But I thought you liked story in games?
Lily: I like good story and good writing.I do not like bad story. Or bad writing.Or infodumping. Or games that forget they are games first and foremost.And I don't like any criticism of pacing or quality of writing being wallpapered over with "You just don't like story."
Fair enough. That being said, if you were writing a story in a game, how would you present it? I don't mean how would you write it, I mean how would you incorporate it into the game?
Lily: I'd emulate BioWare and Kingdom Hearts: Relevant info first, and then straight into gameplay. Let people get settled and comfortable before going into the plot-important information.100% skippable cutscenes, NO infodumping. Games are Gameplay First. Story always takes a back seat to gameplay, not the other way around. Always presume the player will get it and doesn't need things overly explained.Curb the ego that suggests that players NEED every last scrap of information (which is just an excuse to infodump).
Very interesting! What are some other games that you would say do that? As for me, what I would do is something like Sonic Forces(not that that game is good), where necessary info is displayed during a level itself, like a dialogue exchange between the player character and someone else via earpiece.
Lily: I actually greatly dislike passive dialogue. A lot of games do that these days, especially the Dragon Age series, and it just turns into inane, mindless chatter.Then again, I'm someone who despises background noise in all its forms. As in "turns ambient volume to 0." I tried playing Monster Hunter World the other day, and the Handler and Field Team Leader's endless chatter made me quit. It's like having someone yapping in your ear when you're trying to focus on something. I hate it so fucking much.