What is your favorite movie? No, seriously, I know what the title says but, what is it? Personally, I prefer series over movies altogether but that's another article for another time. So, you know what your favorite movie is, why do you like that movie? Is it because of the characters? The story? What about the art (for those photographers out there)? For most people, one of the reasons they like a movie so much is because of something within the movie. Confused? Let me explain with another question: what's your favorite form of entertainment? What do I mean by form of entertainment? Well, movies aren't the only way to entertain people. There are many more forms! Including theater, books, TV series, comedy routines, and the one I'm writing about today: video games.
Video games as we know them today are games that you play using various controllers and a console to play the game on. Also, if you aren't a child, you should know that video games have always been just that: games in the form of video; but more recently, video games have become developed into more and more of a story format.
Take the horror game Until Dawn. In this game, you play as a group of teenagers staying the night in a log cabin, but throughout the night the teenagers are haunted by various...hauntings? Anyway, the game is done in such a way to make it feel like you're directing your own horror film--anyone can live and anyone can die, and you become attached to all of the characters. It gives a sense that anything can happen, but it all feels a lot like a film and less like a game. This is due to the fact that you don't actually win at the game, the game just ends with testimonies from each character that survived, talking about the horrors that happened that night.
Next, Uncharted 4: A Theif's end. In this game, you play as a man named Nathan Drake as he goes on an adventure trying to find clues to a hidden treasure. While this game seems like your classic story-telling video game, it actually does something really interesting. The game makes itself feel like a real life event with real people. Let me explain, at many points during a time where you'll go across terrain to get from point A to point B, you'll talk with someone along the way. As you hear this conversation play out, let's say you find a hidden treasure off to the side and you decide to get in the middle of the conversation. As games should, the conversation stops to let a cutscene of you finding the treasure play out. Now here's where it gets interesting, after you take the treasure, instead of the conversation not happening or even just cutting right back to where you started, the main character actually says "Alright then, where were we?" and you go right on with the conversation.
The point is, a lot of video games are adopting a more real, fluent, and free form of story-telling. Something that movies, books (mostly), and television can't accomplish with relative ease. This is why I belive that video games are the best form of entertainment, because they put the audience in the story and allow them to choose what happens.
But...this is also the downfall to video games, because they give players a choice in what to do, a lot of video games actually lose some of its story because of the player's choices with the ever famous Game Over screen. The difficulty of video games will always trip up at least one player and will detract from the experience.
All in all, it could go both ways. On one hand, video games offer more realism and immersion to audiences than movies could ever hope to do. On the other hand, only movies and books can garuntee the proper and best experience.
So at the end of the day, it's up to you. Are you willing to experience better realism and immersion at the cost of non-fluent stories? Or are you willing to sacrifice better immersion and choice for a fluent story?
The choice is yours, but for now, I've got to get back to playing undertale.
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