Story Versus Gameplay

[Strafe Mcgee]

I have a long standing argument with my French flatmate, who believes that Silent Hill 2 is the greatest game ever made. She argues that the most important thing that a game can have is a good story. It doesn't matter if the gameplay isn't particularly engaging or well executed, story is the most important thing.

I completely disagree. Gameplay, for me, always comes first. Story, though important, should always come secondary to how fun a game is to play. Though I believe Half-Life 2 to be the best game ever made (disagree with me at your peril), it's the gameplay and atmosphere that really sell the game to me. I love Ninja Gaiden, which has one of the most incoherent and ridiculous plots in a long time, but the action is just so entertaining, compulsive and tense that I can easily overlook this flaw.

My flatmate can't. What are your views? Is gameplay or story more important in videogames?

 

[Anarchemitis]

Story is important to know why you're doing what you're doing. But if what you're doing is fun enough, you won't give a dang if the game doesn't really have a story. Just look at PacMan!

 

[Lvl 64 Klutz]

A good story can make a bad game playable, or a horrible game an exercise in masochism. How many times have I suffered through an awful game just because the story had me hooked...

In other words, I have to say gameplay is more important, despite always appreciating a great story.

 

[Melaisis]

I can play games like Tetris, Peggle and Desktop Tower Defence for hours upon end. None of these have any real story, but they still remain fun. It just really depends on my mood. Having a proper plot can definitely help improve a proper game, though; totally helps in immersion.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

It depends on your personality, mood and a number of other things. Both are considered an Epic Win in a game. But you don't need both.

Grim Fandango, Sam and Max, Lurking Horror all run with Stupendous Story and nearly no gameplay.

Pacman, Peggle, Paradroid all have Stupendous Gameplay and the flimsiest excuse for Story.

Quake 4 has neither and ends up in PC World's oddment bin for a fiver.

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

This is an impossible debate, one done multiple times with no victor.

This isn't intended to be a contest to decide which is more important, both are important in their own way. I'm just interested to see which matters more to the users on this forum.

 

[Alan Au]

Gameplay and story are on a continuum of interactivity. At best, a story contributes to the interactivity by setting player expectations and establishing context for the player. At worst, it replaces gameplay with narrative, at which point you may as well be watching a video.

Good Story >> No Story >> Bad Story

- Alan

 

[madmurch]

In a GAME, the GAMEplay should come first. The hint is in the name. I must admit that I tend to play games with good stories, as I find more entertainment in well-scripted narrative and witty one-liners than I do in bashing buttons: but if I didn't find Soul Reaver, Final Fantasy and Metal Gear fun to play, what would be the point buying it? I could just watch the cut-scenes on YouTube...

 

[stevesan]

This is an impossible debate, one done multiple times with no victor.

This isn't intended to be a contest to decide which is more important, both are important in their own way. I'm just interested to see which matters more to the users on this forum.

OK, fair enough. So you're really doing a poll of sorts. Fine. I'll reply

I've stopped playing games with a good story because the gameplay was SOOOO broken (Dreamfall). Yet, I've also grinded through games for a great story where the game play was just barely acceptable enough (Xenogears).

If a game has a bad story, I'm OK with that as long as I can skip it. I have stopped playing games because I hated the story and I couldn't skip the cutscenes (Assassin's Creed, although the game play is arguable...I didn't bother finding out - I played a friend's copy). But if a game has a bad story, or no story at all, but has great gameplay, I don't mind at all. Many of my favorite games have no story at all (DOOM).

So in conclusion, for me, both are good when they're good. Sometimes you can have one without the other, as long as the other is not too bad or skippable. But if either are bad enough and unavoidable, it can really ruin a game for me.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

I've had good storylines pull me through bad or mediocre gameplay. (I've publicly put Bioshock in this category before.) I've had bad storylines kick me out of good gameplay. (Dawn of War: Winter Assault most recently.) And I've had great gameplay pull me through bad or mediocre stories. (RezHD, for me.)

I think the common thread is that if one part of the game is done extremely well it can pull people through the rough spots, and if one part of the game is done extremely poorly it can kick people out despite its other merits.

So games should try not to suck.

-- Steve

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

I'm a hardcore Story Nut but I find that the game must be "playable" in order to work, no matter HOW good the story is. I gave up on several "Great Story" games because I just couldn't work through the gameplay, but if the story is Inane/Stupid/Annoying I can't usually get through it.

 

[Monodi]

Whew, this is a though one.

gameplay is obviously one of the vital legs, without it, it becomes a movie. If you are setting story away, I can put the example of WarioWare Smooth Moves, WiiSports, Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones (admit it, the story was kind of lame), Pokemon Red/Blue, Assasin's Creed or even GeometryWars.

Games like Mother3, Final Fantasy VI, Psychonauts and Fire Emblem Blazing Sword require of the story to spice it up in a huge way.

I like a balance of the two, I can't really think of them separate. is like deciding between eating salt or tasteless popcorn.

 

[RazielDethAngel]

Legacy Of Kain

 

[Conqueror Kenny]

to be honest i wont play a game with a bad story, however i also wont play a game with bad gameplay. So to me they are both equaly important.

 

[Evil Genius for a Better Tomorrow]

If a designer can get both gameplay & story right, then you've got an awesome game that you will be playing happily for years to come.

For my money those sort of games are Halo 1 & 2, Halflife series, Baldurs Gate Series, Jagged Alliance II.

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

To make my opinion on the matter clear, I don't give a rats ass about the story as long as it doesn't have an effect on the gameplay. For certain genres it is obviously important, such as RPGs or adventure games. For others, like shmups, action games, platformers or fighting games, it does not.

The best games I find are the ones that do manage to successfully merge the two, such as HL2, but I will not play a game with bad gameplay no matter how good the story is. Ever.

 

[The-Big-D]

has to be a mix of both
if its a good game to play but shit story
its not really something you want to play
also vice versa

games like metal gear have good gameplay that keeps people playing
also good twists and storylines to keep you interested

 

[Akatsuki_slave]

I would choose story over game play. There are plenty of games whose game play I found utterly lacking *cough* Xenosaga II & III *cough* but I liked the story so I kept playing them to see how it would all turn out. If a story is interesting enough I'll play it even if the game play sucks. Not the other way around though. I'm a sucker for a good story, not a sucker for good game play, but it's always nice to find.