Can anything redeem bad gameplay in your eyes?

[Soxafloppin]

I Don't think it can be redeemed but it can ease the pain.

The Humor in the recent Spiderman game is a good example, generally boring gameplay but I laughed now and again.

 

[viking97]

my instinct would be to say yes, but i actually can't think of any time when this has happened. in fact i remember the psychonaughts demo i downloaded, and i couldn't finish it despite loving the atmosphere and the characters. the gameplay was just not something i enjoyed.

so until proven otherwise, no i don't think there is. i didn't beat brutal legend either.

 

[VladG]

Really depends. I found the gameplay in both Mass Effect and Dragon Age to be below average, but the great story and characters made me love and finish the games several times.

I haven't finished any of the Legacy of Kain games despite the interesting story and characters. Gameplay just got too boring and it was just too much annoyance between the good story bits.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Generally speaking: No. I play games for gameplay.

There are a few exceptions of course..
Mystery-Solver games with good characters and writing for example.

(Think: Phoenix Wright, or even Snatcher)

 

[zombieshark6666]

Yes . I point you to LOST ODESSEY.

Gameplay wize it was pretty meh . The story however was incredible . The added short stories were beautifully written and very emotional . The characters were very well done and believable and well rounded ( except for the two children). I really enjoyed the game even though the gameplay was raher dull .

If I had had more time to play it, I would have felt the same. But it was soooooooooooo sloooooooooooow and booooooooooooooring.

And Brutal Legend... as much as I like heavy metal and the artstyle, that game was so awful and terrible to play that I had to stop.

So I guess no, I don't have enough time and there are so many good games out there.

 

[scar_47]

A good story, characters, or world can make a mediocre game more palateable but if the gameplay is really and truly bad then no. The same goes for great gameplay its rarely enough to hold a game together if everything else is crap, if I don't care for the story, characters, or world having even exceptional gameplay isn't going to get me very far. But theres very few games where I've found either the gameplay or story that abhorrent, they can get pretty bad before I'll call a game irradeemable.

 

[Warachia]

Definately, what can really make up for terrible gameplay for me is good story and characters, for example, Black Sigil has a ridiculous amount of gameplay flaws, but I still like it because the characters and story kept me interested enough to see what happens next.

 

[Arkley]

Yeah; Mass Effect.

Hate me all you like for saying it, but the clumsy movement, floaty aiming, inconsistent and awkward cover-taking, dreadful enemy & squad AI, tedious inventory management, horrendous vehicle sections, indiscernible improvements upon level-up*, and having to pause the game every 3 seconds in a fight to make use of powers made for a game that was just bad.

But by god if it didn't also have a killer soundtrack, great story, some awesome characters & themes, and a universe so deep and well crafted that, terrible gameplay be damned, I lost myself in it anyway. I bought ME2 on launch day and I've pre-ordered ME3's collector's edition, so I can say with certainty that games with tremendous gameplay flaws can certainly overcome them with other virtues.



*This one's more of a personal preference. The difference between being level 10 and level 11 is unnoticeable, and the difference between being level 10 and level 15 is only noticeable if you dumped all of your points in one category. I prefer the less deep but instantly rewarding Borderlands style level-up system, where you can immediately notice and feel the improvement after you jump a level. I realize not everyone shares my preference here.

 

[Excludos]

Of course. Lots of games have horrible gameplay up to the point of not having any at all. But then again, a book doesn't have any gameplay either. As long as the story is good enough, you can get through a somewhat lacking gameplay. Frustrating gameplay, however, is inexcusable and ruins absolutely everything.

 

[PureIrony]

A good story and characters and/or an interesting world.

For instance, I've sunk more hours into Vampire: The Masquerade-Bloodlines than I have in a long time, simply because the characters and world of that game have such a rich feel to them. It just makes everything so much more engaging, despite the unbalanced, often clunky combat and the game sporting the worst textures that I've ever seen.

 

[The_Blue_Rider]

Depends what you mean by "redeem".

If the story or worldbuilding or characters are done well, I might respect it for that and not judge it too harshly...but not actually play it.

By redeem I mean, make it worth playing through, and even maybe enough for a second playthrough (maybe). Brutal Legend was redeemed for me because other than somewhat lackluster gameplay and a bullcrap RTS mode, it was an amazing experience, based on one of my favourite genres of music.

 

[everythingbeeps]

Eat Lead is actually a good example. I was also going to mention Deadly Premonition.

Both games have pretty bad gameplay, but both games make up for it in other ways, either with story or characters or humor. It doesn't make them good, but it can make them tolerable. In other words, you're willing to endure the bad gameplay in order to see the other things the game has to offer that it does well.

 

[masticina]

I have WATCHED a view gameplays of games I really not going to play.

The story in those games pretty good.. to bad the gameplay sucked. I wanted to see where the story goes so I just visited youtube for my fix

 

[Fishyash]

Depends how much it matters to you.

Some people enjoy planescape:torment because they can look beyond the less-than-stellar gameplay for the enjoyable story, while some cannot get past the way the game plays out.

EDIT: Forgot to expand. That is the only game where if it wasn't for the story I would not play the game.

 

[Stravant]

No, I don't think so.

If a game has terrible gameplay, I don't think it's worth playing.

If it has good music, nice environments, something like that, you can always good look at them or listen to it on the internet.

 

[Jfswift]

I recently acquired that combo disk with shadow of the colossos and ico for ps3. So far I've only played shadow of the colossos and I really like it although the controls clunky to me. To answer the question though, the amazingly detailed world and game are interesting enough that they make up for bad controls.

 

[ComradeJim270]

Bad gameplay is bad gameplay. It can't be redeemed. But for me, a good, engaging story can keep me distracted from bad gameplay. A really good story can engage me to the point where I don't even notice some bad gameplay until I've already finished the game.

 

[Suman1991]

yeah
boobs