WE’RE ALREADY HAVING A BALL – WHY NOT MAKE STORY THE GOAL?
Sports games shouldn’t shy away from story. There’s untapped potential in every match
Okay, I know what you’re thinking: ‘Cor, she plays one game mode in FIFA and suddenly thinks her opinion about the future of the genre is worth sharing.’ Well, my response to that is, uh, you’re goddamn right. Alex Hunter’s story is a bit of a light touch in terms of narrative design but it leaves something of an open goal in its wake.
If you want to sit and play a match in your favourite yearly sports title, I’m not arguing that should be taken away from you, even if I do enjoy that part of the game a lot less myself. But you know what I’m well into? Sports anime and manga. I just want all the good boys and girls to achieve their dreams, and at its best, that’s the part of my brain Alex Hunter’s journey managed to lightly tickle.
LONG ROAD AHEAD
The Journey’s opening at the exit trials does an excellent job of balancing tutorials with story stakes you care about and even just a smidge of challenge. Unfortunately, once you’ve got the contract, the story more or less vacates the stadium for minutes at a time during your pro matches. What a missed opportunity! The beautiful game shouldn’t become a QTE-laden nightmare, but there’s plenty of untapped potential for storytelling in a match – just look at long-running series Captain Tsubasa.
Could Tsubasa’s latest title, subtitled Rise Of New Champions, strike that sports-anime-but-invideogame-form sweet spot? Possibly not, but the squad’s powered-up moves sure are flashy. None of that is to say that FIFA should go full-on anime either; keep the very British drama, just give us more of it and pepper the matches with it. FIFA’s in-game commentators do an admirable job of telling a story and providing context, but what is admittedly excellent sound design should supplement storytelling and not attempt to replace it (I’m looking at you, Final Fantasy XV). While series like Madden tend to pivot towards player-created protagonists for their story modes, The Journey feels stronger thanks to Alex’s pre-defined relationships and background. I just wish greater use had been made of them.