I’ve got a long week behind me, so I’m really looking forward to some gaming. I’ve recently picked up TUNIC, which I will likely be continuing - having lots of fun with it. The mix between a Zelda-like with some Dark Souls sprinkled in makes for a really interesting combination. The lore being told through the instruction manual makes for a really interesting approach to storytelling, seeing it all unravel in real-time and all the mental puzzle pieces falling into place.
Speaking of lore, should FromSoft make their lore more approachable? It’s been memed on to death that FS’s lore is notoriously hard to parse if you don’t have a PhD in Soulsology or are super attentive to every minute detail the game presents to you.
To me, it sometimes feels a little too cryptic. Don’t get me wrong - I love FS games for their environmental storytelling and the mystery surrounding most happenings. But sometimes I just prefer to have it laid out before me and not be that difficult to understand. I feel like having a Wiki or a YouTube video open to even understand the basics of the story can feel a little silly sometimes. But I’d be lying if I said I don’t enjoy all the different interpretations to the lore that leaves us with.
Take the story of Bloodborne, for example. There are so many video essays discussing all the numerous theories surrounding the game (Visceral Femininity by Honey Bat is fucking amazing) that recontextualise the story in such an enriching way that any game with more direct storytelling just can’t ever achieve.
However, a mix of direct and indirect storytelling is still awesome too. Sekiro is one of the few FromSoft games that, more or less, tells you exactly what is happening and why - it’s easy to follow along. Nevertheless, since it’s rooted in Japanese folklore and culture, a lot of bits are unspoken and left to the player to make sense of, so video essayists and lore enjoyers have something to chew on to.
What’s your take on this? Do you ever get frustrated with the “read a random item description” approach to lore?
I adore Fromsoft’s storytelling. Bloodborne is one of my favorite video games and my favorite part about that game is the lore, the world, the vibe.
Fromsoft can make games in the future with a clearer main narrative and I will probably play them, since the gameplay still hooks me again and again. Other people here have said that they simply want a clearer main story supplemented with vague lore. For me a game lacking a clear main narrative and only revealing it’s world building through the entirety of the video game medium - visuals, audio, descriptions, dialogue, gameplay – is what makes FS games so appealing and what makes Bloodborne such a masterpiece.
Where I diverge a bit from the general FS community is that I actually don’t want the lore “explained” in like a youtube video or post or 100 page doc. Since all of that is just what might have happened. Nobody can truly explain Bloodborne; the vagueness that you can only know, what might have happened, what maybe is, is what makes it so magnificent.
Please, Fromsoft, make Bloodborne 2 or a spiritual successor or something (No, your vampire game doesn’t count).
Still no Soulslikes for me this weekend. I’m still addicted to Slay the Spire 2 and through that I’m absolutely certain, that I should never get into a Gacha game.
Edit: Added never which somehow got lost… I hate Gacha games….