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[Thirty7ven]

Is there supposed to be some sort of monolithic taste when it comes to games?

Personally speaking I find it baffling how people like games with no story, unless we’re talking about sports games, competitive MP, management simulators, side scrollers…

Otherwise it’s like really? You want me to spend dozens of hours killing monsters… for what?

Clearly this is a matter of personality, and different types of personality like different things, to me RPGs/3rd person action/stealth/fps/adventure games that don’t focus on story and characters are completely ridiculous. No swinging a sword around isn’t enough sorry.

 

[LaughingStock]

Nowadays I skip most cutscenes. Like someone said: Story in a videogame is like story in a porn movie. It's not really necessary.

 

[fart town usa]

I enjoy story driven games. I don't like open world slogs.

 

[Ywap]

I'm having a hard time to follow or even care about the story in games. I just want an excuse for great atmosphere, graphics and gameplay.

Dead Space is a perfect example. Simple story with tons of gory gameplay and atmosphere

 

[Thirty7ven]

Nowadays I skip most cutscenes. Like someone said: Story in a videogame is like story in a porn movie. It's not really necessary.

I don’t know how your brain is wired but my brain doesn’t react to videogames the same way it does to porn. But if the act of playing a game is the same as masturbating to you then, holy shit.

Also John Carmack is an idiot. A high IQ idiot sure.

But hey dopamine hit games are all the rage these days, go Fortnite. “Brain do things”

 

[Shubh_C63]

A good game converts you.

I never liked platformers and Hollow Knight definitely converted me. Getting this epiphany with Wither 3 is weird because its pacing is good enough to reel you in.
Maybe play Zelda likes only.

 

[sigmaZ]

There is a similar thread, touching the subject: https://www.neogaf.com/threads/do-y...n-games-or-mechanic-driven-games-why.1655953/
But I still think it is worth to start the new one.

I do like Witcher 3, and I like all the modules of gameplay, like upgrading gear, exploration, combat, gwent with collecting all cards, the fantastic world that feels alive etc.

But today I ran into an issue, when I tried to play the gwent with one guy in Skelige, and instead of just starting conversation and choose the option to play gwent, I was forced to watch the cycle of cut-scenes and begin the obligatory mission.
It was frustrating, so I asked myself: why am I frustrated playing a video game, which should be by definition leisure time and entertainment?

And the answer is: though I play a lot of story driven games, the story is like a background for me, that has only one purpose - to justify all the gameplay mechanics.
You know what I mean? In other words, all the story elements, make me feel I am part of the real world, so for example, chasing some alchemy ingredient to make better potion, is justified.

I started this thread, to see if I am not alone in these feelings, or I have some issues and need to change a hobby.

I don't have story driven games, but if the story gets in the way of the gameplay or the gameplay is not up to par, then yes I loathe such games. Witcher 3 has some good atmosphere and story beats later in the game, but god the gameplay and controls are atrocious. Because everyone built up the story to be so epic my only way to get through it fast enough to stay entertained was to use a trainer to add one hit kills about 10 hours into the game just so I didn't have to suffer the gameplay anymore. All in all it was a decent experiences, but in the words of my ex, "I've had better."

 

[Astray]

From my POV you are absolutely alone with it.

I'd take a bad story over no story.

 

[mayham2199]

I love story driven games but I hate the Witcher 3 because the main story is in the back ground and it's just you looking for that girl for like 20 hours. Hearing the Blood Baron say "Do me one more favor and I'll tell you a little bit more" was so damn annoying.

 

[Wildebeest]

Personally speaking I find it baffling how people like games with no story, unless we’re talking about sports games, competitive MP, management simulators, side scrollers…

So you are saying you find it baffling how people like games unless they are good and have actual engaging gameplay in them.

 

[Thirty7ven]

So you are saying you find it baffling how people like games unless they are good and have actual engaging gameplay in them.

Is that what I wrote?

Because what I wrote is certain game genres don’t have an use for story or characters. But I was wrong on side scrollers, because side scrollers can benefit from stories and characters.

Actual engaging gameplay I don’t know what you mean by that. Guess what a book with poor prose can still tell a good story, but it won’t be very fun to read. A book with really good prose, weak story and empty characters will eventually feel meaningless.

It’s like real life football hey? Sure it’s fun to kick a ball around, but it’s only when you add meaning that it comes alive. Without meaning it’s just empty victories and losses.

Like in Redbelt, when the asshole says “Read the street signs. We're in America. Morisaki's doing his part, you've gotta do yours, Ricardo's gotta do his. Where the fuck is he? Pay-per-view is pulling back on the promotion. We need a gimmick, one more time. Ricardo brings the old man up from Brazil. He fights for the honor of his mentor. Morisaki brings the belt, he fights for the emporer. What do you got? A grudge match. It's back to the thirties. Black against white, Irish against Jew...a racial grudge match. Get me some velocity, eh? Velocity, or else it's just two monkeys in a ring.”

But not everybody is the same, some people just want something to do. What I know for sure is that the vast majority of these people who say if they want a story they will read a book, don’t read books. They spend most of their time playing games.

It’s like if somebody says they don’t care about stories/characters in movies/shows. That person mostly watches reality tv. Am I supposed to sit here and be like “oh yeah, tv is like porn, give me that reality tv shit all day long”

 

[Wildebeest]

Is that what I wrote?

Because what I wrote is certain game genres don’t have an use for story or characters. But I was wrong on side scrollers, because side scrollers can benefit from stories and characters.

Actual engaging gameplay I don’t know what you mean by that. Guess what a book with poor prose can still tell a good story, but it won’t be very fun to read. A book with really good prose, weak story and empty characters will eventually feel meaningless.

It’s like real life football hey? Sure it’s fun to kick a ball around, but it’s only when you add meaning that it comes alive. Without meaning it’s just empty victories and losses.

Like in Redbelt, when the asshole says “Read the street signs. We're in America. Morisaki's doing his part, you've gotta do yours, Ricardo's gotta do his. Where the fuck is he? Pay-per-view is pulling back on the promotion. We need a gimmick, one more time. Ricardo brings the old man up from Brazil. He fights for the honor of his mentor. Morisaki brings the belt, he fights for the emporer. What do you got? A grudge match. It's back to the thirties. Black against white, Irish against Jew...a racial grudge match. Get me some velocity, eh? Velocity, or else it's just two monkeys in a ring.”

But not everybody is the same, some people just want something to do. What I know for sure is that the vast majority of these people who say if they want a story they will read a book, don’t read books. They spend most of their time playing games.

It’s like if somebody says they don’t care about stories/characters in movies/shows. That person mostly watches reality tv. Am I supposed to sit here and be like “oh yeah, tv is like porn, give me that reality tv shit all day long”

I'm not wasting time playing any game made for people who think that phrases like "actual engaging gameplay" are meaningless nonsense.

 

[Thirty7ven]

I'm not wasting time playing any game made for people who think that phrases like "actual engaging gameplay" are meaningless nonsense.

Point being that story and characters don’t prevent “actual engaging gameplay” and whoever thinks it does is an idiot. It actually elevates it.

 

[Wildebeest]

Point being that story and characters don’t prevent “actual engaging gameplay” and whoever thinks it does is an idiot. It actually elevates it.

Design is compromise. With such a strong priority for one thing, in every step of design, a choice is made which prioritises that one thing over the alternatives. It is justification, which denies this fact, to say that writing is an exception because "story and characters" elevate every other element so much that they don't need to be the star of the product. This is why strong design is about compromise in that story and characters can and should be regularly relegated to the back seat to let other elements shine, if those elements are worth anything. If there is a beautiful sunset handcrafted by the finest artists in the trade I do not need some jackass NPC stopping me looking at it to tell me, "gee whizz this sunset sure is evocative of my life story. The last time I took my dog Bozo for a walk there was a sunset like this, the next day he was hit by freak exploding refrigerator accident. That's why my life's crusade is to make sure manufacturers issue recall notices for faulty kitchen appliances. Will you join me on my quest, brave knight?"

 

[LaughingStock]

I don’t know how your brain is wired but my brain doesn’t react to videogames the same way it does to porn. But if the act of playing a game is the same as masturbating to you then, holy shit.

Also John Carmack is an idiot. A high IQ idiot sure.

But hey dopamine hit games are all the rage these days, go Fortnite. “Brain do things”

Huh.. What? Gameplay is king. Story is secondary. Not necessary at all.
You can have a game with gameplay and no story. But you can't have a game with story and no gameplay.

 

[Games of Today]

It's a real simple solution. Shut the game off.

I stopped playing Witcher 3 years ago when it required that abhorrent character "Dandelion" to be a part of the main quest for multiple missions.

Made me want to end myself so I shut it off and never went back.

Sounds like you should find some more mechanically driven games with less story.

 

[Deerock71]

I don't even like reading books that have too many branching story parts. Throw in complex gaming mechanics and degradable weapons and armor with a heavy dollop of crafting and it all becomes a little:

 

[zenspider]

I'd like the opposite of the now-popular "Story Mode". A "Game Mode" where all the walk & talk, cutscenes and other superfluous elements are stripped out. If people can now buy games with an option to exclusively experience the 3rd rate soap opera stories of most of them, I'd like an option to exclusively play the actual game.

It's called "Arcade Mode" If the game doesn't do it, just go back to the source. I've been playing about 75% retro /arcade this year and I have so much more fun with my limited time with the hobby.

 

[IAmRei]

You are not alone, i think. I recall to quit KH 2 because the cutscene is too much. Like walking 3m - 10m and cutscene, done see it? Walk more few metre and then cutscene ... Maybe just me, i want ro play games, not watching movie ...

 

[sachos]

Although i dont hate story driven games, i get your point. I think this is one of the reasons Souls games have become so popular, its back to the basics of gaming in a sense.

 

[rocketleague]

stories in video games are rarely ever good , so yeah its I partly agree

 

[Kings Field]

I skip cutscenes frame one

 

[Agent_Nobody]

Weird..As time went on I‘ve found I’ve wanted more and more story in my gameplay almost no matter what the cost in gameplay as long as it’s engaging like with BG3 basically being a series of dice rolls…but hot damn did they have good writing, same as Disco Elysium.

Most of the things that stick out and that will stick with me forever mentally for me are from the story of games not the mechanics of them. The ’trial‘ to me in Chrono Trigger, still one of the most brilliant pieces of gaming; it had nothing to do with how well you played but what you did that made it a story…I can tell you every outcome of that trial…yet if you asked me how the combat worked up to that point I’d just give you a bunch of question marks.

 

[ByWatterson]

My only contribution to this is: Anyone who wants to constrain what games ought to be, whether only story-based or story-free, are people who fundamentally misunderstand the limitless thing that games are.

 

[rodrigolfp]

I skip 99% of cut scenes because the stories in games are just so poor.

You have no idea about 99% of stories in games yet you find them so poor?

 

[SeraphJan]

Games that focus on environmental storytelling are my cup of tea, such as Bioshock series, Fromsoftware games, and Resident Evil franchise etc. These game does have cutscenes, but its the atmosphere that really stands out.

Another type of story driven game that I prefer is what I called "action sequence driven game", games like Uncharted, Marvel Spiderman etc, where over the top on rail action scene plays out one after another like a rollercoaster, with a high quality projector and a great surround sound setup, it delivers high sensational pleasure.

But in the end it really depends on the game. As for Witcher 3, the main problem of this game was its pacing, neither its gameplay or story excel at that, the game had amazing atmosphere and lore, it would be better if it went for the environmental route but it didn't. Meanwhile with identical formula, I enjoy RDR2 much more.

 

[Hudo]

Like someone said: Story in a videogame is like story in a porn movie.

 

[Represent.]

No matter the medium, a great story is welcome. Red Dead Redemption, God of War, Last of Us, Bioshock, Alan Wake, Resident Evil, shit, even Grand Theft Auto are nothing without their stories.

Like good graphics, a good story will enhance gameplay. Combat feels better when it serves a purpose and gets you invested emotionally.

This shit feels personal when the story is good. It gives good gameplay... purpose.

And while not "stories" in the typical sense - I'd argue mission based MP games are the equivalent of a story in an MP game - Look at the War mode in COD MW3. That shit is awesome because of the 3 objectives - aka the story.

Hell even roguelikes have stories that help the gameplay feel more meaningful - Hades for example. Sifu too. GoW Valhalla was great because of the story.

I dont get how one could be opposed to having great story in a game. Or cant value the enhancing one brings to gameplay

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

The problem is that, when games started telling stories like the movies do, the quality of the stories mostly took a nosedive. For me, it’s unquestionable that the text-only RPGs and the rudimentary “cinematic” games like Silent Hill had infinitely more engaging stories than what started coming in the 6th gen. If you ask me, what hurt Final Fantasy more than anything else was the vast improvements in graphics and animation coupled with the introduction of voice acting. Dialogues got shorter and more reliant on one-liners; cutscenes became movie-like, losing the uniqueness they used to have with more rudimentary graphics.

Remember how FF7 started? Straight into the thick of it.
FFX? A cutscene of a sports match and then, the slowest intro you could think of, with a main character that everyone with a sense of dignity will want to punch in the face from dawn to dusk.
Don’t tell me that wanting to flaunt the shining new PS2 tech wasn’t the main reason behind this.

Telling game stories through the medium of cinema makes stories cheesier on average, and it clashes with the gameplay, which is what games are really all about.
As you start having less and less time for gaming, Kojima’s endless drivel in the classic MGS games is one of the first things you finally start seeing as expendable. And the same goes for most of Gen 6 and 7 and their “gaming’s Citizen Kane moments”. You must have seen no more than three movies in all your life if the intro to TLOU doesn’t make you roll your eyes at how completely predictable it is. If that’s what we’ve been duped into believing it’s gaming, it’s no wonder kids are after something different.

Kojima did immeasurable damage to gaming with MGS, especially MGS2. I’ll die on this hill.

 

[draliko]

Story now get too much in the way of gameplay... i could stand a couple of cinematics but when in an hour you spend more time watching than playing something is definitely wrong... there are exceptions for sure, and everyone has different tastes, but they're called games not interactive movies...

 

[BlackTron]

I think my favorite intersection of story and mechanics is still OOT. The story is simple and timeless, and it's in a game dense with puzzles and mechanics. Nothing wrong with story, but it shouldn't replace a new mechanic or play experience as a reward for continuing. This is anti-checklist design.

Also good: when the story is there but took an obvious backseat to the GAME which was envisioned first. A great example is Skyward Sword (even though it's a meh game). In that case they made a story to fit the mechanics they wanted. A game should never be tweaking its gaminess for story. It should be the other way around.

 

[Jayjayhd34]

I've grown to like story driven games to an extent I don't like being drip fed the story though that can be rather annoying.

 

[Thaedolus]

It entirely depends on the game. I played Mario Wonder and Mario RPG remake practically back to back this year. The story elements in Wonder felt obnoxious and a distraction from what my kid and I were there for because they were unskippable. In RPG, the story is at least half the game. It was like reading a bedtime story to my 5 year old; I was doing voices and stuff. My kid wanted to keep playing not because it was co op but for wanting to know what happened next.

So there’s room for story-driven games, and pure gameplay games, and everything in between in my book

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

I like story driven games, but I never understood this weird obsession with perfect, award winning writing and storylines over all else with so many modern gamers. Imo, gameplay and fun are most important and literally everything else imho is a bonus. That flawless writing and even the storyline is rarely the reason most gamers play games for years and years from my observation. Fun and gameplay usually are.

 

[zenspider]

My only contribution to this is: Anyone who wants to constrain what games ought to be, whether only story-based or story-free, are people who fundamentally misunderstand the limitless thing that games are.

NOT TRUE AT ALL! Games are constrained by nature, or they're just activities. You could be broad and say interactive media has no limits, but a game is a set of circumstances with an objective, constrained by a non-arbitrary ruleset. Otherwise, they are toys, interactive movies, digital dioramas, etc.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

It was like reading a bedtime story to my 5 year old; I was doing voices and stuff.

That was the beauty of text-based, no-VA game stories.
I’m pretty sure your child would not appreciate the narration as much if the game was fully voiced and you had to sit through prerecorded lines. And the dialogues are rarely long in SMRPG, too. I’m replaying the SNES version and some cutscenes were already a bit longer than necessary, and not because of the dialogue but rather the unskippable shenanigans of the characters.