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elise_rashaWelcome back, my lovelies! I've returned with more gaming discussion.
I do want to touch on movies based on video games or that focus on gamers, but I'm not sure how I want to proceed with that subject just yet. Do I just want to list the different types of movies, like I did with the books, or should I discuss why such movies haven't always been great hits, unlike superhero movies. I'll get it sorted out soon.
I actually to return to Star Ocean: The Last Hope and the slightly outdated concept behind it. I'm going to try and keep my ranting about the story down to a minimum. I've been contemplating on it, and my revelations are worth addressing at this point.
I mentioned in the beginning of this that Star Ocean is a mash up of Star Trek meeting Dungeons and Dragons. Given the history lesson I had on Dragon Quest during this mini journey, it really isn't a surprise that game's creators would want to blend two loves that are on the different ends of the science-fiction and fantasy spectrum. It definitely combines the journeyman storytelling of both Star Trek and Dungeons and Dragons to create a unique story idea.
Also mentioned, or I hope I mentioned, is the fact that the game's designers loved Star Trek. That's how come Star Ocean, as a whole, exists. Because of the heavy Star Trek influences, it's no wonder that World War III is the catalyst for mankind having to start over from a post apocalyptic event and heading into space. Is it outdated? Perhaps. I know I'm using that story model for my Arc of Fantasy series, where I've also hinted at other sci-fi influences, like Aliens. I'm something of a science-fiction and fantasy junkie. I find something I like, I watch it.
I digress. While World War III might be on the verge of becoming an outdated and overused trope, I got to thinking about where this game originates from and why the designers might have gone a little overboard with the nuclear war aspect.
This is, essentially, a Japanese story. Everyone involved in the initial process lives in Japan. I don't know how their history courses work, if they're conducted anything like how Germany conducts history courses on World War II, but I've remembered that the Japanese felt the sting of the atomic bombs in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. It hasn't even been a hundred years since the end of World War II, but the Japanese remember that devastation. At least, that is my presumption based on the severity of how World War III plays out in pre-game Star Ocean. I'm ready to watch the opening sequences again to be sure of where the nukes strike, just to be on the safe side.
With that said, it isn't surprising to me that, back in 2007 and 2008, when The Last Hope was undergoing development, a few key concepts weren't taken into consideration. (The game has a 2009 release date. Happy 10th Anniversary, The Last Hope!) Back then, we had a little more time with climate change, but the story of our planet has taken a different route, so to speak, and that's another subject for another time so not taking in climate change with the impacts of World War III is actually understandable. Right now, the unforgivable sins for me remain to be Reimi (as a storyteller, I can understand why she was important to the story with her adaptation gene and even appreciate that role, but my backgrounds in the food and healthcare industries scream foul over careless and reckless usage) and the lack of sight from the powers that be in the game. When you realize that perhaps the Morphus were the only ones who knew enough to not interact with a less technologically advanced species but not the humans, you know someone didn't do their homework and did a slapdash job at storytelling. As the gamer, I'm mentally filling in these blacks for myself and possibly for my fellow fanfiction and original material readers. All of this analyzing is helping me to improve how I tell my stories. It's great, at least for me, because it also helps me to understand where readers want the blanks filled in and where they don't. If something doesn't make sense to me, it's highly likely it isn't making sense to someone else.
Would I love the opportunity to revamp this game? If you've been following this series, you know the answer to that is yes. It's a goal of mine, one that may or may not ever come to fruition. Will I work toward it? Oh yeah. Because the challenge is going to be how to proceed with the story based on the knowledge I, the writer and the reader and the gamer, have with the knowledge that has and hasn't survived the catastrophe that brings humankind to a temporary standstill, and with the knowledge of how the characters meant to be. What the writer and the gamer and the reader know is very different from what the character knows. (Which, if you've ever role-played at a kitchen table with your friends, you know how frustrating it can be to keep player knowledge to yourself.) And, ultimately, the challenge is going to be the research needed to get the experience up to par with Star Trek and Dungeons and Dragons.
Otherwise, there is no point.
That's it for today. This is basically a revelation post about one of my favorite games. I could turn this into a mini series of another proportion, and I might just do that. The next entry, however, is going to be more on research. The Last Hope isn't the only game I've encountered where the research was done poorly and not at all. Earlier this summer, Anamnesis crossed Valkyrie Profile. For as much as The Last Hope has disappointed me with story, what the designers did with Valkyrie Profile is nothing short of storytelling blasphemy.
But that's the next entry.
Until then, my friends!
I do want to touch on movies based on video games or that focus on gamers, but I'm not sure how I want to proceed with that subject just yet. Do I just want to list the different types of movies, like I did with the books, or should I discuss why such movies haven't always been great hits, unlike superhero movies. I'll get it sorted out soon.
I actually to return to Star Ocean: The Last Hope and the slightly outdated concept behind it. I'm going to try and keep my ranting about the story down to a minimum. I've been contemplating on it, and my revelations are worth addressing at this point.
I mentioned in the beginning of this that Star Ocean is a mash up of Star Trek meeting Dungeons and Dragons. Given the history lesson I had on Dragon Quest during this mini journey, it really isn't a surprise that game's creators would want to blend two loves that are on the different ends of the science-fiction and fantasy spectrum. It definitely combines the journeyman storytelling of both Star Trek and Dungeons and Dragons to create a unique story idea.
Also mentioned, or I hope I mentioned, is the fact that the game's designers loved Star Trek. That's how come Star Ocean, as a whole, exists. Because of the heavy Star Trek influences, it's no wonder that World War III is the catalyst for mankind having to start over from a post apocalyptic event and heading into space. Is it outdated? Perhaps. I know I'm using that story model for my Arc of Fantasy series, where I've also hinted at other sci-fi influences, like Aliens. I'm something of a science-fiction and fantasy junkie. I find something I like, I watch it.
I digress. While World War III might be on the verge of becoming an outdated and overused trope, I got to thinking about where this game originates from and why the designers might have gone a little overboard with the nuclear war aspect.
This is, essentially, a Japanese story. Everyone involved in the initial process lives in Japan. I don't know how their history courses work, if they're conducted anything like how Germany conducts history courses on World War II, but I've remembered that the Japanese felt the sting of the atomic bombs in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. It hasn't even been a hundred years since the end of World War II, but the Japanese remember that devastation. At least, that is my presumption based on the severity of how World War III plays out in pre-game Star Ocean. I'm ready to watch the opening sequences again to be sure of where the nukes strike, just to be on the safe side.
With that said, it isn't surprising to me that, back in 2007 and 2008, when The Last Hope was undergoing development, a few key concepts weren't taken into consideration. (The game has a 2009 release date. Happy 10th Anniversary, The Last Hope!) Back then, we had a little more time with climate change, but the story of our planet has taken a different route, so to speak, and that's another subject for another time so not taking in climate change with the impacts of World War III is actually understandable. Right now, the unforgivable sins for me remain to be Reimi (as a storyteller, I can understand why she was important to the story with her adaptation gene and even appreciate that role, but my backgrounds in the food and healthcare industries scream foul over careless and reckless usage) and the lack of sight from the powers that be in the game. When you realize that perhaps the Morphus were the only ones who knew enough to not interact with a less technologically advanced species but not the humans, you know someone didn't do their homework and did a slapdash job at storytelling. As the gamer, I'm mentally filling in these blacks for myself and possibly for my fellow fanfiction and original material readers. All of this analyzing is helping me to improve how I tell my stories. It's great, at least for me, because it also helps me to understand where readers want the blanks filled in and where they don't. If something doesn't make sense to me, it's highly likely it isn't making sense to someone else.
Would I love the opportunity to revamp this game? If you've been following this series, you know the answer to that is yes. It's a goal of mine, one that may or may not ever come to fruition. Will I work toward it? Oh yeah. Because the challenge is going to be how to proceed with the story based on the knowledge I, the writer and the reader and the gamer, have with the knowledge that has and hasn't survived the catastrophe that brings humankind to a temporary standstill, and with the knowledge of how the characters meant to be. What the writer and the gamer and the reader know is very different from what the character knows. (Which, if you've ever role-played at a kitchen table with your friends, you know how frustrating it can be to keep player knowledge to yourself.) And, ultimately, the challenge is going to be the research needed to get the experience up to par with Star Trek and Dungeons and Dragons.
Otherwise, there is no point.
That's it for today. This is basically a revelation post about one of my favorite games. I could turn this into a mini series of another proportion, and I might just do that. The next entry, however, is going to be more on research. The Last Hope isn't the only game I've encountered where the research was done poorly and not at all. Earlier this summer, Anamnesis crossed Valkyrie Profile. For as much as The Last Hope has disappointed me with story, what the designers did with Valkyrie Profile is nothing short of storytelling blasphemy.
But that's the next entry.
Until then, my friends!
