From this whimsical analysis of a whimsical analysis of Braid:
"Red Dead Redemption was great because of its bleak message about civilization's failings. It was also great because I was able to jump off of buildings and scare unsuspecting crowds of people. Far Cry 2 conveys a sobering story of war and violence, but it also provides an inexhaustible supply of stories about the sheer stupidity of starting a fire in the middle of a forest or letting a grenade roll back downhill towards you."
The purpose of these two examples is to illustrate how the same game can have moments of slapstick and moments of poignancy, as Braid does. What stands out to me about this quote is that in both examples we know that the poignancy basically comes from the story and the slapstick comes from the gameplay.
Game stories, so long as they exist, will often do their best to be poignant. And in triple A action games like Red Dead Redemption, Far Cry 2, and while I'm at it the Modern Warfare games, gameplay will often do its best to be over the top and exciting.
I'm not trying to make any big generalizations here. But the thought made me sigh.
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