Where Did Atlas Fallen's Narrative Go Wrong?

Atlas Fallen was recently released, and anyone who has read my review will know that I was not thrilled by one specific part of the game: its narrative. While I genuinely enjoyed the gameplay, world, and co-op elements, the story, characters, and overall writing felt so wrong and off that I just couldn't like it; as a person who really loves lore, this is a pretty big deal for me.

- Artura Dawn

I started discussing with my wife shortly after writing the review why I hated the story so much. There's the obvious reason that the characters feel bland and boring, and their quirks are forced. There's also the more obvious reason, which is that Atlas Fallen is gameplay-heavy, and should evidently not be judged by elements outside of that. But I felt that there was something more — after all, previous games have excelled and succeeded with less of an exciting premise; surely the problem couldn't be so clear cut. Where did Atlas Fallen go wrong in its narrative when others like God of War and Darksiders have gotten away with arguably less? That's what I'm hoping to answer today.

Naturally, one of the first arguments I'd make is that whilst violence-heavy tales and games focused solely on who could do the most badarse attack to their enemies was a viable strategy in the past, it is less so now. These gorey and brusque titles thrived in an era where Mortal Kombat sought to push the boundaries of gore and traumatise children (like my wife); these simpler times had games focus more on their gameplay because we had ways to get our fill of lore through other means. As the videogame industry grows, so does our expression of our "art form", where now we amalgamate gameplay and narrative tales.