How much emphasis do you put on story in a game?

[Firmament1]

Title. I see games being praised all the time for their story, even when people admit that the gameplay is bad. Or people not liking a game, despite saying it has great gameplay, because the story is bad.

EDIT: I meant Case-by-case, sorry about that

 

[Neoleo2143]

As much emphasis as the game I'm interested in seems to put on it.

 

[astro]

Love a good story, love good gameplay. When they converge it can be something truly special, but both work independently too.

 

[Yuntu]

100% depends on the genre and my expectations. But to be fair, most games I like have somewhat of an focus on story.

However if the question would be about the world of the game and that being interesting than that can pretty much kill a game for me no matter how good the gameplay is. Gameplay can never carry a game for me.

 

[Aswitch]

I'd say it depends on the game. Some games you don't really play for the story necessarily, but there's a story there. EDF, Dynasty Warriors, Souls games. If i'm playing a linear traditional single player game, I expect the story to be good at least. In those cases then, the gameplay can save it if it's really good so I guess it still depends on the game to me.

 

[LossAversion]

Completely case by case. I love games that are basically nothing but story and I love games that have no story at all. Variety is the spice of life and all that.

 

[Shameless_Pineapple]

Generally I don't go into a game with the intention of enjoying the story, but in the rare instances where the story is actually good, I do find, that it elevates the experience.

 

[leng jai]

Characters are more important than story or lot. If the cast is likeable it can carry a mediocre or even bad story. If the cast sucks then it doesn't matter how good the actual story is, I don't give a fuck.

 

[Cocolina]

it depends, but generally I play mindless loot-em-ups these days so that I can listen to the radio or a podcast while I play

 

[V has come to]

depends how much emphasis the game puts on it. i care a lot more about the story in Yakuza than i do in Mario

 

[Jakisthe]

Zero. At best I can take it or leave it, but the vast majority of the time I skip as much of it as I can.

 

[Garchia3.0]

Depends on the genre, definitely. I've been often surprised by games I wouldn't expect to have any depth story-wise then suddenly become interesting to play, like Stardew Valley.

 

[srtrestre]

Honestly I don't even consider story when judging a game. If I'm playing a game and feel the gameplay isn't at least very good, I'm OUT. No story has ever motivated me to continue playing a game with mediocre gameplay.

 

[KrigareN-]

The only thing that would motivate 30+ hour investment in single-player game.

Mechanics and gameplay, no matter how creative/fluid/genius they are, will inevitably start feeling repetitive.

 

[SkoomaBlade]

It's all part of the whole package for me. Obviously certain genres are better at conveying story than others but I'll definitely knock a game for having a poor story.

 

[Exist 2 Inspire]

Story above all else. I'd rather play a game that plays like trash but has an amazing story than a game with excellent gameplay but zero story.

 

[Astraea]

I said vital, but there's also some super casual games I play to kill 15-20 minutes at a time.
However sitting down for a lengthy amount of time to play the game needs to have a story. Either in terms of narrative, or pieces of lore while exploring an interesting world.

 

[nocontent]

For any multiplayer titles which focus on this aspect, jump 'n runs, rougelites or puzzle games the story is irrelevant to me.
For every other single player experience the story is key point since most game mechanics aren't deep enough to keep one interested for an extended period of time.

 

[Kurtikeya]

As much emphasis as the game I'm interested in seems to put on it.

Click to shrink...

 

[Sadnarav]

It's one part of the whole, but the most important to me

If a game has a good narrative/writing, which entails how the story is told, the characters, the pacing, worldbuilding etc it can make me like games with bad or boring gameplay. I loved Tyranny but I ended up using console manual to use God Mode because the combat was boring and slow and I didn't care and was there to play the story

Games without story or a story that I don't care about end up becoming podcast games and they have their place but I they are easily forgotten by me

 

[KingdomKey]

It depends on the genre of course but I'd say it's important to me the first playthrough.

The gameplay however is more important to me when it comes to replayability.

I think The Last of Us is a good example to me, the story and characters itself made it one of my favorite games this past decade, but I can't bring myself to replay it ever again since I simply don't enjoy actually playing the game that much.

 

[NeroPaige]

I have been conditioned well to not rely on the story for my entertainment if it's an action/platformer/fighting/musou game etc.

If it's an RPG or something then it would be more important.

 

[Pyro]

Ultimately not important. I want and prefer a good story, but I think a game should always have an obligation to gameplay above everything else.

 

[Ryouji Gunblade]

A bad story hurts more than a good story helps IMO.

 

[low-G]

I do not give a FUUUUCK about story in games, but I can still open my mind to something like Disco Elysium.

 

[Deleted member 9486]

It's crucially important to me in story driven games, and that's mostly what I play. So I voted the second option as I can still occasionally enjoy some platform era etc. with little to no story.

 

[Deleted member 59109]

Not really important for me, my favorite games are pretty much all gameplay focused. I think story and world building can add to a game though.

 

[Deleted member 679]

Not important. I can really get into stories in games, but it's the story that has to capture me while I play it, I don't start playing just to get invested in a story. A game like Disco Elysium has no appeal to me, even though I'm sure it's fantastic for its target audience.

But I suppose it also depends on what else I'm doing with my free time. I don't read many books anymore, but last time I was reading a book, my patience for story in games was at an all time low. And it has nothing to do with quality, it's not about whether or not that story can match the book's narrative, it's just that I just spent a few hours laying down essentially exclusively reading dialogue, and then I decide to get up, turn on my TV, my console, pick up my controller and play a game, only to instantly get a ton of dialogue? Get outta here, let me play.

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

Prefer the story to be good because it's only better if every aspect of the game is achieving success, but a game can usually get by more on gameplay alone for me. I came into the medium with a preference lean toward games that leaned more arcade-style in influence (so generally very light story) as my baseline preference, and that's acted as my core expectation ever since — but I've long since grown to appreciate story telling in games where it's handled well by my measure. It never hurts to have even more good on top of a good gameplay loop, but I can get by with just the latter gameplay aspect assuming the story isn't representing ideas that I strongly disagree with. It's fine for the story to be boring but it's not okay for it to be offensive, I guess, and that requires case by case examination.

 

[Pimienta]

I don't put too much importance in them, but they can elevate the game for sure. That said, my most played games tend to be on the light story side, like Terraria/DOTA2/Etrian Odyssey/Mario/Pokémon etc.

 

[Budi]

It's pretty important for me, as when I want pure gameplay without much interruptions, I often rather play PVP. I tend to drop otherwise really good games if the story or the characters don't pull me in. In example never finished BotW, just wondered and explored until I got my fill of that. Though then again there's games like XCOM that I adore, but don't tell that special story, in those (and Civ) I feel I get to make my own stories. I definitely gravitate more towards games like Firewatch and Edith Finch, than say Nex Machina (which is excellent game too). Though I also always have "podcast games" on rotation, like Civ I mentioned earlier or Two Point Hospital.

 

[Enduin]

I'd say case by case, but the vast majority of games I play are story driven to some degree. So it's almost always important and rather vital. Outside of the sandbox sim or strategy games it's just single player games so having some kind of engaging or interesting story to keep me interested is a must. That doesn't always mean a very prominent and present narrative. But there's gotta be something there.

 

[Rosebud]

I can enjoy games without story, but they rarely are between my favorites.

 

[Zoidn]

Practically none whatsoever. Story for me is usually just a way to divide up my gameplay time. Like in Assassin's Creed: Origins I would always only explore the part of the map I am in, play it till I feel like moving on and go to the next story bit for a new place to explore. Quality of writing, plot and whatever also doesn't really matter to me either.

Like people tell me the story in MGSV is worse than previous games, but I played all except 1 and couldn't tell the difference. What I know is I enjoyed V more than any other game in the series.

 

[Skyball Paint]

I like games with good stories and I like good games without stories
However bad writing/voice acting definitely drags a good game down for me.
Hard to enjoy myself if every time a character speaks I get brain damage

 

[Red Liquorice]

Bad guy swoops down and pinches Princess Prin-Prin, Arthur starts his rescue journey (Ghouls & Ghosts). Takes about 5 seconds? That's all the story I ever need - at least in terms of length of story telling, I think we can look for pastures new in terms of story content there.

 

[shinobi602]

Most games and genres I'm into are typically narrative driven anyway, so I very much put heavy emphasis on story.

I'd say it's equally as important as gameplay for me, maybe even more so. I can stay hooked on gameplay-lite games like Life is Strange or Oxenfree but drift off in story-lite games, even if the gameplay's engaging.

 

[AzorAhai]

As much emphasis as the game I'm interested in seems to put on it.

Click to shrink...

Yeah first answer nails it. Though I would say most games put too much emphasis on it for their own good. It's getting better, but on average it's still pretty mediocre.

 

[Deleted member 25606]

I am more about gameplay and a good game doesn't need a story but a story driven game better be fun to play. I also worry more about how with a story than if there is one.

I love games for story when it is actually driven by/uses the mechanics whether it be something like until dawn or life is strange, or on the other end narrative driven CRPG's.

Right now I am playing a second playthrough of Death Stranding while also playing Sunless Sea for the first time. In death Stranding I am skipping the cutscenes and only watched them the first time because it was nutbag Kojima crazy now with Hollywood actors.

On the other hand I find Sunless Sea to have a gripping narrative and I often revisit old narrative in case new option have opened up, since while it's story driven and mostly text it's still all mechanic driven and makes you engage with it.

So I guess case by case but my preference for story is with games that actively engage and make you participate.

 

[LumberPanda]

Depends on whether or not the cutscenes are skippable.

Yes? I don't care, if it's trite I'll skip it.

No? Into the bin it goes.

 

[Jombie]

I don't care most of the time. These days, I just play as a brain dead escape for a couple of hours.

 

[Arithmetician]

I voted "important" but I'm thinking more of world-building than a single plotline. For instance I think Breath of the Wild has great story through it's world-building, even though the main plot line is sparse and the relationships of the Champions are pretty underexplored.

What I don't like is something like Diablo, where the content is just dynamically generated, and there's barely any story behind any of the places.

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

Where's the "Less than 0" option?

 

[NoalleGospell]

If a game doesn't have a story(even a mediocre one) I have no interest in playing it. Pure gameplay without any story motivation just doesn't entertain me.

 

[Deleted member 8861]

I mean, I *can* actually enjoy games without a good story, but I voted for the first option because that's what all the games I truly love are about.

 

[Abdiel]

I don't really play games that aren't focused around the story 99% of the time. And even then, the story in a game that I'm playing with friends will make me far more likely to want to meet playing with with, rather than make excuses to drop it.

I play games like interactive books, most of the time.

 

[Linde]

depends. id say most of the time it doesn't matter. writing quality is more important

 

[SuperFakerBros]

A good story can certainly elevate a game but it's far from necessary for me. Most of my favorite games every generation don't focus much on story and much more so on level design and controls. For me, a game has to be fun to play first and have a good story second, with very few exceptions, like Life is Strange

Honestly, I'd say character interaction and relationships are much more important to me than the story. The overwhelming majority of narrative driven games out there don't do it for me, like Uncharted, The Witcher 3, The Last of Us, Mass Effect, etc. as I don't find them fun to play

 

[GlitchyDegree]

Gameplay is the most important thing for me. Story heavy adventure games like Life is Strange can get away with not having amazing gameplay but most other games need to be fun to play first & foremost for me to enjoy them.

 

[StrappingYoungLance]

If the gameplay is good enough the story doesn't matter too much. A good story can also carry a game fore - as long as I don't straight up dislike playing the game. It also depends on what I'm coming to the game for in the first place.

A bad story in Mario? Who cares. A bad story in Mass Effect? More of a problem.