s game of the year because it’s for them and not for anyone else.
No drama should ever win best picture because it doesn’t offer comedy.
No comedy should win either because it’s not dramatic enough.
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Games don’t need to have stories or characters to be games. You are artificially limiting the art form by claiming this is a requirement. Tonnes of games have neither, and they are still games.
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I’m not saying that it isn’t a game but TO ME, a game needs to be complete in every aspect. I need to get a total and complete package for any game to be the overall game of the year.
A game is complete without a story or characters, if those things are not part of its design. Neither or those things are intrinsic to the medium.
Edit:
It’s like saying a novel can’t win the booker prize if it doesn’t have illustrations. A novel can have illustrations, but it doesn’t need them, and it’s certainly not the basis on which the medium is judged.
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Also, a mile wide and inch deep doesn’t do a game any favors. The best games of all-time are usually focused ones.
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Not to me. I can go back to 1995 with Chrono Trigger. It hits on all four aspects. My opinion will never change. But again, if FH 5 happens to be your GOTY, then great, I hope you love the game.
So Tetris is an incomplete game because there weren’t cut scenes explaining why a sad dad scientist needed to arrange those blocks to make enough money to send his disabled daughter to college?
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I gave up on trying to sway pete from his pretty fixed perspective on things. Yall are wasting your time lol
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I shouldn’t kick this hornet’s nest… but is multiplayer required to be “complete”? 
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Tetris is an all time classic but it’s just blocks. lol. I would never give a Tetris game a game of the year award unless it’s in the puzzle category.
And I love people who want to reference God of War or Sony games. If they’re not worthy or any good, why do so many here keep referencing them? Even when I never mentioned either.
Ubisoft games have stories and characters. Jedi Fallen Order had a story and characters. Rockstar. CDPR. It’s not just Sony games that have stories and characters. Funny how people here always reference them for some odd reason.
Hahaha. So true. My opinions on certain things in gaming (and in general) will never ever change and no one will ever convince me otherwise.