Earliest examples of good game writing?

[Xenich]

Games of chance...

Is not a good term because it includes slots, pachinko, roulette, and other non-games.

So would an action arcade gamer be justified in claiming an RNG RPG is just a "game of chance", therefore not a game... because they don't TRULY control the outcome and are ultimately at the mercy of chance?

Poker and RNG RPG are games because your knowledge allows you to leverage your skills to maximize your chance of winning. This is different than making a choice and hoping for the best.

Point is, I would still call them games, just different types which is what I was getting at. A game of zero skill, but requires you to pick as a winning condition is still a game, just not one that leverages any real ability.

Still a game though.

[rusty_shackleford]

interactive fiction are not games, it's not hard

[Bertram_Tung]

Dark Sum: Shattered Land.
Well, actually there's nothing fancy in terms of the storywriting. The plot isn't anything more compelling than your generic good-vs-big-bad fantasy cliches, but the game has a comfy village in the middle of the despairing shithole, which made me really feel and want to protect it at all costs.

i need to play this again it's been decades

[Stack of Turtles]

interactive fiction are not games, it's not hard

zork is a game

[Tweed]

Look guys! A game!

cyoa.jpg

[Acrux]

interactive fiction are not games, it's not hard

The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante is well-regarded around here as a solid rpg. What makes it different?

(Genuinely asking. I haven't played it, but it looks like it falls squarely into interactive fiction to me. And was a reason for me not to play it.)

[rusty_shackleford]

interactive fiction are not games, it's not hard

The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante is well-regarded around here as a solid rpg. What makes it different?

(Genuinely asking. I haven't played it, but it looks like it falls squarely into interactive fiction to me. And was a reason for me not to play it.)

It's not an RPG, it's a gamebook/text adventure

[Trickster]

World of Darkness. But it's extremely gay.

[pol_345polex]

interactive fiction are not games, it's not hard

The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante is well-regarded around here as a solid rpg. What makes it different?

(Genuinely asking. I haven't played it, but it looks like it falls squarely into interactive fiction to me. And was a reason for me not to play it.)

It's not an RPG, it's a gamebook/text adventure

In fact it's a GAMEbook. At least it has a good amount of branching storylines unlike telltale games or similar to them (Batman: the enemy within is the only one i can recall that has a completely different final episode based on your choices).

[Roguey]

When it comes to action games and RPGs, Japs were ahead of the curve. Phantasy Star II from 1989 and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past from 91/92 had stronger narratives than most any previous non-adventure I can think of aside from Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear from 1987 which was never released in the US (bastardized NES port doesn't count). Of course that guy would be on the ground floor of storytelling in games.

[rusty_shackleford]

When it comes to action games and RPGs, Japs were ahead of the curve. Phantasy Star II from 1989 and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past from 91/92 had stronger narratives than most any previous non-adventure I can think of aside from Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear from 1987 which was never released in the US (bastardized NES port doesn't count). Of course that guy would be on the ground floor of storytelling in games.

Disagree that LttP has good writing. I guess it has a serviceable narrative, but I don't remember any writing from it at all beyond characters just having a couple lines of text.

[Roguey]

Disagree that LttP has good writing. I guess it has a serviceable narrative, but I don't remember any writing from it at all beyond characters just having a couple lines of text.

As a child I was intrigued by the lore and the Agahnim/Ganon connection.

[Tweed]

Disagree that LttP has good writing. I guess it has a serviceable narrative, but I don't remember any writing from it at all beyond characters just having a couple lines of text.

As a child I was intrigued by the lore and the Agahnim/Ganon connection.

A connection muddled by crappy translations and vague visuals.

So, wait...was Ganon Agaghangangngnaim? Or was he possessing him? I don't get it and who cares anyway I just ******* fell off the goddamned edge of the arena again and I got to take this thing back to Blockbuster in an hour!

[Xenich]

Lets play a game... I will think of a number between 1 and 100, you pick it... closest to that number wins.

It isn't not a game of skill, it is a game of chance. Still a game.

Game shows have tons of these contests, which are often based on nothing more than random luck, yet still games.

Seriously, I get the point in all of this, but I think it is severely autistic to go on about it not being a game rather than simply defining them both as games but under different conditions for winning.

I don't think it is realistic to say "games of chance aren't games, but I have no idea what to categorize them as even though they are properly defined as a game within the system of language"'

As you said @rusty_shackleford , it isn't hard... but you are forcing the definition into your own personal evaluation. Games of chance, Games of skill, etc.... have always been termed as such, whether their conditions are an application of skill to effect outcome, or the result of luck... still games, as you said.. it really isn't that hard here, I think you are fighting the word rather than the concept of their basic relational meaning.

[Roguey]

A connection muddled by crappy translations and vague visuals.

So, wait...was Ganon Agaghangangngnaim? Or was he possessing him? I don't get it and who cares anyway I just ******* fell off the goddamned edge of the arena again and I got to take this thing back to Blockbuster in an hour!

In Japanese the word he uses is "bunshin" which would result in a "wtf" reaction from nearly every American, so "alter ego" works fine.

[Tangerine]

Dark Sum: Shattered Land.
Well, actually there's nothing fancy in terms of the storywriting. The plot isn't anything more compelling than your generic good-vs-big-bad fantasy cliches, but the game has a comfy village in the middle of the despairing shithole, which made me really feel and want to protect it at all costs.

i need to play this again it's been decades

You can also get a neat badge for beating it!