Opinion Escape back to the Real World!

[Le Pertti]

I’ve been thinking for a long time about how much I keep wanting games that take place in the real world. Games, as my preferred medium to consume, I feel lacks something I like in movies, real stories about real people dealing with ordinary shit. That means NO MAGIC, NOTHING SUPER NATURAL, NO SCI FI.

I think games really need to grow up a bit, to start having the breath of stories and settings as movies and books do for example. And I'm not talking about aping story telling techniques. Since I believe games should be as player driven as possible. But more about just being in the real world, in a setting that feels familiar and intimate, something one can relate to.

Some genres that naturally feel real are simulation games but it lacks that human element. And on a completely different note, visual novels are great at this, they are always about the human element, and often do stick to reality, when they don’t delve into anything magical/super natural and such. Also indie games are good at this but they often don’t dare to be too real and mask their real stuff in goofy package, for example Night in the Woods, about real life stuff but with cartoony animals so it still “fails” in what I want. One edge case is the GTA series, while it takes place in reality and stays there, it's still about very extraordinary things and doesn't feel real as a result.

So! I want to hear some examples and if you have some thoughts on what you think gaming needs to feel more real and relatable?

 

[Wibblewozzer]

What about more surreal visuals to tell a very real and ordinary (for lack of a better term) story? For example there's That Dragon, Cancer. I can see it being considered as a "goofy" package but just trying to see if that's what you mean that you just want something completely in a non-fantastical realm of visuals/storytelling.

Gone Home is definitely in this realm of what you're talking about, though. And Her Story and Telling Lies from Sam Barlow. Late Shift is a fun FMV game that really is just a choose your own adventure movie. Indie games will be where this is probably most prevalent.

But you also mention GTA as being on the edge so does that mean stuff like Watch_Dogs would fall into being real enough? Sleeping Dogs? Or are all of these ruled out because they're still game-y in that you can fall from heights that would normally cause more severe injuries, car accidents are a minor inconvenience, and generally you're still able to get a bit crazier than real life. Not to mention the silly levels of hacking in the Watch_Dogs games.

Shenmue is one open world game that veers harder into mimicking real life.

And in the end Heavy Rain didn't contain anything truly fantastical, right? I know the open plot holes could have lead that way but instead it ended up being more grounded (with unexplainable plot holes) than originally planned?

Those come to mind right away and maybe I'll think of more, especially based on understanding exactly the criteria you're considering.

 

[Le Pertti]

What about more surreal visuals to tell a very real and ordinary (for lack of a better term) story? For example there's That Dragon, Cancer. I can see it being considered as a "goofy" package but just trying to see if that's what you mean that you just want something completely in a non-fantastical realm of visuals/storytelling.

I think I mean more with "goofy" in that the content is unrealistic and not the artistic expression. I haven't played That Dragon Cancer, visually it seems great, but it still seems to go into fantasy worlds. Now of course I like games like that as much as anyone, what my purpose for this thread is to put a spotlight on something that I find to be severely lacking in gaming.

Gone Home is definitely in this realm of what you're talking about, though. And Her Story and Telling Lies from Sam Barlow. Late Shift is a fun FMV game that really is just a choose your own adventure movie. Indie games will be where this is probably most prevalent.

Gone Home is actually one good example of games that actually do fit into what I'm looking for! And that reminds me, Firewatch too!

But you also mention GTA as being on the edge so does that mean stuff like Watch_Dogs would fall into being real enough? Sleeping Dogs? Or are all of these ruled out because they're still game-y in that you can fall from heights that would normally cause more severe injuries, car accidents are a minor inconvenience, and generally you're still able to get a bit crazier than real life. Not to mention the silly levels of hacking in the Watch_Dogs games.

Sleeping Dogs and Watch_Dogs do fit, but they have the same problem as GTA, they are about very extraordinary things that no one can relate to. The genre of games I'm thinking of would be something like "Drama", GTA and the like are over the top blockbusters.

Shenmue is one open world game that veers harder into mimicking real life.

SHENMUE! That is one really good example! One of my favourite games, BUT it does go into some mystical and paranormal stuff, more so in the third one I suspect. But yes more like shenmue but even more about ordinary and real life stuff!

And in the end Heavy Rain didn't contain anything truly fantastical, right? I know the open plot holes could have lead that way but instead it ended up being more grounded (with unexplainable plot holes) than originally planned?

Those come to mind right away and maybe I'll think of more, especially based on understanding exactly the criteria you're considering.

Heavy Rain works, it's kind of on an edge like GTA in that it's a very extraordinary situation.

 

[Rando10123]

Papers Please fits your criteria even though it's in a made up communist country. I doubt any medium can replicate being in charge of immigration.

 

[Wibblewozzer]

I think I mean more with "goofy" in that the content is unrealistic and not the artistic expression. I haven't played That Dragon Cancer, visually it seems great, but it still seems to go into fantasy worlds. Now of course I like games like that as much as anyone, what my purpose for this thread is to put a spotlight on something that I find to be severely lacking in gaming.


Gone Home is actually one good example of games that actually do fit into what I'm looking for! And that reminds me, Firewatch too!


Sleeping Dogs and Watch_Dogs do fit, but they have the same problem as GTA, they are about very extraordinary things that no one can relate to. The genre of games I'm thinking of would be something like "Drama", GTA and the like are over the top blockbusters.


SHENMUE! That is one really good example! One of my favourite games, BUT it does go into some mystical and paranormal stuff, more so in the third one I suspect. But yes more like shenmue but even more about ordinary and real life stuff!


Heavy Rain works, it's kind of on an edge like GTA in that it's a very extraordinary situation.

With That Dragon, Cancer the visuals are used for symbolism and to give a way to express what he was going through. But yes, it's fantastical visually but it's used as a means to tell the story. Because a game where it's just sitting in meetings with doctors and watching your child slowly die wouldn't really be a game. But that's why I wanted to check if this would fall in or out of what you meant.

I only know the content of Shenmue from watching the Giant Bomb guys play it and I didn't remember if it got into any mysticism.

I think the main difference with something like Heavy Rain is that the world the characters are in is still grounded so characters aren't leaping their height or falling from 20 feet and walking it off. Now, the story is a bit on the crazy side and the black out stuff is a bit out of nowhere, but otherwise it's "realistic".

It's really just a different look for a VN but both Emily is Away games would fall into this. Papers, Please mentioned above made me think of others where you aren't really seen but you're working a job or dealing with an interface. So things like A Normal Lost Phone and Another Lost Phone both likely fit the bill.

I feel like there's a bunch of others bumping around in my head but not surfacing just yet.

 

[Le Pertti]

Papers Please fits your criteria even though it's in a made up communist country. I doubt any medium can replicate being in charge of immigration.

With That Dragon, Cancer the visuals are used for symbolism and to give a way to express what he was going through. But yes, it's fantastical visually but it's used as a means to tell the story. Because a game where it's just sitting in meetings with doctors and watching your child slowly die wouldn't really be a game. But that's why I wanted to check if this would fall in or out of what you meant.

I only know the content of Shenmue from watching the Giant Bomb guys play it and I didn't remember if it got into any mysticism.

I think the main difference with something like Heavy Rain is that the world the characters are in is still grounded so characters aren't leaping their height or falling from 20 feet and walking it off. Now, the story is a bit on the crazy side and the black out stuff is a bit out of nowhere, but otherwise it's "realistic".

It's really just a different look for a VN but both Emily is Away games would fall into this. Papers, Please mentioned above made me think of others where you aren't really seen but you're working a job or dealing with an interface. So things like A Normal Lost Phone and Another Lost Phone both likely fit the bill.

I feel like there's a bunch of others bumping around in my head but not surfacing just yet.

Papers Please is a great example! Another one would be This War of Mine. But they are still extraordinary circumstances.

Like imagine a game, say open world city like GTA but take away all the violence, action, movie like stuff. (yes sounds super boring I know haha)

And say it instead was about being human, connecting with people, where all the production was put into realistic world, systems that allow for emergent role playing and social system and so on. Like an open world Sims but that was serious and you were in direct control.

I want the day where we can have games that are mostly systems driven that still tell stories that are engaging and affecting, that are human and feel close to us.

At least, if we are going to have games that are very linear then at least we can start telling little more interesting stories than The Last of Us(which I only liked for it's story moments!).

The reason it will take a long time, is because games are still way to hard to game and too expensive and money needs to be made and thus no one takes any chances outside Indies and even there games don't tend to be "real" in fear of being "boring" and thus not sell.