What Makes Video Game Stories Special?

[@MrMunch123ABC]

I use the term "verisimilitude" all the time in reference to my D&D campaign, only half my players believe it's a real word

[@ArchitectofGames]

I'm only like 90% sure it is

[@clubbering32]

Boy does this comment paint a picture

[@sdrawkcab_emanresu]

As long it exists in your imagination, it exists in some kind and so it's real

[@chrisakaschulbus4903]

you should put a piece of toast in some vodka until it's all soaked up. then, when you eat it, you will be a true russian

[@visassess8607]

@@chrisakaschulbus4903 Not toast, a potato into potato vodka

[@subprogram32]

'he's the white whale of the Obra Dinn' - that's an interesting phrase, considering the tatooed character is apparently a living reference to Moby Dick. :P

[@d3monix444]

Wow, that comment was posted 2 hours before the video was made public, almost as if you can do something to do that...

[@ArchitectofGames]

Shhh! Don't tell people about the secret early access club!

[@noname117spore]

Whenever I watch Adam's videos, I always feel like I want to add a comment of some sort to further discussion of the topic. But then I realized he covered it either perfectly or near perfectly and any minor topics of discussion I have an opinion about have already been explained perfectly well by someone in the comments. And then I just start reminiscing about the good times related to the topic I've had in games (in this case, examples of stories being generated out of gameplay rather than being carefully put together by the developers) and then any motivation to write a comment pertaining to the discussion goes out the window as it would just be me agreeing with Adam or someone in the comments and telling game related stories or applying concepts to games I play, even some of the more obscure ones. So good job Adam and comment people! You cover these topics really well!

[@dddmemaybe]

This reminds me of when I tried to get out of the map in any games I played when I was really little. And then in Spyro you literally just go out of the map in the first level and it felt euphoric. I think I would prefer an imperfect game to a perfect one every time. I just love being able to mash left and right and make my character dance at mach speed.

[@doxazo5512]

How can you mention storytelling potential without actual storytelling without mentioning Dwarf Fortress? Sure it keeps track of histories, and runs tons of stuff besides what you see, but each fortress is it's own tale, written entirely by your imagination. You don't have to obsessively check on each dwarf's mood and thoughts over and over, but you can create some insane stories just by doing it once.

[@aturchomicz821]

TrevorBOB you mean worse Rimworld?

[@doxazo5512]

Rimworld is for people who want to be pandered to, it has a lot of QOL features that *maybe* DF should have to, but it's also SIGNIFICANTLY shallower. There are factions sure, but there are hardly any interactions between them, it's not very dynamic. Rimworld is pretty easy to beat, and there's no way you lose to anything besides an attack of some sort. DF has SO MANY ways to lose. Skill is measured on how long you live, not whether you won and what difficulty it was on. Rimworld has people break and start yelling or slapping each other. DF did it first. Rimworld has people randomly get inspired and make great items. DF did it first. Rimworld has strange alien superbeings that attack, DF has WERE-ELEPHANTS. Rimworld has pets that will fight and haul for you, DF briefly had cats dying from alcohol poisoning by the score because they licked spilled liquor off their feet. Not a bug, just game mechanics working together in completely unexpected ways. My least favorite part of Rimworld is actually the fact that you can directly order your people to do things, they're just an extension of you, versus DF where you have to work with people's complex likes and dislikes, everyone has an actual personality. Sorry for the massive comment, I've thought a lot about this, having played both games.

[@houndofculann1793]

@@doxazo5512 I had very fun times reading the entire TvTropes page collection on Dwarf Fortress even though I have never played it myself and probably won't. Just the sheer amount and silliness of stuff that can happen in that game is pure gold =D My favorite examples are: 1. Gender is only relevant in "can this entity give birth", which will lead to warriors giving birth in the middle of a battle and then using their newborn as a shield or a club, or warhounds giving birth in the middle of a charge and their puppies immediately joining the fray 2. Most entities will die very fast to lava traps, but then you may encouter a Bronze Colossus that can whitstand the heat damage long enough to start attacking you by lobbing its own melted body parts at you 3. Foul mood. Dwarves who can't work on their sudden inspiration in time can develop foul mood, which usually results in them killing the nearest dwarf (like the one using the workbench they wanted to use for their inspiration, hence being the cause of their foul mood) and then fashioning a remarkable artefact from the corpse. I read of an instance where a mother made a crib out of her baby daughter because she was crying for too long. The best part is, the victim's relatives or friends may develop foul mood as a result of the murder

[@manamongmen3381]

I hear a lot about this game. I'll have to check it out some time. I hope it's on steam.

[@percher4824]

Check Kruggsmash's Monster Killer videos for a perfect example of Dwarf Fortress doing its thing and someone taking full advantage of it to make great content.

[@hubismal]

Thank you for using Scarlet Forest in the background. Really underrated song from DR.

[@GmodPlusWoW]

Too true. Deltarune has its pumping bangers, like Field of Hopes and Dreams, Rude Buster, The World Revolving and so on, but Scarlet Forest offers a chill, slightly mysterious track that fits the gentler, more methodical pace of its associated area. It makes you feel like you could just sit down under one of the trees with your favourite gotecleric, and watch Dark Jack Lancer get up to all kinds of hijinks and shenanigans.

[@TheDSasterX]

I'll add two things that I think are unique to games. 1) while other art forms can teach you empathy, games are the only art form that can teach you sympathy. In no other format do you have to make those choices, you're just along for the ride. But games as simple as papers please, like you showcased, can make you feel bad and can make you make tough, personal decisions. You can talk about Geralt's decisions as framed by you, which can make for an entirely different Geralt, despite the plot being relatively unchanged. 2) games have access to 'mechanics as metaphor' wherein gameplay can be designed to immerse you in a mood or headspace. Other art forms have their own versions of this with form and content and whatnot, but games have a fresh take on it.

[@haveiszalfaroqie]

Isn't number one the opposite? What you're describing is "empathy," which is "putting yourself in someone else's shoes." Sympathy is, well... sympathetic. I give you my sympathy.

[@TheDSasterX]

@@haveiszalfaroqie Empathy is vicarious and like your example of putting yourself in someone else's shoes, there's the separation between you and them where you can only imagine what it's like. With sympathy, you *have* been there, you *do* know what it's like. If you're at a funeral and have never felt such a loss yourself, it'd probably be more accurate to tell someone they have your empathies -- though it's probably not the best setting in which to be pedantic and technical and I wouldn't advise correcting people at a funeral.

[@kumorikuma]

​@@TheDSasterX According to merriam webster: "sympathy is when you share the feelings of another; empathy is when you understand the feelings of another but do not necessarily share them." In your funeral example, a friend who has never experienced a loss might share feelings of sadness, but they won't be able to empathize until experiencing loss for themselves. At the same time, a stranger who has experienced a loss will be able to empathize, but they might not sympathize. Telling someone they have your sympathy is like saying "I don't really know what it's like losing someone (or this specific someone because I don't know your relationship like you do)", but I share your pain and sadness and will mourn with you. To your point #1, while I do think games serve as an excellent vessel to teach empathy, I don't agree that other art forms are incapable of doing so. Some books/movies do a good job of this. For example, vagrants are often dehumanized / ignored as undesirables. But it's conceivable that a narrative told through the perspective of a regular person fallen into homelessness might teach some people to empathize with them more and treat them with a little bit more respect. Obviously it'll never be the same as actually becoming homeless, but neither is playing a game.

[@TheDSasterX]

@@kumorikuma while I agree with the definition Webster provides, I'd say you're comprehending it backwards. Sympathies are shared, equitable feelings while empathies are an attempt to relate to something you can only try to understand because you haven't been there. I'm going to stand firm on this and so I can't really get into your point about my point #1 until we agree on the definitions being used 😕.

[@ethalis5649]

That is the exact point i always make when i try to explain why i loved Telltales' The Walking Dead : I don't care if my choices don't actually matter much, but the simple fact that I'm able to make them made me really connect with the characters like i had never have before

[@ocean037]

Pinky has the most fabulous green you'll ever see!

[@adiveler]

I personally find both RPG and Point & Click Adventure (the more traditional ones rather than the formulaic TellTales ones) games to be great genres for storytelling: - RPGs require from you to get invested in the main character (or characters, if you control more than one) and how it's leveling up, and sometimes they even let you decide with that character on how the story will evolve! - P&C Adventures require from you to pay attention to the story and the dialogue of characters in order to solve the current series of puzzles and proceed. In fact, another name that I personally think that very fits the genre is Story Focused Puzzles (Great whenever arguing against those who compare P&Cs to Walking Simulators, and to distinguish them from the more new Interactive Story formula which Telltales used until recently)!

[@Pingwn]

I agree, though I don't like to much the name "story focused puzzles" because that makes it sound like a subgenre of puzzle games, and while puzzles are important in them, they are like a plot-device. In my country they are called "quest games" because of Sierra.

[@Azanixu]

I think that too many game devs (especially AAA) try to copy film's storytelling which is why we have so much cutscene bullcrap. Computer games are different form of media from film or a book. Just as books directly translated to movie scripts don't create good movies, computer games directed like movies don't make for good games. Still waiting for Christopher's Nolan's game tho

[@jag7378]

Do you have examples for video games trying to copy film?

[@yourpalz3r068]

J. Gilgenberg ????? Have you ever seen a fucking call of duty campaign?, or any *insert generic AAA FPS game here* that has a campaign?

[@coreblaster6809]

@@jag7378 like... 99% of AAA games my dude...

[@dozzy9984]

I think that's on purpose. They immiate something most people know (and usually like), to try to get new audience from/appease to those people who aren't playing games often or maybe who never played them.

[@dandre3K]

@@yourpalz3r068 To be fair COD missions used to be like 10% cutscene/setpiece 90% actual gameplay. Fps games in general aren't that bad at staying out of their own way.

[@yoissy]

I literally wrote an entire college essay on this exact topic! It is super cool to hear someone knowledgeable like you talk about it too!

[@saramartin5179]

Needing to meet it on its own terms is something that you need to do with all forms of art. I remember reading some works of C. S. Lewis where he argues that, before video games ever existed. He was mainly talking about literature which was his specific area of study and interest, but he applied it to all art. The first step to enjoying any art is to meet it on its own terms and listen to what it has to say. Afterwards you may decide that it wasn't very good and didn't really deserve your attention, but paradoxically you would never find that out without meeting it on its own terms first.

[@kyukhan]

I would say, that the most distinguishing aspect is the possibility of random and personal stories. Spelunky was mentioned, but i am thinking more about titles like Rogue, Dwarf Fortress, or in my specific case, NetHack. In these games you barely have any story, if at all. All the interesting stories you can read online come from interacting mechanics and the player's choices. And these can create some of the most unique stories of all. The story of how i ended up as an invisible Umber Hulk, with a towel covering my eyes, stalking the mines desperate for food truly is my own story. No other media has the option to recreate such a random specific story, that is so dependant on the person.

[@timothymclean]

I'd argue that the way characters and themes are expressed through gameplay mechanics (e.g, Thomas Was Alone's character-driven level/puzzle design, Pac-Man's AI, the emergent narrative of good roguelites) is ultimately still a function of interactivity. After all, they literally can't exist (or at least have no meaning) without interactivity. After all, interactivity isn't _just_ getting to pick what ending plays onscreen when you put down the controller. I'd also argue that "verisimilitude" applies to media other than video games. It's not quite the same, obviously, but it's a more precise term than "realism" when discussing, say, magical spells. It's different than the "verisimilitude" discussed in this video, but it's a use for the term which I'm pretty sure predates serious contemplation of video game storytelling.

[@thothtahuti5509]

I absolutely love the "story" in games, it's my favorite part. I grew up when games were largely single player and personally playing my way through a good story is like playing through a good book that relies on you to succeed. It's great ::)

[@nate3285]

Return of The Obra Dinn looks very good, although the sheer number of characters seems daunting. Is it worth a shot even if you are terrible at observing anything?

[@Ludocriticism]

It honestly wasn't that hard. You sort of just start with the ranked crew members, and work your way from there. Did it in a day, and I have little patience for puzzles. Go for it! :)

[@LORDOFDORKNESS42]

I'm not a huge puzzle guy, but I personally beat Obra Dinn in about 5 hours with some guess-work and one, two peaks at a guide. It's a shockingly fair game for a mystery. Giving you just enough tools and hints that you can get everything in-game, if you're willing to spend time to dig for it. Honestly made me regret those peaks, after having looked at two LPs of the game, and I'd highly recommend it.

[@nate3285]

Thanks. I’ll give it a shot, although I still have a few other games to explore first.

[@ArchitectofGames]

These guys are right, it's not a particularly hard game once you've gotten your head around it. The game took me around 8-10 hours to beat and there were really only a few people I got properly stuck on.

[@subprogram32]

It's worth noting that a realistic crew of a boat of this size would be 120 crewmembers. Lucas Pope originally intended the crew to *be* that large as well, but that really was wayyyy too big.

[@claytonharting9899]

I see you've been enjoying Deltarune too! I'm not sure what it is, but Deltarune and Undertale really nail the "making the world feel real" thing. I play lots of games that feel like just that: games. Same for the movies, TV shows, and books I've read. They're all engaging in their own way, but none of them feel real quite like a good Toby Fox game. I was really excited for this video of yours because storytelling is my favorite part of games. Don't get me wrong, I love good gameplay, but as what I like to focus on, I'm a storyteller at heart. I'm currently working on my first game, and your videos (mini-documentaries, really) are helping to inform my design choices. So thank you for this video, and the many others, too!

[@mac_3952]

Man, I will never forget when I loaded up Undertale agaian after truly beating it, thinking "hm, maybe I'll try a different run this time," and the game straight up gave me a message begging me not to ruin the happy ending I had created for the characters by reseting the game. I couldn't do it. I changed my mind and closed the game. That's how real it felt. I still don't know how Toby Fox did that to me.

[@Twisted_Logic]

Verisimilitude is short for "very simulation, dude"

[@Lezappen]

Stop trying to get in my brain

[@CrazyConnor2]

Nice to see my favorite Fluffy Boi in the thumbnail

[@ArchitectofGames]

The power of fluffy boys shines within you.

[@MicahBuzanANIMATION]

Your video game analysis vids are some of the most enjoyable and informative I've seen.

[@DeepCDiva]

I'm not sure if the world rules reacting to the player(s) actions(which is what i gathered from your examples of verossimility) is unique to videogames. I mean, the set of rules in golf, chess, a comedy improvisation challenge, a puzzle or LARP can offer enough of a building block for a more engaging story or artistic approach. Sure, they're all games, but if vidya can't fundamentally distinguish itself from it's predecessors(Which weren't even considered in art discussions), i feel like the discussion could afford going a few steps back to rediscover the medium.

[@DeepCDiva]

Sorry if I sounded like a pretentious douche, the video engaged me to the point where I was really eager to at least play Devil's Advocate for a bit

[@ArchitectofGames]

No, I actually agree, you're right! Personally, I see video games as the latest and most significant development in the evolution of games as a broader group - but anything I say about one can apply to the other. It's like how theatre and cinema are intrinsicly linked, one's a live version of the other - which brings its own unique challenges, but they're both ultimately performing arts.

[@Xx2Devexia2xX]

I love every single video you poop out, great fuckig job man, you'll get bigger and bigger rly quickly if you continue to make such high quality content!

[@benanderson5421]

Love this channel and the level of sophistication and quality of each video

[@GEFLAMENGO10]

"If you spend all your time expecting a certain kind of experience, you'll have trouble appreciating what the game is trying to do."

[@chrismulholland6202]

I've always loved the idea that good games tell stories whether it's literal, or through gameplay. When I played CounterStrike I noticed that every round told a new story. The stories were so varied because of the countless outcomes and possibilities. It's definitely why team based multiplayer games are so addicting. (I've been playing Ring of Elysium recently with my friends and I'm hooked for the same reason)

[@The_Blazelighter]

Video games aren't really finished pieces of art until they've been played.

[@manamongmen3381]

Neither is a painting until it's been seen.

[@danielrabaca2120]

Hey Adam, watching today your video, especially the sequence about Obra Dinn, remembered me of a recent and off the radar game called 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim. I feel like the trick Obra Dinn used to keep you interested to each character story is very similar to it, albeit in a completely different context lol. It was the first game in some years that got me highly engaged to its story. It makes you feel like you are cracking it story by yourself, while being intriguing for its entire duration. Unfortunately its a visual novel, so not a lot of my friends played it

[@redpotter27]

(I haven't seen the rest of the video) while I agree with your sentiment about the uniqueness of the video game format for storytelling, I don't think it's fair at all to say it is the sole medium in which verisimilitude is a factor. As someone with a light fascination for video games and a strong passion for theater, I think they both share a lot of similarities especially concerning this very quality. I might even go so far as to classify video games as a form of theater, one in which the player acts as both audience and actor and the game itself functions as the script. This is what, to me, makes video games into singular storytelling device. No other form of anything gets you that. That's my opinion at least, however I do want to say that I have just discovered your channel and truly enjoy your videos, good job and thank you!

[@leahjames9475]

I literally just submitted an essay on narratology vs. ludology. If you had just uploaded this a few weeks earlier! Great video though man, keep up the good work.

[@bummknallpeng4294]

Fun fact: National Treasure 2 is actually called "Legacy of the secret book" here in Germany.

[@JazzyWaffles]

I think it is odd that you failed to mention games where your choices DO matter. Games that change depending on your choices or player inputs. Or, taking it a step further, games like Undertale that go a step beyond and incorporate even your previous choices into account, going so far as to call you out for for specific decisions (ie the game directly calls you out multiple times if you kill Sans but then reset the game before completing the no mercy run). Games that take advantage of their medium while still telling a story were surprisingly absent from this video, and you chose to focus on something a bit more akin to emergent storytelling, with the player piecing the story together themselves.

[@ArchitectofGames]

I've done a bunch of videos (like the morality and interesting descisions ones) all about choice in games, but I think it's important to highlight that agency isn't what defines the medium, even if it is usually very fun.

[@franciasii2435]

I like you because you dont turn every game into "The Dark souls of [Genre]".

[@blarg2429]

IKR. He's the Dark Souls of game criticism.

[@ThrottleKitty]

Just a personal note, I have to strongly disagree with time pressure creating narrative tension. I've always found time pressure to be the most lazy, boring way to attempt to create interesting story beats, especially within randomized games, as it more often than not just results in really awkward floundering from any randomized system within the game. Xcom Enemy Unknown was one of my favorite games ever, but I can barely enjoy Xcom 2 at all because the timers matter more than any strategy or player choice.

[@thesquishedelf1301]

Throttle Kitty The only thing I have to say about that is that EU had the same problem. In roughly 1/2 of all missions there was a built in time pressure to reach the objective (bomb missions, terror missions, rescue missions); there’s almost nothing new in regards to these from XCOM 2 except the ability to keep your Specialists in cover while the Gremlin secures the objective. Some of the timers might be a little tight, but on Classic/Impossible difficulty they got tight in EU, too.

[@ThrottleKitty]

I disagree. The timers in the xcom EU are more soft and organic, and are limited to a much smaller number of the missions, I'd say it's at most 1/4th, and even that's quite a stretch. But more importantly, most of these missions in EU are balanced specifically for being time based, where as xcom 2 has randomized levels with an arbitrary fail timer stamped on them. It's inorganic, poorly balanced, and poorly implemented compared to the older game. There is a reason people still talk about EU over 2.

[@Holsp]

Oh men, finally one of your videos! Keep it up!

[@Weebdotexe]

Thank you, i now have verisimilitude to put into my essays in anything because i can just say it made me feel like that

[@Amelanduil]

When I played Etrian Odyssey, I only named my characters after they earned it by doing something significant, like being the last one standing to finish off a boss with barely anything left, or instant kill an FOE on the first turn that’d otherwise do the same to me.

[@adamweinberg2532]

The noticeable but barely audible music makes me want to die.

[@tictactoc9311]

9:23 He said "Shadow of the doubt" which is a game that has knowledge based progression like obra dinn that released in 2023.

[@GoodMorningButch]

I honestly think we've all developed that same relationship with that topman in Obra Dinn.

[@silvertheelf]

Pinky the *”GREEN”* ghost... Me: “Are you using inverted colors?” 7:08 Darkest Dungeon Me: “SNAKES! SSSSSSSSNAKES! DANGER NOODLES!

[@enriqueavilarodriguez9012]

When you mentioned using the mechanics of the game to tell the story I was almost sure you would at least mention "Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons". In case you haven't played it, I recommend it very strongly. However avoid any spoilers.

[@ArchitectofGames]

Actually, "A Way Out" is made by the same team! And Brothers is also great, I agree.

[@haveiszalfaroqie]

I got it on my library for a while, but the description said I need controllers for it. Is it... totally undoable with just mouse + KB?

[@crystalgeodes3969]

Thumbnail: *secures Ralsei with two pieces of tape* Me: FREE THE FLOOFY BOY

[@manamongmen3381]

You sure that's a boy? Cause I may be feeling a bit less straight then normal if that's the case...

[@crystalgeodes3969]

@@manamongmen3381 Ralsei says Prince alot

[@bellamango6708]

this is why Nier:A is my favorite game. It just wouldn't be as impactful in any other medium, literally being forced to throw away SIXTY HOURS to make you think about your time spent and the value of your investment.

[@bentoth9555]

"I sacrificed this cute pug..." You monster.

[@alecchristiaen4856]

I like the sense of immersion Horizon zero dawn gave me through its story. Since the world is clearly post-apocalyptic, you'll likely be wondering how that came about. Meanwhile Aloy has her own questions about the world and is naturally inquisitive, but she'd rather know where she came from and why. These two are linked and the player gets to feel similar to Aloy on her quest: wonder as the world opens up to you for the first time, increasing curiosity as the pieces start to fit together, and frustration when complications happen. We get invested in the same goal as our protagonist, driving us to further the plot. A film can't have this level of relating to a character, because ultimately, the viewer is an observer without control.

[@Respectable_Username]

~8:50 They also made a live-action movie. It's the only good video game movie to have ever been created. It's genuinely brilliant!

[@monkeyfist8223]

So I just finished playing Return of the Obra Dinn and then watched this. Kind of spooky. Anyway I want to say that it reminded me a lot of a Sudoku puzzle mixed with observational clues. Finding out one bit of information allows you to fill in another and so on. Awesome game but definitely not for everyone.

[@judsongaiden9878]

0:08 Did you ever play the NES version of Rygar?

[@lampe4845]

Can we talk about this pls? 3:38

[@manamongmen3381]

What? That's the green one. Something wrong?

[@sficman8250]

Was wondering the same thing, *somebody* (Adam) is either colorblind or we've all been bamboozled.

[@pelafeco]

wait... I also see that pinky is green

[@ocean037]

Pinky has the most fabulous green that I've ever seen.

[@stevenneiman9789]

I definitely agree that advantages video games have over other media in terms of investment are more important than their ability to allow control of the narrative. Where only a few good works of film or literature demand much from the audience to appreciate, literally every video game requires that the player participate in the process and most force them to actually pay attention to at least some of it. There's a phrase that's called the Eight Deadly Words because if the audience is thinking them it spells doom for their enjoyment of the story: I don't care what happens to these people". And the truth that those words are the worst possible disaster for a story is at least as true in games as in books and movies. There's also one other important advantage video games have in their sheer versatility. A book or movie is more or less constrained to a linear sequence of events because you can only be reading or watching one scene at a time, but a video game can have nonlinear story progression, can have split stories, and above all it can pack even more meaning into the subtleties of its mechanics than other media can in their backgrounds.

[@Disthron]

I think the simple fact that the word verisimilitude is older than video games shows that the word doesn't only apply to games.

[@sophiejones7727]

Responsibility; I think that's a key word. I've played lots of RTS games, and even loved some of them. But Warcraft III instantly stood out to me as something different. It stood out to me because it was a story that would not have had the same impact if it had been told in a film or a book. In particular, the Frozen Throne expansion. You are not watching Arthas destroy everything he used to love. You are Arthas destroying everything he used to love. You get the experience of being shocked and even disgusted by your own actions. You are responsible for the deaths of those people. You'll hear their cries of surprise in your dreams. These people had put their faith in you, and you betrayed them. Often the fall of a heroic character can feel trite in film or literature. But it's never going to feel trite in a game if that character is the player avatar.

[@dab1732]

Love your videos mate, cheers.

[@ArchitectofGames]

Aww, thanks!

[@incessantAlchemist]

>uses a bunch of Deltarune footage >never talks about Deltarune That being said, you should absolutely do a video on Deltarune's Weird Route! You make great video essays : )

[@manamongmen3381]

Cool. How the heck do you know so many obscure games? I'm on the border of gaming culture, and I don't know half the ones you talk about until you, well, talk about them. I actually bought a couple that I would have never found without this channel. Sundered in particular is severely underrated.

[@natanoj16]

One of my favorite Video game stories is 'Brothers a tale of two sons'

[@sofaris576]

There is just something satisfying to make a Character I like do something cool. Fore example in Persona 5 Morgana is my favourite Character. I almost never let him leave my side and its just satisfying letting him do all those cool things. Healing my party, knocking down enemys with his wind spells and his punch skill (in the late game that skill becomes ridiculous if you give Morgana the right equipment) and I always send him to do the "special order" actions like stealing the crown ore firing the balista. being able to make my favourite Characters the stars of the show is part of why I love RPGs. But also in a game with a single main character its satisfying to let them kick ass the way I want. I get to decide how the Character uses its powers. Also Boss fights dont get interuptet and drawn out by extensive dialoge ore flash backs. I mean sometimes you get some dialoge mid fight like in Persona 5 and thats fine and I actually like it but the way fights are drawn out in shonen Animes is cingworthy. Naruto fore example often explores entire backstorys with flashbacks midfight and the Freza fight is like 3 hours long. I like long boss fights (Caroline and Justine take like 40 minutes to beat and I love that fight) but that is just insane. Videogame fights have there weaknesses compared to Anime fights but I prefer the pacing and length of them. You get a cutscene before the fight maybe a few lines of dialogue when you reach the next phase and a cut scene after the fight. So Videogames are better shonen to me than Anime.

[@Lugmillord]

Only games can give us such awesome stories as "Princess gets kidnapped by a giant turtle for the 379th time". Movies just can't deliver that.

[@ArchitectofGames]

Don't forget "Princess gets kidnapped by a giant monkey" that's a classic!

[@Lillildipsy]

2:35 Unless you have joy con drift

[@aaronbiduk813]

Its a tragedy that adam has only 81k subs

[@ArchitectofGames]

It's true. No-one should have to suffer the indignity of being subscribed to this channel.

[@HenryGlick]

Damn, that high already?!?

[@alexchen2519]

I feel like Warframe's storytelling is actually something special, and quite unique as it is built from the game not telling you anything. Your initial impressions of your character is just a badass cybernetic space ninja kicking butt through the system, which is suddenly subverted during the Second Dream quest [Spoilers]. DE uses your preconceived tropes about the different factions in the game, as well as your personal experience of fighting them (because they never tell you anything about the game's backstory), to guide you into a false path about the identity about your character, which makes the revelatory moments in the later quests all the more jarring. [Second Dream Spoilers] Personally, after 70 hours of jumping around and being badass as a space ninja, the scene at the Reservoir where your operator-ie: the actual identity of your character- is lying helpless, inverts the power trip you've been getting in a special poignant way. Film can never hope to capture that moment where you're completely stripped of your warframe's powers and surrounded by enemies (and an edgelord with a huge ass sword) and feeling the complete opposite as to what your cybernetic ninja allowed you to feel.

[@sqoops8613]

the fUCKING TATTOOS GUY NEARLY KILLED ME IT TOOK FOREVER TO FIGURE OUT WHO HE WAS

[@greenhomerino]

Any day you upload is a good day

[@RavenLotz]

I hate when different dialogue options lead to the same place. I loved fallout 3’s system where you could replay and see an entirely different story depending on how you interacted with the world but there was still enough ways to accomplish your goal that you could usually discover something new.

[@connorsweeney4111]

i thought this was a video about video game stores until 9:27 when I re-read the title...

[@ziro7616]

Where can I find the soundtracks used in this video? In particular, the starting song.

[@ghostnoodle9721]

Bruh look in the bottom right corner

[@ziro7616]

@@ghostnoodle9721 bruh it's not there in the beginning

[@SnaKeMuHo]

One of the best moments defining a videogame as an art piece for me was in one of NieR: Automata's final boss fights during ending C/D. Spoiler below When you choose to fight as 9S and hack A2, hacking minigame has some new layouts and perspectives. If you keep hacking, camera zooms out and you see that you've literally been hacking her pause screen, with her stats, items, etc. It's such a unique moment that's impossible to pull off in any other media form, and Automata is full of moments like this. It revels in being a videogame and uses all the elements to its advantage.

[@danielmuller6724]

One video 3 more video games to play for me, thank you very much.

[@KarolaTea]

I had no clue the pacman ghosts all haev their unique way of walking!

[@dawdledev]

0:46 A reverse image search shows that the actor is Richard Burgi, so it's one of... www.imdb.com/name/nm0121404/ Oh. That's a lotta movies.

[@cuentadeyoutube5903]

Is the clip from 7th heaven?

[@Dave-vy9yo]

In all honesty, I have known your channel for less than a week and I love all of your videos, but, as little as it matters, I think you didn't quite exploit this video's topic. While I want to throw my 5 cents on the matter, I may be repeating something the video, or someone else said in the comments, so bear with me: Video games stories are special because they are your story, no matter what happens: you ARE the main character, the focus of the story. This makes even something as simple as Super Mario Bros. games be possible in no other media than video games (well yeah, this much is obvious, but anyways) because you, the player, are also Mario, the red plumber avatar that is jumping and crouching through all those hordes of enemies: you feel thrilled and excited once you succeed. Now, in media like movies, you also feel thrilled and excited when the good guy succeeds. But does that mean you feel rewarded? No. Video games let you feel rewarded for succeeding, which creates a deeper emotional attachment to video games. Likewise, and this also works towards a deeper emotional attachment, you feel frustrated when you lose, because it's YOUR lose, not the loss of an actor playing a role or of a cartoon character inside your TV. You fell onto that first pit on 1-1 of SMB, you got cocky and took a level 50 mission while being just level 5, and you just took that totally bullshit and unfair random crit right in the face. This works for EVERY emotion fictional media can convey. The plot twists in video games are more meaningful, because they not just change the context at which you are watching a movie or a show, they change the context at which you are interacting with the world you are presented with. The "bad" endings in video games are more meaningful, too, because it was YOU who screwed up massively and had to be called out for it! While I agree that video games have not quite reached its story-telling potential, you could've given it much more credit by adressing the emotional side of things (I mean, you did, of course, but I personally feel you just remained within the topic of making choices in video games). I also feel that maybe you compared them a wee tad bit li'l touch too much to other media, but that could just be me. After all, video games are still growing by themselves. They got much to learn, as you said. Not much to copy. Now, can anyone tell me just how many things I repeated that were in the video? Thanks in advance.

[@zealot9262]

I think one of the greatest stories I've ever played was Middle Earth: Shadow of War, IMO the ending of that game was amazingly well thought out. Spoilers! When you get abandoned by your only 'friend' (and his powers to keep you alive) after you died at the start of the first game, simply because you didn't want to do what he told you which would lead to him becoming basically another Sauron. He ended up picking someone else to help him meaning you were left there laying on the floor with your throat cut, bleeding out and watching him walk away after all you'd been through together. So you pick up one of the Nazgul's rings you just killed and put it on, but with all your will power you try not to submit to its power and the Dark Lord. You carry on doing what you've been doing for the past two games, killing orcs and capturing forts for in game decades, but sooner or later you 'get bored' you 'give in' and stop playing, You remember there was one last cutscene you waited to watch until you completed the game. There you are, finally tempted by the other side embracing your fellow Nazgul brothers, you spend the next few game decades searching for the ring (like in the LotR movies). But at long last, Frodo throws the ring into Mt. Doom and you die (probably hit by a massive rock that hits you on your fel beast), you appear in the afterlife, a plain field with mountains and such off in the distance. You're finally done, free to meet again with your wife and child (were killed in the first game same time you were). You just start taking all your armour off, you wont be needing it, your sword, your sons sword which you took as a memento after he died and you walk into the distance. TL;DR After going through all the story and grinding away in the end game the exact same as the character you have give into the dark side of not playing and stop saving middle earth the exact same as the character. Basically, PLAY THE DAMN GAMES ALREADY INSTEAD OF READING THIS!

[@psychodrummer1567]

Before watching the video: In Matrix Reloaded, when Neo talks with The Architect, the latter says the following: "(...) a solution whereby nearly 99.9% of all test subjects accepted the program, as long as they were given a choice, even if they were only aware of the choice at a near unconscious level." Now let me reapply it to the video games: "(...) a solution whereby nearly 99.9% of all *players* accepted the *story* , as long as they were given a choice, even if they were only aware of the choice at a near unconscious level." Players need to have the agency, whether or not it's the same agency as the character they are controlling and they never should feel as they are being forced into something that goes against what they did previously; the story elements need to be (or at least _feel like_ ) the consequences of players' previous actions.

[@crysanthiumvega]

You deserve to know what the colour pink looks like.

[@MegaBearsFan]

The interactive element of games definitely has the potential to be more impactful than other non-interactive media, because the player actually has the ability to inform the narrative, story, or messages of the game. Silent Hill 2 (kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpS3gpuYlrN3ia8), Grand Theft Auto IV, Spec-Ops: The Line, Shadow of the Colossus, Dark Souls, and others all use the interactivity of the game and the player's participation to reinforce (or in some cases, outright MAKE) their narrative points. That is something that is simply not possible in non-interactive media.

[@danielz950]

Xenogears has the most in depth story ever attempted to be told in a video game, change my mind.

[@diegodiego3164]

Desperate Housewives. Now give me my bloody 10,000 imaginary points m8.

[@ArchitectofGames]

Consider your points bequeathed.

[@mr.mcweasel6257]

You didn't really talk about games like Sea of Thieves. Besides the Tall Tale stories, there isn't really any set stories in the game. But you make your own stories from interacting with other players and the world in the sandbox, and there are so many features in it that anything can happen. You aren't limited by a few dialogue options, and your choices really matter.

[@SilverlandgmodTV]

I know this is a pedantic point, but verisimilitude is by no means unique to video games. The word is closely tied to literary criticism, and there are entire branches of literary theory that deal with verisimilitude.

[@iggsolo]

I found his use of the term the weakest part of the video

[@AstraIVagabond]

@@iggsolo Same! Self-deprecating "pretentiousness" apologism that really just amounts to cowing to anti-intellectualism by disavowing the use of academic terms or good words where they're relevant is always disappointing too.

[@igorthelight]

3:38 - Pinky the... green one... You are trolling, right? :-)

[@manamongmen3381]

How would he be? Pinky is ironically green. Fact. You seeing things alright man?

[@igorthelight]

@@manamongmen3381 pacman.wikia.com/wiki/Pinky - is that green to you? :-) upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/51/Pacman_title_na.png - Who of them is green? Blinky is red. Pinky is pink Inky is cyan Clyde is orange Show me the source where pinky is green.

[@kclink1579]

Thomas Was Alone in the thumbnail.

[@reubenm.d.5218]

I think you should have mentioned the Binding of Isaac for this one.

[@juuuuuuno_7]

What is the 0:23 "political epics" game?

[@okthen4275]

Hey! Great work! Can you do a video on Inside, by playdead... it’s a 2016 game and it has deep lore and doesn’t have a single line of text or dialogue... but it’s also just a well structured game and it’s unique in multiple ways! Thx 4 reading this!

[@TheDragonfriday]

Warframe story is great I will literally never forget that feeling of mysterious feeling. Keep me motivated to keep playing ever since

[@l-_-lnzrd]

As an addition, if you havent played it, dwarf fortress could work as a much better than spelunky. The game is so complex that it creates imaginative and emergent stories by playing it. It does it with systems like trading, politics, emulation of things like trauma, personality and physical traits, weather, art and lore generation... Just to name a few

[@niroe82]

I'll be honest, I think "Video Games" is a terrible name simply because nowaday you can have games without actual proper "Gameplay", Gameplay in the sense that the interactive elements are enough fun on their own to be considered a "Game" under a more classical definiton. Under this definition, Visual Novel like Phoenix Wright don't have a proper gameplay even if there are choices. It'd be more fitting to qualify that as "Interadtive experience" or "Interactive art". And honestly, I think you might have talked too fast when mentionning that PW would be boring without choices, because there are VNs that are purely linear, and they can be really good and more entertaining than most proper video games In the end, I think Video games are just a part of a larger medium that I would personally call the "Interactable Medium"

[@gtronyamos5521]

The real National Treasure is the movie itself.

[@stefancodrin]

You should try brothers, a tale of two sons and Rimworld. For some interesting and really new ways to deliver a story.

[@esotericmissionary]

No mention of the the original Deus Ex or Thief series in this video?.. #WhatAShame

[@ryanhatfield4517]

I think the Persona series has some of the best stories that are enhanced by being a video game.

[@lhumanoideerrantdesinterne8598]

I loved the story in both P4 and 5 but I don't really see how they are enhanced by their medium compared to say... Undertale, Nier:Automata, Spec Ops : The Line or the Walking Dead. The 'daily life simulation" aspect is certainly improved by that, but that's not really what their stories revolved around.

[@ryanhatfield4517]

@@lhumanoideerrantdesinterne8598 Persona 4 is about searching for the truth and the game makes it very easy to get a bad or even good ending but to get the best ending the player must also keep searching till the very last day of the game. Lots of games have true endings but Persona 4 story is about the concept of a true ending and the hard work to find it. I am really bad at explaining things on the internet but I just think Persona 4's story should be compared to Undertale, Nier, and Spec ops. But hey its my favorite game of all time so I am pretty biased.

[@lhumanoideerrantdesinterne8598]

@@ryanhatfield4517 I think I get what you mean. That sense of investment in the story and accomplishment from getting the true ending can only be achieved because you spend so long with the game and got so invested in it. I agree with that, but I'd say it's a strength of most games. Since games are usually longer than most books, movies or TV shows, you spend more time with the characters and learn to know them and get attached. That's especially true from the Persona games which are especially long, but not exclusive to them. For instance, an other game I loved for its unique narrative was Pyre. In it, you spend hours assembling members of your team and forming a bond with them, then by the time you reach the end of you journey, you've really made a bond with them and feel accomplished for all the hard won battles that allowed you to get there. But where I find Pyre is absolutely brilliant is that, to set free one of your companions that you came to love and let them accomplish their dreams, you must make them leave your team for the rest of the game. That' forces you to weigh the narrative impact of setting them free against the gameplay impact of having them helping you. In fact, I'd say that this mixture of narrative and gameplay is what makes the best videogames stories. Once again, Persona games have great stories, but you could skip pretty much all of the gameplay bits and it would be mostly unchanged. Same thing with The Last of Us which had a fantastic story too but was very divorced from its gameplay. These are nice experiences, but they don't make for the most memorable stories for me.

[@ryanhatfield4517]

@@lhumanoideerrantdesinterne8598 Well I love them and they are my favorite so to each there own.

[@amanofculture9429]

With that argument best videogames stories will be told from emerging gameplay interaction. And most unique and unpredictable interaction can be achieved with humans. Which means... MMO PvP games.

[@fuzzypickles3129]

haha, solid title card quote.

[@goransekulic3671]

Not even a mention of a certain tiny game, called Dark Souls? I believe it is kinda important for this exact topic. But what do I know?

[@saramartin5179]

"That is of course before you die to a skeleton splashing you with one too many cups of sad juice." -as a Darkest Dungeon player I laughed way too hard at that XD

[@fireflocs]

Games are art because of gameplay.

[@jag7378]

I am baffled by the lack of The Last of Us in this video

[@ArchitectofGames]

I was actually going to include it! but it got cut in the editing process I'm afraid

[@jag7378]

@@ArchitectofGames Well thats unfortunate. Still managed to be a fantastic video tho!

[@lv100Alice]

I swear I keep expecting you to talk about xcom but it's great that you don't and talk about other games' mostly because I can think myself to what you would say about xcom. It's like a secret 2 minuts more for fans that have played to much xcom like me

[@LunaZerOmega]

Clyde is my favourite