Graphics versus story versus gameplay?

Axleuk

Axleuk

Axleuk

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I'll admit right off the bat..i'm a graphics whore. There are times when I'm happy to get into a crappy game if the graphics are visually pleasing. Yet, I sometimes struggle to get into a game where the graphics are less that great.

I also struggle to play games that are more than a few years old (unless they were groundbreaking on release and still hold up to some of the more recent releases). I don't know why but it might be the realism/immersiveness I enjoy or perhaps that I have been so spoilt with new technology that old school looks 'too' naff.

What about you folks?
 
Story ≥ Gameplay > Graphics.

If it has the first two you shouldn't notice the third due to being engrossed in the game.

One of the reasons I don't play multi-player FPS anymore, they don't have either of the first two (imo).
 
Story/Gameplay > Art direction > > > Graphics every time for me.

It's generally story at #1, the games I really sink hours into are the ones that hook me in with a great plot. I don't think there's ever been a game that carried itself on just looking pretty for me, I do like a game with great style though.
 
It depends on the game type but generally Gameplay > Story > Graphics.

I can struggle with some of the old classics but it is not the graphics it is a clunky feel, i.e. there is a kind of delay.

I quite like a good story, but these are getting rare in games now, some RPGs do a good job but it is a struggle to get a good storey outside an RPG these days.

Graphics is the least important but good graphics can elevate a game. BF3 multiplayer and the Witcher 2 have probably had the best graphics I have seen recently and they really push the games to that next level! If the gameplay was crap i would not play them, fortunately they are good games.

I was thinking about mentioning Batman Arkham Asylum as having a good story... but thinking about it, it does not. In that game it is the production quality that really elevates the game!
 
I'm a bit of a graphics whore my self, but I still enjoy oldish games like populous3 and halflife. though at the moment i'm only playing Skyrim, 71 hours in so far :)
 
tibbsey said:
Story ≥ Gameplay > Graphics.

If it has the first two you shouldn't notice the third due to being engrossed in the game.

One of the reasons I don't play multi-player FPS anymore, they don't have either of the first two (imo).
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I literally sold my XBox after I spent too much time on Black-ops that I ignored everything else. It was mind numbing and for the most case everything became instinctive that I no longer had to think. I was my 6th XBox (I get bored quite easily).

The PC market has more to offer me both in term of graphics and selection.
 
Lycosa said:
I'm a bit of a graphics whore my self, but I still enjoy oldish games like populous3 and halflife. though at the moment i'm only playing Skyrim, 71 hours in so far :)
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I'm about 65 hours in. Really enjoying it. Even though the graphics were good out of the box I have my game modded to improve everything that Bethesda seemed to miss out. Shame it is plagued with a few issues atm but the sheer beauty, scale and immersiveness means it's a winner.
 
When I look back at all the classic games I've played in my lifetimes the ones that have always stuck in my mind are the ones that had truly mind blowing plots.

My favorite example would be the Legacy of Kain series, particularly Soul Reaver 2. The graphics were never mind blowing but the premise of the game and the sheer intricacy of the plot even to this day has me enthralled.
 
i just bought and am replaying ff7 on ps store.

I havent even noticed the graphics are dated?

When you are engorssed in something you can forget

Its like my mate says he can coem to my house and play bf3 on pc and it looks great but when he goes home and is playing on ps3 he doesnt notice it looks any worse because hes enjoying the game etc...

Its like I was stuk in some old house with a ps2 and played san andreas on a crt and enjoyed the game at 1st I was like this looks crap but once your enjoying the story and gameplay you foget the gfx.

Then I can go home and play gta at higher res, huge draw distance etc..etc..HD mods on PC and im like WOW!!! this is amazing but once you are playing the game u kinda forget.

I think its liek a hot women.

At 1st all you see is the beauty and you are liek wow!!!! but then later on when you have been with the hot women for a long time (like I always am :) ) you forget how hot she is but are just enjoying or not enjoying her stories lol
 
I agree with what everyone is saying about Graphics being less important than story and gameplay, but it is not unimportant by any means. Great graphics can help you become more immersed in the story/world which is a very important part of the game.

For modern games i am finding that graphics are becoming more important to me as there have been games which have all three to a high level and naturally i expect it from most (big budget) games now.

However, i can put up with terrible graphics for a good story, but there are very few around unfortunately.

So i would say:

Immersion > Story > gameplay > graphics
 
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graphics are low priority to me, storyline and gameplay are both equal too but dont need to both be present in a game to be enjoyable.
Having decent graphics is just a bonus really
 
IN saying this though.

I have tried bf3 at low resolution and low detail to get high fps and man it was horrid. the graphics look so bad, blocky and undetailed I didnt want to play.

I increase to 1080p med/high details and maybe only get 30fps but I want to play the game.

SO graphics do matter a lot.
 
I like a balance of everything really, I think of all the three a good story can make up for deficiencies in other areas, take something like Farenheit the gameplay in that is really basic stuff, simon says material but (until the end) it has a good story that kept me hooked, in some ways it was like an interactive movie.

As mentioned immersion can be another factor, I always felt Call of Duty games were very good at that, blending the sights and sounds to make you feel like you are part of WWII.
 
For me, the story means very little. I dunno why but Im far more interested in the gameplay and the fun factor. Eg, Saints Row, Just Cause 2, GTA etc. Having said that I am currently really getting into Mass Effect 2 after picking it up on the steam sale a few days back, which is very story driven with dynamic gameplay.

Ive clocked up soooo many hours with Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 cos I find it so much fun and the graphics are really good too.
 
Gameplay > Story > Music > Graphics

If the engine is crap or buggy then its annoying to play.

Back in 2007 when Crysis and CoD4 came out Crysis had all the graphics and CoD4 wasn't that bad, but it had the storyline and the thrills and stuff of sneaking and hiding with the secret missions. Although now it's getting a bit old (the same game model) it's still alright to play.

I even went back and played HL2 -> Ep 2 a year or two ago. I'd even play Thief 1 and 2 again if it worked properly.

Also playing The Witcher made me realise the music is also an important part. Without it the game wouldn't be as exciting, the same sort of thing is there in Fallout 3 when you discover new quests and that sound plays.


Guess it's different for everyone.
 
neoglow said:
For me, the story means very little. I dunno why but Im far more interested in the gameplay and the fun factor. Eg, Saints Row, Just Cause 2, GTA etc. Having said that I am currently really getting into Mass Effect 2 after picking it up on the steam sale a few days back, which is very story driven with dynamic gameplay.

Ive clocked up soooo many hours with Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 cos I find it so much fun and the graphics are really good too.
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Mass Effect 1 and 2 are both my favourite games as far as stories go.
 
Graphics are nice for showing off games, but for playing:


Gameplay>Atmosphere>Sound&music>Story>Graphics imho.

Crysis is a very pleasing game graphics wise but boring. I prefer games who first try to get me interested, then later on surprise me with good graphics, for example, imho Skyrim overall looks a bit dated and in some places not that great, but some dungeons and some area's look awesome, the weather effects really surprised me too. Overall the graphics are quite rubbish imho, still poor draw distance, sometimes annoying basic textures, lack of tessellation ( game would REALLY profit from that with all it's round stones and buildings and game chars...). But the clouds around mountains, great looking sky, awesome looking dungeons and (sometimes, sometimes it looks crap oddly) water, weather effects really surprised me. Game looks ''meh'' 25% of the time, ''ok'' 50% of the time and ''wow'' 25% of the time. But it doesn't matter as the gameplay is great.

I've played some old games to death yet now they are annoying me (or starting to) due to iffy graphics, other games I can live with crappy 256 color graphics due to the gameplay&interface still being fine and not iffy to use or outdated.
 
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