I think it's pretty ignorant to completely discount a game due to hype. Not that FFVII's plot is on par with Shakespeare (who people love/hate as well), but how can you say it's crap without giving it a fair try. It seems like you got through Bioshock enough to make a judgment. I didn't care for the end half myself, but not to the point where I feel like I have to rain on everyone's parade.
Hell Sherlock Holmes and Conan are pulp, but there are people who heap on praise for their place in the literary world. I won't even dig into R.A. Salvatore's formulaic work.
I'll admit that I enjoyed FF6 much more than 7, but there were a number of advances in technology as well as some themes that were not explored in games to that point. Sure some may have been rehashed to exhaustion in various novels, but this reached a whole new audience.
Besides how our culture has progressed, I would also say that getting into books at this point can be pretty intimidating given all the choices out there today. After all people keep getting paid to write.
It also takes just a couple bad experiences to put someone off pretty fast. Robert Jordan's (RIP) Wheel of Time series I thought was good in the first few books before I realized that he would basically lead you nowhere. Yet there are plenty of people gushing over him as akin to FFVII fanboys you seem to detest so much. I had to do a lot of research to find authors and stories that fit my tastes. Some of them great epics by famous authors, some not so much.
So rambling aside (ha!): Yes people need to read more, but no matter what the medium do not immediately discount something because how much hype something does or does not have behind it.
P.S. I think this is starting to stray off topic, but I'd love to discuss this more in the appropriate forum.
P.P.S. I can't wait for DQ5 to come out. I think that will sate many people's appetites for the time being. If you're impatient and haven't played it yet, FFIV is a great game that fits the criteria.
Hell Sherlock Holmes and Conan are pulp, but there are people who heap on praise for their place in the literary world. I won't even dig into R.A. Salvatore's formulaic work.
I'll admit that I enjoyed FF6 much more than 7, but there were a number of advances in technology as well as some themes that were not explored in games to that point. Sure some may have been rehashed to exhaustion in various novels, but this reached a whole new audience.
Besides how our culture has progressed, I would also say that getting into books at this point can be pretty intimidating given all the choices out there today. After all people keep getting paid to write.
It also takes just a couple bad experiences to put someone off pretty fast. Robert Jordan's (RIP) Wheel of Time series I thought was good in the first few books before I realized that he would basically lead you nowhere. Yet there are plenty of people gushing over him as akin to FFVII fanboys you seem to detest so much. I had to do a lot of research to find authors and stories that fit my tastes. Some of them great epics by famous authors, some not so much.
So rambling aside (ha!): Yes people need to read more, but no matter what the medium do not immediately discount something because how much hype something does or does not have behind it.
P.S. I think this is starting to stray off topic, but I'd love to discuss this more in the appropriate forum.
P.P.S. I can't wait for DQ5 to come out. I think that will sate many people's appetites for the time being. If you're impatient and haven't played it yet, FFIV is a great game that fits the criteria.
