Epic, Cinematic and Meaningful vs Fun Video Games

[xMobilemux]

Over the years video games have changed a great deal, some things good, some things bad, but something that I have personally gotten sick of is how games have been focused on telling an epic, meaningful stories, making a point and pushing political/social agendas instead of focusing on just being good and fun video games.

I began to wonder what a video game was anymore and the new reboots of Doom and God of War have brought up some very interesting and valid points regarding how lazy some developers have gotten and how they don't know what a video game is and don't even know what they're suppose to make.

The fact that people are so happy about the new God of War direction irks me greatly, God of War no longer looks like a video game that must be played in order to be enjoyed, it's pretty much turned into a Last of Us Walking Simulator that I can get the same experience from watching a YT playthrough.

I loved the God of War games, yeah they weren't DMC challenging or required that much skill beyond mash light and heavy attack and press the QTE on screen, but they were still fun video games that were a blast to play, killing hordes of enemies, massive scripted boss battles and QTE based sex while playing as a pi$$ed off protagonist who's only concern was killing every enemy in his path, loved it all, it was my kind of game.
Now it's a zoomed in, over the shoulder, walk-cutscene-walk, "Epic, Cinematic and Meaningful" walking simulator that is more focused on a relationship between a bearded guy and a kid. Something I despise in my favorite franchises cause now God of War appears to have gone the same route as Tomb Raider.

Santa Monica appears to not only have forgotten what a God of War game is about but have also forgotten what a Video Game is about.
The God of War reboot is so concerned with telling this "Epic and Meaningful" story that it's no longer about having fun which is what God of War was always about.

This is where the Doom reboot succeeded with flying colors!

The Doom games were about killing hordes of demons while playing as a pi$$ed off protagonist who's only concern was killing every enemy in his path(Sound familiar?).

The Doom reboot excelled in all the right ways, it excelled in being a Doom game, it excelled in being fun and it excelled in being a video game.
id Software knew exactly what they wanted to make, they knew exactly what a Doom game was meant to be and knew exactly what a video game is meant to be.
Doom 2016 had no concerns with being "Epic, Cinematic and Meaningful", it's concerns begun and ended with being a Fun Doom Game and it's the best First Person Shooter in years.

If Doom went in the direction God of War is going in it would have failed horribly due to being something it's not supposed to be, so I don't get why developers are trying so hard to make games be something they're not when Game being Games just turn out SO much better.
Games being games require you to buy and play them cause you can't get the Doom 2016 experience from a YT playthrough, you HAVE to play it to enjoy it.
Where as something like this God of War and games like Last of Us have no reason to not just resort to a YT playthrough and experience it for free.

Now yeah the new God of War isn't out yet, but unless it can give me a reason to buy & play it over watching a YT playthrough of it for free, it's a no good failure in my eyes.

Still what do you all think? Is God of War playing the Me Too card something you're happy about or would you have rather it be more concerned with being a God of War Video Game?
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[Chancey289]

You always seem to act like their is no middle ground or balance within the video game world. Either it's gotta be mindless, and shameless extremes, or it's just pretentious and somehow losing its identity as a video game.

Granted, I love video games like Mad World (Wii) and the new Doom for just being straight up unapologetic violent conquest with plenty of blood and guts to spare. But I also don't mind games that try to have more substance than just your typical Michael Bay film.

You do know it IS POSSIBLE for a game to tell a complex story with dynamic characters, and STILL be fun to play don't you? Hell, the story is what made games like Red Dead Redemption so special on top of its super fun western shooter gameplay. It made for a more rich experience. Why do you think games shouldn't strive to be something special in the entertainment industry?

I'm also in the circle that video games are art. We've come a long way from just jumping on platforms to try and rescue a princess. We now live in an age where we can have multi-layered stories that can span over years and multiple games. Where they can rival your typical blockbuster movie epic. They can also be grounds for experimentation in interactive entertainment being things that only a video game can offer.

Video games don't have to appeal to the lowest common denominator. As a player who likes to play ALL KINDS of games, from your typical Super Mario and Legend of Zelda, to things like Journey and TellTale's endeavors. I'm glad to have all these options out there.

Stop acting like games that have a focus on storytelling is somehow detracting from the whole experience. All this stuff you spout is just your very own narrow minded view of what video games should be, when that's never what defined them as a whole in the first place.

 

[V's patron]

I disagree with the title because I look at FF15 and see something that could be EPIC, MEANINGFUL, CINEMATIC and FUN.

There are other games that I've played in the past that have ticked all those boxes (Jak and Daxter, Infamous, AC, DMC3/4, no more heroes etc). You and I might disagree on the criteria which is fine. After all the only meaning entertainment has is the one you give it.

Granted the crux of your argument deals with games I haven't played for one reason or the other so I can't really comment yet.

 

[WolfOD64]

There's a way of doing both. Deus Ex, BioShock, Dragon Age and even the Fire Emblem games have been good examples of games that weave the storytelling into the gameplay itself. There are cutscenes and scripted moments, yes, but there are also many instances where the story itself is directed or told by elements within the game...with entire plot-points being decided by the actions the player takes, or even characters they choose to keep alive in between cutscenes, dialogue sequences, and scripted events. In other words, they make you apart of the story instead of telling it at you.

I think a good example of overly cinematic games are actually a trait of a lot of bad Japanese games than Western ones...Final Fantasy and Metal Gear being utterly egregious examples of it. THEY'RE the kind of games where you experience the story by your earlobe, exactly as the developers intended, shattering immersion and dragging you through tedious narrative moments that almost always come before the gameplay. And in recent years, a few Western games have leapt on the trend like the back of a sprinting cheetah.

Games can be artistic just as much as they can be interactive escapism...but the crucial factor that narratively-challenged dinguses like Tetsuya Nomura, David Cage, and Hideo Kojima are incapable of grasping is that both aspects have to be GOOD first. Bad gameplay and bad story can destroy a game, regardless of which is given the majority of a game's length.

 

[xMobilemux]

You always seem to act like their is no middle ground or balance within the video game world. Either it's gotta be mindless, and shameless extremes, or it's just pretentious and somehow losing its identity as a video game.

Because that's exactly what is happening here.

God of War is supposed to be the mindless and shameless extremes, not what this new thing is.
Imagine if Uncharted or Last of Us went all mindless and extreme, it wouldn't work.

I'm well aware that there can be a balance with great story and great gameplay, Witcher 3 is a prime example, like Doom 4, you can't get the experience from a YT playthough, you HAVE to play it, but those kinds of games only seem to come from developers who know what a video game is and what the game is supposed to be.
Witcher 3's concerns begun and ended with being a great Witcher game and was amazing.
Doom 4's concerns begun and ended with being a great Doom game and was amazing.
God of War's concerns are not focused on being a God of War game at all.
Most developers have forgotten what a video game is and what it's supposed to be.
That is the problem I have here.

The GoW reboot is focused on being a Last of Us knock off and it's pretty damn obvious that it's not going to try and balance the mindless extremes in there, I don't see how in a game about the relationship between some bearded guy and his child will have room for extreme gore, colossal boss fights and juvenile sex mini games with big titted Norse girls. Which is what I played God of War games for.
So yeah the game being story focused has definitely detracted from the God of War identity.

It's the same problem I have with the Tomb Raider reboot, it is suffering an identity crisis and this GoW reboot like the TR reboot, has no reason what so ever for me to buy and play the game, but has every reason for me to go on YT and get the same experience for free.

I think a good example of overly cinematic games are actually a trait of a lot of bad Japanese games than Western ones...Final Fantasy and Metal Gear being utterly egregious examples of it. THEY'RE the kind of games where you experience the story by your earlobe, exactly as the developers intended, shattering immersion and dragging you through tedious narrative moments that almost always come before the gameplay. And in recent years, a few Western games have leapt on the trend like the back of a sprinting cheetah.

Haven't played much Final Fantasy so I can't comment there, but I actually disagree in Metal Gear's case, when it comes to all the Metal Gear games, their gameplay manages to be fun enough to go through the games without the need for the story, especially MGS5.

The sad and worrying part about all this though is that if turning all Character hack n slashes into Story focused walking simulators becomes a thing, Devil May Cry is probably best left dead.

 

[Chancey289]

Because that's exactly what is happening here.

God of War is supposed to be the mindless and shameless extremes, not what this new thing is.
Imagine if Uncharted or Last of Us went all mindless and extreme, it wouldn't work.

I'm well aware that there can be a balance with great story and great gameplay, Witcher 3 is a prime example, like Doom 4, you can't get the experience from a YT playthough, you HAVE to play it, but those kinds of games only seem to come from developers who know what a video game is and what the game is supposed to be.
Witcher 3's concerns begun and ended with being a great Witcher game and was amazing.
Doom 4's concerns begun and ended with being a great Doom game and was amazing.
God of War's concerns are not focused on being a God of War game at all.
Most developers have forgotten what a video game is and what it's supposed to be.
That is the problem I have here.

The GoW reboot is focused on being a Last of Us knock off and it's pretty damn obvious that it's not going to try and balance the mindless extremes in there, I don't see how in a game about the relationship between some bearded guy and his child will have room for extreme gore, colossal boss fights and juvenile sex mini games with big titted Norse girls. Which is what I played God of War games for.
So yeah the game being story focused has definitely detracted from the God of War identity.

It's the same problem I have with the Tomb Raider reboot, it is suffering an identity crisis and this GoW reboot like the TR reboot, has no reason what so ever for me to buy and play the game, but has every reason for me to go on YT and get the same experience for free.


Haven't played much Final Fantasy so I can't comment there, but I actually disagree in Metal Gear's case, when it comes to all the Metal Gear games, their gameplay manages to be fun enough to go through the games without the need for the story, especially MGS5.

The sad and worrying part about all this though is that if turning all Character hack n slashes into Story focused walking simulators becomes a thing, Devil May Cry is probably best left dead.

You're just totally missing the point. The way YOU describe video games, is not what defines them as a whole. You think you know what makes a video game, but all you ever describe is the type of games you like. We get it, anything more cerebral than your typical Michael Bay movie is just lame to you.

You know, while I also think this new God of War isn't really looking like GoW because I always associated that series with over the top chaotic action, again, maybe you should just wait until you get more info about the game before you go about writing it off. The Norse mythology seems like a pretty cool way to go though. And how the frick is it a Last of Us knock off? Just because they're walking in the woods? What?

But I digress, I stopped giving a sh*t about God of War after the first one. Kratos is a dumb character who's just an angry asshole. I think this new one is a sequel, because I heard it's the same character. Even though I found it hard to believe that he actually held back his anger when the kid f*cked up. Holy sh*t maybe he actually matured.

And concerning Metal Gear, what the hell are you smoking? You say the MGS series doesn't have story that interferes with gameplay? Look, I am a HUGE Metal Gear fan, and even I can tell you THAT is an example of the kind of storytelling you're bitching about.

Take MGS 4 for example, it opens with like, a 20 minute cutscene. You then get to play for like a total of 3 minutes before it jumps in to ANOTHER cutscene that's like 15 minutes. Not to mention the cutscene sequence that is near 90 freaking minutes in that game.

The sad part is is that it's a lot of redundant sh*t when it comes to Kojima. I may love the guy for creating this wacky series that is near and dear to my heart, but holy f*ck does he need to hire an editor. You can make a drinking game for how many times Snake will repeat the last sentence someone says back to them with this "BUH?" expression. Or how many times a character will explain something, and then say "in other words" to explain it again.

Ah Metal Gear, you stupid mofo. I love you.

 

[Foxtrot94]

So this thread is not that much about cinematic games (which I think is a horrible trend when brought to the extreme, that needs to die as soon as possible) vs "traditional" videogames, rather a thread about when a game franchise turns into something it's not supposed to be?

I'm kinda lost here about what the topic is.

 

[xMobilemux]

You're just totally missing the point. The way YOU describe video games, is not what defines them as a whole. You think you know what makes a video game, but all you ever describe is the type of games you like. We get it, anything more cerebral than your typical Michael Bay movie is just lame to you.

You know, while I also think this new God of War isn't really looking like GoW because I always associated that series with over the top chaotic action, again, maybe you should just wait until you get more info about the game before you go about writing it off. The Norse mythology seems like a pretty cool way to go though. And how the frick is it a Last of Us knock off? Just because they're walking in the woods? What?

But I digress, I stopped giving a sh*t about God of War after the first one. Kratos is a dumb character who's just an angry asshole. I think this new one is a sequel, because I heard it's the same character. Even though I found it hard to believe that he actually held back his anger when the kid f*cked up. Holy sh*t maybe he actually matured.

And concerning Metal Gear, what the hell are you smoking? You say the MGS series doesn't have story that interferes with gameplay? Look, I am a HUGE Metal Gear fan, and even I can tell you THAT is an example of the kind of storytelling you're bitching about.

Take MGS 4 for example, it opens with like, a 20 minute cutscene. You then get to play for like a total of 3 minutes before it jumps in to ANOTHER cutscene that's like 15 minutes. Not to mention the cutscene sequence that is near 90 freaking minutes in that game.

The sad part is is that it's a lot of redundant sh*t when it comes to Kojima. I may love the guy for creating this wacky series that is near and dear to my heart, but holy f*ck does he need to hire an editor. You can make a drinking game for how many times Snake will repeat the last sentence someone says back to them with this "BUH?" expression. Or how many times a character will explain something, and then say "in other words" to explain it again.

Ah Metal Gear, you stupid mofo. I love you.

Oh for gods sake.... -_-
You've continuously said I only like Michael Bay explosion crap and you are 100% WRONG!!

Video Games are things that are meant to be Played. End of Story. That is FACT what a video game is, not watched, not heard, not read, PLAYED!! Therefor the gameplay takes top priority.
Where as this new GoW is more like an Interactive cutscene, something to be watched instead of played, even more so since it's confirmed to be done in the "One shot".
Like Last of Us I can get the same experience from a YT video cause there's nothing special about the gameplay, it's built around the story.

The God of War games story wise were pretty much the same as Doom 4, an angry main character who just kills everything and that's pretty much the games, everything else was all just dumb fun stuff for a fun series of video games.

As for Metal Gear, I can play through the games, skip the cutscenes and still have plenty of experiences I can't have from a YT playthrough, cause they have so much detail in the little things, I could go through the game murdering everyone, take things CQC, Ghost everyone and plenty of other things regarding each entry.
In MGS3s case I could set poisonous snakes/scorpion traps for enemies or in MGS4s case can go through the game with laughs as I use the various kinds of tranq ammo or just go in full out murder as an example.
Can't get that kind of stuff from a YT playthrough, you have to play the game to enjoy that.
Not to mention, the cutscene segments in the MGS series are skippable, the walking segments in all these games where you have to listen to dialog and or admire a pretty view is just an unskippable cutscene forced into the gameplay.
That's why I don't consider Metal Gear to be solely story focused, cause you miss a great deal of stuff in the gameplay if you go for a YT playthrough.

Last of Us just has the one simple playstyle, the one that fits the story, just like how this God of War appears to have.
It's a Last of Us rip off cause it's a clear copy cat, over the should view, over the shoulder combat, unskippable walking segements full of dialog, the majority of the game is walking and did you miss the fact that it's about the relationship between bearded guy and a kid?

So this thread is not that much about cinematic games (which I think is a horrible trend when brought to the extreme, that needs to die as soon as possible) vs "traditional" videogames, rather a thread about when a game franchise turns into something it's not supposed to be?

I'm kinda lost here about what the topic is.

It's mostly about how God of War, a traditional video game that was all about having dumb fun has been turned into a "Cinematic and meaningful" walking simulator that is focused on being all artsy tartsy stuff.

Since you're a Predator fan and likely have played the games, what would your reaction be if we went from the AVP games we know and love about Predators, Aliens and Marines duking it out, to a cinematic game telling the story of a Predator trying to be all well written and full of walking segments and cutscenes?
That's not why you're a fan of Predator am I right?

That's the point, Cinematic and meaningful, do not belong in stupid fun franchises like God of War, I'd go insane with anger if this happened to Duke Nukem.

EDIT:
Damn I should have posted this here earlier, it fits wonderfully.
Everyone watch this, I couldn't have said it better!

 

[Foxtrot94]

Yeah I mean, games that try to be cinematic to the extreme, trying to be as much like movies as possible, are a horrible trend that needs to die.

There's nothing wrong in having a story in a videogame, a meaningful and deep one even, but there's definitely a problem when the story just invades the gameplay with obnoxious stuff like walking talking segments and unskippable cutscenes.

When I hear bullshit like The Order 1886's developers saying that it's about the story, and gameplay, well, "they make games, can't get around having gameplay", I cringe so hard, in hope this is not what the game industry will become. If a game has to have a story, it should be built around the gameplay, not the other way around. Gameplay should NEVER be an afterthought in favor of story.

The only genres I can think of (excluding visual novels, which really sit on the line of what's an actual videogame and what's not, as I see it) where story is as important as gameplay (still not more important, that should never be a thing, games are a medium whose characterizing factor IS the gameplay) are adventure and RPG, where the narrative really is one of the key aspects of the overall experience.

Games are not movies, and they should not try to be. Period.

 

[WolfOD64]

Haven't played much Final Fantasy so I can't comment there, but I actually disagree in Metal Gear's case, when it comes to all the Metal Gear games, their gameplay manages to be fun enough to go through the games without the need for the story, especially MGS5

MGS5 is the rare, bulging exception to Kojima's insufferable trend of cramming literal hours' worth of cutscenes in a game, grinding the pace and flow of the game down to the speed of cement.

With the series' gameplay being very much up to subjective tastes, I'm willing to refrain from commenting on the "stealth" in Metal Gear as it would be a pointless derailing of the topic, but to forgive the Metal Gear franchise for bucking to the exact trend mentioned in this thread is a little strange. Especially considering it has one of the absolute worst offenders in its very series---and its name is Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. You can't sit there, and tell me that there is more gameplay than cutscenes in that game. You just can't. If that is not a blatant demonstration of the urge to be cinematic infecting a game, I literally don't know what is.

The Yakuza games are kind of notorious for having length cutscenes, but they're almost exclusively reserved for the main story without infecting medial errands like side quests and such, and on top of that, every game since the first one has had the option to turn off cutscenes entirely.

The reason games like MGS4 don't have that option is because that would mean skipping 75% of the game.

 

[xMobilemux]

MGS5 is the rare, bulging exception to Kojima's insufferable trend of cramming literal hours' worth of cutscenes in a game, grinding the pace and flow of the game down to the speed of cement.

With the series' gameplay being very much up to subjective tastes, I'm willing to refrain from commenting on the "stealth" in Metal Gear as it would be a pointless derailing of the topic, but to forgive the Metal Gear franchise for bucking to the exact trend mentioned in this thread is a little strange. Especially considering it has one of the absolute worst offenders in its very series---and its name is Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. You can't sit there, and tell me that there is more gameplay than cutscenes in that game. You just can't. If that is not a blatant demonstration of the urge to be cinematic infecting a game, I literally don't know what is.

The Yakuza games are kind of notorious for having length cutscenes, but they're almost exclusively reserved for the main story without infecting medial errands like side quests and such, and on top of that, every game since the first one has had the option to turn off cutscenes entirely.

The reason games like MGS4 don't have that option is because that would mean skipping 75% of the game.

The reason I don't put the Metal Gear games in the "Purely Cinematic & Story focused" category is not because most of the game is cutscene and story, but because the games can't be fully experienced in a YT playthrough.
Yes even MGS4, which is my least favorite in the franchise.
Metal Gear doesn't have the best gameplay in the world yes, but it does have enough fun and unique gameplay that would require you to play the game in order to enjoy the full experience and even have fun enough gameplay to give reason for a replay.
Like how MGS4 lets you play around with a remote Metal Gear or get a laugh with the various tranq gun ammo, the amount of hidden details in the gameplay is what keeps Metal Gear off the Cinematic focused list I'm referring to.
If you watched the Metal Gear games in a YT playthrough and never played them, you'd still miss a lot regarding it's gameplay.

The Cinematic games I'm talking about are like Uncharted, Last of Us, Telltale/David Cage games and what this new God of War is doing, there is nothing special about their gameplay, they're played in one simple way, in the walk-talk-watch-repeat way, you're not missing anything from watching a YT playthrough.

Like how DMC and past God of Wars were all Hack n Slash based, requiring you to play them, like how Doom 4 is projectile based gunplay, you have to play it to enjoy it, Metal Gear does have the same thing, just not on the same level as Doom, DMC or past God of Wars.

 

[Lain]

I agree with Chancey that there's room for both in the gaming industry. Regarding GoW, I would argue that the gameplay shown appears to be very early on and may even be part of the tutorial. Plus there's a subtle difference between being cinematic and trying to be a movie. This is what lets games down for me like The Order and Uncharted 4.

but the crucial factor that narratively-challenged dinguses like Tetsuya Nomura, David Cage, and Hideo Kojima are incapable of grasping is that both aspects have to be GOOD first.

"Tetsuya Nomura"...???

 

[V's patron]

@Blackquill @WolfOD64 has some I'll feelings towards Mr. Nomura.

To be fair, Kingdom Hearts has become more complicated and dragged out than it need to be :thumbsdown:.

Still love it tho

 

[Lain]

@Blackquill @WolfOD64 has some I'll feelings towards Mr. Nomura.

I'm not questioning his opinions on Tetsuya Nomura, I'm just raising a point about how Nomura is not a writer, certainly not for the Final Fantasy games. At most he was the Director for the KH games.

There's some sort of weird perpetuating myth that Nomura is somehow behind all the divisive stories of recent FF stories.

 

[V's patron]

I'm not questioning his opinions on Tetsuya Nomura, I'm just raising a point about how Nomura is not a writer, certainly not for the Final Fantasy games. At most he was the Director for the KH games.

There's some sort of weird perpetuating myth that Nomura is somehow behind all the divisive stories of recent FF stories.

I thought he had a writers credit for FF7 and KH even if there were other writers attached.

 

[Lain]

I thought he had a writers credit for FF7 and KH even if there were other writers attached.

I know he designed the characters for FFVII and (apparently) the story was based on an initial pitch by Sakaguchi & Nomura. But as far as the script goes, it was written by Kazushige Nojima and Yoshinori Kitase.

I don't know much about KH. I'll look into it.

 

[Meg]

Well I can already tell this is a thread to monitor closely. :facepalm:

I actually think @xMobilemux is making some great points. Games, by definition, are supposed to be played. So there is an issue if you can get the same experience without playing it yourself. And unfortunately, a lot of games do fit that problem. But I don't think fun games and meaningful games need to be mutually exclusive. Or that a meaningful game is one you don't have to play to get the full experience. I think the artsy, meaningful games that are the most successful are the ones that present the narrative in a way that only games can. Something like Journey or even Bioshock. Those games provide very different narrative and gameplay experiences, but neither would work as any other medium.

A lot of games stick to a pretty generic narrative and gameplay structure. While I certainly can and do enjoy these games, I can also see were xMobilemux is coming from when he says it's lazy design. Because in a way it is. Games like the ones I mentioned above prove you can do game narrative differently, but most opt for a movie cutscene style, which is fine for me, but I see how it can be argued that these aren't "proper" games or rather the best examples of what a game is. Since games are meant to be played, and if you can have the same experience watching a let's play as playing the actual game, then that raises the Extra-Credits-episode-worthy question of what really makes a game a game.

 

[Sparda's Rebellion]

Video Games are things that are meant to be Played. End of Story.

I like my video games having good stories and giving me a reason as to why I'm killing everything in my way or trying to get from one objective to the next, without a story, it's just PacMan. I like Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, some of the Assassins games, Batman trilogy, Last of Us, Kingdom Hearts, GTA, the TellTale games, the Tales of series, Until Dawn etc., I could go on forever. Not all games should just be mindless shooters or hack n' slashes, they should be shooters and hack n' slashes that have a story and give you a reason to want to play all the way to the end and feel like you just experienced the game, not just played it.

 

[xMobilemux]

I like my video games having good stories and giving me a reason as to why I'm killing everything in my way or trying to get from one objective to the next, without a story, it's just PacMan. I like Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, some of the Assassins games, Batman trilogy, Last of Us, Kingdom Hearts, GTA, the TellTale games, the Tales of series, Until Dawn etc., I could go on forever. Not all games should just be mindless shooters or hack n' slashes, they should be shooters and hack n' slashes that have a story and give you a reason to want to play all the way to the end and feel like you just experienced the game, not just played it.

I'm not saying games should all be mindless dumb fun, games can deliver fantastic stories while still being video games, like I said Witcher 3 is a good example of this.
Witcher 3 has a fantastic story, it's well written and all that, but it knew first and foremost that it was a video game that was meant to be played.
Even Doom 4 has a great story underneath it's top notch gameplay.
But you can't get the Witcher 3 or Doom 4 experience from a YT playthrough, same with a few of those games you mentioned.
But games like Last of Us, Telltales games, Until Dawn and what give you no reason to buy & play them.

That's the problem I have with the cinematic and meaningful games of today and what this new God of War is doing, there's no reason to buy & play it over watching a YT playthrough.

The reason why I put God of War and Doom as the big examples in the main post is because Doom is doing what Doom should be doing and it's even doing God of War should be doing.
Doom is about an angry protag killing everything in his path, same with God of War.
Only the new God of War is playing the Me Too card by being a rip off of Last of Us and people are just gobbling it up, it irks me so much cause I begun to think that Gamers had finally raised their standards after games like Witcher 3 and such.

 

[Sparda's Rebellion]

But games like Last of Us, Telltales games, Until Dawn and what give you no reason to buy & play them.

I have no idea what you're talking about.