#The story is too plain

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

tidal narwhal
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D3/4 style story:

  • here is the bad guy, you'll have to defeat him
  • you'll meet NPC/factions that will become your allies, everything sends you there, you must do (very similar/boring) quests to get the allies
  • clickbait side quest, even more boring (go there, find something, kill these mobs, get a couple dialogs as a reward)
  • zero surprises

BG3 style story:

  • what is this? who is this? okay I'll try to play as a good guy
  • is this NPC good or evil? will she betray?
  • oh this one is definitely good
  • no, I understand now, she is playing with me, she is evil
  • actually, no that's the evil force and she is helping me against it
  • no, she is evil
  • no, she is helping
  • I really need to clarify what's happening, I'll go there to find out, I'll fight mobs to get there because I want to go there, I really want to know what's going on
  • wait am I actually playing on the good side? Am I turning evil?
  • what is good and what is evil? what does it mean to be evil?
  • OH MY GOD

Now, as BG3 game actually exists, why developers still making boring plain D3/4 style stories?

P.S.
most of the game I used one ability only that one-shot most of the mobs (until level 19 mobs), the mechanic is very plain and no synergy

grave laurel
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we're lucky if the story is even marginally passable

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comepletely different beast from a crpg

lime sentinel
# tidal narwhal D3/4 style story: - here is the bad guy, you'll have to defeat him - you'll meet...

I am thinking a bit similar.
the story is good. It really catches you the further you go. I just finished it and now i just wanna continue to know the next.

However, the lack of choice makes it a very straight line. For example, bronze lion in the game. there could be more choice here, Do I side with the Bronze Lion instead? do I side with the civilians. The lack of different questlines of the side-quests reduce its replayability

P.S.
Had the same, until I increased the difficulty using ritual shrine and increased the units level. you wont one-shot them. in fact they one shot you.

lime sentinel
grave laurel
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i mean they could, but i'm sure they have the story they want to tell laid out already

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and we'll see how it unfolds

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it likely won't have twists and turns or player input and choice

lime sentinel
grave laurel
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i don't care one way or another, and i'm going to let them make their game here, but i really don't want to play an arpg game with deep quests and storylines

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it's not the best mechanism for delivery

dire plank
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I am surprised by this thread. Actually thought the story was pretty good.

lime sentinel
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its a railroad

dire plank
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But thats kinda how most arpgs are.

lime sentinel
lime sentinel
tidal narwhal
grave laurel
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the games are meant to be played multiple times for the combat/building experience

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not for the stories

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there are non-diablo like arpgs that have more indepth stories

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but games like TQ would suffer from extremely deep story lines and sidequests

alpine sorrel
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Story is good to have, yeah. But I don't know a SINGLE person who bought an ARPG for the story.

grave laurel
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there were some attempts to make some more story driven arpgs that aren't crazy open world style (TES) or souls-likes. divine divinity is a good example of one

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but either it didn't land or it didn't sell enough

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however it did get us dos/dos2 and bg3

lime sentinel
alpine sorrel
lime sentinel
grave laurel
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right, but then you have to think of the reward structure for those quests and the fact that players who choose not to one and done the game will have to repeat those over and over and over and over and over

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the structure of a diablo-like game does not lend itself to even complex side quests

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especially in a game like this where power often comes from sidequests (10 energy, attribute/mastery points, etc)

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they generally need to be quick and snappy enough

lime sentinel
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i'd use the Bronze Lion as an example of a an missed opportunity.

SPOILERS: when you enter, there's the civilians and the leader/champion of bronze Lions. here it instantly makes you side with the civilians.

it could be possible here to make you side with the other and have this as a place to sell and buy stuff

tidal narwhal
grave laurel
# tidal narwhal Then why do companies spend money on story-mode at all? The game could be just f...

because having some semblance of a story helps to provide motive for doing whatever it is we're doing at all and gives enough narrative to make it interesting without taking up too much time. it allows for world building without dragging us down into long winded cutscenes, narrative response trees and multiple branches of quest options and dialogue. i think arpgs should have some story and some world building, but the presentation should be simple enough to move the character along without hampering the action play most of us are here for

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what you are seeking doesn't fit the mold of the genre and the expectations of the userbase

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i think there is room for someone to make a game like what you are after. i mentioned one, i think sacred 1 & 2 might also fit the bill a little bit if their writing was better. but to deviate from what made titan quest titan quest in this sense would just be a poor decision.

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when you're on your 10th run with some new mastery combo idea, you'll get it

brisk cipher
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I agree with you that the story is a bit short for now but waiting to go as far as bg3 is a bit too much. We don't have enough options in an arpg to create unique circonstances.
I think we will have multiple choice quests later (it was the case in grim dawn so the team know how to do this) but we're just too early in the developement

lime sentinel
tidal narwhal
grave laurel
brisk cipher
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(and short plots can later implement interesting twist (like, I suspect for now that our character is a god in sleeping or newborn))

tidal narwhal
grave laurel
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the campaign is part of the character journey

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it's integral to the series

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a deep narrative is not

tidal narwhal
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2nd playthrough campaign can be shorter, it's also a technical decision, like in LE2

grave laurel
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i don't want 0% story

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i don't want ultra 100% bg3 level narratives

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i want that 10-15% arpgs give you

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it's a sweet spot

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that has worked for the genre for a long time

lime sentinel
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why can't there be a middle-ground ?

Main-quest can be kinda railroadish, while side-quests are a bit more complex?

tidal narwhal
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Also I'm not asking for a long campaign. I just want the campaign to be worth paying attention without pressing "skip" most of the times. Arpg devs just being lazy and users follow on pressing Skip.

lime sentinel
dire plank
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I do think TQ is an arpg with a higher focus on story than its competitors. So if you are a fan of TQ asking for an improvement on that seems fitting.

oak sigil