Graphics vs. Storyline

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biff0465

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has anyone noticed that the more graphics go up the less storyline there is? i mean compare ffxii to ff7, i mean yeah ffxii is a good game and has amazing graphics but at the end of the game i didn't really feel satisfied and i don't see ten years from now people still talking about ffxii like they do about ff7. granted ff7 was a breakthrough game that will probably not be topped it's like they started worrying about making the game prettier than they did about making it all around solid. and it's not just in the ff series i think the same thing about metal gear silent hill resident evil...basically any game that has sequals over more than one system...argue with me people:)
 
There's better RPG's then VII, and it has been topped not only by numerous other FF titles, but also RPG's too. I felt very satisfied with XII, but that is just me, so... -shrugs-
:gasp:
 
I wouldn't necessarily say there's a correlation between better graphics and a bad storyline.

I think that, in the Final Fantasy series at least, there's been so many tales already told, mostly from the same group of staff members. So, to us, the gamer, we have higher and higher standards for the new games.

I really think the problem with FFXII, was that the game focused more on the billions of side quests, instead of putting that game space into the storyline.

Hopefully Final Fantasy XIII will be a nice change in terms of beautiful graphics, with a satisfying storyline to accompany it.
 
Ah, but keep in mind though, everyone has different taste and opinions when it comes to storylines, so FFXII may genuinely be considered having a "good storyline" by others, while FFVII may also have a "poor storyline" in accordance to others. It really all depends on how an individual sees it.

Personally, I don't think there's a correlation either...however, I will agree to a certain degree (and I'm talking about general games out there, not really the FF series) that there are a lot of new games out there that seemed to lack a very good plot, but graphic-wise...it really blows me out of my mind. That is something that I have noticed, based on my personal preferences on what I'd call a "good storyline" anyway.

Now, as for the FF series...again, I'm neutral about it. I think that FFVIII, FFIX, and FFX has very good storylines, and they all have very good graphics. FFXII...honestly, not my typical storyline, but I still appreciated it anyway just because I'm sure that it IS a good storyline nonetheless, but just not my type, hence it did not really appeal to me. Kinda see what I mean? There is no correlation at all...it all depends on how one views it and what kind of storyline appeals more to the player.
 
There does seem to be some laziness when it comes to storyline as the graphics improve.

But I think character development suffers much more. Compare VII's characters, who at least had their own personality and were interesting in their own way, to XII's characters who were pretty much blocks of wood.
 
now don't get me wrong i love every ff game i've played maybe you're right about expectations cause i would've thought that viii ix or xii were awesome games if they didn't have the ff title attached to it (they were great games but just didn't meat my expectations lol) same goes for meatal gear (although mgs 3 was awesome) and maybe silent hill was a one hit wonder
 
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Rydia said:
There does seem to be some laziness when it comes to storyline as the graphics improve.

But I think character development suffers much more. Compare VII's characters, who at least had their own personality and were interesting in their own way, to XII's characters who were pretty much blocks of wood.
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i agree entirely you knew everything about all the characters in vii even a lot about the optional characters (yuffie vincent) but hardly anything about the ones in xii
 
Although, their is one thing that disagrees with the "better graphics = worse storyline" thing you have going. Final Fantasy X! Brilliant graphics for it's time, and still damn good today, and a brilliant storyline with brilliant characters.

I felt XII was as good, but since it was the first one in the main series to come out since FFX, it had alot to live up to, and while it didn't quite get there, it was still pretty damn good.

Although, the Good Graphics = Bad Storyline theory can be applied to certain games, like FFX2, FFVIII and DoC :wacky:
 
Meh, everything just has to be new and shiny nowadays, all the youngsters just want pretty things to look at rather than a decent storyline. The only two games I've played released in 2007/08 whose storylines were just as good as the graphics are 'Crisis Core' and 'Uncharted: Drake's Fortune'.

As for Final Fantasy storylines I don't think that since VII they've had weak storylines some have just been better than others (bar X-2). Even XII had the potential to have a great storyline, but as Rydia has mentioned, character development has suffered much more and that for me, ruins the game entirely. If a character doesn't have a decent background story or personality then the story becomes weak, which is why VII turned out to be a massive success and could carry on for 10 years, because at least the likes of Cloud, Zack etc. had decent personalities even if the compilation was slightly overrated.

But after playing through the remakes of FF and FFII for the PSP I'm happy going back to the good old sprite days where graphics meant nothing to games.
 
Mercy said:
Although, their is one thing that disagrees with the "better graphics = worse storyline" thing you have going. Final Fantasy X! Brilliant graphics for it's time, and still damn good today, and a brilliant storyline with brilliant characters.

I felt XII was as good, but since it was the first one in the main series to come out since FFX, it had alot to live up to, and while it didn't quite get there, it was still pretty damn good.

Although, the Good Graphics = Bad Storyline theory can be applied to certain games, like FFX2, FFVIII and DoC :wacky:
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i personally didn't think X was that good i mean it was ok but if you liked it good for you:) but i definately agree about x-2 and DoC
 
I actually thought X was vey good, I didnt like XII all that much, but that was more doen to personal opinion than the game actually being shit

Im not all that keen on IX either and again, tahst personal opinion

Altho if it came doen to it,Id take storyline over graphics any day of the week. I still love BoF3 and thats not got the greatest graphics in he worlsd
 
see everybody keeps talking about character devlopment and to me that's half the storyline, and yes i agree with kairi i love playing the old games where they didn't have the technology and so they had to get your attention with storyline
 
Well...Honestly, I thought that when X had came out, it had very good graphics and the story line was well done, IMO.

I don't personally thing storyline falls when graphics rise. =/. It just depends on the game.
 
I still think that pretty graphics have nothing to do with the storylines of games today. The fact is, is that the technology is just improving.

For years, Squaresoft was heralded as having the most visually stunning games of it's time. As Square Enix, beautiful graphics are still a staple of the series, but during these times, many of the other game developers are producing beautiful games as well, on par with the graphics in Square Enix games.

I have played some games recently that had great storylines and great graphics, like the Shin Megami Tensei series, for example. Of course, I've also seen some pretty games like Magna Carta that were just...awful.

I think the only thing to blame for bad storylines are the writers themselves. It doesn't seem like too many script-writers are pushing the boundaries for their stories, and are just following cliches or overdone ideas.

Though, I do sometimes wonder if writers for the older games felt that they had to try harder in order to give some life and personality to their 8-bit pixel characters. Eitherway, I still feel that the nice graphics are just because of the technology, and the bad storylines are due to just...plain, bad writing.
 
Contra Fates said:
I still think that pretty graphics have nothing to do with the storylines of games today. The fact is, is that the technology is just improving.

For years, Squaresoft was heralded as having the most visually stunning games of it's time. As Square Enix, beautiful graphics are still a staple of the series, but during these times, many of the other game developers are producing beautiful games as well, on par with the graphics in Square Enix games.

I have played some games recently that had great storylines and great graphics, like the Shin Megami Tensei series, for example. Of course, I've also seen some pretty games like Magna Carta that were just...awful.

I think the only thing to blame for bad storylines are the writers themselves. It doesn't seem like too many script-writers are pushing the boundaries for their stories, and are just following cliches or overdone ideas.

Though, I do sometimes wonder if writers for the older games felt that they had to try harder in order to give some life and personality to their 8-bit pixel characters. Eitherway, I still feel that the nice graphics are just because of the technology, and the bad storylines are due to just...plain, bad writing.
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i agree with that i think that it's due to bad writting and i think that they get away with it more because the games are so awesome graphically and like you said square has always been on top of the graphics but still back then the only thing keeping someone in the game was the storyline stratigy now there's a million side quests (not that that's bad but what happened to breeding chocobos?) and really good graphics and it's like storyline kinda took a back seat
 
I can't agree with the idea that the better the graphics, the worse the storyline is.

Like others have said, it really is dependent on individual opinions and can't really be given a a firm "yay" or "nay".

Like, when I'm comparing my PS2 games with my PS1 games, there's loads of inconstancies.

I have some really crappy PS2 games that while look better than some of my PS1 games, have just really lacking story lines and I can't even go through the game because it doesn't hold my attention or I just detest it all together.

Like wise, I admit that some of my PS2 games over-all are better than some of my PS1 games, in both graphics and storyline.

Although I sometimes think that there are games that had more graphic input than on the plot and characters, but again, just because I think that, doesn't mean others will -_-
 
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Well, when FFVII came out in 1997 the graphics were revolutionary for it's time. I believe it was the first game to have fully rendered characters on a pre-rendered backgrounds. Not only the graphics was able to blow people away, but the deep plot and characters as well. FFVI graphics were also outstanding on the SNES at the time it came out. As Contra said Square Soft/Enix were always on top of the game when it comes to graphics.

Unfortunately with FFXII, there were many mixed comments about the game. Gorgeous graphics but as Rydia said... The characters felt like they were a block of wood. While playing FFXII I couldn't connect with the characters. The few characters that I was interested in was Fran, Balthier, and Larsa. To me, Penelo seemed like a random town NPC following the party.

Anyways, with that connection awesome graphics = bad plot... Maybe some games fit that, games that are published by EA. A lot of outstanding games usually have amazing graphics. The company usually has the money to put details in the game such as Rockstar with GTA 4. Even with Oblivion, the game is amazing, and there is so much detail that most players need to turn off the grass graphics because it's too much for their computer to handle. To me, it's the other way around. Games that have amazing graphics are usually highly rated.
 
i mean i guess ffvii was a total revamp of graphics and had a great storyline maybe it's just me and now that i'm older and have a job and responsibities i don't encompass myself with the game like i used to (which is a bummer codos to those of you who can do both!!) so i don't appreciate the storyline as much as i used to
 
biff0465 said:
has anyone noticed that the more graphics go up the less storyline there is? i mean compare ffxii to ff7
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Actually FF XII had a great story line. The only thing that it lacked compared to other titles was character development(and that whole treasure chest respawn was kinda lame too).

And I for one didn't like FF VII's storyline.
 
I believe that graphics and storyline are two of the strongest points of an FF game. But like the one who posted before me, the relationship seems to be inverse especially among the PS2 games. As the graphics got better in PS2, the games just lacked depth. PS1 graphics were able to maintain a steady relationship between the two. Let's just hope 13(with bluray) doesn't turn up like X-2 or 12.
 
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