Games where you enjoyed the story more than the gameplay

[Olas]

Mass Effect 1 is probably the best case for Hepler mode I've ever played.

 

[Tartarga]

The .Hack games, all of them really. The gameplay pretty much boils down to press X until everything dies but that story is damn good. Specifically the plot twist in the second G.U. game, it's been out for a few years now but it still has me amazed.

 

[Mikeyfell]

All of them?
In my experience games that are so creatively dead that they can't come up with an engaging story usually have remarkably dumb gameplay. (See any triple A shooter that has come out in history)

A much shorter list would be games where the gameplay outshines the story.
I can think of 4
Burnout 3
Mirror's Edge
Soul Calibur 2
Rock Band 2

Spoiler: A few good examples of story better than gameplay

Record of Agarest War
Dragon Age Origins
Mass Effect 1
Mass Effect 2
Tales of Vesperia
Resident evil 4
Resident evil 5
Dragon Age 2
any incarnation of Final Fantasy

The other games I can come up with off the top of my head (that are worth playing) are some degree of

Spoiler: Gesamtkunstwerk

so trying to judge the story and gameplay separately is a fools errand.

Edit Oh, bollocks, I forgot to say Minecraft.
so MINECRAFT!

 

[Euhan01]

Seriusly surprised we've got this far without somebody mentioning Ace Attorney series. Gameplay is.....meh at best but the story is just incredible for any medium. Also the Ghost Trick Phantom Dective game, same lead producer (or some title like that) better gameplay (still only average) and great story, some very nice twists in both games.

 

[Chunga the Great]

Mass Effect 1. The story was quite good, but pretty much the entire "game" part of that game was absolutely awful.

EDIT: God damn ninjas, stealing my post.

 

[GameChanger]

The Myst series. Cause it didn't really have gameplay...

LOL Well, puzzles = gameplay IMO. and it certainly presented the story differently than most games in the environment rather than in words or VO mostly. But the visuals and exploration and intrigue was just so compelling. The puzzles are still some of the tightest in adventure games though.

For the most part I'll agree with you on that anyway

I have very fond memories of those games. I remember watching off in the distance to spot lightning-storms on Amateria in Exile, marveling at some of the structures in Riven, being completely immersed in the lonely atmosphere of Teledahn in Uru. So if that's considered 'gameplay', maybe my post doesn't count.

Needless to say, Myst V was a bitter disappointment to me. It felt so empty...


I need to re-install Riven...

 

[miketehmage]

It's been said already in this thread but, Dragon Age Origins.

I didn't like the gameplay at all really (by that I mean combat and exploration. I consider talking to NPC's to be story.)

But I found the story interesting and I loved the characters so I played it to the end.

 

[dpixie]

FF12 I loved the story, granted I had to go look it up on youtube after I gave up on the game for being an unforgivable grind-fest. Don't get me wrong, I know a certain amount of grinding is required in any FF game but 12 just took the piss and all the fun of the game with it.

 

[Richardplex]

Bastion, Fate/Stay Night and every visual novel, every bioware game, and...

Actually, to save time, almost every game with decent stories/characterisations. I play for context, story and characters, not gameplay. Gameplay is a means to an end for the most part for me.