I think the author is absolutely right that the standard for "good story" in games is incredibly low. Games are an immature medium that got catapulted into the mainstream on its other strengths (as challenge/sport/attractive gizmo) and not as art.
Unfortunately most of the current audience for games (particularly the vocal part) are people that were attracted by these aspects. I was definitely attracted by the technical feat/ingenious gizmo aspect. If you look at the way games have traditionally been reviewed, you can see that this aspect is incredibly important. These people tend to get upset at articles like this and overreact by claiming that the art aspects of their favourite games are better than they actually are.
That said, there are still the green shoots of an incredible artistic medium here and there. I am always on the lookout for things, however crude/I'm-14-and-this-is-deep they are, if they could only have been done in games.
Uncharted is a decent action adventure, probably as good as something like Jurassic World, but it could have been done in film.
Something like Journey, Her Story, Brothers etc, have aspects that could only have been done in games. They make (fairly crude) artistic points, in an intrinsically interactive way.
Unfortunately most of the current audience for games (particularly the vocal part) are people that were attracted by these aspects. I was definitely attracted by the technical feat/ingenious gizmo aspect. If you look at the way games have traditionally been reviewed, you can see that this aspect is incredibly important. These people tend to get upset at articles like this and overreact by claiming that the art aspects of their favourite games are better than they actually are.
That said, there are still the green shoots of an incredible artistic medium here and there. I am always on the lookout for things, however crude/I'm-14-and-this-is-deep they are, if they could only have been done in games.
Uncharted is a decent action adventure, probably as good as something like Jurassic World, but it could have been done in film.
Something like Journey, Her Story, Brothers etc, have aspects that could only have been done in games. They make (fairly crude) artistic points, in an intrinsically interactive way.