Current Events > NDs Druckmann taking pointers by FromSoft, interested in indirect storytelling

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https://www.ign.com/articles/naughty-dogs-neil-druckmann-is-intrigued-by-elden-rings-storytelling

Uncharted and The Last of Us are known for their cinematic storytelling, but Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann is becoming increasingly fascinated with more subtle worldbuilding. Speaking to The Washington Post, Druckmann said he's inspired by FromSoftware's minimalist storytelling in last year's Elden Ring.
"I'm more recently intrigued by stuff like Elden Ring and Inside that doesn't rely as much on traditional narrative to tell its story," Druckmann said. "Some of the best storytelling in The Last of Us is in the cinematics, but a lot of it is in gameplay, and moving around the space, and understanding the history of a space by just looking at it and examining it. To me, right now, that's some of the best joy I get out of games that trust their audience to figure things out. [Games] that don't hold your hand, that's the stuff I'm really intrigued by going forward."
FromSoftware and Naughty Dog's game design philosophies are polar opposites in a number of ways, but both studios have seen huge success. Given Naughty Dog's knack for curated, cinematic experiences. It's interesting to hear that Druckmann is drawn to Elden Ring, which cuts the player loose and doesn't seem to care what story beats the player picks up on.
Fans of The Last of Us may remember sequences that lean more heavily on environmental storytelling. For instance, in the original game, players can piece together the story of a sailor named Ish by picking up optional notes in one of the game's levels. Even though Naughty Dog has dabbled in environmental storytelling before, it seems the studio may lean harder into the concept in future games.
"That doesn't mean we will never have dialogue, or cutscenes, I think those are tools in your toolbox... And I think there's a way to push that stuff forward, at least for the kind of games we make at Naughty Dog. I'm really intrigued, again, never resting on our laurels and trying something a little bit new, a little bit different, that not everybody's going to like, but that's okay. And the stuff that we're working on now, I can tell you the teams are very excited by the different projects we have at Naughty Dog."

Feels like this is kind of Nintendo's way too

WesternMedia posted...

Feels like this is kind of Nintendo's way too

By no means.

pegusus123456 posted...

By no means.

Like Kirby, Zelda, Metroid, Mother. Maybe not Mario.

pegusus123456 posted...

By no means.

Metroid Prime pretty much pioneered the concept.

YoungMutual posted...

Metroid Prime pretty much pioneered the concept.

...again by no means. System Shock did it long before and what those games did is not what Elden Ring does.

The difference is ambiguity. Metroid Prime has you collect logs and information, but the story it tells you is very direct. Elden Ring's story is intentionally veiled and open to interpretation. There's no figuring things out in Metroid, you know what the Space Pirates were doing, you know why they were doing it, you know why they failed.

I think you're being too specific. Indirect storytelling is just a story that's more given through the gameplay and environment and not direct dialogue and cinematics.

YoungMutual posted...

Metroid Prime pretty much pioneered the concept.

LOL

There's a bit of this already in The Last of Us games, but it's typically used to get a safe code or something and it's much more straight forward than FromSoft.

It is cool to see homes kind of make sense in the world though. Like you can tell a family lived in a house because there's broken kids toys in a room and then a parents bedroom across the hall.

ND already does this pretty well with TLoU games, tbh, with the logs, notes, environmental storytelling, etc., but I guess they could focus more on it.

it would be more interesting if it was somehow incorporated with the main narrative (on going story) than just the smaller story's that help establish the world.

But Souls games have no story!

Jiek_Fafn posted...

There's a bit of this already in The Last of Us games, but it's typically used to get a safe code or something and it's much more straight forward than FromSoft.

It is cool to see homes kind of make sense in the world though. Like you can tell a family lived in a house because there's broken kids toys in a room and then a parents bedroom across the hall.

g0ldie posted...

ND already does this pretty well with TLoU games, tbh, with the logs, notes, environmental storytelling, etc., but I guess they could focus more on it.

it would be more interesting if it was somehow incorporated with the main narrative (on going story) than just the smaller story's that help establish the world.

Yep, they mentioned it in the article that their games already do a bit of this but it looks like they want to try making a game that's much more centered around it.

I don't mind extra lore being indirectly relayed but not main plotlines. I wouldn't want to see this happen in games that I actually play