Realism in Video Games

Does realism belong in video games? Can it make a game better or does it ultimately cause the game to be much less interesting and enjoyable?

I personally would say generally realism does NOT belong in video games. It's no fun (to me) to play a RPG if I can't fling magical objects or wield unnecessarily large weapons against crazy or weird creatures. That's just boring. If I want a realistic experience I'll take a walk outside. I play video games to partake in an experience I can't have any other way. So if I'm looking to do something I could not do any other way why would I want it to be corrupted by realism? Granted my preferred genre tends toward the absurd anyway. But, even in other genres I still expect some level of non-realism and fantasy. This, however, is my personal opinion. Perhaps some semblance of realism is necessary to make a game understandable? What do you guys think?

I honestly think it depends on the genre. I personally tend to prefer more obnoxiously blatant fantasy type games myself, but there are some instances where realism is kinda necessary.

The first instance, to use your own hyper-literalism against you, is gravity. Granted, games HAVE subverted this before, but 90% of games generally hold to the idea of gravity as we understand it, and only beings who are exceptionally powerful can ignore it to an extent (and even then they might not be able to).

Second instance, bioterrorism. 90% of the time, zombies or any sort of mutated human can be explained by some sort of silly science in the background of the game's lore. When the word "science" is used and the explanation seems plausible, the games feels that much more immersive because of the "Oh shit this might actually be possible" factor that now comes into play. I really doubt any country could make a real T-Virus without getting bombed back into the Stone Age before it's finished, but that's just me...

To take Mass Effect as an example, people LOVE space. Space as considered in Mass Effect isn't really very plausible..... *yet*. But you know, things COULD be like that far off from now. Futuristic semirealism really appeals to some people. It's not a selling point for me, but I think it's kinda cool.

Skyrim is a decent example of "realism to make the game harder". Most people can't chain sword strikes and attacks like Dante, Link, or pretty much anyone in an arcade-style fighting game can. It's either just not possible (In Dante's extra-flashy case) or would take years upon years of physical condition and training (like Ryo... HADOUKEN) so to make the game more challenging they make attacking with weapons slightly clunky. Kinda lazy, but it could be worse. Dead Island takes this to such an extreme that it actually crosses the border between making the game more difficult and just being outright frustrating, so I can understand if this seems like a dumb point, but I personally think it stands. (There is also the matter of using anti-realism to make the game harder as well, the best example coming to mind is FFVII's ultimate spell that calls down a meteor to smite the very earth in a very long-winded cutscene for a spell, anyway and then the spell ends up doing like 400 dmg out of a 9999 cap. A second example is pretty much almost every game with guns. A single bullet, no matter where it's placed, will FUCK YOUR SHIT UP. Halo, CoD, and GoW? Nah... you can tank 20 of those bad boys, 50 if it's just a lowly machine gun *scoff* before you're bleeding out and dying. Cuz you're the badass, of course. You *can't* die. )

There's lots of room for realistic games.

All sorts of sim games, like a flight simulator for example.

Or an FPS - CoD probably wouldn't be my first pick, but there are some hardcore Military games out there.

Or games where you play out a story like 'Heavy Rain'.

Or that futuristic virtual sex simulator (can't wait!)

Then there's this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dTcJBM2eEg

Silloe wrote:Then there's this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dTcJBM2eEg

LOLOLOL I saw that on Poison Mushroom. The Guile theme makes this so much better though XD

Silloe wrote:There's lots of room for realistic games.

All sorts of sim games, like a flight simulator for example.

Or an FPS - CoD probably wouldn't be my first pick, but there are some hardcore Military games out there.

Or games where you play out a story like 'Heavy Rain'.

Or that futuristic virtual sex simulator (can't wait!)

Then there's this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dTcJBM2eEg

For me there's a difference between a simulator and a game. It's more of a personal distinction honestly. I see a video game as a program designed to give you an experience you can't have any other way. Simulators are programs designed to copy a certain real experience with as little fantasy as possible so as to accurately reflect the real-life experience. Some sims do add bits to make the experience more exciting I suppose but I believe the fact that they are going out of there way to cause even a little bit of unrealistic experiences goes to prove my point that fantasy is much more exciting.

I'm still not convinced that fantasy (as in magic, or lacking realism, etc) makes games more exciting as some sort of objective value.

And, saying a game 'can't be a simulation'... well, I don't buy that at all. Just look at all the sports games and the myriads of other simulation type games. Heck, if I boot up solitaire on my computer, I'd say that's a game. Even though it's just a simulation of a game.

How about this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendogs

Look at those scores and the sales. That's insane! Petting a puppy isn't otherworldly in the least... Yet somehow, having a dog on your DS is lauded.

Take a game like Arma 2.

You'll have to look up some videos, but it's basically a FPS war simulation... Not like the berserk-respawn-superhero CoD type games.
These players are more like hobbyists, and many of them take the game very seriously living vicariously through the game with military protocols.
Most of the gameplay I've seen seems very boring... mostly travelling, little action, but they bloody love it.

People who play like this are enjoying immersion that most fantasy players can't get. When they're being shot at they don't think, 'oh, I'll just respawn in 5 seconds.' they're far more invested in their actions.

I think one of the main problems of current games attempting to go with realism is the 'uncanny valley' effect, but right once you add elements of the supernatural, or cartoonish effects, a lot more leeway is given to the game, and suddenly glaring errors become forgivable.

A game's theme isn't really the most important aspect to me. Things like character development, story, gameplay, artistic value, etc. cause a game to be good rather than just being able to throw a fireball because I can't do that in real life.

I think a lot of people get their jollies from role playing things they can sympathize with, ie a real human in a real situation. Like a detective in Heavy Rain, or a Soldier, or a Train driver, or... a dog sitter.

Often times these simulation type games take a long time to learn. Real effort is put in and skill obtained. I think that people who take the time with these kinds of things probably find them much more rewarding than we might just grinding some goblins to reach a boss.

Well, potatoes for thought.

Just about forgot..

For the masochistic simulation fantasy hobbyists

Silloe wrote:I'm still not convinced that fantasy (as in magic, or lacking realism, etc) makes games more exciting as some sort of objective value.

And, saying a game 'can't be a simulation'... well, I don't buy that at all. Just look at all the sports games and the myriads of other simulation type games. Heck, if I boot up solitaire on my computer, I'd say that's a game. Even though it's just a simulation of a game.

How about this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendogs

Look at those scores and the sales. That's insane! Petting a puppy isn't otherworldly in the least... Yet somehow, having a dog on your DS is lauded.

Take a game like Arma 2.

You'll have to look up some videos, but it's basically a FPS war simulation... Not like the berserk-respawn-superhero CoD type games.
These players are more like hobbyists, and many of them take the game very seriously living vicariously through the game with military protocols.
Most of the gameplay I've seen seems very boring... mostly travelling, little action, but they bloody love it.

People who play like this are enjoying immersion that most fantasy players can't get. When they're being shot at they don't think, 'oh, I'll just respawn in 5 seconds.' they're far more invested in their actions.

I think one of the main problems of current games attempting to go with realism is the 'uncanny valley' effect, but right once you add elements of the supernatural, or cartoonish effects, a lot more leeway is given to the game, and suddenly glaring errors become forgivable.

A game's theme isn't really the most important aspect to me. Things like character development, story, gameplay, artistic value, etc. cause a game to be good rather than just being able to throw a fireball because I can't do that in real life.

I think a lot of people get their jollies from role playing things they can sympathize with, ie a real human in a real situation. Like a detective in Heavy Rain, or a Soldier, or a Train driver, or... a dog sitter.

Often times these simulation type games take a long time to learn. Real effort is put in and skill obtained. I think that people who take the time with these kinds of things probably find them much more rewarding than we might just grinding some goblins to reach a boss.

Well, potatoes for thought.

Bold: I was being picky with my definition. I'm not saying that people can't derive enjoyment out of simulators or anything. Also, solitaire is a simulation of a card game so of course a simulation of a game would be a game. But I actually didn't expect anyone to agree with me on it since I was just being picky. :L

Italic: I can totally understand this actually. But personally the real situations can only occur so much. I see how others can enjoy it but personally the stories I tend to enjoy are less than realistic. One reason creepypasta spreads so much is because of the improbable nature of the stories told. But this is again personal preference and I suppose I can see why someone people may not be able to connect with characters in unrealistic situations.

Underline: That right there is one reason I dismissed Final Fantasy. Not all RPGs are about killing goblins to reach a level high enough needed to kill the next boss. At the very least the ones I play are not like this so much. At the risk of painting "Fanboy" on my chest I'll bring up SMT again. When I played Strange Journey I felt virtually no need to grind. It was all about exploration to me and exploring the twisted depths of a dark and demonic world. The events in the game were creepy and absurd and I loved the game all the more for this.

As a side not I'm not saying that the fantasy makes the game. Rather I'm saying that an excess of realism ruins it for me personally. A game that lets me throw fireballs won't buy me by that aspect alone. BUT, I do very much enjoy a game with fantastic elements. Perhaps the fact that these games stimulate my imagination is what allows me to immerse myself in them. Realism won't kill a game but it does certainly dampen my imagination and thus my interest may be somewhat reduced.

I don't think it's a fair question to say realism or fanaticism is better across the board for all video games, in the same way it's unfair to say red is better then blue, but not because i don't have a prefrence-
to have any kind of coherence, you need to start with realism, because that is what every one everywhere knows as a base- if it isn't real it needs to be immediately noticeable in what ways it isn't, or otherwise be explained to the player; the first question of any game should be how does this world work?

rather than trying to eliminate all fantasy from a game, all thats really needed is for the game world to be consistent with it self, where the characters act and events happen within a parameter of game logic instead of merely revolving around the protagonist. it means that fans could imagine a senerio and know it could happen because they're are rules that every one is following, and every one wants to experiment with what can be done with it.

when fantasy is given priority, especially in a story game ( a game that has any kind of plot and continuity) you end up with a frustrating world were physics is just "because i said so" and there is nothing predictable about the world or sensible about events, because the're just thrown in and sometimes break the rules of there own universe.http://chzpokememes.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/pokmon-gotcha-snorlax.jpg
it's one of the reasons why everyone's so up armed about mass effect 3; the ending isn't consistent with the entire rest of the game at all, and consistency is what makes a story good


the more ludicrous a plot can be without tearing holes in itself the better.

also thought i might as well extend the intro gif of this forum

I thought the double swoosh host combo was a joke at first.