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[enigmatic_alex44]

I've seen gamers use that phrase a lot over the years to justify games with poor or non-existant stories. As long as the gameplay is good it gets a pass. Now there are genres or games where gameplay IS all that matters like platformers (3D World was my GOTY 2013), Tetris and sports games.

However working through Ace Attorney series for the first time, Danganronpa 2 and DA Inquisition, story is VERY important to me. I'll always gravitate towards a game with a great story. My favorite games I see as virtual books or interactive TV series for lack of a better way of putting it It's why I appreciate ambitious developers like Kojima and his MGS series, games that attempt a massive scope with deep lore like the Xenosaga and Mass Effect trilogies, and why I cry myself to sleep at night hoping for a sequel to Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward

Spoiler

j/k....sort of

This is why I get so frustrated with games that see the story as an after-thought such as recent disappointment Fantasy Life on 3DS. Or going back a bit further, Mario Sticker Star. That one is particularly frustrating as the legendary Miyamoto who's had a hand in some of my favorite games of all time went out of his way to butcher SS and made the dev team strip out the story and keep it so minimal. From what I've read he's not a fan of story in games

The more technology advances, the less excuse there is for poor stories in games. I no longer have time or patience for games with good gameplay and bad stories. Great story though, I can excuse some gameplay flaws. Obviously the ideal would be for a game to have great gameplay AND story but that doesn't happen all that often.

What is your take?

 

[nextgeneration]

Gameplay ALWAYS trumps story for me. I could care less about a story in a game. If I want a good story, I'll go watch a movie. When I play a game, I need good gameplay. It's as simple as that.

EDIT - Adding the below because people are misconstruing what I said above. I guess it's my fault for posting something that I didn't word in the most eloquent way.

For me personally (and it's my my own personal opinion!), the basic foundation to any game is the gameplay. If that is compromised, the whole game fails automatically, even if all other aspects of the game are exemplary (including story). This is what I mean by gameplay trumps all and that I don't really care about the story in a game. It's because I value gameplay above everything else and that is the single most important component to my enjoyment of a game. Everything else is secondary.

But can a good story enhance a game with already solid gameplay - yes! Good stories can definitely enhance a game, as can good graphics, sound effects, and the other various components that constitute a game. But if the foundation is not solid (gameplay), then the whole game crumbles, no matter how good everything else is.

To use an analogy and to put this in food terms, a good storyline is basically icing on the cake. Graphics/sound/everything else but gameplay is basically icing on the cake. But if the actual cake is not solid (gameplay), then I don't care how good the icing is - it fails as a cake. The same applies to games.

And for games that focus solely on storylines as the central focus for their titles and have very little to no gameplay, I simply won't play those games because I need gameplay in order to enjoy my games. The Walking Dead series is a good example of that. It's mainly just pure storytelling and doesn't contain much gameplay. I've played it and it just isn't for me, but I fully acknowledge/recognize that many people out there enjoy those types of games. I'm just not one of them.

Hopefully, this better explains where I'm coming from with this and makes better sense now.

 

[autoduelist]

gameplay > story

If I wanted a story, I'd rather read a book or watch a movie. In a game, I want solid mechanics. I rarely care about character motivations, relationships, plot, or anything else. Just give me a solid game - fluidity in a dual stick shooter, good combat/lewt mechanics in an rpg, good shooting mechanics, weapon variation, enemy ai in an FPS, etc.

There are rare exceptions. TLOU being one. But few games can or will reach that level, and I don't expect nor need them to.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

A great story will never be able to compensate for crappy gameplay.

 

[DragoonKain]

Video games generally don't have really great stories. Well, not to people who actively read books anyway. Most video game stories are fairly generic and predictable. The one thing that sets games apart from other forms of media is the gameplay. You can't be actively engaged and control books or movies.

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

Just straight up disagree...what am i playing when story>gameplay? Am I holding a video game controller or a tv remote?

 

[MCN]

Video game stories are always sub-B movie pap anyway written by people who weren't good enough to write books or movies. The focus on them is another symptom of the sad trend of video games trying to be movies.

 

[donutzsick]

As a huge fan of visual novels, story will ALWAYS trump gameplay for me. Unless the gameplay is DIFFICULT and prevents me from getting to more story, i will slog through whatever i need to to see story I enjoy.

I enjoy good gameplay too of course, but I am just more interested in characters and story when it comes to my entertainment.

 

[vareon]

I'd say the game has a choice whether to strike balance or focusing one over the other. As long as one aspect doesn't suck, and the other aspect really shines.

 

[Floridian]

I always need gameplay to be emphasized over or atleast on par with a wonderful story. I can't get through the story if the gameplay is boring, broken, or not fun.

 

[JordanN]

I don't get why story and gameplay can't be both important.

In fact, I hate the half assing of story and graphics in favor of gameplay. Presentation should mean everything about a game is equally good.

A game with good gameplay but bad story/graphics/sound etc should still be criticized.

 

[Shining Sunshine]

I agree with your disagree.

Some people will say good story doesn't make up for bad gameplay. It's true.
However, I find that I can't get through a "fun" game if the story is bad or there is no story at all.

There may be exceptions to some genres, but even genres like Racing, I immensely find it more engaging when I'm playing Initial D or Wangan and racing against rival characters than when I'm playing Gran Turismo. I do still enjoy GT even without any narrative though.

 

[17 Seconds]

I've literally never been interested in a game's story. It's always just convoluted nonsense with horrible pacing, imo.

 

[Matt Attack]

I don't agree with gameplay > story, or the reverse. I think different games have different things to offer. The Ace Attorney series is my #1 favorite series, and as my avatar might suggest, I love Danganronpa too. But I can also appreciate Mario, Monster Hunter, and plenty of other types of games.

I don't think it needs to be a competition. I thrive off of the variety of games that I'm able to play.

 

[Partition]

when I think of my favorite games of all time, all the games off the top of my head have almost no story or a mediocre one

 

[enigmatic_alex44]

Video game stories are always sub-B movie pap anyway written by people who weren't good enough to write books or movies. The focus on them is another symptom of the sad trend of video games trying to be movies.

Please play 999 and it's sequel Virtue's Last Reward. Or the underrated gem Ghost Trick. There are games with great stories delivered in ways that can't be done in books. And when paired with amazing music, it's just an incredible experience no other medium can deliver

 

[Pinko Marx]

I'm a big fan of well told stories in games as well,yet I still believe gameplay > story.
A well told story makes a good game great.
A bad story can detract from a good game but can be ignored.
Bad gameplay makes a good story a chore to experience, and can straight up ruin enjoyment of the story.

 

[Sinfamy]

I agree OP.
Story is the driving factor that makes me care about a game, and keeps me coming back.

If it's a simple platformer or arcade game, of course not.

The best games though are those deep in lore that do not interfere with gameplay, like Dark Souls and Half-Life.

 

[EmpressInYellow]

Like you say, it depends a lot on the genre.

But in stuff like RPGs? Yes, I care a lot more about the story than I do about the mechanics. If the mechanics are truly awful, then I'll notice, but I'm more likely to play through an RPG with a great story and mediocre mechanics (Planescape: Torment, for instance) than I am an RPG with a half-assed story but great mechanics.

If the story isn't there, I feel no investment. There's a bunch of other games I could be playing, or movies I could be watching, or books I could be reading.

To me, the idea that game mechanics are automatically more important than story in games is like saying that cinematography is more important than story in films. Yes, there are films that are more about the visuals than they are the story, but that doesn't mean that sort of proscriptive, one-size-fits-all pronouncement is appropriate for the entire medium.

 

[Rembrandt]

A great story will never be able to compensate for crappy gameplay.

Short and sweet.

 

[JoeM86]

Ideally we'd have both, but it's always gameplay for me. It frustrates me to no end where I play a game, have a cutscene then it loads gameplay, I walk for half a minute, and another cutscene comes.

I play games to play games, and as such, gameplay is above all else. A game can have no story or ridiculously poor story and still be an absolute blast to play, while if a game has a fantastic narrative but is not fun to play, then it's not a good game.

 

[Lirrik]

It's really great when a game has a good story. It's even better when visuals and sound are great too. But when gameplay is truly great, you play it no matter how crappy story or graphics are.

I guess there are games where graphics can compensate gameplay with "wow" factor, but even that is not that often. But great story with bad gameplay? You better read a book or at least watch a movie.

 

[CambriaRising]

I think games shine when both are on point, but one can definitely make up for the other.

 

[Anth0ny]

Bayonetta 2's story is awful. But the gameplay is so damn good that it doesn't matter... at all.

I've yet to play a game where the story is good enough to make up for shitty gameplay.

Gameplay >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> story

 

[MattKeil]

If your game's story is more important than the gameplay, just write a book.

 

[bananafactory]

I think it depends on the game, there's room for both.

When I play a racing game I don't give a shit about a story.

When I play an action-adventure game, I do want something to care about.

But everyone's entitled to their own personal preferences too. I primarily play games FOR the story, so gameplay focused genres don't appeal to me as much.

 

[Orniletter]

Gameplay is what sets videogames apart from any other medium like books (inbefore someone mentiones choose your own adventure books, but you know what I mean) and movies....but it is totally fine to appreciate one aspect more than the other.

AceAttorney and Danganronpa in particular have interesting gameplay as well (especially AA).

Piecing things together/ solving the riddles and sifting through the lies is gameplay.

I'm absolutely done with crap AAA games that excuse their weak gameplay with Michael Bay-tactics. So....yeah, I'm more of a gameplay / game mechanics person myself, but it is ok If you value a strong narrative in your games.

 

[fengshuifever]

It's totally fine to have a preference. I subscribe to the idea that story is equally as important as gameplay, just as important as music or art.

Just don't let it cloud your enjoyment of a game.
i love the Bayonetta series, for example, but I see so many people completely disregard the game because the story is bad or takes a backseat to the gameplay.
Especially a series from a director who consistently shelves story for amazing gameplay.

Enjoy the game for what it is and for what it sets out to do.
It's allllll about context.

 

[hamchan]

I mean, it depends what genre of game it is. In visual novels it is obviously all about the story but let's say for something like platformers, it's about the gameplay.

 

[Tidus_Great]

most of my favorite games are story driven
bioshock, FFX, The Last of Us xenogears, xenoblade, xenosaga, Mass Effect, FF12, Metal gear solid 1,2,3,

I think story matters alot, personally I lose interest in a game if the story doesn't interest me. I think you'd have to be blind not to notice the trend of story mattering more and more as well. Why do you think games like Bioshock, THe Last of Us and Uncharted get GOTY awards. the gameplay is fine but it's the story that makes them stand out from the rest.

 

[remz]

well there's that old John Carmack quote:

Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not that important.

...but I guess that's from a very different time (pre DOOM) so how relevent is it today now that the landscape has changed so much?

in some ways I think he's right, especially as a lot of games are written on about the same level as a porno, except instead of sex it's violence, but the rare game with a strong narrative can be awesome.

I think stuff like Phoenix Wright is in it's own category, really. Like something like Kentucky Route Zero or classic lucasarts games, where story is the draw card.

for action games I think it's much less important. I generally think gameplay first, story dressings later.

 

[Tidus_Great]

Bayonetta 2's story is awful. But the gameplay is so damn good that it doesn't matter... at all.

I've yet to play a game where the story is good enough to make up for shitty gameplay.

Gameplay >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> story

Planescape Torment has awful gameplay but is generally loved.

generally good story games also have good gameplay though. i'm not gonna say I like bad gameplay. I want good gameplay and good story. I don't see why anyone would want less

 

[TsunamiOfSwagger]

I would prefer gameplay>story, but The Walking Dead season 1 is very much story>gameplay, and I am a big fan of that.
But why not have both?

Spoiler

The Last of Us

 

[Uncle Rupee]

Couldn't disagree more.

Chess don't need no freakin' story.
Cards don't need no freakin' story.
Mahjong don't need no freakin' story.
Sports don't need no freakin' story.
And most video games don't need no freakin' story.

Does a good story improve a good game? In most cases, probably. However, sometimes it actually just gets in the way of what you're there to do: play the game. A good example is Duck Tales Remastered, which is constantly interrupted by excessive dialogues.

Another example. Compare the works of Hideo Kojima and David Cage. Both make games that feel like interactive movies, but one of these designers knows how to design a good game, and it really shows. Besides the fact that most games get by on the strength of their gameplay despite having utterly terrible stories.

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

gameplay > story just off the strength of 99% game stories getting trash.

 

[Astral Dog]

Gameplay is what MAKES a great game, that said, of course there are different necessities for different games and genres, a visual novel is a visual novel, Sticker Star is supposed to be a jrpg, so a lack of story was not the best choice for that kind of game.

 

[sappyday]

I semi agree OP. Games like Destiny has great gameplay but thanks to the lack of story I had no interest in pursing it any further. But just to say "gameplay > story"/"story>gameplay" isn't so simple. Audio, graphics, performance, world/stage design all factor in too.

 

[Odrion]

 

[enkaisu]

I value both story and gameplay, but not every game sets out to do the same thing, so I have different expectations for different games.

 

[Tidus_Great]

well there's that old John Carmack quote:



...but I guess that's from a very different time (pre DOOM) so how relevent is it today now that the landscape has changed so much?

in some ways I think he's right, especially as a lot of games are written on about the same level as a porno, except instead of sex it's violence, but the rare game with a strong narrative can be awesome.

I think stuff like Phoenix Wright is in it's own category, really. Like something like Kentucky Route Zero or classic lucasarts games, where story is the draw card.

for action games I think it's much less important. I generally think gameplay first, story dressings later.

That quote has zero relevance today. Games have been getting progressively more cinematic and story driven since Metal Gear Solid. And lets not pretend the voice acting and writing hasn't improved. Final Fantasy 12, Soul Reaver 2 have brilliant voice work and script. and these are games from the ps2 era.

 

[Alx]

I can see how there is room for different balances between gameplay and story, and that will suit different tastes. But in the end I think the gameplay + story concept is flawed, both don't mix well and one is almost always coming in the way of the other. The game part is meant to let the player decide what happens on screen, the story part is meant to describe him a scripted sequence.
The least conflicting balance between both would be the "choose your own adventure" formula, but that's hardly a game (as a matter of fact when reading those books, I always skipped the gaming part with dice and paper, since it was pointless)

 

[King Beyond the wall]

A great story will never be able to compensate for crappy gameplay.

Deadly premonition?

I agree with OP, if a game has a bad story then I simply cannot play it further. If there is nothing about it which grabs me and makes me care what is going on I will move on to something else. This is why I never completed Vanquish, I couldn't convince myself to keep on playing when I didn't have a clue or care what was going on or why.

Of course gameplay is still an important factor, but not as important as story. The exception to this rule for me is multiplayer only games, or Singleplayer games with a 'make your own story' like Mount and Blade or Total War.

 

[baphomet]

How the game plays will always matter more than the story. If I was more concerned about a story I would watch a movie instead.

 

[Agremont]

For me it depends on what type of game it is. I can enjoy both games that are more gameplay focused, as well as games that are more story focused.

With that said, games with good writing are always more rememberable to me. Not necessarily more fun though.

 

[Frankenstrat]

I can't think of too many cases where I disagree with it. Most of my favorite games from different genres clearly valued gameplay over story (eg Just Cause 2 for sandbox, Vanquish for TPS, TF2 for FPS (not counting comics/videos), etc. I love me a good story in vidya, but if the gameplay's good enough I can overlook a mediocre one.

 

[PensivePen]

I can enjoy a game that has either, and obviously something that accomplishes both is greatly favored, but I'm very willing to overlook a failing in one area if another is done incredibly well. That said a game with a bad story needs to let me skip it, and a game with poor gameplay needs to not make me trudge through to much of it to get to what I really want.

 

[deltatheta]

Miyamoto isn't opposed to story, he's opposed to cutscenes. He wants the player to be in control at all times. But you can still have a lot of story elements without having tons of dialog and cutscenes. Super Metroid and the Portal games are good examples. It's not the type of story that you get in novels or movies, but video games are pretty singular their ability to build a world and make you feel like you're in it. Video games excel at building tone and setting.

I agree with you with visual novels, where the number one most important thing is good writing. But when you really boil it down, visual novels are just value-added books. They aren't really taking advantage of the benefits of their medium.

 

[Tizoc]

A great story will never be able to compensate for crappy gameplay.

If I may add as long as the gameplay is serviceable, it can still be enjoyed for its story.

 

[MavFan619]

I don't agree with gameplay > story, or the reverse. I think different games have different things to offer. The Ace Attorney series is my #1 favorite series, and as my avatar might suggest, I love Danganronpa too. But I can also appreciate Mario, Monster Hunter, and plenty of other types of games.

I don't think it needs to be a competition. I thrive off of the variety of games that I'm able to play.

Same I value games such as Danganronpa as much as I value mechanically rich games like XRD. I am not one for picking a "team" for instance The Order and Bloodborne both equally excite me and they clearly both have way different focuses.

 

[Sifl]

For me, both have to be mediocre or better. If a game has a good story but it's jank as fuck, it becomes a chore to play. If the gameplay is good but the story is bad/nonexistent it's hard for me to be motivated to play it, unless its a short game and can be finished in 1 sitting.