06/03- 7:00PM EST
Welcome to an all essay edition of Q&A!
A winner and runner-up have been chosen and
I'll be sharing their essays today along
with another. Winners were selected randomly
so don't think not winning means I didn't
enjoy your essays! I received a large volume
of entries and I thank you all for taking
the time to put them together.
Now let's get right to it...
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Discursive and
Immersive:
How non-linear storytelling
promotes replayability
By Sam Vicchrilli
Bethesda’s Fallout 3
is a sprawling open world RPG set in
post-apocalyptic Washington, D.C. Cyanide’s
Game of Thrones (published by Atlus)
game is an action RPG set in the fantasy
world created by author George R.R. Martin.
Although the former enjoys greater critical
acclaim over the latter, both were
experiences enjoyed by me, although Fallout
3 is more likely to be replayed again
by me in the future, for reasons that
include gameplay. But the primary factor,
and one that can perhaps be extrapolated to
compare other open world games and more
linear ones, is that the story Fallout
tells is determined primarily by the actions
of the player. The increased freedom in the
game makes it more worth re-visiting.
Fallout 3 is one
of the few games I have invested tens of
hours into, beaten it, and then gone back
for more, and even thrown more money at it
via DLC. It’s one of the few games I have
wandered aimlessly just for the pleasure of
exploration, finding new towns and perhaps
uncovering more quests. This is due to the
emphasis on the “role” in the game’s genre
-- RPG. I was that lone traveler fighting in
the wasteland. The openness of the style
allowed me to participate in the narrative
in a more immersive way than Game of
Thrones.
Game of Thrones
tells a well-written and engaging story, but
therein lies a difference. I am being told
the story, mainly through cut scenes and
some few scenarios where I have a chance to
be benevolent or wicked, which did not seem
to have much of an effect on the game world.
In Fallout 3 when you make a choice,
the world is immediately affected. For
example, early in the game, while still
locked in the Vault, I had the choice of any
number of ways to escape. My actions did not
rely on a single moment of an illusion of
choice (be bad or be good), but rather my
own personality and style of play: whether I
want to be sneaky, engaging, aggressive,
persuasive, violent, or confusion, insofar
as I didn’t understand the ramifications of
my actions until they had concluded. This
alone invites more replay than the mere
“good action or bad action” dichotomy of Game
of Thrones.
Fallout 3 is an
example of what separates video games from
other forms of media. With rare exception,
books and films tell a singular story, and
that story never changes. Yes, some movies
and books are worth revisiting, and even the
story of Game of Thrones would
warrant another listen, but the appeal of Fallout
3’s replayability is something
different. It’s a good story that you have a
decent amount of control over. Yes, certain
events are scripted, but there is much that
is open, open and inviting you to explore,
debate, and act according to your desire.
Wheels
A fantastic
essay. My only point would be
that despite linear stories some
RPGs can achieve a similar
effect to Fallout 3 to some
degree by by providing an
openness to the gameplay
systems. A great example of this
would be Final Fantasy V.
The story is the same every
time, but the class system
allows for an amazing diversity
of abilities that can't fully be
experienced in one playthrough.
The overall point is the same of
course. To keep a game engaging
for many replays, the gameplay
must allow some openness to the
play on how they go about the
tasks of the game. Your grade:
A.
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Hi! Here's my entry for your contest. I
found it hard to stick to just 500 words,
but rules are rules, and I hope you enjoy my
take on it.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 shares
more than just time-travelling with Chrono
Trigger—I believe XIII-2 is
actually the cancelled/never-released Chrono
Break that was reformed to fit in the
Fabula Nova Crystallis universe. Releasing a
third game in the Chrono series is
tricky: Trigger introduced basic level
time-travelling and multiple endings, while
Cross took on inter-dimensional travel. I've
always believed that a successful third
entry would have to find some way to make
time travelling fresh again by examining a
different aspect of it, which XIII-2
has. The way the gates are set up, travel to
the past is forbidden (something that was
integral to resolving Trigger's story), and
new possibilities are opened up by mixing
time- and dimensional-travel by being able
to access parallel realities (e.g. Academia
400AF and 4XX AF). Paradox endings are also
another take on the multiple endings
available in the two Chrono games.
The ability to close gates also adds a new
twist to time travel.
But it doesn't end there. All the characters
in XIII-2 either once existed in the
Chrono universe or are heavily
influenced by them. While Serah's search for
Lightning might look like an
extension/reversal of Lightning's quest to
save Serah in XIII, it resembles much more
closely the story of Janus and Schala. XIII-2/Chrono
Break has two universes colliding, and
just as alternate realities co-exist, so do
alternate versions of the characters. Serah
and Noel represent the two fractured pieces
of the Janus/Magus dichotomy. Serah is
Janus; she is scarred by the events that
separated her from her protective and
altruistic sister (Lightning/Schala), but
not yet damaged and jaded. Noel shares
Magus' pessimism, and is hardened by his
years spent in the grim future. He catches a
glimpse of Lightning as he passes through
time, chasing after Yeul, who, together with
Caius form the Dream/Time Devourer. Yeul is
attached to her host, doomed to bring
destruction with her wherever she goes just
as she tries to save those around her.
Caius' ultimate goal is to end time itself,
though he is slightly more human than his Chrono
counterpart.
Valhalla could very well be the fallen
kingdom of Zeal, that which houses Schala as
she eternally watches over her little
brother, blessed and cursed by the entity
that grants magic and allows gates to
appear. Just as Etro guided her l'Cie and
chosen warriors, so too did she watch over
Crono and Serge. Dreams were born from Zeal,
the place from which Masa, Mune and Doreen
hail. Masa and Mune take on a more literal
form as Noel's two swords—it is possible
their dreams had died by the time of Noel's
era. However, Doreen/Mog step in as the
magical being capable of becoming a weapon
to be used for good in the right hands.
I think it's unlikely we'll see another Chrono
game, but for me, XIII-2 is the next
best thing, and stood well on its own
without explicitly being tied to the
franchise.
Regards,
Simon
Wheels
Wow, the theory
of XIII-2 as the
canceled Chrono Break (if
it ever existed) is quite
interesting. It would explain
the seemingly abrupt change in
plot between XIII and XIII-2.
Still, I found XIII-2's
take on time travel much too
jumbled and nonsensical. If this
was to be the next Chrono
game, then I would be glad it
ended up as something else
instead. The similarities you
point out are very interesting.
Your grade: A-.
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Comparing the
Obvious
No two game series spark so much discussion
as Final Fantasy and Suikoden.
The discussions are different, the game
series are different, but in the end they
fall more or less in the same camp of RPG
type.
In the majority of the games, both series
feature turn based combat by a party of
characters that band together for the good
cause. Both series have had spin-offs in the
Tactics division as well as other series,
both had games that were mostly loved and
mostly loathed. Both series tried new things
and kept things the same. Both series, as a
whole, are wildly loved.
Then the main difference. Final Fantasy
games, for the most part, are stand-alone
games in original universes. Suikoden
games, for the most part, are a series of
games all tied together in the same
universe. And it is here why we find the
main difference for the love (and hate) and
why I believe that Suikoden, as a
series, is the better historically, and why
FF is the more popular.
Disclaimer: FF6 is my favourite game, Suikoden
my favourite series. I care more for story
than I care for game systems.
Since Final Fantasy games are
usually set in a new universe, the love or
hate stems from both the game system as well
as the story and the game world. It is why FF6
and FF7 are mostly loved, FF8
not so much, then FF9 is loved
again. The love starts with the game, and
ends with the game, it doesn’t flow through
into the next installment. Investment starts
fresh with every new game. FF13 is an
exception, being serialized, but from what
I’ve heard neither the story nor the game
system has garnered much love. (note; no
more than hearsay) The obvious positive side
to this is you do not need previous
experience with any of the FF games
to enjoy the next. It seems continuation
doesn’t work well for the FF games.
Suikoden, on the other hand,
continues where the previous game left off.
In this sense, emotional investment into the
characters and the game world can be brought
into the next game, and is more rewarding.
On the other hand, compared to FF,
the game system has been kept relatively the
same over the years and to those not
invested from the start, the games may seem
stale, but fans of the series are easy to
forgive as they are desperate to know how
their favourite characters will continue to
fare in the next game. The love of this
continuation of the series is why fans
weren’t too pleased with the “non-canon” DS
and PSP entries. However, this continuation
makes getting into the series much harder
(especially with the prices for Suikoden
1 and 2), but the rewards are
all the bigger.
In short, as a series, Suikoden is
more rewarding, but FF doesn’t need
investment from the start and as such is
easier to enjoy.
-Daniel
Wheels
A
fantastic comparison of two of
my favorite series. On the whole
I think the Final Fantasy route
is the best route to go for most
series. You can see what
happened to Suikoden. I
think something like the Suikoden
series can be successful, but
making each game self contained
but also continue a story can be
quite daunting. A better way I
think would be to actually be
able to import some of your
favorite characters from the
previous game, and if you don't
have those stars assigned to
other new characters (or random
ones from the previous game). Of
course that would make the
series even more difficult to
produce, but I just want more Suikoden!
Anyway my good sir, your grade
is an A+. Well done!
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That's it for this week, feel free to send
in more essays just for fun if you'd like,
or any comments on the ones that have been
posted!
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