How important is originality in a game?

[whitesphere]

I've been thinking about this for a long time.

You see, the more games I play and stories I read (and I immensely enjoy doing both), the more I start to see patterns.  And the less original each experience becomes, until some become completely predictable.  For example: Oh, this is the "saucy princess who rebels against her father" character.

So, when creating a game, how important is originality to the game?  What types of originality are the most important?  And how can someone create originality?   In particular, I'm talking about originality of a story, which is arguably the hardest part.

Granted, some of the greatest, most beloved stories are great because they touch upon core parts of human nature.  And that hasn't fundamentally changed for thousands of years.  For example, the Epic of Gilgamesh and various stories in the Bible are thousands of years old.  Yet they are still moving, even though they are hardly original today.  So, even a great story can be very unoriginal.

Nowadays, I believe how well the story is told is the most important thing, and accept that many stories are going to share elements or story arcs.  The Matrix trilogy, for example, has the classic hero arc and deliberately alludes to the Buddha and Christ.  

What do you all think?

 

[Kes]

Nick Palmer has recently done a blog on this; see here: http://blog.rpgmakerweb.com/gamer-thoughts/originality/  He makes some sensible points, imo.

 

[whitesphere]

@ksjp17

It sounds like he's saying the same thing I did.  The most important thing is to tell the story well.  

 

[Dalph]

Originality doesn't matter, execution does.

 

[Zoltor]

Originality in games, movies, anime, books or whatever is so god damn overrated. People need to stop bashing things for no reason other then the story Isn't 100% original.

What matters, is that the story is told well.

Originality doesn't have anything whatso ever to do with the quality of a story nor does it = a good game(movie, anime, book, ect) in any way, shape or form, so people definitely need to stop bashing things for not having a 100% original story.

To Dalph: Exactly.

 

[Deep Thought]

Originality doesn't matter, execution does.

I mostly agree. Proper execution can make an otherwise cliche-ridden plot work. Skies of Arcadia, for example, was a classic example of the "idealistic hero finds mysterious girl who hold the key to defeating an evil empire" cliche. If I had the patience, I'd list all of the cliches Skies of Arcadia used compared to The Grand List of RPG Cliches (a seminal text on the subject). But I don't have the patience, so I'll continue. While the game didn't sell very well, it has become a cult classic with the passage of time. 

My issue with the statement is that proper execution is extremely hard when it comes to cliche'd ideas, and requires a degree of skill and experience. It takes a magic touch to make a cliche-ridden plot work, and (call me cynical) the run-of-the-mill RPG Maker does not have the magic touch. I'll be the first to admit that I don't.

It's better to come up with your own ideas and do your best with them, rather than attempt to turn an intentionally cliche-ridden mess into something better than it is. Deconstruction, in particular, is hard to do without seeming like a shallow parody or a mindless inversion ("It's the same, but the other way around"). There's an issue when your ideas turn out to be less original than you thought, but even a touch of originality can greatly improve the work. Remember, it should be your game, not a derivative of someone else's.

 

[Mouser]

Saying originality doesn't matter is going too far the other way - of course it matters. Everything matters. Like anything else, it's a matter of degree.

You can tell the story of the reluctant hero, but maybe you switch a few of the standard characters around - the 'mentor' could be a young woman instead of an old man; the hero might be the 'old' one; gender role reversal (one of the hallmark traits of the X-Files); how you handle 'romantic' elements. And there are other stories to tell - not every story is the story of the hero. So while you may be following a tried and true pattern or plot, you're putting your own 'twists' to it, so it doesn't feel like exactly the same story with different names.

Whatever story you tell, it needs to be told well, that comes down to execution. But the more 'original' elements you can add, the more likely you are to keep the player interested and wondering what's going to happen. If you follow the formula too closely, boredom creeps in and the players drop the game.

 

[Milennin]

I don't care about originality. All that matters is that the game is fun to play.

You can tell the story of the reluctant hero, but maybe you switch a few of the standard characters around - the 'mentor' could be a young woman instead of an old man; the hero might be the 'old' one; gender role reversal (one of the hallmark traits of the X-Files);

But this does nothing to improve the game on itself. Also, switching around standard characters isn't originality. It's just the same as everything else, but with a different look to it.

 

[Mouser]

I don't care about originality. All that matters is that the game is fun to play.

But this does nothing to improve the game on itself. Also, switching around standard characters isn't originality. It's just the same as everything else, but with a different look to it.

It depends on how it's done. Nothing automatically 'improves' a game by itself: not a different battle system, not a different leveling mechanic, not crafting, not graphics, not music (maybe music)... It's how all those little things add up and are executed. Don't dismiss the value of dialog in how 'good' a game is. That's where those little character changes and twists come in. Maybe you can keep the player from realizing that Nereia is 'the mentor' for a while. Keep the suspense going.

The exact number varies by whose system you use, but every story you've ever seen or read is made up from under a dozen basic 'plots'.

 

[Dalph]

I hate being Captain Obvious here, but true originality doesn't exist anymore (even IRL), there's only authenticity.

The world is changed and if someone tries to be original in any way, everyone suddenly try to copy him\her.

 

[Sharm]

It is possible to get things that are completely original, but people actually hate it. They have nothing to relate to, no point of reference. It makes people uncomfortable. The best stories have a nice balance between the familiar and the strange, so that people are comfortable but have something different to look forward to.

 

[cabfe]

That's true. Original stories are often welcomed with a "WTF???" from the players.

The best recipes are (almost?) all known. Only the worst remain unused, for a reason.

 

[zacheatscrackers]

Originality, for me, is sort of a scale.

Something totally original and unheard of is definitely an achievement, since at this point in gaming's (and effectively media's) history, we've basically done everything; we'd be hard pressed to piece together something no one has done before without at least a few elements people are familiar with. Something heavily original with some familiar elements is essentially the biggest piece of the pie, as that's what most developers tend to shoot for when they want to make the next groundbreaking and/or at least attention-getting product (The World Ends With You, Persona 4 [granted, Persona 4 has some cliches and common tropes, though mostly in its characters from what I can tell], Hard Reset). Something with a good deal of established and accepted elements (Bravely Default, Chrono Trigger) with some genuinely underused or completely new concepts sprinkled in work quite well as well. Then, of course, there's the laundry list of other products that don't even try to deviate from the norm (not going to even bother to list), but still end up selling millions upon billions. Some of the most popular franchises (Call of Duty, Final Fantasy, the works) get the most attention largely because they all have elements people are totally comfortable with.

Though there's nothing wrong with being anywhere on the scale, don't get me wrong for even a second; it all comes down to how you do it. That's really the ultimate glue to creation.

 

[Diretooth]

To me, there is no such thing as originality. Unique concepts, perhaps, unique stories, but never truly original ideas. Life itself it a remix of original ideas, for instance, you have the dumb jocks, the jerk jocks, the smart jocks, and similar for less sporty people.

Ultimately it is how well written a story is, even if it's a gather the four crystals to save the world type game.

 

[mightydarkchocolate]

When it comes to a story of the games, originality is one of the important aspect for me. I want my game to be different & have its own strength and unique as well. I had played tons of games (mostly horror genre) & found out most of them will repeat the same story pattern (get lost in inhuman world & get chased by demons/ghosts, stranger appear out of nowhere or from secret organization to gave help, etc). Of course, when it comes to a story aspect, it must be well driven/written so the players will not confuse at the end.

Different people got different taste and thought when it comes to the story aspect of one game. Some of them doesn't care much about the story as long the game play is fun & worth their times but others tend to enjoy more on story route compared to game play itself.

 

[kj3400]

Original is something that's not going to happen anymore. No matter what you've done, someone's probably done it before, and probably better at that. I mean, look at this thread. I'm pretty sure what I'm saying has already been said a dozen times. What matters is that you tell it. The part that makes the story unique is the spin you put on it. Maybe you find something to focus on in a particular way. It's all at how you look at the story and portray it to the people you want to tell it to. Of course, if you don't tell it well, no one's going to want to hear it no matter how unique it is.

 

[TheRiotInside]

People can take the pursuit of originality too far as well. If they get the idea in their head that anything that's been done is unoriginal and must not be repeated (the extreme end of the spectrum) then they will end up trying to reinvent the wheel, usually with disastrous results. I think Sharm put beautifully how I feel about the subject.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

Personally, I don't believe in a completely original idea during this time... especially when it comes to stories and game mechanics... so originality doesn't matter to me...

 

[Simon D. Aelsi]

There is nothing... NOTHING you can do storywise that hasn't been done before...

Escape the ______, Save the ________, Find the _________, what have you.

Starwars and Harry Potter have a startlingly similar story line... Parents got killed, "You're the chosen one", Main villain is related to you, blah blah.

It's good to try to be original, but don't try so hard the rest of the game suffers.  Like most have said, execution is a BIG player in this.

Think of it this way, if your game were a book, would you read it? If yes, then chances are you've got a good storyline. I hope that helped some.

 

[C-C-C-Cashmere (old)]

Ahem. People are talking about originality in storytelling, but they fail to mention that there is plenty of room for innovation in gameplay. Many, many mechanics are yet to be explored, from innovative puzzle mechanics to battle systems to new scripts enabling greater possibilities than ever before. Innovative dungeon designs, innovative choice-based systems, harvest-moon-style real-time games, horror games with more inventive scares, and even time-bending possibilities.


I believe the magic of gaming lies in innovative gameplay. I can get a good story in a movie. But an experience comes from the way that certain mechanics interact with each other.


So no, originality is not dead. There is still plenty to be found out, and I think that may even be something that is sorely missing from the RPG Maker community. I'm generalizing here, but it's true.