I think it's common to think of video game stories not being that good compared to other mediums. But is that true?
With writing and acting, it probably is. Heavy Rain as an example would be average at best compared to movies. TLOU is one of the few examples that would be considered good in other mediums.
But I think in some ways, video game stories are a league above others. Worldbuilding specifically is something games shine at. Very few movies have the same effort put into it compared to the average game, and essentially no movies or books are as capable of expressing these worlds. It's true imo for open worl games, linear games, and even small abstract games. Obviously not every game is good at this, but the ones that are good are really good compared to other mediums.
Another story element games tend to excell at is being "unique." Like books, there is no limitation to what the story can be about. Movies often do human stories with simple plots, but games go crazy. For example how many big movies take place in a simulation? Matrix is one of the few. Meanwhile countless games do this and it's practically a trope. How many big movies have the main character not be human like? Very very few, yet in games there are tons of stories that are super abstract and don't have human like elements.
So what are your thoughts? How do video game stories compare to book and movie stories?
With writing and acting, it probably is. Heavy Rain as an example would be average at best compared to movies. TLOU is one of the few examples that would be considered good in other mediums.
But I think in some ways, video game stories are a league above others. Worldbuilding specifically is something games shine at. Very few movies have the same effort put into it compared to the average game, and essentially no movies or books are as capable of expressing these worlds. It's true imo for open worl games, linear games, and even small abstract games. Obviously not every game is good at this, but the ones that are good are really good compared to other mediums.
Another story element games tend to excell at is being "unique." Like books, there is no limitation to what the story can be about. Movies often do human stories with simple plots, but games go crazy. For example how many big movies take place in a simulation? Matrix is one of the few. Meanwhile countless games do this and it's practically a trope. How many big movies have the main character not be human like? Very very few, yet in games there are tons of stories that are super abstract and don't have human like elements.
So what are your thoughts? How do video game stories compare to book and movie stories?