Games don't need stories but if you aren't doing something that's fun, interesting or original with your gameplay you better be making up for it with your writing.
Do games, NEED story?
- Thread starter Erttheking
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Lies!Aerosteam 1908 said:
OT: Some game do need story. Back in the old days, it's either you had a good story with shitty gameplay or vice-versa.
Games don't necessarily need stories but often it will help a game along vastly; potentially making or breaking it. The real issue is how the story is told, how the world is conveyed, how well it fits into the game. For example, Bioshock. It's an excellent story that unfolds and messes with your head, but the real reason (for me and many others I've spoken to) it stands out is because of the world of Rapture, its history, and how you uncover that throughout the course of the game. It fits together really nicely and never really tries to shoehorn in things that are unnecessary. Even if a game had an amazing story it might not work all that well if it was told in an awkward way.
Other than puzzle,sport,rythme games , yes they need a story . Even if it's a small one . Even if the story is optional . Games NEED a story . We need to know , who this guy is , why is he doing what he is doing and what he is trying to accomplish . To at the very least put us in some sort of context .
But what's my MOTIVATION for using that pixel bar to hit the dot into the other pixel block's opening? See, games like Pong, Tetris, Asteroid, and etcetera, really only interested me as a child, when I didn't care very much about stories and just wanted to do... something (I lived in a very boring area at the time). Thankfully, those games ushered me into blossomed version of gaming, where suddenly there were graphics to admire, characters to love, arcing plots motivating me to find out what happens next, and all the while using GAMEPLAY as the ultimate driving tool - bridging the gaps between these things. The gameplay, for me, has always just been the threads that held the music, story, animation, models, puzzles, action and foley art in a carefully crafted web of ecstasy.
Now, that's not to say that games which offer excellent mechanics with a sub-par story (or lack thereof) completely turn me off; Pokemon Blue, Terraria, League of Legends, Portal... I enjoyed all these games, even with the much-to-be-desired narrative (or lack thereof). Then again, I enjoyed Portal 2 much more, simply because it had a story with some real depth.
I'll place story above all in any medium, though. You know those movies that people go see only because they KNOW the story is going to be stupid, or they only go to see action and boobs? I HAAATE those movies. Books that are so hilariously BAD that you just have to read them? Sorry, but you will NEVER catch me reading Fifty Shades of Grey.
TL;DR: stories are vital, but not ALWAYS necessary, if the mechanics are good enough.
Now, that's not to say that games which offer excellent mechanics with a sub-par story (or lack thereof) completely turn me off; Pokemon Blue, Terraria, League of Legends, Portal... I enjoyed all these games, even with the much-to-be-desired narrative (or lack thereof). Then again, I enjoyed Portal 2 much more, simply because it had a story with some real depth.
I'll place story above all in any medium, though. You know those movies that people go see only because they KNOW the story is going to be stupid, or they only go to see action and boobs? I HAAATE those movies. Books that are so hilariously BAD that you just have to read them? Sorry, but you will NEVER catch me reading Fifty Shades of Grey.
TL;DR: stories are vital, but not ALWAYS necessary, if the mechanics are good enough.
Soccer? You call yourself a NERD!? The Geek Council CLEARLY declared in 1977 that the outside world was bad and you should, in fact, feel bad. I'm revoking your membership card, "Mister Beckham"! Let's see how much you enjoy soccer when you can no longer hear the desperate hate-mongering of Fox News, or the gentle comedy of Yahtzee Croshaw!sethisjimmy said:
Do movies NEED anything but special effects?
Do magazines NEED anything but thinly-veiled advertisements?
...
Do forum posts NEED intelligence?
I'm poking fun, obviously, but I do so because it's a silly question. There have been games without story, obviously, old games with old mechanics and old cartridges or 20 diskettes. These days though, a game without story is thrown right into one basket: Casual Game.
What is the purpose of a game... or a book... or a movie... or a play... or a forum post? I mean ones not made by EA. Yes, games need a story, even a story as told by the game mechanic.
Side-note: Have you played the new ME3 Forum Post? EA should release some DLC to fix it's ending.
Do magazines NEED anything but thinly-veiled advertisements?
...
Do forum posts NEED intelligence?
I'm poking fun, obviously, but I do so because it's a silly question. There have been games without story, obviously, old games with old mechanics and old cartridges or 20 diskettes. These days though, a game without story is thrown right into one basket: Casual Game.
What is the purpose of a game... or a book... or a movie... or a play... or a forum post? I mean ones not made by EA. Yes, games need a story, even a story as told by the game mechanic.
Side-note: Have you played the new ME3 Forum Post? EA should release some DLC to fix it's ending.
As others have said it depends on the game. Story, atleast how Max Pain 3 does it can really get in the way of the gameplay if it's too heavy and destroys the pacing. Even worse it destroys the replayability as those frequent cutscenes start to really get annoying when you've seen it for the 10th time even if skippable.
The main reason Dark Souls is so replayable is because it rarly stops the gameplay to advance the plot / lore or to hold the players hand with tutorials. That and the oldschool difficulty would have me snapping my pad in half.
Generally I don't replay movie like games except once in a blue moon, the same as I'ld watch a favorite movie every couple of years. And the really long games like RPGs i'll never play again.
The main reason Dark Souls is so replayable is because it rarly stops the gameplay to advance the plot / lore or to hold the players hand with tutorials. That and the oldschool difficulty would have me snapping my pad in half.
Generally I don't replay movie like games except once in a blue moon, the same as I'ld watch a favorite movie every couple of years. And the really long games like RPGs i'll never play again.
Games don't NEED stories. Counter Strike, as far as I know, had zero story but people played the living daylights out of it. As far as I know, all the previous Battlefield games were straight up multiplayer until Battlefield 3.
However, games need story if I'm going to play them. I get bored with games that have no story really fast.
However, games need story if I'm going to play them. I get bored with games that have no story really fast.
I don't think games need story. I can think of several games where story is terrible and totally unnecessary, as a game can be fun even if the story is terrible. I'm playing Just Cause 2 right now... fun as all get out, but terrible and totally forgeable story. One of my favorite series is the Tecmo's Deception series... and they all have really weak stories that don't stop the game from being fun.
But the opposite is just as true. Did anyone LOOOVVVEEE Silent Hill 2 for the fighting and gameplay? Or was it a well told narrative that drew you in (if like me you liked Silent Hill 2.) And when a game tells a decent story and is balls to the wall fun to play...
Well it doesn't happen often, but when it does it marks a game as something really special.
An example, I'm a big fan of spacesim combat (or was until the entire genre went on-rails and then died all together.) I played the lot, and loved them all. But the ones I remember the most... X-Wing, TIE-Fighter, and Wing Commander 3. Why, because those had the best stories. X-Wing and Tie-Fighter's hint books were written as Star Wars EU stories and really not only helped you thru the games, but really enhanced the game as well. And Wing Commander 3 (in my opinion) had the best spacesim story ever. There was a later made X-Wing game (actual spacesim and not the Rogue rail-shooters) but I can't recall the name of it. The story wasn't as good, so it's not as memorable. There were several other Wing Commander games and expansions after 3, but the third is the one that stands out.
Story isn't necessary for a game to be fun to play. But a good story can make a bad game amazing and a good game something really special. And a bad story... can easily be ignored. Games don't NEED a story, but a good narrative CAN help and if you screw it up and have a bad story... it doesn't hurt you much.
But the opposite is just as true. Did anyone LOOOVVVEEE Silent Hill 2 for the fighting and gameplay? Or was it a well told narrative that drew you in (if like me you liked Silent Hill 2.) And when a game tells a decent story and is balls to the wall fun to play...
Well it doesn't happen often, but when it does it marks a game as something really special.
An example, I'm a big fan of spacesim combat (or was until the entire genre went on-rails and then died all together.) I played the lot, and loved them all. But the ones I remember the most... X-Wing, TIE-Fighter, and Wing Commander 3. Why, because those had the best stories. X-Wing and Tie-Fighter's hint books were written as Star Wars EU stories and really not only helped you thru the games, but really enhanced the game as well. And Wing Commander 3 (in my opinion) had the best spacesim story ever. There was a later made X-Wing game (actual spacesim and not the Rogue rail-shooters) but I can't recall the name of it. The story wasn't as good, so it's not as memorable. There were several other Wing Commander games and expansions after 3, but the third is the one that stands out.
Story isn't necessary for a game to be fun to play. But a good story can make a bad game amazing and a good game something really special. And a bad story... can easily be ignored. Games don't NEED a story, but a good narrative CAN help and if you screw it up and have a bad story... it doesn't hurt you much.
Did Battleship need a story? No. Did it get one? Yes.
It really all depends on the game and what it sets out to be.
Minecraft commands the player to be creative and make their own adventure: you're thrust into a world and have fun.
CoD wants the player to be a badass and blow things up, but the game is also about some slight political intrigue in order for a modern military: therefore, slight plot. Multiplayer is like the Minecraft, however: you're thrust into a map and start shooting, boy.
Fallout deigns the player to their own experience, yet still have a basic outline of their destiny to achieve the situation given: main story with a bunch of extras that give a feeling of forging a character.
Bastion aims to meld the player with the story itself: the game is a story as much as it is a game.
And for each of these purposes, they are achieved well and players can have meaningful input with them. What they take away is what matters from the game, as the player does what the game allows them, whether it be propelled by a plot or no.
Summary: Depends on the game.
It really all depends on the game and what it sets out to be.
Minecraft commands the player to be creative and make their own adventure: you're thrust into a world and have fun.
CoD wants the player to be a badass and blow things up, but the game is also about some slight political intrigue in order for a modern military: therefore, slight plot. Multiplayer is like the Minecraft, however: you're thrust into a map and start shooting, boy.
Fallout deigns the player to their own experience, yet still have a basic outline of their destiny to achieve the situation given: main story with a bunch of extras that give a feeling of forging a character.
Bastion aims to meld the player with the story itself: the game is a story as much as it is a game.
And for each of these purposes, they are achieved well and players can have meaningful input with them. What they take away is what matters from the game, as the player does what the game allows them, whether it be propelled by a plot or no.
Summary: Depends on the game.
it depends on the game and where the focus of it lies, simple games like pong, tetris etc. don't need a story because there is nothing relatable in them, they are not something the player can affiliate themselves with or sympathise with (no characters to relate to), but something like Dragon Age, Final Fantasy, inFAMOUS, Mass Effect, Tomb Raider etc. need a story otherwise it's got nothing to hold it up.
Simple answer (my opinion):erttheking said:
How important a story is to a game should be determined by the game itself. A cheap answer, to say the least, but true all the same. Racing games like Forza Motersports, dont need extensive stories, Sports games dont need stories, a fair number of puzzle games dont have elaborate stories.
The story is needed to create the motivation to play the game, some games require more of it than others.
Actually he said it better than myself.GTwander said:
It varies game by game. Some games, mainly RPG games but examples can be found from all genres, need a good story in order to make the game worth while. I mean, look at ME3, some people are convinced that it's the worst game since Superman 64 just because of the abyssal ending to the story (although to be entirely fair, I thought ME3's ending was fine, and as for the complaint that your choices didn't really impact the ending, well the truth is that none of your choices in ME1 or 2 really had a significant impact on the galaxy either). Other games work well with minimal stories. Mario has to go save Peach from Bowser, Banjo has to go save his sister, and many other games don't need an in depth story or a ton of writing to be good. And then you get games like SimCity, Civilization and Tetris which have no story at all, and are probably better because of it. So yes, games don't need a good story to be good, they don't even need a story at all. However, for a lot of games will suffer without a story to keep us engaged.