Epic or normal.

[Shun Goku Satsu]

Well, my story is going to be somewhat like a Final Fantasy/Tales game, as opposed to, "Now taketh thy sword and slay thy dragons!" Yeah, more modern and stuff, dialogue and all. Heck, I'm even taking a few cues from some of my favorite Capcom games (my character is such a Dante. XD).

 

[WeAreSuperhero]

You know, epic games don't have to have 'every cliche in the book' to make it epic.

 

[ScriptKitty]

To be honest, I like a mixture of the two.

Even a story that only involves a few people can become an epic, if it is a deep and well-written plot. Just because a protagonist goes through a series of great events and achievements, doesn't mean they have to have a worldwide impact or even be all that heroic.

Even if a character starts off on their path for selfish reasons, and the plot evolves to make an impact on the entire world, that doesn't mean the character can't still be fighting only for their own self-centered reason.

What's wrong with fighting to save only one person when the entire world is at stake? I think it's only human.

 

[The Cry of Fallen Angels]

Well, storywise, it is much easier to make something interesting if it's about a character struggling with it's own problems. But people want things to be big. And that's why there's your so-called "epic" story. People think it's much more interesting if a world's fate depends on 1 man/woman, as it's bigger. But the problem is; it mostly comes down the the same storylines. It's still possible to make a good "epic" story, but you really have to come up with something good, which people don't yell "cliché" at. And of course it's possible to make clichés interesting, but that requires quite a lot of writing ability, and there are so many who lack that.

That is why one should not attempt "epic" plots, but inner struggles instead. Or maybe not even inner struggles (as those require ability too) but other stories. Heck, you can have a farmer to find his missing pigs in your game, and you're unique. You could even make it a mix of an emotional and humorous story without too much problems.

 

[Drake Miriel]

To be honest, you make it a one-sided argumet, even though it isn't. Epic stories can be without cliches, and more realistic stories can crippled by them. When someone hears the first example, they automatically think Final Fantasy, but games set in modern times follow many cliched paths as well. Also, look at David Edding's Elenium Trilogy. It falls into a very deep high-fantasy world, yet it's original and wraps in concepts to the genre you didn't expect.

Being a fantasy writer and one step away from D&D, epic all the way.

 

[Shun Goku Satsu]

My story is going to be somewhat more modern (not quite Earthbound), a little humorous, and also dark at some points (it won't be a "light-hearted" RPG like the Dragon Quest series).

ScriptKitty, where did you get your avatar? I think it's quite cute.

 

[Kest]

I think the sprite is the one ShowKaizer was making for her...

 

[Despain v.1]

Sandfall is a mix between epic and personal, thought a bit more on the personal side. Serren's primary goal is personal: to fulfill a hole left in him when his lover was murdered. But along the way, he gets into trouble with a group of rebels who want to overthrow the government and he plays a major role in saving the nation of Scarabia from falling into tyranny.

 

[Twilight]

My game focuses on 3 different major characters, each with their own goals and stories and unique personalities. On top of that, their is also multiple worlds (Although the other worlds being accesible will depend on the success of the game). I don't go with any one particular story type, I try and combine a lot of aspects into one gigantic explosion of flavor. At least thats what I am going for xD. My game doesn't neccesarily have a world-wide impact.