Originally Posted by Gray Ghost
Also for all the interesting lore present and the backstories at play, ultimately the only way you engage with it in FromSoft games is through combat and fighting. And that's why I've never found the idea of SoulsBourne games appealing, because combat's never the thing that's interesting to me about games. Like Congregants lore. For all that's interesting and cool there, ultimately what does it amount to? You killing them a bunch of times. In fact I've realized something as I type all this out. Blackheiffer noted a disdain for "exposition-style" storytelling, but exposition is a tool, and an important one. It's for when the audience really has to know something and there's just not a more elegant way to convey that knowledge. FromSoft games can get away with no exposition because all the player actually has to know is how to kill things. Every other piece of information in the game is secondary, pretty much.

The problem with exposition is that it's boring, and it's just an information dump. All bad dialogue is characterized by exposition, because good dialogue is about conflict/attack/defend and expressing subtext.

Although the worst part about exposition is that it's insulting to the audience, especially when it comes to conveying story. Exposition is a tool to convey systems, or stereo instructions, not telling a story.

For example: ER has a tutorial that is expository that tells you how to play the game, do jump attacks, block, parry, strong, weak attacks,dodge roll, etc...This is the only correct use of exposition.

But it's so common as a tool for storytelling in most modern games that it has conditioned a generation of people into thinking this is a representation of proper storytelling. It also shows up in really bad movies, the example given in the video I linked was from Attack of the Clones - which is just from a storytelling perspective - an absolute dumpster fire of a movie.

Exposition is used in games and movies because it's cheap. It requires no skill to write and asks nothing of the audience. If you are caught up in exposition it's either because you are learning how to operate your stereo/learning gameplay or you are dealing with a director or game dev who thinks you are too stupid to understand a properly told story.

I am 800+ hours into Elden Ring and I am still finding new parts of the story and narrative built into the world. I am tempted to recommend the game to one of my bookclubs to see if they would take it on as a critical analysis of the overall narrative.

Last edited by Blackheifer; 08/06/23 03:23 PM.
Blackheifer