Medieval VS Sci Fi

[Dagger Dias]

Out of all the settings in video games over the years, two of the most common are medieval and sci fi. Some people can't get enough of the medieval theme, while others may feel that a sci fi environment is more their cup of tea. Others like both.... but what if you had to pick one or the other?

Do you like games set in a medieval world or a sci fi world better, and why?

Do you dislike either type of environment? Why or why not?

I'll go first. While I do like both, I have always preferred medieval over any other setting. Knights with swords killing dragons, saving princesses.... Far cooler than space travel or complicated futuristic weapons. Not that I don't like sci fi games, I have enjoyed several. I just prefer medieval. It has always fascinated me and I find it to be the better of the two because I have never played a medieval game that I didn't like whereas there have been more than a few sci fi's that I found to be boring.

Well? Let's hear from the rest of you now. Feel free to debate with anyone you disagree with.

 

[RicoLen]

I think Sci-Fi could be better, but it's rarely done well. The idea of taking what we have now to the next level, step by step, until we're exploring new systems in the galaxy and meeting new intelligent life and settling new worlds really appeals to me. But most Sci-Fi go thousands of years into the future and are just as fantastic as fantasy without any of the appeal to me. Except for the Mass Effect series. It's exactly what I want from Sci-Fi and it proves to me, that Sci-Fi can be better, because IMO Mass Effect is the best video game series there is right now.

Classically, I've always been a fantasy fan though, and I always love the western fantasy, and to a lesser degree I love the JRPG too.

 

[Cracka Jack]

I like both, but I went with Medieval because it usually lends itself better to combat than Sci-Fi. In Medieval games you're usually given swords and shields and such, as opposed to guns and lasers and things like that in Sci-Fi. You could probably blame my love of sword and shield based combat on Zelda, who do it far better than anyone else. I can't really get into many Sci-Fi games, other than Mass Effect, which is of course great, but there's more to offer in the Medieval genre to me.

 

[Dalkonian]

Gotta go with the medieval, all the way back to my days playing tabletop D&D to today playing RPGs like FF and the like. It just lends itself better to gameplay, I think.

 

[Davi323]

I am going to go sci-fi, because it's more imaginative. When you are building a medieval set game, there are certain rules you have to follow. It was a real existing world, so you have to try to get the look somewhat authentic. You can only use a certain amount of weapons that existed, your costuming choices are limited, and your character is going to be limited. That doesn't mean you can't create a beautiful, well executed game, but you are constrained in what you can do, because its based on something that is a known commodity. You can take liberties with it, but you can't go far out there.

With sci-fi, you can do anything you want. You can invent any weapon you want, set the game at any location you want, its a completely made up world. Now, if you are part of a certain "universe" you have rules, like a Star Wars based game has to follow the rules of Star Wars, and Star Trek games have to look like a Star Trek game...but if you are starting a sci-fi game from scratch, you simply have less constraints to the design of it. That means more creativity, freedom. Simply put, you can have more variety with a sci-fi game than one based on any historical period, medieval or not.

 

[Fizzy]

Do you like games set in a medieval world or a sci fi world better, and why?

Medieval and it isn't even close. I've always been a fan of things taking place in that time period or that were modeled after that time period. I love games which feature swords and shields, axes, polearms and so on. I just have a thing for those types of things. I find them much more fun than futuristic guns and full body shields. Just a personal preference I guess. Games that everybody love nowadays that take place in a futuristic universe with aliens and shit just don't appeal to me. Games like Fallout, Mass Effect and shit just do not appeal to me. Borderlands is another one I dislike that is very heralded. It's just me.

Do you dislike either type of environment? Why or why not?

It's not that I dislike Sci Fi environments. I fucking love Star Wars, but there is just something about it in video games that doesn't appeal to me. I don't find it nearly as fun or addicting as smashing somebody's face with a mace or dismembering somebody with a sword. What's funny about this thread is that Star Ocean: Till the End of Tme which is my second favorite game of all time is a mixture of each of these genres. They use swords and futuristic guns yet it takes place in the far future. I don't know, there are obvious exceptions but for the most part, I enjoy Medieval much more.