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My toughts on categorization

Total Posts: 1

Joined 2019-02-02

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This is my first post, i just made an account, so hello to everyone who sees this.
Adventure is one of my favourite categories of games, and i want to share some of my toughts on game categories.
i think all of us can agree that the most important things in adventure games are story and atmosphere. Other generes where these qualities are of large importance seem to be horror, walking simulators, and experimental/surreal games. I was thinking about what my favourite games have in common, and i came to the conclusion that the qualities i was looking for are: story,atmosphere,exploration. This leads me to two questions; First should these games be considered sub-generes of adventure? And second Why are some of the most atmospheric,story focused game rarely called adventure games?
Im sorry if this sounds stupid.

     

Total Posts: 4

Joined 2019-02-19

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Let’s find a good definition of ‘adventure game’.
‘The most important parts of the game are story and exploring of the world. Player has to solve tasks and puzzles using his/her brains power. Fightings, economics, fast reaction elements usually are not used in this kind of games.’ - it says. I think that’s the main reason why some games are not ‘adventure’ though you want to call them so.
By the way, I appreciate good plot in games too. My second favorite feature is original and harmonic art.

     
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Total Posts: 278

Joined 2012-12-22

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I think story, atmosphere, exploration etc are more features of a game than sub-genres. An action game can also be atmospheric, story rich or exploratory, so I think it would be difficult to make those features sub-genres.

You also have to define what an adventure game is as absolute_zero mentions.

     

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Joined 2008-09-02

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Banesatis - 02 February 2019 10:06 AM

i think all of us can agree that the most important things in adventure games are story and atmosphere.

I would agree, but I think that the puzzle element is key in taxonomic terms—absolute_zero’s definition is good, and also pretty similar to AG’s ‘Genre definition’, which foregrounds puzzles from the outset: “Adventure games focus on puzzle solving within a narrative framework, generally with few or no action elements.” This is why Myst-style games are adventure games—the puzzles seem to be the primary interest, but the story is still crucial despite its being a secondary pleasure, a framing device (compared to more narrative-driven adventure games). Personally, I’m not such a fan of the puzzle-centric Myst style—I like character-driven games and stories.

Increasingly, I think we’re seeing innovative kinds of interaction in story-driven games that don’t fit the traditional senses of ‘puzzles’ or ‘action’, so the ‘story-driven puzzle game’ or ‘puzzle-driven story game’ definition requires a flexible sense of what defines a ‘puzzle’ if we want to encourage a ‘broad church’ definition of the genre.

The generic definition of some games can be arguable (I inadvertently caused such an argument when I posted a thread about the Shenmue series in the ‘Adventure’ section of this forum), usually when people disagree about what is the primary focus of a particular game (action > puzzles, &c.). We all draw our own lines subjectively. I guess definitions are as useful as much as they are helpful in communication, and I think the above-mentioned definitions fit the bill—for example, in bringing people together on AG to communicate about a certain type of game experience we all enjoy and value.

Banesatis - 02 February 2019 10:06 AM

Why are some of the most atmospheric,story focused game rarely called adventure games?

absolute_zero - 19 February 2019 03:17 AM

Fightings, economics, fast reaction elements usually are not used in this kind of games. [...] I think that’s the main reason why some games are not ‘adventure’ though you want to call them so.

I agree with absolute_zero, and again AG’s definition mentions this: “Adventure games are… not: role-playing games that involve extensive combat, team-building and points management; action/adventures such as Uncharted and Prince of Persia where puzzle-solving is clearly a secondary focus…”

Those atmospheric, story-focussed games probably fall outside the ‘adventure’ genre because the puzzle element is secondary or non-existent—especially if the puzzles are secondary to action elements (such as fighting or shooting).

absolute_zero - 19 February 2019 03:17 AM

By the way, I appreciate good plot in games too. My second favorite feature is original and harmonic art.

Yeah, the visual aspect is important for me, too—simple or detailed, stylised or realistic—whatever its style, I like art that creates an affecting mood. I would also add great writing—in the sense of prose, narration, and/or dialogue—as something that makes for great adventure games.

FireFlower - 12 March 2019 10:36 AM

I think story, atmosphere, exploration etc are more features of a game than sub-genres. An action game can also be atmospheric, story rich or exploratory, so I think it would be difficult to make those features sub-genres.

Agreed.

     

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