10 Storytelling Clichés In Video Games That Need To Die
1. You’re The One And Only Hero Because… Reasons
Prime Offender: Mass Effect, Deus Ex
Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some – almost invariably in video games – have greatness thrust upon them. In the real world, heroes tend to be one of the first two (you know, soldiers, leaders, philosophers, that sort of thing).
Out in videogamesland, pretty much anyone can be a hero, for just about every contrived reason you can name.
Usually this involves in them cartoonishly stumbling and bumbling into a MacGuffin that enhances their lowly human powers, or they witness an event that miraculously transforms them from Joe Schmo into Joe Hero. It’s a lovely, lazy Mary Sue piece of fiction.
Because in games, champions aren’t always born; they’re created through manufactured plot points, allowing gamers to identify with this apparently ordinary individual in extraordinary times.
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Which other narrative cliches are you sick of seeing? Let us know in the comments!