Whats more important to you? Will you give up on good gameplay if the story bad? I never cared about the story in video games because i think that a video game is not a story telling media. Im also fine with "a bunch of aliens came to earth lets fight them" kind of story. A story its like a bonus for me, but its far from a "must" in video games for me. How about you?
Whats more important to you? Will you give up on good gameplay if the story bad? I never cared about the story in video games because i think that a video game is not a story telling media. Im also fine with "a bunch of aliens came to earth lets fight them" kind of story. A story its like a bonus for me, but its far from a "must" in video games for me. How about you?Tanya_19
I think story edges it for me. I think video games are a substitude for movies to a certain extend and a good and engaging story and presentatioj is what keeps me in front of the TV/PC. Of course, i am a primarily offline gamer.
All depends on the game, if its an RPG then it has to have a good story to keep me interested. If its just a pure action game then the less story the better.
I like to have a good story, but gameplay is more important, depending on the genre. However, if the game has both good gameplay and good story, it's an added bonus.
Depends on the game. Some games have no story but are still great. Generally I prefer great gameplay mechanics over a good story. To be honest, most games fail miserably at maintaining a decent narrative.
Sometimes i'm in the mood of playing Serious Sam, Doom2 with mods or Super Mario World, or other games with laughably simplistic stories but fantastic gameplay. And sometimes i'm in the mood of a good story & good gameplay, like Planescape, Max Payne or The Longest Journey.
I think a good story will usually trump a worse gameplay for me, although there are limitations to this. If the game is absolutely terrible to play, then I won't bother going through the story.
In a story-driven game, the story is an exceptionally important element. In a gameplay-driven game (i.e. Super Mario Galaxy 2) the story is non-relevant. Whether it even has one means nothing to the quality of the game.
But in a story-driven game like Batman: Arkham Asylum, the dialogue, the plot direction and the character design are all essential elements ALONG WITH the gameplay. I don't understand why everyone always talks about it being one or the other... for some games it doesn't matter, and for others, both are entirely necessary.
But in a story-driven game like Batman: Arkham Asylum, the dialogue, the plot direction and the character design are all essential elements ALONG WITH the gameplay. I don't understand why everyone always talks about it being one or the other... for some games it doesn't matter, and for others, both are entirely necessary.foxhound_fox
What he said. :) I doubt anyone has ever played PuzzleQuest for the story... on the other hand, a lot of the criticism of Dragon Age has been of the story and narrative.
[QUOTE="foxhound_fox"]But in a story-driven game like Batman: Arkham Asylum, the dialogue, the plot direction and the character design are all essential elements ALONG WITH the gameplay. I don't understand why everyone always talks about it being one or the other... for some games it doesn't matter, and for others, both are entirely necessary.ChiliDragon
What he said. :) I doubt anyone has ever played PuzzleQuest for the story... on the other hand, a lot of the criticism of Dragon Age has been of the story and narrative. Absolutely. Is it too much to ask for both?
Gameplay - there are plenty of large sandbox styIe games which I can enjoy for many hours just exploring and doing my own thing, completely independent of the story.
Great question. They both compliment each other but for games you have to have great gameplay. I have bought games that have great gameplay and a crappy story and vice versa. I can forgive the ones that have great gameplay. The ones with a good story and crappy gameplay make me feel ripped off.
[QUOTE="ChiliDragon"][QUOTE="foxhound_fox"]But in a story-driven game like Batman: Arkham Asylum, the dialogue, the plot direction and the character design are all essential elements ALONG WITH the gameplay. I don't understand why everyone always talks about it being one or the other... for some games it doesn't matter, and for others, both are entirely necessary.Nooberman2k
What he said. :) I doubt anyone has ever played PuzzleQuest for the story... on the other hand, a lot of the criticism of Dragon Age has been of the story and narrative. Absolutely. Is it too much to ask for both?
I'm getting on this bandwagon. I'll also add that in some games storytelling is woven directly into the gameplay making one indiscernible from the other.
Story, story, story, STORY and more STORY. A good, or at least a decent, story is close to mandatory for me to enjoy a game. It's largely why the RPG genre is light years ahead of any other genre in terms of my favorites.
Gameplay. For a long time I used to think that story was more important to me than gameplay, but looking back I realize that this isn't true. On first playthrough of a game story is still the most important element of the mix, but on subsequent playthroughs I quickly stop caring about story and gameplay becomes extremely important. Combine this with the fact that I really like playing games multiple times to flesh out the depth in the gameplay elements, and the answer becomes obvious.
It really just depends on the genre. For instance, most RPG's need a decent enough story to work, because those are, by nature, story driven games. However, others, like Mario, really could have no story at all (just look at Scribblenauts) and still be great. So, ultimatley, this is too general of a question, because it depends on the genre.
What's a game if it's not fun to play? The story is a part of some games, but if the gameplay isn't good, I'll just read the story on Gamefaqs or watch videos online.
I'd prefer for a videogame to have a good story and a good gameplay. But if I've gotta pick one or the other, I'm gonna choose gameplay nearly every time. Particularly when so few videogames are even capable of crafting a story that's worth my time.
Not sure why it has to be black and white, but in terms of priority... Gameplay or I and everyone else listing 'story' may as well just play random adventure games.
For me it all comes down to the storytelling rather than the story in itself and how it is woven through your interaction though the game.
Fundamentally good stories are rare though, I cant deny that games like Dreamfall, Overclocked, Hotel Dusk and Black Mirror stand out.
Gameplay will always be more important imo. It's the basis that all video games were originaly founded upon afterall. A game doesn't exactly need a story to be truly great. Granted there are a few games that have managed to be memorable regardless of their horrific gameplay. Deadly Premonition comes to mind.
Easily good gameplay. Look at Vanquish, Just Cause 2, two of the most fun games IMO to come out and half of the cutscenes I had my headphones on because the story was pointless.
Also GOW 3 had a mediocore story and its my favorite game of all time. The gameplay was amazing.
in most of my favorite games, the story is told through gameplay. it weakens both when developers segment a portion of time for taking in the story and a portion of time for playing a game in which the mechanics are separate. video games greatest strength is interaction and that should be the focus of how the story is communicated.
I used to believe games were capable of delivering a narrative that paralleled movies and novels, but then I changed mt mind. Not only do I now believe games are an inferior medium for storytelling and development due to their dynamic nature, but I really don't want stories in my games anymore, period. So my answer is: gameplay, absolutely and without question.
A rather large amount of games need no story at all. A great game play engine can get me past a mediocre story in a game that does have it though. (prime example being Grandia 2) But bad game play can make me incapable of continuing to play a game, even if the story is great. (prime example being Suikoden 3) Obviously, I'd prefer a game excel in both when possible, but given a choice between the two, I'll take minimal or no story and great game play.
Gameplay first and formost, without a gameplay you find fun then it doesn't matter if the story is great, Graphics are superb and so on. Story comes on a second place for me.
In a story-driven game, the story is an exceptionally important element. In a gameplay-driven game (i.e. Super Mario Galaxy 2) the story is non-relevant. Whether it even has one means nothing to the quality of the game.
But in a story-driven game like Batman: Arkham Asylum, the dialogue, the plot direction and the character design are all essential elements ALONG WITH the gameplay. I don't understand why everyone always talks about it being one or the other... for some games it doesn't matter, and for others, both are entirely necessary.
foxhound_fox
This makes alot of sense right here, and a perfect example with Batman, with that being said I am gonna go with the story being more important to me, of course this can change for me though.
[QUOTE="Nooberman2k"][QUOTE="ChiliDragon"] What he said. :) I doubt anyone has ever played PuzzleQuest for the story... on the other hand, a lot of the criticism of Dragon Age has been of the story and narrative.UpInFlames
Absolutely. Is it too much to ask for both?
I'm getting on this bandwagon. I'll also add that in some games storytelling is woven directly into the gameplay making one indiscernible from the other.
I too am jumping on this bandwagon. RSE was able to tell a good story with R6 and RS along with GR. I can tell they changed after they were bought by Ubi and games started featuring the kill everything that moves type of gameplay. Games can have both with gameplay helping to tell the story as you the player become part of it.
as much as i like both im going with gameplay. story is awesome to have esp if the game has great gameplay as well like UC2. but some games are great even without much story such as counter strike.
in my opinion games had better stories 10 years ago (due to the fact that the hardware was limited in what it could do visually etc. so devs compensated with a good naritive) a lot of gamers havnt even played a game with a truly good story
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