I finished Mass Effect yesterday and it was every bit as good as I remembered. It was also very sad on a number of levels. It was better than my last play-through (all praises be to DLC) and having the ability to do it straight through all three games in a row was more of a cinematic event than the waiting was. I have to say, the ending was not very good the first run. It left a lot to the post credits scene, which is relatively disconnected.
None of that is the point of this blog.
This blog is about games and investment and storytelling. I believe a good game is one that tells a story. Sometimes you event the story with the tools provided. When I play Madden or NCAA Football, I am eventing the story as I go. I am adding the nuance between each prospect and inventing the relationships between the players. There is not a deeper open world concept to help me manufacture this reality. My players are numbers on a screen and don’t exist beyond the playing field, but I make up the story in my head because I want it to be there and there are enough clues and components to give me the tools to do so. Still, it is limited.
Really good immersive storytelling is the kind of stuff that attaches you to a character to the point where their pain is your own because you are them and their friends are your friends. This is the direction that games are heading towards with the help of better tech. The RPG revival is going to meet the game world in a way that gives us more Mass Effect level interactions. I want those stories.
Those stories take a lot out of me.
After I finished I could not imagine playing another serious game for a while. I got in a few pokemon matches, but the X-box has stayed off since. I don’t know when it is coming back on. I certainly am not playing Clair Obscura anytime soon. This is also the result of a good game. It leaves you satisfied in a way that refills your dopamine. You don’t instantly crave more. We need more things in our lives like that, so we aren’t all junkies constantly.
Some Thoughts:
- Absolutely Bonkers Headline of the Day: “Spirit Airlines goes out of business after 34 years, ending operations immediately” You’re telling me they sucked for 33 years before bankruptcy became inevitable?!
- I need to write a post about ambition. It is a key source of division in my life and bears discussing.
- Also… This: “Prosecutors release video of armed man storming correspondents’ dinner” Watch it. This is a terrifying case of incompetence… on the part of both parties. One police officer (NOT secret service) reacted in time and fired shots at the attacker. Those shots missed everything and everyone. Turns out the dude wound up slipping and bonked his head, knocking himself unconscious. All the hype over how dangerous this was and how close he got is relevant in the sense that he could’ve gotten inside. He didn’t. He never even fired a shot. Let that sink in.