Are story, plot and character necessary to make a good video game?

[Witney]

I've watched a few videos on The Escapist by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, and he seems especially focused on what a game's story is, and the disposition of the characters. A video game-loving friend of mine feels the same way, and argues that games are artistic and emotionally edifying because of their stories and characters.

I've always felt that video games are more of a purely technical, problem-solving exercise, with stories thrown in for the sake of some bonus amusement; "Narratives" serve as distractions to the pure gameplay, and "characters" only have the personality of whoever is controlling them.

I thought I'd weigh in on an online forum inhabited by video game lovers of all ages and stripes: How valuable is a story to a video game? Are they integral or extraneous? Regardless of how much you may like a story or a character in a game, are they the one thing that makes the game worthwhile?

 

[Clockwork Scarecrow.]

I think it's essential in some cases, while not as much in others. Quake, for example, has a narrative, it's just left out.

Narratives are great, they make you more invested in a game and make you want to know what happens next. Games without a narrative are just for fun.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Well no, I suppose not. After all look at Pac-Man, the story, plot, and character are practically non-existent. You're a little yellow ball that devours dots for some unknown reason and is haunted by colour coded ghosts, again for some unknown reason. And yet people love that game to this day. However having a good story, plot, and characterization can certainly add to the gaming experience.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

A game does not need a story for the purposes of fun nor artistic merit.

 

[dyre]

Depends on the game, I guess. I enjoy a good game of Tetris from time to time, and there's not a whole lot of story involved in that (though if someone managed to put some kind of epic storyline in a Tetris game, I'd be all for that)

Games with role playing elements obviously need good storytelling/characters/etc

For some other genres, like shooters or puzzle-based indie games or w/e, it's often the story that separates it from the rest of its kind, since gameplay is generally pretty similar within the genre

 

[Heart of Darkness]

Not really, no. What sets games apart from other forms of media is how they allow the audience to interact with the program, and makes changes to it based on user input. Things like story, characterization, plot, sound, and graphics are all dressing. This isn't true for all genres, of course, but it is fully possible to make a good video game without a story, a plot, or good characters. Pong is a good example here.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

Nowadays? Yes. Keep in mind that I mainly play RPGs. If a game doesn't have good characters or a good story then I can't motivate myself to play it.

 

[barbzilla]

Being an old school gamer, I can honestly say that story is not integral to a video game. I do believe that story has made games better, but I remember playing countless games with no purpose other than to beat my buddy, beat the computer, beat myself (my score, not an attempt to wank off). I do wish that the developers would take the time to really flesh out their stories though. There is no reason to have half arsed stories shoved in a game for no other reason than to say it has a story. If you can't write a story, let the set pieces tell their own story and allow the players imagination to take over.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Nope.

*goes back to playing Pokemon*

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

"story, plot and character [is] necessary to make a good video game" ABOUT story, plot and character. Games like Fallout and Mass Effect and Elder Scrolls.

There's nothing wrong with pure mechanical fun such as CoD. In fact it's BAD for these games to be too weighed down too much by plot (Bulletstorm's story was "HERP REVENGE DERP!"; it didn't need such long-ass cutscenes, imo)

But games can be many different things, and if you disagree with that, you are closed-minded and/or hate gaming.

 

[Rayne870]

Not really no. Games like Bloons, Tetris and such do not need a plot and are very awesome.

However, if one wants more depth in story strong development of the plot and characters is very much needed and weaknesses will be easy to spot if the game under develops either one and doesn't have the writing quality or execution to back it up. However Something like WoW can have a really great story but it can be totally ignored and one can still enjoy the game-play elements, or at least think they are and just be addicted to picking up higher stat loot.

I need good story telling in an RPG since that's what they are about. I don't need it in a shooter if it has good enough game-play. I really have never seen a story based racer, nor would I need one.

 

[The Night Shade]

No,the plot and characters don't make a good game they make good stories to keep you inmersed in the game.
But some games don't need all that to be good

 

[DazZ.]

No.

Not at all. Never have, never will.

 

[Mar451]

All games are different. You do not watch a horror movie for the romance. All games are different, you play games from Team Ico and Bioware for the story and games from Valve and Bungie for the multiplayer(mostly).

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

I guess you haven't played Mario or Tetris then.

No.

Not at all never have, never will.

This.

 

[(sic) humor]

Some genres don't lend themselves to all that plot nonsense. Tetris was just fine without my concern for L-block's tangled romantic life.

But for RPG's on which you control an actual character...yeah, it would be nice to feel some connection to him and have a reason to root for him. It would make the danger feel all the more urgent and take away any perverse satisfaction I'd get from playing badly just to punish the sod.

Edit: Damn, I love how Tetris is everyone's example of a good game with no plot or characters.

 

[Hungry Donner]

It's difficult to have a game with depth and still leave characters and story on the wayside. However atmosphere and setting can be just as important and there's no reason a game could focus on these elements of depth instead.

Some games survive largely on gameplay lone, especially when multiplayer is the focus, and these can still be enjoyable and complex gaming experiences even if the characters, story, and setting are tacked on to give the DM arenas some context. Some actual character and story are unlikely to hurt however.

I myself prefer RPGs so character, story, setting, and atmosphere are important game elements for me - but there are plenty of good games out there that not rely heavily on these.

 

[Heathrow]

You might be able to make a good game without narrative or character, but you will never make a great game.

 

[Nmil-ek]

No all the story, narrative and development in the world wont helo you if your gameplays shit on toast it sure as hell helps though.

 

[JustOrdinary]

If you view good games as amusing diversions at best, then yes, you don't need a story to make a good video game. Stories/narratives aren't integral to gameplay, but they do add an extra layer of depth to the characters involved, enriching the experiences of the game as a whole, all the while subtly adding to the framework of a believable, self-contained reality in itself.

However, I do think it's a wrong approach to consider video games as vehicles for interactive story telling, because then people often mistake them to be the next best thing to 'movies'. Adding an endless amount of cutscenes to your game is akin to divorcing the narrative from the gameplay. It's a classic case of bad design, which judging from your post, is your main gripe with games these days.


So yes, you are technically correct. You don't need any of those things to make a good video game. But the gaming industry has finally started to mature in terms of design, and story is just one of many prevailing elements of design that people simply expect every AAA game to be provided. If you strip a game down to only its core mechanics, it's going to need to be god damn stellar to avoid being shunned for the amusing diversion it is.