I had a debate with a friend once about whether writing can be taught. She was convinced you could and mentioned stuff like the Hero's Journey, all these templates for stories and this (annoyingly false) idea that in the end all stories are based off of that. It scared me that she, a fellow creative, could think like that; that stories can just be made of building blocks, that there's a 'logic' to twists or reveals. Because when you think that way, you're thinking of a story like a technician, not anyone who's actually interested in creating any real emotion or character.

I get what you're trying to do. But outside of the idea just being tired at this point -- we've had so many revenge stories in the past decade, let alone the larger pantheon of storytelling -- it's just not a well-written story and its told even worse. Every twist or plot development feels like a poorly executed trick with no soul or weight to it.

The idea that this won prizes for its story proves Hollywood's idea that AI can replace writers. It's a low point for narrative video games, and probably video games in general.

Yes, I'm one of the ones who started FE at Three Houses. And if Engage is a "return to form" like so many say it is, I think I'll stick to Three Houses for the time being.

Gameplay's fine, it always is. But God this game is fucking boring. It's the most basic, banal story you could come up with for a fantasy world. It feels so dreadfully uninspired and derivative, it blows me mind to think this came out in 2023. I gave up when they did the "bad guy stunned by villain's evilness and sides with heroes" gag for like the 17th fucking time.

It's also extremely linear which is hugely disappointing after 3H's replayability. With a story like this that lacks any weight and only ever develops into the most predictable and uninteresting plot revelations or twists, there's absolutely nothing to make you want to move forward.

And those character designs. Fucking hell. At least Genshin Impact is free.