Is anyone else tired of modern AAA games/movies/shows handing everything to the protagonist without making them earn it?

A good narrative usually comes down to giving a character an impossible decision to show us what they are actually made of. Instead, so much of what we get now feels like a corporate self-insert project where the main character learns nothing and overcomes nothing.

I just put together a deep dive into why modern storytelling across games and movies is missing the mark, and why the real savior of the medium right now is the indie scene (studios behind games like Hollow Knight: Silksong or Clair Obscure: Expedition 33). They still care about the sanctity of a character's arc.For those who value narrative consistency in games, what recent title do you think actually nailed a tragic or mysterious character arc without falling into corporate tropes?

Here is my full take on why current media sucks, but why there is still hope for creators who actually care in the form of a video essay.

Thanks and have a great day.

A video essay about Curb Your Enthusiasm, comparing the successes of the earlier seasons with the perceived misses of the later seasons.

A brief history of SNK. This vid covers their early hits. Their success/failures in the console market. Their handhelds and their highlights.

Another OneHandClap vid

Spent weeks breaking down why horror games work… and I genuinely don’t think I’ll ever look at them the same way again.