Story/gameplay

[Pighardia]

Firstly, What do you consider to be more important?

I was talking to someone the other day and he said that he can't get in to Mass Effect because there is too much talking, says he skips most of the dialogue! i couldn't believe it! especially for Mass Effect which is all about the story.

There are games where i couldn't care less for the story, for example FPS's such as BC2, because you play it mainly online, but otherwise, story is the main point for me.

Crysis is a strange one though. I was much more impressed with the gameplay, and pretty much ignored the story for that, as the gameplay was so good.



Secondly, in story driven games, i have found a few recently, which do not really have a central plot. and imo, this has actually improved the game.
I am really thinking of New Vegas and Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. With no central story, it just seems more natural to do side quests and explore more.

For example, in Mass Effect 2, it's like a race against time. I find it very hard to believe that Shepard would bother running errands for people when he has some pretty improtant stuff to do. It kind of ruins the immersion for me tbh.
What would you prefer. A central scripted story where it is very focused, or a story where you are more free to do whatever you want and the main plot doesn't really press you too much?

 

[Indy500]

Firstly, What do you consider to be more important?

I was talking to someone the other day and he said that he can't get in to Mass Effect because there is too much talking, says he skips most of the dialogue! i couldn't believe it! especially for Mass Effect which is all about the story.

Not exactly an inspired one, and the races are verging on stereotypes (admittedly with just enough depth and gameplay quirks for me to be interested in purchasing the game). The sense of scale is reasonable too, considering ME's console roots.

For example, in Mass Effect 2, it's like a race against time. I find it very hard to believe that Shepard would bother running errands for people when he has some pretty improtant stuff to do. It kind of ruins the immersion for me tbh.
What would you prefer. A central scripted story where it is very focused, or a story where you are more free to do whatever you want and the main plot doesn't really press you too much?

Depends. Max Payne is pretty much linear and consists mostly of shooting about 700 men (and one woman), yet is still compelling due to the story\presentation. Or at least at the price I bought it for

On the other hand I virtually ignored the plot missions in X2: The Threat and concentrated on building a trading empire\fighting off pirates in Argon space. To be honest, the plot isn't X2's strong point anyway.

 

[HangTime]

Tough call really on the first one, I tend to prefer a mix of both.

As for the second question, in general I think I prefer to have a strong central storyline holding the game together and driving me forward (even if I don't always choose to follow it). I like side missions but if a game is overly focussed on them I can lose interest.

To be honest, the best games merge side missions and primary quests so that they are relatively seamless, or at least, the side missions give enough dialogue to make them feel worthwhile rather than just 'for the sake of it' or to earn some reward. Sometimes they might have minor effects on how the game plays out later on. Something like Deus Ex gets it right.

 

[orderoftheflame]

Depends on the game, and I guess it's a very personal thing.

However... I tend to find that a great story can save poor gameplay, but not so much the other way.

 

[FoxEye]

Gameplay.

I can count on one hand the games I've played more for the story than for the gameplay. FF7 was one, but I'm struggling to think of many more...

As far as I'm concerned, story is simples. You need a basic premise, a scenario, a few characters and a motive for you and the main bad guy. Stuff you can make up in an hour or two.

After that (and indeed before it!), you can spend all your time working out the gameplay; making it deep and strategic, or innovative, or just bigger and better.

But the cardinal sin I believe is to spend time working on a great story, then rushing or neglecting the game that delivers it. Might as well read a book or watch telly.

 

[Pighardia]

I was thinking of the difference between Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood. In AC2, you are supposed to be focused on your revenge mission, and it just seems unrealistic that you would be bothered with the side missions such as delivering letters etc. But in Brotherhood, as the central story is much more loose, the side missions seem to be integrated into the story in a much better way, so the game makes a bit more sense and it is easier to get into.

 

[FoxEye]

I think in my case growing up with early consoles, and the many arcade conversions we played back then, you never expected much in the way of story.

Classic such as Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands, Arkanoid, Midnight Resistance, Road Rash, Ecco, all the shoot-em-ups, platformers, etc, etc. They mostly all had stories. But the story was only ever in the background. You get an intro screen and a game over screen and everything in between is the game.

You never played the game watching cut-scenes which delivered the story like short movies.

And having grown up in that era means I'll probably never value a cinematic style story telling like younger gamers do (maybe). Or maybe that's wrong and it's just personal preference... who knows.

 

[whitecrook]

uh. Dialog/ cutscenes etc. kill games for me. If I can't skip them I'll usually not even bother. BC2. I swear I 'played' that for about an hour, but only actually played it for aobut 10 mins. There were literally points where it was *watch a few mins of cutscenes* *press forward for 10 seconds* *watch another few mins of cutscenes* If a game can't communicate the story via the gameplay, then it's failed. Movies should *show*, not *tell* Games should show by *playing* and not *showing* If I wanted to watch a story, i'd watch a movie.

 

[paradisiac]

uh. Dialog/ cutscenes etc. kill games for me. If I can't skip them I'll usually not even bother. BC2. I swear I 'played' that for about an hour, but only actually played it for aobut 10 mins. There were literally points where it was *watch a few mins of cutscenes* *press forward for 10 seconds* *watch another few mins of cutscenes* If a game can't communicate the story via the gameplay, then it's failed. Movies should *show*, not *tell* Games should show by *playing* and not *showing* If I wanted to watch a story, i'd watch a movie.

i found this with batman AA, everyone says its a wicked awesome game, but i just cant get into it as the first 20mins or so are just cut scene after cut scene.
i think a story can make some games, but if it gets in the way of actually playing the game, thats when they have crossed the line.
aslong as the game has a purpose, then thats all that really matters to me. i would get bored of just running around aimlessly if there was no plot, but i also like to feel that what i do affects how the story plays out too. likewise, games annoy me when everything has to be done in a certain order, and you just cant quite work out what that order is, so get sooo frustrated and give up.
thats just me though im sure. i like to know what im doing without the hassel of having to over think everything to work out why im doing it.

 

[mrbios]

Interesting question that has now got me thinking..... in the best game i've ever played and what i consider the greatest game ever made the story created the game play and kept you playing.

I think i love a good story, something that really drags you into wanting the characters to survive etc haven't played anything like that in a long time though as barely anyone makes games like that these days it seems, everything is "run around about, do this mission, here's a reward, now here's another mission" gay.

 

[nuttyprot]

Story over gameplay any day.

I still go back and play FF7 just for the story (granted gameplay is great also).
Gameplay can keep me playing short term but a good story will keep me hooked for years.

Sadly most modern games I find have very short stories or way to predictable and seem to focus more on gameplay.

I still check the net to see if any news of a remake on FF7 one of the best games ever made. Named my daughter of one of the chars and my 3 cats of other chars.