I forgot just how much I hate Forsaken

[Brian Orcus]

I'm blowing through the campaigns with my new character (the one I talked about in this thread https://steamcommunity.com/app/1085660/discussions/0/4594180031253951651/ ) And I've reached Forsaken. And I'm tempted to just skip the stupid thing.

Let me let you all know a little something about me. I cry for robots. I cried when T800 gave its last thumbs up. I cried when the crooks tried tried to beat Johny 5 to death. I cried when the Tachikoma's sacrificed themselves to save Batou. I cried for Cortana. I cried when Snowball gave the last of his power to give Mei a chance to survive (even when I knew it was going to be ok because I had seen it in trailers). And I'm not ready to talk about BT.

You know who I didn't cry for? I didn't cry when when C3PO was kindabutnotreally killed by hack writing. I didn't cry when Legion gave his life in the most contrived attempt to artificially raise the stakes in gaming history. And I didn't cry for Cayde. The fact that Nolan North voiced Cayde 6 in Forsaken is enough for me to know that this particular plot point was probably forced by circumstances outside the game. Thing is, it comes off every bit as forced and contrived as it probably is.

It doesn't help that Ikora and Zavala are as wooden as ever. Seriously! Here we have two great actors with so much to offer. And time and again they are directed to deliver their lines like they've been up all night and just want to get to bed. Especially when you compare them to characters like Shaxx, Eris, and Drifter. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if they told me Nathan Fillion was fired because he couldn't speak boringly enough.

In fact the only character more boring than the two Vanguards we have left is our primary wahtagonist. The only thing thing that even approaches interesting about Uldren Sov is his not-at-all incestuous obsession with his sister. He doesn't seem to have much in the way of character outside of that. And I've heard theories that he might be the next Vanguard.

Speaking of crap antagonist: every other antagonist in the expansion. It doesn't help that they literally have plot armor forcing us to fight them in planned out phases. Way to keep us pesky players from getting in the way of the game's story. I was just playing this, and I can't remember any of their names. At this point I would pay real money to skip the assassinations.

At least the Tangled Shore and Dreaming City are cool. And the guns are nice.

[Bird_Dog]

So, Bungie sucks at story telling and characterisation and still thinks pacing is what you do outside the office toilet when you had 10 doritos and all the stalls are occupied?

Yea, what else is new?

[Moon Helldiver]

Forsaken felt like a real adventure.
Uldren motives are explained if you gather the lore books. Then all his actions become clear.

Shadowkeep on other hind is mundane and borring...

[Poppi !!]

Quite a read.

[Bird_Dog]

Originally posted by Moon:

Uldren motives are explained if you gather the lore books. Then all his actions become clear.

I think that's part of the problem. Everything intresting is in the lore books, the story as it plays out is pretty weak. You should not have to go to the lore books to understand Uldred's motivation. That should have been made clear in the cutscenes.
To quote Yhatzee: "You're supposed to weave exposition into the narrative, not hand your audience a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ glossary!"

Lore books are great to deepen the story, but should not serve as a crutch to keep the story afloat.
Bungie relays too much on the lore books and is pretty lazy when it comes to up-front story telling.

Add to that the fact that Bungie tore up the glossary in a thousand pieces and scatterd it all across the entrie solar system...