Kingdom Hearts 3, and video game stories that make no sense

I got Kingdom Hearts 3 yesterday, and I absolutely love it so far. It's a ton of fun and I love the characters and the setting and everything that the franchise stands for (and that killer music!). One of the biggest criticisms of the franchise is that the story makes no sense or that it's too complicated. I agree, trying to follow the story will make you go nuts with confusion, lol. But that got me thinking, when do video games stories ever make sense? Some of my favorites franchises like Bayonetta and Metal Gear Solid are equally nonsensical, maybe even more lol. I still love them, and will go out of my way to try to understand them. So what do you think, SW? Has a story made you like a game less? How much do you care about stories in your games? I guess it would depend on the franchise. It could go either way for me. A game like Last of Us has a story worth following.

Bonus Question: what are your favorite video game stories? Least favorite?

Double XP Question: who is playing Kingdom Hearts 3? Impressions?

Yeah Bayonetta is a bunch of nonsense. Fun to play though. But I wish it was less gibberish

Isn't this a game where Goofy and Mickey Mouse hangs around with JRPG heroes?

Ya they hand around quite a bit.

I think that almost all game stories are bad compared to other media. Even the best game storys would be average Tv series stories.

With KH3 I hate how they try to explain gameplay stuff by making the story even worse. Like Yen Sid makes up a reason why Sora is level 1, but doesn't explain why Donald and Goofy are. If you try to find a reason for Level 1 Sora, then please tell us why they still have the worst Gummy Ship? If you want to make your new Keyblade wearers stronger by putting them into the training world, tell us why the others aren't there? Also lol at Mickey and Riku talking about how they forgot to level up their keyblades. It just makes them look stupid. "Oh gosh, who would have thought we should have leveled our Keyblades before entering the world of Darkness?"

in this game there is tangled and frozen characters too. too girly.

Frozen is the Disney character that sings that song?

Donno who tangled is.

See some promos, JRPG hero with head like giant tumor while children pop song plays. Looks magical.

I watched the GiantBomb Quick Look of KH3 for about 30min before realizing I don't ever want to play it - any of them.

Something about all those characters from other things in a JRPG... I just don't even want to pollute my head with whatever nonsense they're pushing to justify all that.

Some of my favorite video game stories:

• Horizon Zero Dawn
• Morrowind

This game refuses to allow the gamer to play past the 15 minute mark without a cutscene.

@SolidGame_basic:

Kingdom Hearts isn't hard to understand. It's just kinda stupid. But it's stupid in a good way. Like a family friendly, wholesome Disney movie. And its romance was just adorable. That's why I love it.

Nah! Its just plain stupid in the standard unintelligent way.

I stopped paying attention. Not to mention it's so cheesy and lame. It's a disappointing game though.

@uninspiredcup: Yes. And that's the reason it should have an easier to follow story, and not be weighed down in anime emo convolution.

Kingdom Hearts' story is stupid, childish, makes no sense, most of the characters are bad-written, but somehow, the cutscenes are not boring. It worth it for the great Hack and Slash.

As for my favourite stories in gaming? Yakuza, without doubt.

@uninspiredcup:

"Donno who tangled is."

Tangled is Rapunzel, silly! There were tons of commercials when the movie came out, remember? What other princess do you know with ridiculously long hair?! lol

Dude, just come out of the closet already.

I played all KH games there is and I still have no idea any story in the games I played. Ventus is in sora, sora has nobody and heartless, sora is not evil so his noboby/heartless is not bad so no memories or something, born roxas without any feeling, this, that, whatever the heck is before I just stopped caring and just play for the admittedly awesome gameplay. KH 1 had a simple plot too just how did all go wrong with future releases. KH chain of memories is also still relatively simple... just ignore the organization crap and whatever happened with riku and you will be fine.

I love persona 3. 10 something years later still remembers the journey.

Most video game stories are idiotic or nonsensical or pretentious.

Just give me a goal, and some fun gameplay. That's all I need.

Story is instant skip for me, i only want pure gameplay. If i want to watch the story in a game i will watch somebody on twitch while playing an actually game myself.

I really enjoy stories in the video games that I play, especially some of the crazy ones. It’s a large reason why I really enjoy the Metal Gear Solid games. I like the story in the Kingdom Hearts game well enough. I just picked up Kingdom Hearts 3 and I am looking forward to how it all wraps up.

Same with Final Fantasy 8. You have to play the game more than once to finally understand wtf is going on

KH3’s narrative issues extend further than base coherence. More than anything, there are far too many cutscenes that serve little to no narrative function, though that has been an issue since the 1st entry (retelling the plot lines of the respective Disney film has been a crutch they’ve never moved beyond).

And generally speaking, games have improved immensely over the past 20 years in storytelling. Games that fail to iterate aren’t always hurt by it, but the games that do are voluminously enhanced because of it.

The bolded part right there is the most important part of a story. The characters are the driving force of a story. Even if the story is weak, if it has interesting characters that you enjoy watching and care about, then that makes the story worthwhile. Despite games like KH and MGS getting a lot of crap for their nonsensical stories, they're still fondly remembered after all these decades because they have fascinating characters that have left a strong impression on audiences.

As for the bonus question, the best video game stories I've seen are from visual novels, e.g. Clannad, Steins Gate, Muv-Luv, Ace Attorney, Grisaia, Fate/Stay Night, Higurashi, 428: Shibuya Scramble, etc. But visual novels are kind of their own thing, separate from regular video games. Among regular video games, my favourites include FFVII, Alundra, MGS2, Dragon Quest V, Soul Reaver 2, Sands of Time, Shadow of Memories, etc.

JRPGs in general have bad, nonsensical stories. There's just something about the genre that attracts melodramatic shouting, improbable villains with lame god-complexes, cringey sexual moments, a million different awful names (SOLDIER, entelexia, fal'Cie, etc.etc.etc.), and last minute love-conquers-all deus ex machinas.

Don't get me wrong, I still play a ton of JRPGs, but the ones I've played with genuinely good storylines...I could probably count on one hand?

I guess the same goes for Japanese beat-em-up games as well. People don't play Bayonetta or Devil May Cry expecting a grounded, relatable story.

But yeah, if you want a Japanese game with a good story, Yakuza 0 is a good place to start. There are many Western adventure games, indie games, and some Japanese visual novels with good stories as well.

Kingdom hearts never made any sense. I have no problems with game with a bad story as long as the gameplay is good and I absolutely love kingdom hearts gameplay.

@Planeforger: Most JRPGs are typically aimed at teenage audiences, much like Shounen manga/anime, superhero comics/cartoons, and YA fiction. But nowadays, a lot of fiction targeted at teens (or even kids) are now enjoyed by adults who grew up with that stuff. Same goes for JRPGs. They might be played by a ton of adults, but their core demographic are still teens (especially Japanese teens). Since the average age of SW is 30 (according to a poll I remember), the average SWer is not the target audience for JRPGs.

And sexual moments in JRPGs? What do you mean by that? Sexual moments aren't exactly something JRPGs are known for... besides eroge RPGs.

But yeah, visual novels and adventure games are the only genres known for good storytelling in video games. Although there are some good stories outside of those genres as well.

So the game is a ton of fun but the story is too complicated, Sony gamer right here folks.

Why are lemmings crapping on the game? Didn't it also come to Xbox?

@blamix: all i know is squall is dead.

lmao, good points. The dialogue is a little awkward.

Says the guy who loves racing games.

I used to get into visual novels, but they take forever. I played Danganronpa 1 & 2. I would like to play Steins Gate.

@Planeforger Yakuza 0's story is amazing. Loved that game!

Game stories, if not convoluted garbage, are usually weak in narrative, character development, and plot devices. I can’t think of many games whose plot rises above even the trashiest literature.

@sakaixx: you should look at the ending again and wait after the credits :)

@SolidGame_basic: Exactly as they are made to be played not watched. Simple to learn yet hard to master, tell me how hard is a story to master?

That's what you cows don't understand, gameplay is the most important part of any game, but until Sony tells you otherwise you are stuck sitting there watching cutscenes and trying to understand them smh.