Gameplay vs. Story: Which Matters More?

[dickey1331]

Story. It’s why I play video games.


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[pietasterp]

I can get good stories in other media, but gameplay is unique to video games.

[Caulfield]

if you're going to MAKE me choose, then gameplay. otherwise, both are essential. I mean, I like peanut-butter & I like jelly. but when I have peanut-butter AND jelly together, I really have something worthwhile. I guess the bread is the console. without that, you aint going anywhere either lol.

I can still play the classics like pacman or space invaders with next to nothing in the way of story, and while this goes outside the NoN-Sports Gaming scope, my baseball game doesnt need a story either.

[countryboy]

For me its story. If the story isn't good then I will quickly lose interest. I can play thru average/bad gameplay if the story is good/great, but I can't play though good/great gameplay if the story is bad.

Case in point, Homefront on the PS3. The gameplay was awful, but the story kept me playing.

[Blzer]

Well, what about something like Guitar Hero or Rock Band? I couldn't care less about what its tour/story mode offers, as long as I'm playing the songs and maybe unlocking some along the way. Sure, it would be nice to start playing in bigger venues and such, but what's important is how I play those songs.

I think it's entirely game-dependent for me, and that sometimes you can't have one without the other.

Then there is the question as to whether we are referring to story outside of gameplay, or story within gameplay. For example, whether what you do in your action drives the story more than the cinematics do. I just recently finished The Last of Us, and while the entire game could have been a very good film in and of itself, the gameplay was mostly the same when it came to killing baddies and picking up items, just in different locations. I mean it was fine and the gameplay was great, but when it came to the gameplay advancing as a result of the story being told I can't say much really changed.

With a game like that though, the story was so important to the nice gameplay with it that I just don't think I can miss out on either. Am I more interested in TLoU: Part II because I know I'm getting another game with great gameplay, or because I assume I will be getting a good story and know that it will bank off of what was told in the previous game? When I get Red Dead Redemption II, am I more excited to play the game with its refined enhancements from the first game, or am I more excited that it is a prequel connecting to the previous installment and is around the same area in the world, and once again I'm expecting a great story?

It's all really up in the air. One thing for sure, though: I will read interviews on gameplay enhancements, but I will refrain from reading story elements because I don't want to be spoiled with that. Take that information as you will, but for me that partly says as excited I am to get into the specifics of the story, my intrigue comes from reading about the gameplay and the deciding factor almost seems to come with that.

[bhurst99]

For me a game with a great story is more memorable than a game with great gameplay but maybe that's because there are few games with such great stories. The games that standout for me are games like Heavy Rain, the Last of Us, and KOTOR 1 and 2. The Far Cry series has some great gameplay but those games aren't memorable to me because the stories kind of fell apart even thought they had some great characters.

But it's a good debate. I haven't played either but didn't Mafia 3 have a great story but terrible, repetitive gameplay with bad AI? Didn't Mass Effect: Andromeda have tight gameplay but an awful story?

[goledensilence]

I'll take a good story over gameplay any day, especially if that story comes with some entertaining cut scenes.

Mafia 3 would be a prime example of that.

[rudyjuly2]

Both are important but I will take gameplay. If you have a great story but bad gameplay I won’t play it. For me I found I didn’t really like the combat in Witcher 3. The RPG elements also made it tedious. All the talk of story goes out the window for me. I loved the last God of War. The story was fine and it moved you along but it was the gameplay that drove that game. Getting both in a game like Last of Us or Uncharted is great. A game like Detroit Becomes Human was fantastic solely because it was a great story based game.

There is no wrong answer as this is personal opinion and mine is gameplay gets the nod. But like Blzer said it does depend on the game.