Video Games are the Apex of Storytelling
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 พ.ค. 2024
- Video games are the best storytelling medium out there. #gaming
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Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:24 Humble Beginnings
3:03 The Secret Sauce
10:53 The Apex of Storytelling
21:00 A Hero's Journey - เกม
You never fail to fill me with your warm and sticky content
Brother💀
TH-cam was a mistake
GOD this makes me so hard.
a HARD working citizen in capatalistic america!
Lmfaoooo
@@FranklyGaming😊😊
GODDAMN man you're so underrated it makes me mad. Creators like you are the sole thing keeping youtube entertaining for me. Keep this up and please never give up making these videos. I believe your channel will grow massively soon.
Thank you for supporting me on the journey!
bro is the prey of TH-cam creators
"Destiny determined through input" has to be the best phrase I've ever heard to describe video games as an art.
Thank you for taking the time to watch!
Thank you for this video, quality content as always! As a narrative designer in games (having worked on one of the titles you used as an example here!) it really delights me when games get the recognition they deserve as a storytelling medium.
Appreciate the support! And looks like you did some great work ❤️
Games takes every other medium and brings it into one, but the stand out element is player agency.
Facts
Just watched all the way to the end, what a powerful message and a very fantastic video. It really hits home as a semi-retired streamer myself who experienced all the same things you did, huge booms of success and long periods of barely any viewership at all. I ultimately gave up, and decided to focus on my job my friends and my fiance, but you’re still here succeeding and making content. It’s almost like the duality of ending decisions in cyberpunk, and it makes each of our stories unique
Thank you for taking the time to watch, and I’m glad you liked the takeaway message always try to add something more like that to videos
Ahh yes, another video Essay to talk about Cyberpunk
It’s the staple at this point lol
Cyberpunk is a damn gem. I even have V’s Favourite top irl and it’s..”surprisingly”, my absolute favourite top :D
Every time you mention Cyberpunk in your video's (or any of the Elder Scrolls games) it just makes me so happy to see someone as passionate about these games as I am; who sees the nuances, the underlying narratives and so on. Really love your content, it's so relaxing yet incredibly engaging at the same time.
Thanks for taking the time to watch my stuff!
Wow, this is beautiful. Cyberpunk is such an amazing game and so well thought of story. I became fully immersed that I was so emotional for my friend’s deaths, the thought of having just a few months to live, and the will to survive.
I’m honestly envious of those who have yet to experience Cyberpunk 2077 for the first time. It’s going to be a wild ride. 😎
Thank you for watching!
It’s a good day when FranklyGaming posts. Best gaming essays on the platform. Please keep creating🙏
Thank you very much!
Something that feels nearly forgotten today as well is the experience of playing through a game with other people. Co op experiences are on a completely other level and have accounted for most of my most memorable moments in gaming
Its impressive how much thought you put into your videos. I am glad to have found your channel. I also notice that we share alot of games we like
I appreciate the kind words! Thank you for the support
This video is beautiful you put what I’ve subconsciously thought about while playing thru these games into words. The background music choices were perfect too
Thank you for supporting my work
Please keep making videos like this... You're so underrated and if you keep pumping out videos of this quality at this velocity, then I have no doubt you'll have your big break one day. Thank you for your incredible content.
Thank you for supporting me on the journey!
I have the hardest time replaying The Last of Us Part 2. There's only so many times you can hear an NPC cry in agony as the bleed-out from a severed limb. That stuff is haunting.
Yep it’s hard to deal with when we are the ones doing it for sure, and thanks for taking the time to watch!
Only discovered your channel yesterday and already watched a few long clips. Great job! Your naration and insights are top. Subscribed.
Thank you very much!
Your content is sooooo good. I love your well thought out narrative, choice of background video and music, and most importantly, your opinions. You are a true gem on this platform. Thank you for all you do. Love the content.
That means a lot thank you for the support!
Insanely underrated creator
Really appreciate that!
The last section was my favorite 🤩
Thank you for watching!
Three things:
1. Cyberpunk 2077-during one of the climactic moments in PL you’re facing a certain boss that after a prolonged battle attacks you with a knife in his final push towards trying to kill you (V). The moment I dropped my gun and went for fighting him with my bare hands was so powerful I’m still remembering fondly…
2. 2077 again. The Suicide ending was actually my first ending for this game. And it was exactly because what you have mentioned - why bringing anymore pain? And then the credit crawl dropped. My god… What a story…
3. You just touched on games without any story but the one you’re creating like Paradox’s CK3 or Mount and Blade Bannerlord. It’s not everyone’s coup of tea I agree, but there’s no other medium that can bring such agency to a person.
As always great vid. Keep up the good work
Great examples and thanks for the support!
Hey just wanted to say the way you convey your own passion is contagious because I think we all can appreciate the effort you put into these
I really appreciate that thank you!
I agree that gaming is #1 w/ immersion, but it has significant competition from other areas of the arts. When I listen to a Shostakovich symphony, it's like experiencing history or reading a novel. Ridiculously immersive. I think all areas of the arts have their own unique ways of completely immersing the person consuming it.
Amazing video!! I never thought about it that way and your video really got me thinking about agency and player action in video games. Great work!
Thank you for supporting my work!
No problem! I wish you the best.
Excellent video and well articulated. I agree with everything you said. I recently completed Cyberpunk 2077 for the first time and definitely felt the impact of my choices. It has also rocketed to the top of my all time favourite games list. Keep up the great work.
Thanks for the support!
I think a lot of these ideas also apply to tabletop games. The agency you have in ttrpgs can make for some truly powerful narrative experiences
Ya 100% I still need to try out more some time, and thanks for watching!
@@FranklyGaming just be warned: they are extremely addicting lol
Keep up the good work! Found you through Cyberpunk, but love your videos in general!
Games are art. I’d even say a combination of multitude of arts.
Couldn’t agree more
It was such a beautiful and heartfelt journey through this video. Video games truly are the Apex of Storytelling. VR, AR, and more developed A.I. are the final frontier.
E
I still think games struggle to have great plot-twists. So, if the characters or journey become boring, I focus on gameplay more than story.
Ya I think most people focus on the gameplay which makes sense, luckily recently writing has been a lot better
Whenever I recommend your videos to friends I refer to you as 'true gamer' 😄
Great content, thanks much
Thanks for sharing my stuff I appreciate it!
My boy Frank! I knew today was going to be a great day!
Good to see you choom!
Glad to see you as usual man!
I enjoy videogames as a whole , some are good and some are bad . I would like god of war and red dead redemption 2 but then i also like to play less appreciated games like far cry, dying light , ac mirage. They are not the best but they are fun, and that is what matters to me the most. It's the only hobby that i have still carried from 10 to now 21 years old. Its Art for me
This video was awesome. Thank you for your work and your views on storytelling and videogames!
Thank you for watching!
Man you make great videos. Keep up the good work. Game on gamers. Be good to each other out there.
I really appreciate that thank you!
Why doesn't this video have million views?
Thanks for getting it one closer lol
Thank you. This was a really great video. It made me think contemplatively about some of the great times I've had in various worlds. Two of which were the examples you used, CP 2077 and Prey. (Both excellent) Going back through time, games like the first Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and my personal favorite for just drifting and creating my own adventure, Skyrim. A movie, you watch and it's over. A good game, you're taken to another world and can spend months there. Thanks again, I really enjoyed it. Also, smooth voice, man! Almost felt like ASMR. 🙂
Really appreciate the support thanks!
Absolutely love this video! You are completely right video games give us player agency on the choices we make and I feel like that carries emotions heavier than books/movies. Keep up the great work! Side note: what was that guitar instrumental you used when talking about cyber punk? It was really beautiful and now I want to try to find it 😂
Thank you for the kind words and support!
becoming one of my favorite channels
Thanks for watching!
Amazing videos, you have Frankly! I just discovered your channel, and I love the content, but I have to stop mid video on this one, as I haven't played Phantom Liberty yet. So I'm off to Night City again! Keep doing what you're doing buddy, you're doing it right!
Really appreciate that thanks for helping the channel grow!
homie cant stop spitting facts 😤
Thank you for watching!
Thank you for making 😊@@FranklyGaming
One of the most powerful tool in games are choices. It really does broaden the storytelling. Also, most movies/series based on games fail (Like tomb raider, Hitman, Assassins Creed, Doom, Maxx payne, Uncharted ) fail because they just couldn't feel same. Kudos to Mario movie, TLOU, Arcane and edgerunners for being actually good.
I agree with everything you just said. I’ve been gaming since the 80s and use 100% of my free time to game. I get fully immersed in games to the point I’ll look up and 10 hours has passed by. I put hundreds of hours into every game I play and I don’t have bad gaming experiences. I played 16 games in 2023 and they were all 9/10 or higher imo. I love gaming and truly experience them on an emotional level. If a character dies, I usually cry. When I finally clear a difficult fight, I’m overwhelmed with joy. I am the game I’m playing.
oh man Frankly, im a such a sucker for "reactivity" and "dynamic narative" when it comes to storytelling since Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and FONV.
i think growing up, i always yearn for that accountability and responsibility that i failed to emulate in the real world. and that engaging player agency that gives the illusion of freedom were at best, since games were all along a form of escapism.
Yep it speaks to something deep within all of us I think, thanks for taking the time to watch!
Wow man, I am so happy to find another kindred spirit who appreciates the being a part of the story in games this much. I love this video and your voice, presentation in general. But yet I didn't watch the rest of the video and will continue after I play Cyberpunk 2077. It wasn't in my wishlist but I trust your opinion so I will play it as soon as I find the opportunity to play. Thanks for your soulful quality content brother.
Really appreciate the kind words! And you’ll love cyberpunk I bet
Another epic and relaxing video. Every video from this guy is a masterpiece.
Ngl, I use it to help me fall asleep 😭
Sooo relaxing
I appreciate the support thank you!
Ah, how the turns have tabled!
Shoutout Mario lol
Games have improved as a vehicle for story telling that's for sure. The interactive aspect of the medium elevates the story so to speak. The plot might be inferior to the one you could find in a book or a movie but, due to the nature of the medium, the experience leaves an impact nonetheless. Hope it makes sense lol.
Exactly, and luckily plots have improved a lot
@@FranklyGaming Oh for sure. There's a quite a gap between Cyberpunk or Planescape torment and first Mario games haha.
Great stuff boss man
Appreciate it brother
Really good video. Interesting topics.
Thank you for supporting the work I do!
Another masterpiece video
I really appreciate that thank you!
Ngl I don't have time to watch your videos these days but I still like to drop a click to support the channel. I feel like we have very similar ideology and taste in games, and I also really appreciate how much effort you put into every video. You're definitely gonna blow up in the next few years, just don't forget us when you're (more) famous!
I really appreciate the kind words and support thanks!
Frank, I am impressed, floored really. After watching this video, I have been thoroughly convinced that video games truly are the pinnacle of storytelling.... Why did I ever spend my time studying the works of great film makers or reading countless books in search of a thrill, when the greatest stories are set in games ? This has been quite the experience-a revelation, if you will. I'll be tossing out all of my books later. Thanks
MADDDDY
Really liked the video. Btw a question:- what are your thoughts on the Assassin's creed fan base and the new Assassin's creed games?
That’s why people say single player games are better than multiplayer is because of these awesome story games and stuff
Love your vids. I think I’ve watched all of them at this point. I did want to point out some of the examples you use are feeling a bit repetitive… love your passion, and agree with a lot of what you’re saying but maybe challenge yourself to not use examples from cyberpunk, death stranding and baldurs gate...I think you’ve covered them pretty well in a few different videos and sometimes it feels like I’m watching a video I’ve already seen. Only offering my critique because I really want your channel to flourish and not feel stale like some of the other gaming critique channels…keep up the great work. Can’t wait for the next vid!
Really love this feedback thank you ya I think it will be nice to throw in some other examples too
Yes ! Another great video. Thanks you.
Just a regrets on my own. No image and you never talked about Horizon Zero Dawn. Si I think you don't play this game... I'll be very happy to hear about your opinion on this game and his story telling.
Thanks again !
I talked about it in my games Eberyone should play for them first time video it’s an amazing story for sure you might like that video!
@@FranklyGaming Great, thanks. It's in my watch later list already!
Your video raises interesting points, but I feel it lacks a clear argument on why agency in interactive mediums, such as video games, is superior to traditional storytelling methods like cinema. I get that interactivity offers control, but it's not inherently better - just different in its narrative approach. I suggest exploring the nuances of horror classics in cinema to understand their impact and see how they've influenced games like Alan Wake, which skillfully pay tribute to these cinematic masterpieces. Your video was enjoyable and I appreciate your style in any case :-).
My intention isn't to discourage you but to encourage a deeper critique of a medium that, despite its evolution, is still often overlooked by mainstream recognition. Keep up the good work in any case, I hope this just serves as constructive feedback 👌
Thank you for watching and I appreciate the feedback it helps me get better each time ❤️
What makes a game good/Immersive?
A good game should captivate you, encapsulate your mind and make you forget everything that transpires in the real world around you. It should make you want to see more, do more and continue on the ingame path. In a great game, the only time you should want to stop, are the times that you have just experienced something so intense, so surreal , so gripping , that you are forced to stop in order to take the time to drink in and contemplate that which you have just survived through/ experienced.
I prefer having set objectives, a purpose to what you are doing.
I loathe surviving, in order to scavenge and kill, to scavenge in order...just to continue surviving until the point where you look at the game and think ...meh I'm done ... Heralding the meaningless end to a meaningless experience.
Immersion is how much you care about what is happening.
An immersive game is one that makes you feel like you belong in that world. It doesn't have to be realistic, but it needs it's own boundaries and rules that makes you such a world would exist under fictional circumstances.
One of the best ways I enjoy escaping and just relaxing, is to immerse my mind in a different world, especially a world rooted in an interesting time period in our world's history such as an historical shooter or an RTS like Age of Empires.
Or a well crafted, creative, imagination rich fantasy world, such as Middle Earth.
My favourite, most immersive games of all time
Real world settings:
Assassins Creed 1 & 2 & Brotherhood
Far cry 1 & 2
Age of Empires DE 1 & 2 & 3
Call of Duty 1 & 2 and MW 1 + 2 + World at War.
Brothers in Arms.
Battlefield 1
Rising Storm 2 Vietnam
BF Vietnam
Fantasy world settings such as
Thief : The Dark Project, the Metal Age & Deadly Shadows
Skyrim
Witcher 2 + 3
Fallout NV
Metro series
Amnesia
Star Wars Galactic BattleGrounds.
CP 2077
A good story,narrative, setting,good factions , engaging/believable characters, feeling, the music, the sound design, environmental stroy telling and proper objectives are paramount in a game.
Even a non narrative game such as Rising Storm Vietnam/BF1 MP is brilliant , because even though you can do what ever you want, you still have the overarching objective (To win the battle/war) and more immediate objectives, such as ‘’attack’’ or ‘’defend’’ a certain critical area.
Me having to fight tenaciously and having to fight intelligently, accurately to conserve ammunition whilst your squad is pinned down and you are desperately combating numerous enemies , protecting your CO as he calls in airstrikes on your radio … it all supplies clear purpose and in turn immerses your mind in this captivating world.
To me one can draw parallels between real life and gaming.
A lot of times ,the way people act in games is actually exactly how they would act in reality if given the freedom to do so.
Thus I for one , waking up each day or booting up a game, don’t want to survive just for the sake of surviving, I need an objective, I need a deep and exciting story, I need a well crafted, engaging world, I need a purpose.
But the truth is, everyone knows that real IMMERSION = Big tiddy statue mods.
Id enjoyed hearing how much cyberpunk and your journey as a content creator.
With that I’m going to share some interesting things I figured out about cyberpunk.
Jackie Wells was always meant to end up as a drink on the afterlife menu.
A Jack Daniel’s and coke is a wells drink.
Jackie being the life that goes out in a blaze
Victor Vector means victory path
Victor is not only vs father figure but the other path you should take… as victor talks about how he’s left all the drama behind to find contentment.
Judy in getting involved w v , could be making the same mistake in relationships that has lead her to losing so much. Picking friends that are ambitious to a fault
Pan man might be trusting someone that will play her , again.
Johnny is an example of a person that blazed his way down the rebel path … only to realize… it didn’t matter what he did , everyone would forget him
And if v goes down that path ….
There’s too many characters showing how useless it is to go for the glory
People thinking this was the point are forgetting most of the characters in the game.
Only nc wins in the end
I almost agree except that gameplay can very easily take you completely out of a story but that's completely depending on the game. Take like an action platformer like ori and Mario. The gameplay is the story without actually having any sort of plot. Then other games like the tell tale games are completely driven by the story as in the gameplay IS the story.....like I wouldn't tell you the story of cyberpunk and go into detail about all the different fights you can have in the game on the side , but in a game like dead space those simple clear the room fights are part of the story and you would bring it up if you were telling the story. Idk if that makes sense hahaha
Edit: might be better to say that video games will often give you a break from the story but a book never lets the story go.
My man you only got 81k subscribers, and you are here giving a 2 million subscribers video quality.
Could you talk about how fast paced dopamine games are ruining our enjoyment in those story games, its a deep rabbit hole trust me.
You could add social media to it.
Ya for sure a topic I’ll talk about at some point, will touch on it in a video I want to do about why struggle in games is good probably going to make one on the most compelling characters first
i have i5 12th gen 16gb ram i like games with a good story and decent gameplay any recommendations dont recommend any graphically demanding games since i rn own a bussiness laptop thanks in advance
you won't be able to run a lot without a decent graphics card, but you could certainly try out games on the older side, like fallout new vegas
also when the narrator said that in prey you find out things are real or something like that was it a major spoiler? I planned on playing it@@whyfinn
@@user-uq5hv8hq5f no, he would've said that it was a major spoiler if he was revealing something
ok i was worried that i got a major spoiler@@whyfinn
While I do feel that the narrative potential for a video game is incredibly high, I also find that most games don’t fulfill that potential. And while the medium deserves credit for when something like The Witcher 3 comes out, I see a lot of people that think video games are *the best* medium for storytelling and that’s simply not true. My soul criterion for whether or not something has achieved its full potential is whether or not it can strike a chord in the way that the blurry green light at the end of the dock in The Great Gatsby does.
A lot of people will watch the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio and tell me The Great Gatsby is overrated, but that movie is a fundamental misunderstanding of the text.
Now, this is my criterion because video games do some cool stuff, but much like anime, they’ve become slaves to the same tropes and pitfalls and repetitive nature. Take a story I really liked, Horizon: Zero Dawn. Uncovering the lore is one of my favorite bits of writing in any game. The sci fi world they created is just incredible. But ultimately, the game fails itself as it reaches the finish line because it’s true that the writing in the game *can* be incredible, most of the game is actually a generic coming of age story where the parental figure dies and a chosen one is given the burden of saving the world. The actual story of the game doesn’t have anything new to say and this is further exacerbated in the sequel where the make sure to make Ted Faro, who was a very complex character in the first game that I regarded as penitent and wanting to finally serve the greater good by not allowing humanity to have knowledge to repeat his mistakes, and boil him down to an insane megalomaniac.
And that’s my real problem with video games as a storytelling medium. For every Red Dead Redemption 2 moment where Arthur talks to the woman before the final ride, there’s another Red Dead Redemption 2 moment where you arbitrarily join a civil war in a foreign nation so that you can see that the crazy guy that’s been getting progressively getting crazier is in fact crazy because he murdered an old lady.
So I don’t agree that video games are the best medium for storytelling anymore. Simply put, I believe that gamers spend so much time gaming that they want to believe it’s enriching their lives in some meaningful way and that’s cool. It’s a fun hobby and it has brief flashes of inspiration every once in awhile…but if you took the best video game of all time and stuck it next to something like Paradise Lost or Hamlet, you’d rightfully get laughed out of whatever room you were in for being a clown
Ya I see this side for sure and games can stumble into a lot of pitfalls because of the medium, I think it’s more they have the most potential inherently because of agency.
At their very core nature they have the ability to be more meaningful than any other art form currently if pulled off perfectly because of agency to me at least.
Because that agency is the missing link between why stories can never be as powerful as real life experience of that story itself
@FranklyGaming I’m sorry I’m texting so late do you think every single player game has a story in your opinion
I've said the same for the longest time... Games are fundamentally the level above films... On the whole though, video games are stigmatized largely because they haven't really shown that they can tell stories on par with films. Like what are the best stories in games, off the top of my head, people love Mass Effect, TLoU maybe some stuff like BG3, the Uncharted games, and maybe Witcher 3...
Those are the best stories that focus on narrative, and on the whole, the stories are pretty bad... The only reason these games still made it thru the other side with critical acclaim was because they had the added dimension of gameplay to weave into the story.
If these stories had been told in film, they just would have been bad films, and universally hated... We've truly yet to see a well-written video game I think, a lot of these games have good moments, but in the story as a whole they are kinda bad. Like TLoU has a load of random events occur that seem less thematically relevant, and more relevant to just doing whatever they want. The HBO show arguably does this but worse, what with the whole Bill episode, that on the whole, was more unnecessary than it was otherwise and just seemed like award bait, and even the adaptation of the DLC which was just as tangential to the show as it was to the game...
Point is, these problems seem inherent to game adaptations just cos people aren't really asking for good writing. Hopefully that changes in future.
Actually I would like to contact you if you don't mind and discuss about story games all together.
I believe we share the same opinion and ideas. Not saying my opinions are right but they are logical.
It could only be that you send me some questions to answer just to see another person point of view.
I don't want you to mention me or to take a part of your channel I always wanted to participate and talk about story games.
go outside and make some friends dude you sound desperate
@SPARTAN-333-1 Sadly I tried to convince my homies but they wouldn't listen. I want to show them multiple videos cause all they play is fifa and overwatch.
To explain to you why I am trying to reach him is because I always wanted to start a channel to talk about games. The thing is in my religion it's a sin if I listen to music and a greater sin if I share a video for thousands to watch and listen. Same with looking at women and making thousands look too.
That's why I want some of my ideas to get across by discussing with this youtuber.
*Life Is Strange changed how I view storytelling in gaming. Instead of a straight forward linear story, it let's you wander around the environments and gather small pieces of the story at your own will. The more pieces you gather and put together, the more it impacts the story 👍 Cyberpunk 2077 would have been the greatest game ever made if it was structured that way.....instead of placing it's focus on a big empty open world that ultimately subtracted from the story in multiple ways* 👎
Because fromsoft
Facts
Tell me all you do is play AAA games without telling me all you do is play AAA games
I love indies too ❤️
You have failed to convince me - I still believe the novel is the pinnacle of storytelling. Video Games get bogged down as cheap imitators of cinema...
Ya that’s fair books and movies can be great too for me agency is that key to makes games special tho
RDR2 is a horrible videogame with a decent movie in it. It doesn't tell a story only games can tell.
It feels like literally all ur video are repetitive. You smh managed to slip in Cyberpunk into all of ur videos whenever possible, best story? cyberpunk, best world? cyberpunk, best mission? cyberpunk. Yes, yes I know u love cyberpunk and I get it, Cyberpunk is decent. Dont get me wrong, the topics u bring are interesting but then u proceed to explain it by mentioning the same game over and over which makes it feel disingenuous.
Ya I do like it a lot hence why it’s my favorite game but I appreciate the feedback helps me improve the videos lol
keep the great work up you are a perfect stud
thanks for the support!