back
11 comments
I appreciate how Japanese works can defy a canon. I am thinking of Tenchi Muyou, or the Evangelion reboots, or the endless doujinshi made of every story. Redo all the characters, if it's interesting. In contrast it almost feels like Western media and fandom is obsessed with finding the theoretical "correct" version of a story, and declaring it canon. Arguments over Star Trek physics, and "retconning" remind me of this. The fact that Legend of Zelda games cannot be rectified with each other doesn't bother me one little bit. Nintendo games aren't lesser because of it.
Also compare Anime to American cartoons. In an American cartoon, main characters never die (or even minor recurring characters). In Japanese Anime, major characters do die. The story usually has a beginning, middle, and end, instead of Batman fighting the Joker each week, puts him in jail, and then the Joker escapes again.

Star Trek has the same problem. Episodes were produced independently, which means the state of the universe has to be reset at the end of each episode. More recent American series tend to have a season-long plot, though.

Another thing I have noticed is that Japanese Anime tends to be more willing to end a show once it is over. American cartoons seem to keep a show going for as long as it is popular. Of course there are exceptions to both.
When I think of Anime, I don't think of think of the critically acclaimed stuff like Samurai Champloo or Space Cowboy.

I think of the endless episodes of Naruto, Pokemon, Conan, One Piece.

Do the endless reboots of superhero franchises not count? They've definitely exploited batman and co as much as or more than Evangelion.
I think the difference is, they decide "OK that story was happening in Earth-52" and then incorporate it into the canon, have crossovers, "this was a fever-dream", etc. It still lets fans obsess about correctness.
"What makes a good game" and "what makes a good story" are two different things.

Doom didn't have a plot. Tetris didn't have a plot.

Also, if you want the game to have a MEANINGFUL plot, then you have to pretty much make the game linear, which isn't the point of a game.

Trying to make a game like a movie is missing the point.

When I hear things like "This game has 20 hours of gameplay!", I cringe, because if it's a really good game I want to play it more than 20 hours (one reason I like roguelikes).

Not all games should be 80+ powerhouses. The Costume Quest games, for instance, each clock in at approximately 8 hours to complete, maybe a bit longer for 100%. And that's perfect. Any longer, and you get tired of the combat and repetition, but during those 8 hours you feel magnificent because somehow they're able to recreate the feeling of being 9 years old and trick or treating. The actual overarching story serves to keep you from overindulging and boring yourself with the mechanics.
Different people like different parts of games. Some people like games that are immersive and really long like skyrim. Others like shorter games which are more cut down.

Other media example: Some people love serial television, other love 2 hr movies. Some people like both for different reasons.

It's okay for people to like what they want for whatever reason they have.

And after all, I still prefer chess.
I thought the examples were very cherry picked. Super Mario has been running as a very popular cartoon for many years. The Zelda comics were highly regarded by many fans. Pokemon has spawned endless cartoons, movies and comics.