Can anything redeem bad gameplay in your eyes?

[davros3000]

dull gameplay can be saved by an involving story and good characters.

Generally, though, no.

Nothing can make up for duff, unintuitive, poorly thought through controls and game mechanics. The rest is just window dressing.

 

[Varanfan9]

Yes. Is it fun? I've played games before where the game play mechanics were bad but actually playing them was fun. These are games like Dynasty Warriors or Earth Defense Force. They both have simplified and repetitive game play mechanics but by god there is nothing greater than charging into a close group of soldiers and slicing them up in Dynasty Warriors or firing high amounts of ammo and explosives into an army of approaching giant ants and seeing them explode in blood in Earth Defense Force.

 

[JemothSkarii]

Yes: Agarest. I'm not a stranger to the gameplay; played and finished the Disgaea games, Final Fantasy Tactics games, and Soul Nomad. Yet I can only play this game in 30 minute allotments because there's something about the combat. But the story and characters keep dragging me back.

 

[Something Amyss]

Well in Eat Lead its essentially a a cover based shooter that utilizes quick time events (Quite badly if i might add). Imagine Gears of War or Mass Effect 2 but it feels like you're playing as a block of wood. Its functional, but its just incredibly dull and boring

Well, again, it depends. Assassin's Creed 1 was kind of clunky, but the story kept me going. As a Parkour/platformer, it just wasn't all that good. Would I have played it for some "funny one-linerS?" Nah.

 

[Suman1991]

ALL OF YOU ARE WRONG
THE ANSWER IS TITS

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Since I pretty much play games for the gameplay, nope if a game bores me I stop playing it. Strangely DA2 managed to keep me hoping for a plot twist OR SOMETHING but no. I will probably never play that game again now.

I agree with what people are saying about Mass Effect, the gameplay really isn't that amazing. I wouldn't say it was bad to the point of being unplayable or boring though, just mediocre.

 

[A Raging Emo]

Story and characters can. I often find if you're drawn in by an engaging story, you'll forget about bad or awkward gameplay elements.

 

[hoboman29]

No for the simple reason that a game should have good gameplay other wise it could just be part of another medium. There are some cases where bad gameplay can be excused but if its so bad it needs saving then it isn't worth my time.

 

[skywolfblue]

Sort of. For example:

Mass Effect 1: Even though the combat, the broken cover system, and inventory were pretty much the worst things of all time, the story was good enough to make it a "overall meh with some good moments" game in my eyes.

Skyrim: Let's face it, skyrim's combat is DULLLLL, push left and right triggers repeatedly to win. But the world and environments make it a good game.

Dragon Age: Origins: Melee combat was horrid, collision mechanics were rather clunky so you'd always be bumping into the other guy but then get pushed out of range before you could swing your sword. (Mage combat was fine though) Again in this case the story and the world make it absolutely more then worth sitting through a few moments of annoying combat.

 

[Lancer873]

I don't think "redeem" is the right word in my case. Certainly not redeem. But there are certainly ways to make me respect or even enjoy a game if the gameplay isn't great. If the concept for the gameplay is good, for example, I'll tolerate a certain amount of poor execution. Humor will definitely let me enjoy a game. Deathspank was... well it certainly wasn't bad but the gameplay was kind of mediocre, but the humor was great and I kept playing to see that humor go on. If you have downright terrible gameplay though, you'd better have me absolutely enthralled by the story or the graphics (and I don't mean "WOA that brown bullet-riddled brown brick brownhouse looks SO REEL") if you want me to finish your game. This is why I'm not a big fan of JRPGs, because I just don't find turn-based combat very fun, yet I adored Skyrim due to that tiny bit of skill mixed in with the fine planning.

Gameplay has always been what makes or breaks the game though. If there's a cruddy game that's hilarious, I will not view it as "good" though I may view it as "funny."

 

[AwkwardTurtle]

Snip

Aw, I like turn-based gameplay. xP I've only just started playing it recently, glad to know the story gets a thumbs up from you. :3 Also yes, the short stories were like a train out of nowhere rocket launched at my face in terms of how well written and emotional they were.

I unlocked and the first dream and was like, "Oh what's this? A dream you say? I want to see what this entails. :O ...Just text? Hmm this is weird. Well I might as well read it I guess... *finishes story* Oh my god that was so touching and sad. T^T"

Off the top of my head I don't think anything can get me to continue playing a game once I've decided that the gameplay is bad. The best comparison I can think of is to me, a game having bad gameplay is like a book having pages so fragile I have to very slowly and painfully turn each page. Yeah, a fantastic story might lie beneath, but the experience of trying to enjoy that story is so difficult that it just isn't worth the effort. x3

 

[Joby Baumann]

It depends,
Divinity 2 comes to mind, the gameplay is a bit annoying, and the game needs some serious polish, but at the same time, it doesn't take itself seriously,and it manages to be great fun at times

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

depending on what type of gameplay it is, gameplay usually falls below story/character/how the narrative is driven for me, i can enjoy just about damn near anything if it has any of the three combinations from above.

 

[-Dragmire-]

I play through many games with minimal gameplay like grinding basic turn based combat but if the game has a good strong character focus with an interesting arc, it'll definitely make up for lackluster gameplay. Stories are mostly cliches at this point so it's the characters that need to carry the weight in rpg's. Naturally, bad gameplay in a puzzle game doesn't have much that can redeem it, though there's probably exceptions that I'm unaware of.


... Unlimited Saga doesn't count, no amount of character development can make up for the gameplay flaws and design choices in that game.

 

[theultimateend]

Cuteness.

I hate playing angry birds but I still play it to see those short clips they add.

I also realize I could just go on youtube. /shrug

 

[Dfskelleton]

This is a good opportunity for me to bring up a game that I think falls right into what you are saying, a game which I will openly admit to being somewhat of a fanboy of: Deadly Premonition.
You see, Deadly Premonition's gameplay is akin to Resident Evil 4 shoved through a wood chipper. Aiming is slow, some maneuvers can be difficult to pull off, vehicles are a pain to drive, and York always does a little bit more or a little bit less than you want him to. If the game was really about the gameplay, I wouldn't like it.
There's a difference between a game that has bad gameplay and a game that has bad gameplay that isn't focused on gameplay. Hard Reset, for example, can be a real pain in the ass. It's gameplay centered, but the gameplay can be extremely frustrating. Your firing modes only switch when you don't want them to, and enemies are always placed in the most counter intuitive places, and it goes from being a challenge to being an exercise in smashing your head against the keyboard. Now, Deadly Premonition also has pretty frustrating gameplay, but it doesn't matter since it's about the story.
Deadly Premonition is filled with loveable, fun, colorful characters and a rich, deep, and interesting story. The thing that keeps you enduring the hordes of copypasted enemies and clunky movement is the hope for more of York's quirky dialogue, which is something the game is keen on delivering. Since the game lacks any form of fast travel, you can mentally go over clues and suspects while you drive your horribly controlled car.
TL;DR: If the game isn't focused on gameplay and the gameplay is bad, then the other qualities redeem it (if they're good)

 

[nklshaz]

Good story and characters, or an interesting world. For example, I just beat Metal Gear Solid 2. The gameplay wasn't really that bad, but my stealthy maneuvers got fucked around with a few times by the awkward camera angle shifts, and control input delays. But the story was interesting enough for me to keep going. I am now playing Metal Gear Solid 3, and I'm happy to say that I'm interested in the story, the characters, and the gameplay is far improved from MGS2 (Mostly because of MGS3's fully controllable camera)

 

[McNoobin]

For me, yes. There's only two things that can: Stunningly fantastic and attractive scenery / artwork, and/or an amazing and epic soundtrack. I can't ever recall playing through a terrible game because of an enthralling story though. Usually I get sick of it too fast to really get hooked to it. But when there's a game with fun gameplay AND one or both of those attributes? I enjoy it very much.

 

[Cazza]

A good strong story. Games like dreamfall fit into that.