I did not put this in gaming, although I will use games as examples. As well as movies and shows.

Think of any story in any genre you enjoy. Some of them are clear cut, good versus bad, light versus dark. But some deal with the gray areas. The middle ground where morals isn't necessarily definite. You find this mostly in survival centered stories. For example, The Walking Dead (both game and show), as well as The Last of Us, and This War of Mine.

Both have to do with survival at all costs. And there is no clear enemy, everyone is each others enemy, and you must do what is necessary to survive.

In The Last of Us, you have a group of characters who operate in a strange way. For the sake of all of you, I will put why in a spoiler, as it is infact a spoiler.


Another example is This War of Mine. It's a survival game that takes the civilian role in the middle of a civil war that ravages the country. Two armies in total war, and your a civilian trapped in the middle doing anything to survive. Everything you do has consequences, and since this is a technically sandbox and randomly generated game, I can talk about this instance. I sent one of my guys into a house to find medicine and food for my starving and sick members back at our "base". There we find an old couple trying to live a normal life. They can't defend themselves, and I have every opportunity to take whatever I want and screw them over. But the game reacts, it makes the old man beg for you to not hurt his wife, and to leave them alone. I took the food, not all, but some, and left. Potentially screwing over them, for my own survival. Fast forward a bit later, and I return to take a few stacks of wood that were outside the front of the house. Only to find out, the couple died of starvation because I took too much food. And both my character in game, and me in the real world, felt responsible. It's a game, yes. But it hits your humanity. You did what is necessary for you to survive, at the cost of another persons survival, and they had no plans or means to harm you.

These kinds of stories make you think, and make you react emotionally. It brings out your humanity, and makes you question what is both right and wrong, and necessary.

What do you think about theses kinds of narratives? Do you agree or disagree with my points? Discuss.

Definitely makes for a more interesting story, generally speaking. But a traditional good against evil can be just as good.

I have never gotten the same response from a good against evil story. To me it isn't the same.

That being said, if there is enough plot twists and turns, then yes I can agree. But it takes incredibly clever writing, in my opinion, to beat a gray story

When it comes to stories, good vs evil as a premise doesn't grip me as much. Sure there's a lot of great stories centered around this cliche struggle, but I find the search for truth/discovering oneself/a quest for understanding to be the most engaging to me, even over the struggle for survival.

What's something that exemplifies this, so I can get a grasp

Quote from: BC1096 on November 03, 2014, 05:59:04 PM

Quote from: Lady Noelle on November 03, 2014, 05:53:18 PM

Beyond Two Souls, one of the greatest stories I have ever played.

I played a small portion. I'm not a fan of the supernatural aspect, and the beginning of the game was sort of...oddly paced.

Does it get much better?

If you play through the entire game, you will see a timeline, and the chapters skip to different points in her life out of order. It actually ties the story in really well, it did not feel out of place at all.

I stopped when you help a woman give birth, it was a but awkward, like I became uncomfortable. Not sure why in all honesty.

I felt the same thing during the torture scene in Far Cry 3, where you have to torture your own brother. I couldn't do it. My brother was watching me play, I had to wait until I was alone. And even then it was actually hard

Hmmm...I've never heard of it. I'll look into it

It's a series of novels written by Stephen King. Actually, the vast majority of his works are connected to it in some way.

Quote

Joel, the main protagonist, sacrifices and kills a lot of people so he can bring Ellie to the fireflies.Then, he betrays the fireflies and saves Ellie. But Ellie was the key to the cure to the fungal disease which has destroyed humanity. So, in turn, Joel becomes the antagonist of the over arching storyline, as he chose to save Ellie over the rest of humanity. But put yourself in those shoes, and let's say it's your child. Would you have them sacrificed? Would you have them killed? Without their knowledge. There is no correct answer. And it exists in the morally gray areas.

That wasn't morally grey at all. The white male protagonist kills the bad guys and rescues the little white girl.

Your right, he had to kill the black lady.

IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE