Quote:
Originally Posted by loobylou26
no they r role playing games where you play a role similar to action games where there is action or adventure with adventure. i think you get my point by now puzzles are kind of the point to these games or should i go around saying i like action games but without the action????
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You've missed two points.
1. Puzzles are not necessarily required to make something not be an "interactive movie," of which I still don't what that is. That many successful, and fun, games exist without puzzles.
2. Games shouldn't be pigeonholed in narrative/character/theme-limiting genres. You're saying that these are RPGs, which again is just a way to partition games into particular genres. Games shouldn't be RPGs, adventure games, FPS, sports simulations, just so we can identify them ("Oh, I like real-time strategy tower defense games, so I'll like this) - there should be a class of games, which could use elements to fit the STORY/CHARACTERS/THESIS not the other way around (ie, we have to make the story fit the puzzle.)
My title is slightly tongue in cheek, I don't hate all puzzles, what I really hate is when puzzles are not congruent with the story of the game and/or are simply a tool to cheaply manufacture engagement and involvement in the story. Unfortunately, I find most games end up doing the latter, as a resignation to the commercial side of the medium (ie, people won't buy this unless there's a puzzle.)
Some games, Riven and Myst 3, succeed in making it make sense. Some (TLJ) do not. I would just love for puzzles to not be the most important thing in making a game - I want the effort to be on the story/characters/thesis, all expressed in the extremely singular medium that is a computer game, a singular medium in that it offers the player/user an ability to affect the world of the game (and for me, the more i can affect it, the better!)
I'm getting verbose today.
I also think it's funny (speaking of verbose) that Infocom labeled their games, "Interactive Fiction." I love that, despite those early technical limitations, that's what they were trying to do. Of course, there games are filled with puzzles...but for the most part, I think they make sense.
