damn I might genuinely unsubscribe bc of that take on video game story at around 12:00. I'm not salty, I just don't wanna hang around someone who thinks like that.
12:13 See, I feel like either the story does not matter, or is close to the ONLY thing that matters. Like, TotK, I love the story, but it doesn't really matter to me much to just enjoy the game. It could be any story and I would still have pretty much the same amount of fun with it. But, if you look at Undertale, without its story, it's just not undertale anymore. If you didn't have to go the extra mile to spare enemies, if the monsters weren't stuck underground, if you didn't have such a drastic effect on the whole world just by interacting with it in your own way, it wouldn't be Undertale, it would just be some fuckass carbon-copy RPG that has the cool gimmick of dodging attacks in an arena.
Honestly the "story doesn't matter in games" discussion is fascinating to me specifically because it does have some credence, and I understand what Smant means by it too Personally, I find videogames to be an utterly fantastic artistic medium for storytelling. They're inherently a combination of all forms of art; images, film, music, writing, engagement. I feel confident in saying that it is not possible to make a form of art that is more in-depth and involved for the viewer than what videogames provide. When done well, they can provide fantastic stories, and fantastic experiences, and I do think it's incredibly important that an artform has such potential to be so incredibly diverse with how one engages with it
But again, I get what Smant means. Some people just want to play a game, they want to experience gameplay and mechanics, they want to beat something. The story is a secondary thing that only really matters if it's well-integrated with the primary, which is the gameplay. It'd be easy to riff on him for having this take while also making a living off of Nintendo games, but frankly Nintendo's games are a fantastic proof of what games are capable of. Nintendo puts the gameplay first-and-foremost in their games, it's always the forefront and it's always the primary experience, and it's why they're always trying to innovate and reinvent because it's what makes games interesting as a unique medium. But they also put so much care and effort into the stories and worldbuilding of their games as well, giving so much art for people to dive into, without it necessarily being required to actually enjoy their games, since they keep it secondary
I don't think (or at least I certainly don't hope ) Smant is saying that games can't be art. He just values the gameplay first, and the writing second, when it comes to games. Which is a fully reasonable and understandable perspective to have. It's a massive struggle for a lot of games to actually balance their gameplay and story equally- gameplay-focused games often struggle to tell their story well, while story-focused games tend to struggle to give satisfying gameplay- and it's rare for games to successfully pull off a proper integration between the two aspects (Like Blue Prince or Obra Dinn do). Smant's just got a pretty standard opinion, and given the portrayal of it, I don't think it's one that he really minds to dig deeper into to get the nuances out of, hence the blunt delivery of "story doesn't matter"
Admittedly, with all that said: I think it is very bold to just plainly say "story doesn't matter in games" like that lol. It does feel like a sorta take that's said without too much care about what's actually being suggested by it, but admittedly that's probably why it's just being said randomly during a stream where it's easy to move on from. Do think it's the sort of opinion that's really worth thinking deep about though since I find "games as an artform" to be a super introspective sort of topic to think about, and self-reflect on your beliefs with
51:36 a decomp is the process of getting software to work on different hardware and operating systems, removing the mystery about the inner workings of the software ( Think Xbox 360 exclusive games on PC) A recomp is just optimizing and upgrading the communication between the hardware+OS and the software, usually for performance and graphics, usually going to/past 1080p, 60fps
My hot take is that games should have no music at all unless they directly impact the gameplay. If I wanted to listen to music, I would just listen to an album! What do games need music for? I only play games for the gameplay
whelp i agree.. kingdom hearts was my favorite series growing up and i had a horrible child hood.. i remember my parents buying me kingdom hearts two cause i had to stay in the hospital after my tonsillectomy, cant remember how long i had to stay but i remember my parents fighting
I love the topic of not paying attention to the story in video games.. only very few games did I care about the story, the main one being clair obscur. I am a through and through button masher for most games though
20:47 I’ve been slowly making my way through the entire enderverse for the last few months. I only read the first book as a kid and experiencing the entirety of the world as an adult has been really cool.
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My gf said this exact thing to me yesterday 8:59
damn I might genuinely unsubscribe bc of that take on video game story at around 12:00. I'm not salty, I just don't wanna hang around someone who thinks like that.
Gamers don’t look up cost smant probably around 8-10 hours of his life
Ender's Game mentioned!?
7:39 DEBBY RYAN
12:13 See, I feel like either the story does not matter, or is close to the ONLY thing that matters. Like, TotK, I love the story, but it doesn't really matter to me much to just enjoy the game. It could be any story and I would still have pretty much the same amount of fun with it. But, if you look at Undertale, without its story, it's just not undertale anymore. If you didn't have to go the extra mile to spare enemies, if the monsters weren't stuck underground, if you didn't have such a drastic effect on the whole world just by interacting with it in your own way, it wouldn't be Undertale, it would just be some fuckass carbon-copy RPG that has the cool gimmick of dodging attacks in an arena.
cant wait for the splatoon porn
Imagine how insane randomiser + bingo would be
Honestly the "story doesn't matter in games" discussion is fascinating to me specifically because it does have some credence, and I understand what Smant means by it too
Personally, I find videogames to be an utterly fantastic artistic medium for storytelling. They're inherently a combination of all forms of art; images, film, music, writing, engagement. I feel confident in saying that it is not possible to make a form of art that is more in-depth and involved for the viewer than what videogames provide. When done well, they can provide fantastic stories, and fantastic experiences, and I do think it's incredibly important that an artform has such potential to be so incredibly diverse with how one engages with it
But again, I get what Smant means. Some people just want to play a game, they want to experience gameplay and mechanics, they want to beat something. The story is a secondary thing that only really matters if it's well-integrated with the primary, which is the gameplay. It'd be easy to riff on him for having this take while also making a living off of Nintendo games, but frankly Nintendo's games are a fantastic proof of what games are capable of. Nintendo puts the gameplay first-and-foremost in their games, it's always the forefront and it's always the primary experience, and it's why they're always trying to innovate and reinvent because it's what makes games interesting as a unique medium. But they also put so much care and effort into the stories and worldbuilding of their games as well, giving so much art for people to dive into, without it necessarily being required to actually enjoy their games, since they keep it secondary
I don't think (or at least I certainly don't hope ) Smant is saying that games can't be art. He just values the gameplay first, and the writing second, when it comes to games. Which is a fully reasonable and understandable perspective to have. It's a massive struggle for a lot of games to actually balance their gameplay and story equally- gameplay-focused games often struggle to tell their story well, while story-focused games tend to struggle to give satisfying gameplay- and it's rare for games to successfully pull off a proper integration between the two aspects (Like Blue Prince or Obra Dinn do). Smant's just got a pretty standard opinion, and given the portrayal of it, I don't think it's one that he really minds to dig deeper into to get the nuances out of, hence the blunt delivery of "story doesn't matter"
Admittedly, with all that said: I think it is very bold to just plainly say "story doesn't matter in games" like that lol. It does feel like a sorta take that's said without too much care about what's actually being suggested by it, but admittedly that's probably why it's just being said randomly during a stream where it's easy to move on from. Do think it's the sort of opinion that's really worth thinking deep about though since I find "games as an artform" to be a super introspective sort of topic to think about, and self-reflect on your beliefs with
51:36 a decomp is the process of getting software to work on different hardware and operating systems, removing the mystery about the inner workings of the software ( Think Xbox 360 exclusive games on PC)
A recomp is just optimizing and upgrading the communication between the hardware+OS and the software, usually for performance and graphics, usually going to/past 1080p, 60fps
Artemis Fowl is a great series with no romance between siblings
18:19 Llamas with Hats type stuff
LttP is good for archipelago if you know what you're doing. If you play it casually, you have a lot of checks that are locked behind items
Smant being a hater of vns by default 🙁 I didnt expect to be attacked like this today
That defeated 'xd' at the XD-skip was great!
You do know link can speak right? right?
My hot take is that games should have no music at all unless they directly impact the gameplay. If I wanted to listen to music, I would just listen to an album! What do games need music for? I only play games for the gameplay
whelp i agree.. kingdom hearts was my favorite series growing up and i had a horrible child hood.. i remember my parents buying me kingdom hearts two cause i had to stay in the hospital after my tonsillectomy, cant remember how long i had to stay but i remember my parents fighting
I love the topic of not paying attention to the story in video games.. only very few games did I care about the story, the main one being clair obscur. I am a through and through button masher for most games though
That "I DIDNT GO DEEP IN MY MIND PALACE" actually spooked the soul outta me. I wasnt paying attention
Perfect time for my breakfast let's goooo
20:47 I’ve been slowly making my way through the entire enderverse for the last few months. I only read the first book as a kid and experiencing the entirety of the world as an adult has been really cool.
I hope they can get Coop multiplayer randomizer working properly, that was so cool
14:30
14:45
14:40 WE CAN’T ACT LIKE IT’S NORMAL (still funny tho)
ITS FINALLY HERE
Crazy to think that after 20 minutes the entire video is just Smant in the Sand Bullet Bill subarea