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Naughty Dog is a developer that seems to divide a lot of gamers, some think their games are boring or repetitive, but those looking for an experience to match that of film or television will surely find something to remember in any Naughty Dog game. This video mostly covers Uncharted and The Last of Us as that is when they pushed into more “serious” territory, also, I apparently had an empty childhood because I didn’t play much of the Jak or Crash games, so they don’t make their way into this video, sorry if that bothers anyone.

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This video was written and edited by Daniel Netzel.

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39 COMMENTS

  1. Great essay! Personally I thik the Naughty Dog style of cinematic games makes for really good experiences, but they don't take advantage of the biggest difference between games and movies; Interactivity. If unccharted where a movie or a tv-series instead of a game nothing important would be lost. Thats fine, but I prefer games where the interactivity plays a major role in the overall experience. That is why I love immersive sims (Like Prey, DIshonored, Bioshock, Deus Ex or even the new Zelda). I want that sweet emergent gameplay.

  6. Not sure if you're still looking at comments in here, but if you're into story, Warframe does have a very interesting one, and although it may not be for you, since it doesn't focus much on cinematics and also takes quite a bit of work, what's hiding under the blanket is far more than meets the eye…

  9. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Great writing, great story and lots and lots of memorable characters, Beautiful Open World. Many sidequests tell a better story and feature more interesting characters than most RPG main quests. The story/stories are also very nuanced with no easy black and white characters. You'll often have to make decisions that are not clearly good or bad and sometimes you have to deal with the repercussions hours later. Also, you don't really need to play Witcher 1&2 (I haven't), but looking up a summary won't hurt. The games are actually based on a series of Polish books, most of which have been translated to English by now.

  13. One of the most terrific and heartfelt games I've ever played. I remember typing the exact words, 'Best Story Games Ever Made' into the YouTube search bar. I clicked on the first video.Once I saw The Last of Us on the list, I was thinking it's one of those boring but beautiful games, that's why people give it a high rating because it's beautiful, but that takes their attention off the story and that's why they don't rate on THAT. Boy, was I wrong. I checked the comments, and they were filled with positive things about that game. It took me 2 months, but I gathered the courage to buy the game and play it. Once I started, I was A.T.T.A.C.H.E.D. Since then, I've replayed the game, cried millions of times, and I was instantly hyped when the reveal for part II was coming out. ND is something else man. Great video as usual!

  14. Best story based games I've played.
    PS4
    Uncharted 4
    Until dawn
    Life is strange
    Rise of tomb raider
    Wolfienstien the new order
    Wolfienstien the new colossus
    Hellblade
    Infamous second son
    Soma
    The order 1886.. I know a some people didn't like the order but I'll defend it buy saying it had a compelling story and was very cinematic. N most complaints was about length which doesn't bother me.

    PS3 GAMES
    The last of us
    the wolf amoung us
    Tales from the borderlands lands
    The walking dead
    Bioshock 1 and infinite. Also ps4 remastered.
    Spec ops the line
    Heavy rain. Also ps4 remastered
    L.A noire. Also ps4 remastered
    Infamous 1 n 2
    Red dead redemption
    Uncharted series
    Max Payne 3
    Deus ex human revelation
    Assassins creed 2
    Batman Arkham asylum
    Mass effect 2
    Enslaved odyssey to the west
    Tomb raider 2013

  15. Hey, thanks so much for this video! Me and a bunch of animators at Sony PlayStation (or SIE) worked on the Uncharted 4 cinematics (and a lot of the others worked on the previous Uncharteds and Last of Us as well) and I'm happy that you appreciate all the work that went into it 🙂 We do it for you! :'D There's so many details that go into the animation (that sometimes may even get lost when importing it from Maya to the engine) but I'm glad you can catch the little nuances and subtle expressions that were put into it. And of course, props to ND and the artists/musicians/actors that worked on these games, they're some of my favs.

  16. The thing about Naughty Dog's works is that, while they function beautifully when analyzed from a cinematic angle, they heavily disregard the merits of the medium they craft their stories in: games. Games offer narrative choice, offer a player to create a personal story through interacting with the world, and games as an art form function best when allowing players their own creative freedoms within a limited worldspace. One of the main critiques of The Last of Us and Uncharted, as games, is their linearity and singular narritive functioning better in a more structured medium, like a graphic novel or a film. Some might go so far as to say that the gameplay elements hold these stories back, when the player doesn't want to or can't fully comply with the developer's vision of the narrative. The stories themselves are beautifully crafted, and the scenes without player control are certainly worthy of cinematic praise, but to use them to legitimize games as an art form would be an injustice to the medium. Games have such different merits from anything we've been able to create before, so let's celebrate what they can do, rather than comparing them to what we already know.

  20. Some of my favorites are Beyond: Two Souls, Until Dawn, and Life is Strange. I've played all three and the Last Of Us and Beyond: Two Souls and Until Dawn have beautiful visuals and a great story. Despite the fact that Life Is Strange's visuals aren't that great, but the story is amazing. 😊👍

  22. I don’t think you can top Naughty Dog in terms of storytelling, but if you want a unique gaming experience try Journey. If Last of Us and Uncharted are the movie experiences in games, Journey would be more comparable to a Pixar animated short. It’s a beautiful game and well worth playing.

  23. Try out the Yakuza series. 0 and kiwami are available on ps4, Yakuza 6 is coming next March.

    For people who don't know the series, it's a bunch of 30 minute cutscenes with a bit of gameplay in between. DO IT!!!

  25. Annnnd subscribed.
    Just stumbled upon your channel about an hour and a half ago and so far I have really enjoyed your content. Naughty Dog has personally been my favorite developer in general as long as I've been gaming. But non of there game's held the top spot for more than a few months until the last of us. It's still in my mind the greatest game of all time and may stay there forever since it's the only work of fiction to make me cry. I cried 5 times playing that game. I sincerely hope that the sequel will live up to the standard set by it's predecessor.

  30. I love Uncharted and The Last Of Us. But there are other games. The game I recommend to you is: Until Dawn. I get the same experience and is really like a movie. Check it out, if you want. 🙂

  31. I love movies and I love videogames, but but cinematic approach is exactly why I don't like Naughty Dog games.In games I crave agency, nonlinearity, interactivity. That's why I don't like long cutscenes, linear games, huge amount of texts. Sid Meier's once said that "a game, is a series of interesting decisions" but Naughty Dog's games doesn't give me option to make interesting decisions. Of course you can make some choices in combat, but almost all of them will not have long lasting consequences, so they are not that interesting.

  34. Play Heavy Rain my dude! Its older and does look dated, but it is definitely one of the best "movies" and I strongly mean that, movies that I have ever played. Phenomenal story with quite a lot of twist and turns and multiple characters that you literally decide the fate of. I mean you can mess up and a character will be dead for the rest of the game. It really adds a sense of urgency and connection to the characters in my opinion.

  38. For story telling:

    Firewatch
    Telltale's The Walking Dead Season 1 and 2
    Telltale's The Wolf Among Us
    Telltales Tales from the Borderlands
    Life is Strange

    Other mentions that are sort of storytelling:
    Gone Home
    Dear Esther

    Artisticly interesting games:
    The Stanley Parable
    The Beginners Guide
    The Witness

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