A game's storyline and it's playing-time.

[Alf-Life]

Having come from another thread where I describe going back to Wind Waker a year later having forgotten most of what went on, I want to ask if people think in-general games which try to have Hollywood-esque stories are being unrealistic.

The reason I ask is that with a film, you sit down and watch 2hrs and then it ends (although for some reason, even in films I seem to go into a passive autopilot mode sometimes - ADD or just boring film? :P).
However, with games you tend to spend from 15-30hrs if not more, and so unless the story is relatively simple (eg. Zelda: Ocarina) by the end you tend to forget your character's motivations from the start of the game, or even some story elements.

I'm not really into epic RPGs, so I can't comment on that area, but surely it's even worse in that field?

I think when a story is created for a game, the game is perhaps looked at and plotted out timeline-wise like a film where acts may be put in and plot points, but perhaps the writers and designers are not thinking through how long each section will be? Maybe each level would benefit from having 3 acts and plot points, rather than it beign spread throughout the entire game?

Or maybe it's just down to your level of enjoyment and involvement as a player? I mean, Halo's 10 levels are pretty big but I really enjoyed and remembered the story there, whereas I couldn't even tell you about the story in Splinter Cell (which I played through entirely, but largely ignored), or say Hitman 2 (which I enjoyed but skimmed through the story elements to get to the meaty gameplay ).

[Tom Salter]

I do find that in games like Final Fantasy that I forget minor points that are highlighted at the start of the game towards the end. Like in Final Fantasy VII, Cloud gets major headaches at the start of the game, and points like this were completely lost on me later in the game.

In longer games, it pays to have a notebook system, like Shenmue. You can then go back and remind yourself of things that happened towards the beginning, and it's a godsend when you have a couple of weeks away from the game.

[Adam Stone]

I think it comes down to the execution of the story and narrative ? and how well written the script is of course, although if the execution is poor, then no matter how good the script is, it can still become tedious, forgettable and boring?

Eternal Darkness has an incredibly well written script, and luckily is also presented in an intriguing and appealing way?

Maybe each level would benefit from having 3 acts and plot points, rather than it being spread throughout the entire game?

In ED, this may largely be why - tho I don?t know tbh. There is one defining story (multiple dimensions, parallel universes, fate and destiny etc) but it is presented through 12 different sub plot (the playable characters).

Heavily story driven games are largely liner experiences (ED was like reading a book in this sense) but I don?t feel that is a negative thing? I personally wouldnt class Splinter Cell as a story driven game. I too found it boring and didnt really care... the playable experience tho was fun. If the story wasnt there it would still be fun. A game like ED wouldnt be the same without its story imo

For me personally, these sort of games are realistic. The reason for this is because If I find myself engrossed in a game with a compelling story, I cant take myself away from it. I don?t have the potential problem of forgetting as I find myself in there with the characters themselves?

[lostn]

I like story driven games with lots of movies. I wish there were more movies. As long as they are skippable of course. Some people hate watching cutscenes, so being able to skip them should shut them up.