Art and a Good Story > "Gameplay"

[Arsen]

Seriously, people can complain up and down all they want about what they considered to be "good" and passable back then..but I'll take innovation, atmosphere, and art over what most consider gameplay to be any day.

Sega CD:

Star Wars: Rebel Assault - This game was probably one of the most thrilling and cinematic experiences I had as a child. I yearned to buy this for many months until I finally got it. The level where you are given the option to take down a Super Star destroyer with Proton Torpedos...

Sewer Shark - Ghost was the fucking man. Plain and simple. Plus the game had good humor for back in the day.

Rise of the Dragon - One of the best games I've played. Ever.

Jurassic Park - This game scared me so bad when I was a kid. The scene when the Triceratops runs at you after you honk the jeep...nightmares.

Sega Saturn -

Panzer Dragoon - Best soundtrack of all time, brilliant artwork, epic battles, and some of the most beautiful concepts I have ever seen.

Clockwork Knights - Another creative gem people rarely look at. Just plain fun.

PC -

Phantasmagoria...
The Neverhood...
Heretic...
Terminal Velocity
Blood...
SKIFREE was even better than 90% of the shit that is made with graphics and wannabee boss battles these days.

No. I am not going to form a "coherent argument" here. I am simply just going to sit back and allow others to add on to their precious memories of games such as these as well. But I will say this....

We didn't notice all the little technical aspects of gaming back then because we were so drawn into the worlds that took us in. No one gave a damn about "this mechanic" or the fact that it wasn't the most popular game of the month...games were good because they were good.

Shaq-Fu anyone?

 

[Arsen]

I'm sorry I think you got video games mixed up with movies, no worries happens all the time.

They are all a part of the same mix.

...Roland.

 

[Arsen]

No one can tell me Resident Evil ever had a bad story until RE4 came out. I typically agree with Yahtzee here and there, but overall the technical and "logic" behind the science DOES.NOT.MATTER. It's the fantasy of each game that does.

That is one point I am trying to make here. We now give two shits as to how art is in the modern times in relevance to our lives and supposed science behind everything.

 

[PauL o_O]

When I saw this thread, I have to admit I thought you were joking.. Oh my god. This is the one thing that should never really been said. I can't even think of a good comeback to this, because it didn't even make sense.

 

[Arsen]

I'm sorry I think you got video games mixed up with movies, no worries happens all the time.

They are all a part of the same mix.

...Roland.

Halifax, and the point I'm trying to make is that Movies are the medium where you go for atmosphere tone and a good story, and while games can be more fun with that stuff it's the gameplay that's most important to a fun challenging experience.
Edit: Also people are probably warded off from your thread because your title makes you seem like a cock.

Here's another form of what I am saying:

Think of the Soul Calibur command lists.
Think of all the "ways" you can kill people.
Think of the weapons and methods in Bioshock to fight.

Everything these days is about some way, shape, or form of killing your opponent to a cheesy degree that hasn't truly evolved the gaming series as a whole. We left behind awesome atmospheres, artistic notions, and all sorts of great ideas and sacrificed it all for X-Box Live, Halo, or whatever random modern Neo-Contra wannabee game is out there. Seriously...gaming is doomed. I hate to say it but developers have long since catered to the unintelligent crowd and it's getting worse. Look at the banner surrounding this board. Blue sunglasses and a Transformers copy? Give me a break...

 

[BloodSquirrel]

When I saw this thread, I have to admit I thought you were joking.. Oh my god. This is the one thing that should never really been said. I can't even think of a good comeback to this, because it didn't even make sense.

This thread won't end well.

 

[Arsen]

When I saw this thread, I have to admit I thought you were joking.. Oh my god. This is the one thing that should never really been said. I can't even think of a good comeback to this, because it didn't even make sense.

I played Panzer Dragoon for the game, the atmosphere, and the music. I played TFC for gameplay.

I played Resident Evil for the puzzle-solving, rich mansion, music, suspense and all else. I likewise played Mortal Kombat for the gameplay.

What I am saying is that we've sacrificed many, MANY good ideas that were wiped away in the X-Box era essentially. We've put gameplay over giving a shit about the game itself.

 

[Gamer137]

Nothing wrong with art or good story, but game play is what makes or breaks a game. A game can have the best story ever, but if the game play feels so broken and dull that it is almost unplayable, it is still a bad game.

 

[Pimppeter2]

Story always beats gameplay, a good story is needed to draw me in

 

[shaboinkin]

Gameplay should never be sacrificed for story.
I think Assassins Creed had a great story, but after the first few levels, the game sucked to the point where I haven't even bothered to pick the controller back up to finish.

(bash me all you want)
Then there's Halo (first one), trying to stay up all night to beat the game on Legendary Mode was fucking amazing. The game mechanics were on point and presented a very tough challenge but (as most say) the story wasn't that great.

 

[RyQ_TMC]

I don't think we should ever really rank any of those as more or less important than the others... A game with a brilliant gameplay idea will not be considered good if it has completely inadequate graphics. You can have all the polygons you want, but bad voiceovers will turn you off. Finally, you can have graphics to put "Crysis" to shame and sound better than in... Uh, I don't know, "Aliens vs. Predator"?... And bad gameplay will cause you to hurl the disc at the wall after 2 hours. It's the combination of factors, and how they blend in together to create a good experience.

Let me give you an example: "Overlord" (and "Overlord II", playing it right now). The gameplay is based on a very simple formula, but it's enjoyable and varied just enough to not bore you after a while. It's perfectly dressed in cartoonish graphics and well-made, kinda over-the-top voice acting. And this is how it should be. Give the game a "realistic" feeling so many titles go for these days and the great gameplay idea will not save it. Make the gameplay less varied and you'll be bored soon regardless of the good audiovisuals. Give the cartoonish characters "normal" voices and you'd grind your teeth everytime someone speaks.

 

[Lazzi]

No one can tell me Resident Evil ever had a bad story until RE4 came out. I typically agree with Yahtzee here and there, but overall the technical and "logic" behind the science DOES.NOT.MATTER. It's the fantasy of each game that does.

That is one point I am trying to make here. We now give two shits as to how art is in the modern times in relevance to our lives and supposed science behind everything.

Kid, we can see were your going and what you trying to say.

But your whole "I art holyer then thou" tone isnt working out well for you.

 

[Chaosut]

When I saw this thread, I have to admit I thought you were joking.. Oh my god. This is the one thing that should never really been said. I can't even think of a good comeback to this, because it didn't even make sense.

I don't really think this sort of attitude is going to help. Whilst i personally value story, unique characters and immersion slightly more than gameplay, i'm not going to go around trying to convert other people that my preferences are superior. I disagree with the style of this thread even if the OP's intentions were good.

 

[VagrantAntelope]

@Arsen

I agree, although alot of the games you mentioned didn't have terrible gameplay to begin with and were well balanced. I prefer storyline over gameplay, but I'm not going to play the game if gameplay and story don't gel very well.

 

[Jumplion]

Shadow of the Collosus and Psychonauts are perfect examples of this. Face it, SotC and Psychonauts did not have the most prestine gameplay elements in it.

But damnit, if Shadow of the Collosus didn't have such a rich atmosphere, or feel as if it had meaning, or gave off emotion with it, I don't think it would of had the same impact as it did with many other gamers.

And damnit, if Psychonauts wasn't funny, or hilarious, or set in a unique place with a unique twist, it would have been just like any other platform at that time.

you see, I have a personal belief that if a game is trying to do something new, or innovative, or just plain interesting, then I will forgive its shortcomings in the gameplay department (obviously it still needs to be working but I have yet to encounter that problem). Mirror's Edge is a good example of this, it tried to innovate the way we think of gameplay but it was lacklustre in that area. I forgive it mainly because it's rarely, if ever, been done before and maybe the next time will be better. It's just part of gaming evolving.

And I've pointed this game out dozens of times, but Heavy Rain is trying to innovate to an extreme. It's trying to make believable characters, in a believable setting, with a believable story that changes with your choices, it's trying to make you connect with the characters. Furthre more, it's giving you chioces that are not bound to morality, they're just choices! No answer is right or wrong, and each choice has their own impact, and even if one of the characters die it's not game over!

I am willing for that game to be pretty much nothing but Quick Time Events, this is just one of the many ways that games can evolve and maybe someday intergrate gameplay fully with what Heavy Rain is (hopefully and successfully) doing.

 

[Knight Templar]

For the most part I agree. If a game doesn't have a good story or immersion then all I'm doing is pressing buttons, and typing isn't all that fun.

However the game needs to be fun, if its not fun to play then it should be a movie or book, not that that will stop me playing.

But how many people would put down a game with amazing gameplay because of the story? Lets use L4D as an example, most people don't see a story in that game [sup](I dissagree but lets stay on-tpoic)[/sup] but they play it for the gameplay.

It much more common for people to persevere through bad story than bad gameplay.

 

[headshotcatcher]

So you are saying you would play the game Desert Bus if it had an intriguing story?

 

[Ernstige Jan]

This thread is almost identical to the one I made some time ago, and it sums it up better.

Shadow of the Collosus and Psychonauts are perfect examples of this. Face it, SotC and Psychonauts did not have the most prestine gameplay elements in it.

But damnit, if Shadow of the Collosus didn't have such a rich atmosphere, or feel as if it had meaning, or gave off emotion with it, I don't think it would of had the same impact as it did with many other gamers.

And damnit, if Psychonauts wasn't funny, or hilarious, or set in a unique place with a unique twist, it would have been just like any other platform at that time.

And this man speaks the truth like no other!