Video Games Flashy scenes and fireworks - Or - Why Jazzing has degraded many games

Thought of this while discussing the length of games in another thread.

But, I find a surprising number of new games today that just don't rub me the right way. When I was younger, I was always ecstatic about the "newest" console out there. Ooh, I want a Nintendo! Ooh, I want a Gameboy! Ooh Genesis! Ahh, SNES! And so on...

Almost everything had charm on the early systems, and many classics hold true even today. However, as time passes, fewer and fewer newer gamers will even touch said classics on the basis that it is old, looks old, and doesn't fry as many brain cells per hour.

Almost everything today begins with flashy or nice graphics. Companies push the envelope with stunningly beautiful rendered scenes and polys. Musical scores come fully orchestrated. We get full voice in many games now.

All the whizzbangs. But when does it go so far that the whizzbangs get all the attention, and we lose out on story, quality, and individuality? Well, here's my line of thinking of when that bridge has been crossed:

1) Artificial Lengthening. Involves whipping up a lengthy cutscene or reusing a long flashy effect. Final Fantasy's trudged down this route since FF8. Summon a creature and it tacks 2-3 more minutes onto your game. Multiply that by how frequently you battle and how often you use the thing and suddenly your game time is really high up there. Is the game any longer for it? Artificially. You're not getting any more story or development. You're not even getting to see something new.

2) Cheating a Full Release aka "Expansion". Involves adding and expanding more elements to an existing game. Usually these come with enough new doodads to really appeal to the die-hard gamer. But they're so commonly used today that one can't help but wonder if they're planned and developed alongside the original game as a marketing ploy to have you buy the game 1 1/2 times - Once for the game, and then at a lower price to fully complete it.

3) Money Shots. Involves setting up some amazing pre-rendered cutscene movies. These can very mood-setting and visually appealing, but can almost like a ruse to make the game seem grander than it is. The worst money shots are any that drag on long to the point where they're almost falling into artificial lengthening above.

4) Copycatting. Involves cloning an existing game because it's successful. These lack originality and seem to be around every nook and cranny. Heck, how many FPS out right now are running a Quake engine?

More as they refresh in my mind...

 

Or maybe just more intricate ones. I've seen this as a negative in a few titles. The game was drawn out and long - lots of levels, but very empty.

Subplots are good, if they don't make me feel overwhelmed all at once. The major reason I lost interest in Summoner early on was the fact that I kept picking up subplots, but not finding any leads on the previous ones. I was left with an overly large number of quests that frustrated me to look through before attempting even one.

A good side-story helps now and then. But in all honesty, a little linear helps keep me from feeling lost and "where do I go from here"?

Again, AI can be a double-edged sword. If it were "ideal" AI, it would obviously be a benefit. And character interaction can be fun, too. Look at some of the NPC interaction in Baldur's Gate II - there is banter back and forth as well as some development throughout party chat.

But a poor AI, as in one that is poor tactically in battle, or predictable in conversation, would really be horrible to put up with.

Always a good thing. I love character development. In newer games' defense, we do get more story and character than we did in the early 80's, but it's still lacking in many games of today to the degree some good old-school RPGs manage.

A free-roaming RPG where you could do almost anything, yet be on the move to an earth-shattering story. Can you say "total escape from reality"?

Hopefully making its return when your "perfect game" is realized.