Cheap Stories (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Text Boxes)

Patreon: / firesteel
Twitter: / _firesteel_
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Join me as I discuss and analyze text's usage in games and the benefits it can bring.
We might be moving towards virtual reality and better graphical fidelity, but is that really the only path forward for immersion? I argue no. Text has been and will continue to be a great tool for telling stories in games, particularly because it's cheap to make. There's a reason a game like Tyranny or even VA-11 Hall-A can be as intricate as they are with their characterization. Text is cheap and it takes far less time to get text into a game.
Even games that don't shove story directly into the spotlight, text is often the best tool for connecting gameplay sections together. Again it's because it's inexpensive to make and especially with games like Brigador and Freespace not having tons of intricate animation work and cutscenes allows the story segments to work on their own without diverting too many resources from the heavy focus on getting systems to work well.
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Featured Games:
Brigador
Freespace 2
VA-11 Hall-A
Nier: Automata
Mass Effect 2

[@onyxtay7246]

This is something I'm glad to see someone talk about. I never really thought about text being that great, It just never came up, then I played a game called Rodina, and it changed how I looked at text when it comes to telling a story. I'm going to spoil the game here, so if you don't want that don't read this, or go check out the game. It's $2 on the developer's site for the current version (There's also a demo.) or I could give you a steam key. (Yes. I liked the game so much I bought it twice.)
In Rodina you're a machine, because of this you survived the destruction of a scout vessel, sent to prepare a system for the mother ship, (the titular Rodina) and because you're the only sentient robot you're special. Many aboard the Rodina begin to see you as a god, you're their only hope for surviving once they reach this system. I didn't think it was that interesting. Until a message that the leader of this church sent made me cry. It was made up of several prayers, and they felt so sincere, the sort of things people would pray to god about. There were all sorts of prayers, from a child, praying how they were taught, before asking for a puppy; a grandmother, whose only solace after losing her grandchildren is that I'm there, watching over where they died; then a mother, whose son was beaten for telling people about me, and all she asked for was the strength to continue *my* work. It all just felt so human, and real, as if there were real people asking god to help them. It culminated in the leader of this upstart church giving me his prayer, which I feel I should repeat here. None of this would have had the same impact if I'd walked through some church while hearing people pray, or even if it was some recording of people asking for my help, but because I read through it I had that connection, I had to think about them, and it stuck with me.
Please help me let go of my anger.
Please help me remember the sound of my wife's laughter for as long as I possibly can.
Please help me be the leader these people need. Take away my doubt and give me certainty that what I'm doing is right. Give me the strength to help us all become something greater.
Please keep my daughter safe.

[@Firesteel]

Great story! Thanks for sharing.

[@JCDentonCZ]

I think one of my other favorite games, Lost Odyssey came with a great balance between the "Cheap story" and the flashy modern cutscene-heavy experiences. Absolutely recommend it, though sadly it's only on the Xbox 360 (and perhaps Backwards Compatible on the newer Xboxes).

[@monotone9408]

I love the title of this video

[@Firesteel]

I'm a big Dr. Strangelove fan ;)

[@eli8444]

People should know about you. I'll try to remember to shitpost on Shammy and Mandalores comment sections until you get more subs.