ALEX!

I love that you care so much about game stories. To be honest, gameplay/shooting things/winning/beating others is not my favorite aspect of video games. I love games for the stories, and the way that players truly have the ability to live the lives of their main character for hours on end.

My favorite game storyline of all time comes from Odin Sphere. While the game is arguably five stories/games in one, the way the tale is told, plus the dialogue that keeps the story moving forward, is simply ingenius. You feel the passion in the voices and actions of the characters. I teared up at the end of the game.

In my opinion, what makes a great storyline - complicated or simple - is giving the player deep insight into the inner workings of the hero (or anti-hero). I want to know what makes them tick, what motivates them, what they love, and what they have been through. And that doesn't necessarily need to be done through dialogue. Think about Bioshock - Jack never speaks and you never see his face. Yet you feel his pain and understand his story.

So, there you go! That's my take on video game stories. I think all of them should be character driven, because once you have a solid character, you can throw him into all sorts of ridiculous situations and we will still be rooting for him.

Thanks for writing, and thanks for the compliment. ;)

Nein! Wolfenstein, as most people know it, is the version called Wolfenstein 3D which debuted in 1992. That version was based off of the original Apple II game Castle Wolfenstein (1981). Castlevania released years later in 1987 on the NES. Aside from the use of the word "castle" in Castlevania, in the original Wolfenstein release (and the later release of Return to Castle Wolfenstein), and the fact that both series revolve around exploring castles, their relation is miniscule. So, to answer your question, they're like 5th-cousins-3-times-removed related.