"Plot is Highly overrated" according to developers

I think some lore is necessary for a great game to be fantastic.

I like a good story....

@MBirdy88: while I was typing up my response and then I had a slight change of opinion.

The reason video games have "overrated" plots is because when game developers attempt to create rich plots with an engaging story, their games usually end up with slow starts, then the slow attention span of the gamer wimps out on continuing the game. Then they get painted on review sites with lower scores and "slow beginning". Another reason for this is those people who play these games just to scene skip everytime dialog pops up or anything that isn't action.

My examples of this:

#1. Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. This game is part of a series that tells a single story in multiple episodes. It goes into grave detail on characters, their thoughts, and their feelings. On top of not being an action-oriented bloodbath like many games out today, it has a s***-ton of dialog to really make this game a niche. If there is any game that comes close to being a novel, this is it.

#2. Zelda: Twilight Princess. This game was aimed to those who were fans of the universe, but those who blacklisted this as a "slow start" game has impacted the next two games after it for the worse. I don't think we will ever get a Zelda game with a mature story like this,

3. Persona 4. It takes a long time until you can start forging S-Links. This game is already niche, so I would think a great many those who bought it played it to the end.

4. Final Fantasy Tactics. This is a slow game all around, but it's story is one of the best in video games. I suspect because of its slow gameplay (or intense old-English dialog with lots of organizations to remember), people never got to finish its masterpiece of a story.

So, a good plot, like a novel, takes time to set its roots and become a roller coaster ride. But because of those who crave instant action and "scene skippers" make up the bulk of casuals/bro-gamers, we will rarely get a game that treats it's story maturely or treat the story as much as they treat the gameplay.

I agree that plot itself is highly overrated, even in terms of telling a story. If a game story has excellent aesthetic qualities, a compelling atmosphere, is eventful, is interesting thematically, and has charismatic characters, the actual A to B plot is just not that important to me. For instance, some people get hung up on plot holes and shit and I've never understood that POV. Some people will be like, "[Insert small random detail] doesn't make sense. **** this story." I only really care about the story making perfect sense if the teller of that story is aiming for realism. That being said, there are some plot contrivances that go a little too far to swallow easily.

You could complain about movies having plot holes as well...but they would be pretty worthless without plot/story. At least IMO.

Yeah, the same thing applies to movies. And books actually. The Great Gatsby's plot is kind of creaky at times, but it's atmosphere and setting is so well executed.

And yes, plot does matter to a certain degree (since it's difficult to tell a story without plot), but I would argue that it's not so much the plot that makes a story engaging but the characters, aesthetics, themes, atmosphere, etc. I would argue that a plot with holes but engaging characters, visuals and themes is superior to a plot without holes but flat characters/themes/atmosphere.

Like I said though, what I'm saying depends on how bad the plot hole is. But I just for the life of me can't see why people bitch about small plot holes. Well, then again, people seem to get hung up on small flaws in general on these forums.