-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
Which would you more likely tolerate? A good game interrupted by a boring, intrusive story, or a good story interrupted by boring, intrusive gameplay?
- Thread starter Phediuk
- Start date
Depends on the games.
But i'd say i'll probably be more engaged by a good story overall. Like, would the story and characters had been shit, i'd probably never have finished any Naughty Dog games (i utterly hate playing shooting games with a gamepad, it's just a hassle).
But i'd say i'll probably be more engaged by a good story overall. Like, would the story and characters had been shit, i'd probably never have finished any Naughty Dog games (i utterly hate playing shooting games with a gamepad, it's just a hassle).
Either or really.
If it's a good game with a bad story I'll skip all the cutscenes
If it's a bad game with a good story I'll probably download a trainer to break the game.
Good game with bad story is so much more common however.
If it's a good game with a bad story I'll skip all the cutscenes
If it's a bad game with a good story I'll probably download a trainer to break the game.
Good game with bad story is so much more common however.
Good game. I'm okay with skipping a shit story as long as I'm having fun with the moment to moment gameplay.
A story with gameplay I hate won't work, that's RDR2 for me.
A story with gameplay I hate won't work, that's RDR2 for me.
Good game with boring story would be the answer if we look at this scenario in isolation.
Realistically a game with a good story and bad gameplay can just be consumed through YouTube with full cutscenes being available usually only a couple of days after release, making it much easier to tolerate.
Take for example the legacy of kain series - great story, boring and terrible gameplay that only gets in the way of the story, so you just watch a 6 hour cutscenes compilation :P
Realistically a game with a good story and bad gameplay can just be consumed through YouTube with full cutscenes being available usually only a couple of days after release, making it much easier to tolerate.
Take for example the legacy of kain series - great story, boring and terrible gameplay that only gets in the way of the story, so you just watch a 6 hour cutscenes compilation :P
Depends on how long the game is. <10hrs I'll take good story, for a >20hrs I want good gameplay and it can go either way for 10-20hrs games.
I think it's also important to mention that gameplay can still have narrative value. I didn't care at all about the story Ninja Gaiden 2's cutscenes presented, but overcoming some of the tougher areas was a gripping emotional journey by itself (Fuck you Spider Ninjas.)
I imagine that most players who favor gameplay still value story, but more in the vein of salvaging a ruined mission in X-Com or finally overcoming a boss that was giving you hell in Dark Souls rather than in an authored story being told at them.
I imagine that most players who favor gameplay still value story, but more in the vein of salvaging a ruined mission in X-Com or finally overcoming a boss that was giving you hell in Dark Souls rather than in an authored story being told at them.
Yakuza Kiwami is one of the few games I wish I could skip the gameplay on, but disable skipping cutscenes lol.
If you're asking if I'd rather have a good game, or a bad game, I'd rather have a good game. I can skip over bad cutscenes and so forth, but you generally don't get to skip past bad gameplay.
If the story is in the form of skippable cutscenes then I would just skip them, so the former is preferable.
It depends on how boring and intrusive it is.
I played through all the Danganronpa games, and the gameplay in that series is so bad that it's a meme.
Most games that have good gameplay but bad stories leave plenty of options to skip the story, so they are less intrusive. Doom Eternal is a good example of this. If a game with good gameplay had lots of shitty unskippable story bits, I might not tolerate it, but I can't think of a game off the top of my head that did that.
I played through all the Danganronpa games, and the gameplay in that series is so bad that it's a meme.
Most games that have good gameplay but bad stories leave plenty of options to skip the story, so they are less intrusive. Doom Eternal is a good example of this. If a game with good gameplay had lots of shitty unskippable story bits, I might not tolerate it, but I can't think of a game off the top of my head that did that.
I feel like I've pushed through many good games with bad stories since beginning to take an interest in video games, so almost a lifetime of the habit.
I stopped both RDR2 and Nier Automata despite loving their storytelling because I found them both uninteresting to play. I also feel like I've pushed through several story driven experiences (such as Telltale games or "walking simulators") but at a much lesser rate than games that had good gameplay and poor or unengaging stories.
I stopped both RDR2 and Nier Automata despite loving their storytelling because I found them both uninteresting to play. I also feel like I've pushed through several story driven experiences (such as Telltale games or "walking simulators") but at a much lesser rate than games that had good gameplay and poor or unengaging stories.
Can't vote as I'm not sure I have a strong preference between the two. Story is a HUGE draw to games for me, so I can put up with some boring/medicore gameplay for a good story.
But of course I'd also play a fun game with a boring story.
So both are fine by me, but obviously pale in comparison to games where I love both the gameplay and story.
But of course I'd also play a fun game with a boring story.
So both are fine by me, but obviously pale in comparison to games where I love both the gameplay and story.
I said the second one since I'm able to tolerate "boring" gameplay as long as I care about what's going on in the story but a boring story is going to take me out of it really fast.
I've played both types of those games and I find that I will play a bad game either way if there is something that grabs me.
Dragenkard is supposed to have a good (?) story, but I couldn't force myself through it. On the other hand, something like Freedom Wars has straight up insulting writing and it's as obtrusive as it can get, but I did manage to power through it. In the end I think it depends on how long the game is. I can suffer through some bad gameplay if the story is good, but it has to be short.
Danganronpa is a visual novel, I don't think it counts. Most of your time is spent reading. Maybe Another Episode fits the definition, but I didn't find the gameplay to be straight up bad in that one neither.
To all the people saying you can usually just skip cutscenes and such, so you pick "good gameplay, intrusive story": I feel like that reasoning says the OPPOSITE of what you think it does. If the only way you tolerate an intrusive story is if you're given the option to skip it entirely with ease, then it sounds like you don't actually tolerate it at all.
Same thing goes for people that say "good story, intrusive gameplay" because you can watch story online: if you have to EXIT the game and cut out playing it entirely to enjoy the story, well you don't actually tolerate the gameplay at all.
If you find yourself more relieved that you can skip the cutscenes and story sections are quick, then your answer might actually be #2. If you find yourself more relieved that there are playthroughs on YouTube you can watch, then your answer might actually be #1.
Same thing goes for people that say "good story, intrusive gameplay" because you can watch story online: if you have to EXIT the game and cut out playing it entirely to enjoy the story, well you don't actually tolerate the gameplay at all.
If you find yourself more relieved that you can skip the cutscenes and story sections are quick, then your answer might actually be #2. If you find yourself more relieved that there are playthroughs on YouTube you can watch, then your answer might actually be #1.
Last edited:
I think it would be pretty easy to argue that the dialogue is the gameplay for DE. DE is the perfect example of why RPGs would be improved if they start considering dialogue as gameplay.
I tend to prioritize story over gameplay, even with games with good gameplay.
For example, I want to experience the story of Hades and I enjoy actually playing the game, but whenever I run out of people to talk to in the hub I'm always like "ugh, time for another run". I get over it quickly, but still. lol
So this is why text-heavy games greatly appeal to me, since the story tends to not be separated from the gameplay in those kinds of games, or at least not as often. The Ace Attorney series is my favorite game series ever, as an example.
Games with bad stories leave an overall worse taste in my mouth, too. To this day I still despise Metroid: Other M and Paper Mario: Sticker Star. I'm much more willing to forgive games with bad gameplay as long as the story was entertaining enough.
For example, I want to experience the story of Hades and I enjoy actually playing the game, but whenever I run out of people to talk to in the hub I'm always like "ugh, time for another run". I get over it quickly, but still. lol
So this is why text-heavy games greatly appeal to me, since the story tends to not be separated from the gameplay in those kinds of games, or at least not as often. The Ace Attorney series is my favorite game series ever, as an example.
Games with bad stories leave an overall worse taste in my mouth, too. To this day I still despise Metroid: Other M and Paper Mario: Sticker Star. I'm much more willing to forgive games with bad gameplay as long as the story was entertaining enough.
If the story is shit but the game is good and I can somehow ignore or skip the story and play the game, I'd take that over a bad game with an incredible story.
No matter how good your story is, if the game sucks, I'm not gonna hold my interest for more than an hour or two.
No matter how good your story is, if the game sucks, I'm not gonna hold my interest for more than an hour or two.
I don't have a pattern for this, I played 1hs of Control twice and couldn't bare the dialogues and storytelling. I can't say if it plays good or bad, seemed fine.
Loved RDR 2 even if I disliked the mechanics most of the time.
I guess I can tolerate bad gameplay more than bad/uninteresting story.
Loved RDR 2 even if I disliked the mechanics most of the time.
I guess I can tolerate bad gameplay more than bad/uninteresting story.
For genres I don't like, I will only play for the story.
I don't play FPS games but just beat Titanfall 2 campaign.
I don't play FPS games but just beat Titanfall 2 campaign.
Quick question: Can anyone describe to me what an "intrusive story" is all about? I have never heard of this type of story being described like so, and thus it is hard for me to imagine what kind of story a game would have.
I dunno, honestly. Questions like these always get the same answer from me: it depends on the game. Ninja Gaiden 2 and Razor's Edge have bad stories, but the gameplay of both keeps me hooked. RDR2 can have pretty tedious gameplay at times, yet the story is able to maintain my attention and keep me moving forward. Visual novels or point-and-click games are the very definition of "dull gameplay", but if the stories are good, then at least for me, I can stay with them through until the end. It's simply a game-by-game basis for me.