Mirror’s Edge writer Rhianna Pratchett believes that game plots need to evolve past their movie roots.
That’s right, Rhianna Pratchett. Sorry if you got your hopes up there, but she probably has a little more insight than her dad anyway, having written the story for Mirror’s Edge, Heavenly Sword and Overlord. In an interview with That Video Game Blog, she voiced her frustration at the state of writing in the industry.
“Writers and narrative designers are still relatively new positions on development teams,” she said, “this means there’s still a level of uncertainty about how best to use and integrate them. I know from talking to lots of fine people in my field that the writing process can often be done too late, without proper access to the team and under extreme pressure.”
“Thankfully, things are starting to get a little better and more writers are being contacted in the first few months of a project’s lifespan, rather than the last few months. Personally, I consider I’ve been very lucky with some of my projects.” She continued.
She also expressed some concern with the writers themselves, feeling that they were too enamored with gritty anti-heroes. “A little more variation in concept and content would be nice, as well … I could do with a little less ‘Gruff guy with super powers/large weapon kicks assss!’ tales. The medium has huge potential, so I’m not sure why there’s this constant desire to keep rooting around in Hollywood’s action-movie scrapheap.”
All I have to say is that she is a woman very much after my own heart.
Source: via VG247
