Epic <> Lazy

[Jason Tandro]

Lately I've found a lot of games and movies that are trying to artificially create "Epic".

You all know what I'm talking about.

They seem to think that the cheapest way to create an epic storyline is to follow a few basic archetypes:

1. Creating a massive world of cookie cutter races, which all fall into the subsets of:
a. proud, mysterious xenophobes.
b. friendly, simple folk (who usually end up getting invaded)
c. military, authoritarian warlords (usually the bad guy)
d. industrious but greedy
e. ethereal, nearly omnipotent beings.

2. Having so many characters that you need a Dossier to remember them all, only five or six you will actually care about in the end (possibly because all the others die, see #3)

3. Having more deaths than the Holocaust.

4. Having big flashy battle sequences over every minor disagreement.

5. Having at least one made-up language.


There are a couple of things that come to my mind when I see this.


For instance, Final Fantasy XII. Yes, I know I'm going to get my gamer nads sliced off shortly before being crucified for criticizing a Final Fantasy, but this game was epic. Very epic. TOO EPIC.

If the person playing the game can't follow what is going on without constantly having to be reminded of what powers lie where and who's sided with who, you've got a problem.

It doesn't help that I'm the OCD type who likes to go out powerleveling for hours on end, only to forget what I'm supposed to be doing. Yeah, I know the map screen tells you, but still.

Don't get me wrong, I still loved the game, I just think they got a little carried away.

[inferiare]

Hey hey hey, made up languages can work in a game without trying to make it "epic". Ar tonelico comes to mind since they were just going for a game that was fun as opposed to OH MY GOD THE NEXT BIGGEST FRANCHISE!!! since GUST isn't exactly the biggest game company ever.

FF13 was... good. Not epic, but good. Buuuuut there was a huge encyclopedia of EVERYTHING that happened in flashbacks and in the story. Good for when you put the game down for 2 years and you have no idea what's going on or something, but for someone who powers for the game, not so much.

Nowadays, most gaming companies see how the sleeper hits that DID make the Epic idea and try to emulate it: Oh, New Game by X Company was an amazing game and they made a billion dollars by selling nearly 2 billion copies on release week? LETS MAKE A GAME ALMOST EXACTLY LIKE IT! They then hype it up to crazy proportions and then... it flops. Gamers say "It was trying to copy X Game, wtf were they thinking with J Game?" and it just doesn't fly well.

[Jason Tandro]

inferiare wrote:

Hey hey hey, made up languages can work in a game without trying to make it "epic".

I wasn't saying that. All these things can exist in a truly good game. But only if they are really necessary or add some genuine level of depth. Not if they're tacked on as a gimmick.

I've been working on this one story in my head since I was like 12 years old, and in my first attempts to write it I had a made up language referred to as the "language of the pilgrims."

But it had literally no purpose, except I would randomly have a character spout a line of dialogue in it. I abandoned this concept.

In contrast, take a look at your language work. That is genuinely good story-telling and fits perfectly in the context of the lexicon.

[Dark_Gaia]

i found ffxii relatively simple to follow and didnt mind the political based story but thats just my opinion

[EverPhoenix]

im halfway through ffxii (still, should be picking it back up now that im free of academic burdens for a few weeks), and the plot seems pretty random.