Trails of Cold Steel was great about this because of the journal the protagonist keeps in the game, in a literal notebook that diegetically exists. When I started playing again, all I had to do was look at the journal to have my memory jogged of what happened up to that point and what’s going on presently.
Witcher 3 had a little hint of that by giving a short recap on load but it wasn’t really enough. Would be cool if narrative focused games had recap movies that you can unlock more parts as you progress (not a big fan of reading since my memory is very visual)
Previously on Witcher 3,
Dandelion had sex with the wife on an important figure and is being hunted. Geralt must win a game a Gwent versus the mercenary leader to get information. There’s is a familiar scent in the air.
Lots of games have been doing something like this or similar lately, to the point where Rise of the Ronin basically has an in-game Wiki where you can click highlighted words to jump between entries.
Final Fantasy XVI did an amazing job with their Active Lore… I do like these new features, though I hope that plenty of games still decide to eschew them, as there was something special about oldschool PS1 games and having no fucking idea what is happening or where you’re going.
Edit: Rise of the Ronin might have a decent in-game info thing, but I think I was actually thinking of Unicorn Overlord that has the wiki-style thing and it’s huge. Either way, it’s a good trend imo.
yeah i thought it was cool how they literally handed the protagonist the notebook and straight up said “this is how you’re going to document your assignments at the academy, also please make sure you summarize other things you learn, and lastly there are reference guides for the magitech tools you’ll be using and various combat scenarios already in it as well”. it’s neat that it’s both a menu element and a prop in the world that is interacted with in-character.
i’m glad i knew the word ‘diegetic’ to describe it :D
Trails of Cold Steel was great about this because of the journal the protagonist keeps in the game, in a literal notebook that diegetically exists. When I started playing again, all I had to do was look at the journal to have my memory jogged of what happened up to that point and what’s going on presently.
Witcher 3 had a little hint of that by giving a short recap on load but it wasn’t really enough. Would be cool if narrative focused games had recap movies that you can unlock more parts as you progress (not a big fan of reading since my memory is very visual)
Previously on Witcher 3, Dandelion had sex with the wife on an important figure and is being hunted. Geralt must win a game a Gwent versus the mercenary leader to get information. There’s is a familiar scent in the air.
Morrowind fangirl here for duty. I love that games journal system
Lots of games have been doing something like this or similar lately, to the point where Rise of the Ronin basically has an in-game Wiki where you can click highlighted words to jump between entries.
Final Fantasy XVI did an amazing job with their Active Lore… I do like these new features, though I hope that plenty of games still decide to eschew them, as there was something special about oldschool PS1 games and having no fucking idea what is happening or where you’re going.
Edit: Rise of the Ronin might have a decent in-game info thing, but I think I was actually thinking of Unicorn Overlord that has the wiki-style thing and it’s huge. Either way, it’s a good trend imo.
Cool thanks :)
yeah i thought it was cool how they literally handed the protagonist the notebook and straight up said “this is how you’re going to document your assignments at the academy, also please make sure you summarize other things you learn, and lastly there are reference guides for the magitech tools you’ll be using and various combat scenarios already in it as well”. it’s neat that it’s both a menu element and a prop in the world that is interacted with in-character.
i’m glad i knew the word ‘diegetic’ to describe it :D
That is such a fun implementation!
Thanks for invoking the little word nerdery :)