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Best Examples of Environmental Storytelling?
- Thread starter dock
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Totally agree. Etrian Odyssey 1 Untold is my favorite EO game precisely because of it. V sort of has it, sort of not.
Tomb Raider was one of my favorite examples of environmental storytelling in recent years. It gives you the perspective of multiple survivors across the decades who became stranded on Yamatai, including the main villain, which really helps sell the danger of the setting. You can also learn the disturbing truth as to why there aren't any women NPCs on the island, and why the cult exists. Crystal Dynamics did a great of utilizing the game's gritty, horror vibe (it borrows heavily from The Descent). Rise of the Tomb Raider was also exceptional with its environmental storytelling, but I didn't find the setting as intriguing. Some other games that come to mind are Dishonored, The Last of Us, Resident Evil, Crysis 2, New Vegas, Skyrim, and Fallout 4.
Megaman X.
Defeating certain Bosses causes environmental changes to other levels, that sort of tells you how the ecosystem of the map was related.
Defeat Storm Eagle -> His airship crashes into Spark Mandrill's Power plant causing a black out.
Defeat Chill Penguin -> causes the weather to go out of control freezing Flame Mammoth's Foundry
Defeat Launch Octopus -> Destruction of his base causes a Flood on Sting Chameleon's jungle
Defeating certain Bosses causes environmental changes to other levels, that sort of tells you how the ecosystem of the map was related.
Defeat Storm Eagle -> His airship crashes into Spark Mandrill's Power plant causing a black out.
Defeat Chill Penguin -> causes the weather to go out of control freezing Flame Mammoth's Foundry
Defeat Launch Octopus -> Destruction of his base causes a Flood on Sting Chameleon's jungle
Has to be the Fallout or Elder Scrolls series. Absolutely loved exploring Vaults, each had such an interesting substory.
Bloodborne is the best one. The last of us, Ueda games and the other Souls games also comes o mind.
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1. Horizon tells the history in more than just visuals. Bad example to try to use.
2. A bonus "feature" is not considered a "feature" to you?
3. Yes, we all understand games are interactive, but games are also curated and balanced. The vast majority of gamers would be annoyed if they find many things they can interact with yet nothing has to do with progression or main story. The idea that "Everything" needs to be interactive in a game is a horrible one and after playing literally thousands of games, the best way for games to convey the lore of the world is either non interactive or unobtrusive as possible.
Everything that was mentioned from Horizon, inside, Halo series, Bloodborne and many more are examples of how an interactive medium such as games do excel more than books and movies because of the sheer fact that the other mediums have to force that information/perspective on audiences while games do not.
Bioshock is the example that sticks in my mind first. Unique settings and situations that are like drugs for curiosity and challenge your perspective at times.
Half-Life 2 uses environmental storytelling to build atmosphere in an impactful way. Quite a bit of the lore has to be pieced together via pre-production info and data mining, though all of it is fascinating.
I love how Soulsborne games feature worlds that reward your curiosity similar to how your patience and determination are rewarded via adapting to the gameplay's difficulty curve.
Red Dead 2 has a somewhat different approach - I love the sheer volume of unscripted stories that take place around you and that you play a role in by exploring the environment.
Half-Life 2 uses environmental storytelling to build atmosphere in an impactful way. Quite a bit of the lore has to be pieced together via pre-production info and data mining, though all of it is fascinating.
I love how Soulsborne games feature worlds that reward your curiosity similar to how your patience and determination are rewarded via adapting to the gameplay's difficulty curve.
Red Dead 2 has a somewhat different approach - I love the sheer volume of unscripted stories that take place around you and that you play a role in by exploring the environment.
BioShock. I does fall into the clichè "message on the wall written in blood" sometimes but the whole atmosphere is so rich that it really tells a story.
Especially levels like the medical pavilion and Fort Frolic give you the impression that this was once a living, breathing city going through an age of prosperity before shit hit the fan.
Especially levels like the medical pavilion and Fort Frolic give you the impression that this was once a living, breathing city going through an age of prosperity before shit hit the fan.
Oh man lots of the great examples here: Inside, all of From's Soulsborne games, Horizon, Team ICO games, etc..
The Last of Us really does a good job (for me) communicating beats from the story its trying to tell with the environment it presents.
Another series I think that does a good job of injecting interesting mythos into its world via environmental design is Destiny. I have a serious love/hate relationship with both games but the part that keeps pulling me back in is the world I'm presented with and the off-the-beaten-path spaces I find myself stumbling into that nod to a richer history.
The Last of Us really does a good job (for me) communicating beats from the story its trying to tell with the environment it presents.
Another series I think that does a good job of injecting interesting mythos into its world via environmental design is Destiny. I have a serious love/hate relationship with both games but the part that keeps pulling me back in is the world I'm presented with and the off-the-beaten-path spaces I find myself stumbling into that nod to a richer history.
I loved the way Halo: ODST used the in-game city infrastructure to point you towards both the main campaign locations and the audiologs for the side story.
breath of the wild.
right when the game starts and u see all those dead guardians at the temple
there are many other examples while playing BOTW.....where it gives u something and lets ur mind fill in the rest. But this was the most blatant in ur face storytelling.
right when the game starts and u see all those dead guardians at the temple
there are many other examples while playing BOTW.....where it gives u something and lets ur mind fill in the rest. But this was the most blatant in ur face storytelling.
OP
OP
Are there any specific examples from Etrisn Odyssey? Are they within the gridded dungeons?
Um...
Etrian Odyssey 1, 5th Stratum.
Is spoiler, if anyone cares about Etrian Odyssey 1's story, where the plot twist is that it has one.
I think Etrian Odyssey 2 6th Stratum is also pretty good for it?
This was a land of beauty once. Prosperity. A kingdom of riches, monuments, culture, and beauty. Its people scattered shrines throughout the land, its endless bridges a tether to the rest of the world, its towering pillars looming large over mortal men below. Its Babel tower scrapes the heavens while vestiges of a long-forgotten empire are carved into the very mountains.
It's all gone. Abandoned and decayed. A whole kingdom reduced to the tomb of a fallen god while towering elemental beasts roam its vacant plains and soar across lonely skies. There is no laughter here. No markets or shops or palaces. Just a silent shell of a once-prosperous people, either abandoned... or sealed... lest the rest of the world fall prey to whatever malice reduced them to hollow echoes in the wind.
Nicely written. Thank you.
