VG have changed so much. It isn’t about the first cathode or vector lettering guiding us to a whole new world anymore. We aren’t witnessing the microprocessor display something that hasn’t been done before. We accept it because they’re still making something fun, look better or play better. So what happens when you aren’t reaching for your VR headset because you like it the way it was? It’s all how you define “lore”. Focusing on lore has always been a big part of VG’s if you believe lore gives something a purpose to exist.
Lore to me, can be as simple as pilots who have different personalities (Star Fox) going after a single objective or exploring the rich stories of the world (Witcher/Skyrim/Fallout). It doesnt have to be deep or convoluted to be worth the mention either. You get what you want to. A lot of games can be completed without having to do 100% of everything. You don’t have to sit there reading books in Skyrim to enjoy the entire Skyrim experience. The developer has to make the objective or the journey have some sorta meaning, some sorta purpose of existing. Even in The Last of Us you figure out bits and pieces of a character to have it matter when something goes wrong.
Darth Vader wouldn’t have as much of an impact if you weren’t aware of his legacy. If he would have just shown up, there wouldn’t have been much to go on. You’d think another Sith had entered. With how generic fantasy gets sometimes, having a good lore matters. Even when we had beautiful pre-rendered PS1 graphics, the story was told with the setting. Caring about the world, the characters, or the art was up to you. To me, lore is allowing you to dive deeper, to maintain empathy for whatever your character might be trying to accomplish.
Back in the arcade games had to look cool, they had to be fun to play, and that was it. Adding anything else was purely optional. It’s also a way for IP’s to sell TV shows, manga, and etc. Cup Head for instance did this. It has a TV show that has way more content than the video game it’s based upon. I won’t sit there and watch the show, but I bought/played the game.
This also makes me think back to Mortal Kombat and reading the screen while the game wasn’t being played. It gave the game a lot of value by simply explaining what the characters were doing.