I haven't commented publicly on the new Naughty Dog Thing because I haven't had much to add until now. But I will say that as a writer in the games industry myself, albeit in loc, the reason I just don't bother with most AAA stuff is it mistakes technically polished writing for meaningful writing. - ThreadSky

iiotenki.bsky.social • 113 days ago

I haven't commented publicly on the new Naughty Dog Thing because I haven't had much to add until now. But I will say that as a writer in the games industry myself, albeit in loc, the reason I just don't bother with most AAA stuff is it mistakes technically polished writing for meaningful writing.

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daizz.bsky.social•112 days ago

My biggest gripe with writing in AAA games today is how a lot of them seem to treat gameplay as some sort of non-canon faffing about which will be more or less completely ignored when Real Narrative is happening. Just because the term has been misused doesn't mean ludonarrative dissonance isn't real

s-h-a-r-c.bsky.social•113 days ago

i really don't get all the negativity, it's a property with a lot of potential and games have never engaged with it before, i think this could really go places

sidremus.bsky.social•113 days ago

this kinda also nails why I've grown really annoyed with about any movie/show that came the last few years.
the actors are qualified, the camera and effects and sound are all there.
and they're talking like they have something to say - and then nothing.

sidremus.bsky.social•113 days ago

sometimes it feels like we've spent so much time on how we talk that we've forgotten why we did it in the first place.
it's just... all content now.
the stuff between the ads

iiotenki.bsky.social•113 days ago

Yeah. I don't even think all of the writers that work on these properties are entirely self-conscious about these sorts of creative consequences to that approach, either, especially when it can be handsomely rewarded both critically and financially. I do think plenty of them believe in their work.

iiotenki.bsky.social•113 days ago

But at the same time, past a certain point, I do feel that prioritizing polish so hard almost inherently puts a work at odds with its ability to demonstrate any real honesty as a creative work, both thematically overall and in its delivery. It's intelligence as a bullet point, not a driving force.

ghostkumo.bsky.social•113 days ago

I feel you so much here.

Personally I'd so much rather take hamfisted writing that still says something over eloquent writing that says nothing.

(Easy as it may be to say "why can't we have both", writing is hard and even good writers can have a dud)

iiotenki.bsky.social•113 days ago

It's cynical to say, but as someone who's worked on vacuous, Forever Redacted licensed and mobile games, when you write professionally in entertainment enough, you learn how to use sound fundamentals to mask hollow interior identities and produce a superficially entertaining—and sellable—product.

iiotenki.bsky.social•113 days ago

It still takes genuine skill to write cogent dialogue and to rhetorically structure and flow things in an intuitive manner. I'm not denying that. Not all games manage it! But that level of clinical polish too often projects an illusion of intelligence that can't withstand any serious interrogation.

iiotenki.bsky.social•113 days ago

Some games can get away with this longer and to greater extents because they touch upon themes or have sources of inspiration most people won't consume casually or study. But the sort of stuff ND/Sony overall puts out often touches such popular tentpoles, it demands higher standards and often fails.

marinkarinkid.bsky.social•112 days ago

I’m just not impressed when the gorillion dollar company uses a gorillion dollars to make a game Polygons as heck. The star power, the inspirations they cited next to the trailer they showed…it just looks like the most Nothing parts of the most Nothing inspo used to make the most Mass Appeal art

iiotenki.bsky.social•113 days ago

Last post: it took me a bit to figure out why this game touched a raw nerve so fast. And it's because it's so ham-fisted with its homages and brand worship, it already feels like it's forfeiting that intellectual benefit of the doubt and laying bare it's an elderly dog doing the same tricks, again.

terarist.bsky.social•113 days ago

I find your critique far more thoughtful and measured than many out there that seem to center on the gender, race and attractiveness of the protagonist. I'll make time to hear a well reasoned argument on hollow narratives buoyed by predictable tropes every day of the week.

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