Quote:
Originally Posted by noknowncure
I don't agree with this necessarily. The way an Adventure Game tells a story - when compared to other genres - is certainly different, but not superior.
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With superior I meant that, if done well, the narrative of an adventure game, being the primary focus, could be achieved in a way other genres (with other focuses) can't.
For example,
Fallout 3 had a good story. And many side quests were even better than the main one, story-wise. Nevertheless, the focus of the game remained clear the building of the character (and the combat).
The Witcher, a game I sadly totally disliked, had a great story, but an abysmal writing and, once again, the focus was the combat technique and the ability management.
To answer the question about what adventure games can do that other genres would find difficult to do, I have no doubt: investigations. If I bear in mind
Oblivion or
Morrowind or even
Mass Effect, when these games tried to incorporate investigative quests, they miserably failed, mainly because of a limited possible interaction with the in-game world (and by this I don't mean physical interaction). For example, if you are familiar with
Oblivion, chances are that you have stumbled upon this quest,
Canvas the Castle. The narrative of this side quest, intended to be a purely investigative challenge, was trivial and rather uninspired, streamlined and severely unsatisfactory from a storytelling perspective, because the quest fails to be both a successful whodunit and a compelling story in its own right.
Oh, and mind you: I have played
Oblivion from more than 200 hours and it is without a doubt one of my favorite games, but certain things were painfully wrong
