Gameplay vs. Story: Which Matters More?

[mjavon]

They're both important because they need to compliment one another.

An example of this not working well: Farcry 5 - Very dark and disturbing story theme with the cult abducting, killing, and drugging people... the gameplay doesn't match that theme at all.

Example of doing it right: Bioshock - it also has a dark, creepy and ominous feel to the story, however in this case it's complimented by gameplay where you are always on your toes and resources are scarce.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Operation Sports mobile app

[Caulfield]

I miss the simple days of Pong. you didnt need no fancy gameplay or story. hell, you didnt need colour tv either

[dsallupinyaarea]

Gameplay matters more and I suspect some that say story would still pick gameplay if it ever came down to it.


Video game story telling as a whole is pretty rudimentary and only made compelling by the interactivity, aka gameplay.


There's a reason most movie adaptations stink. You remove the gameplay and it shines a big light on just how one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish the story truly is.

[CMH]

Gameplay for me.

There are several games with great stories that I abandoned because I couldn't vibe with the gameplay. Horizon Zero Dawn, The Witcher 3, Pillars of Eternity, for examples.

It's a shame because each of those listed and more were great stories that I looked forward to diving deeper into but eventually the gameplay wore me out. I got tired of hunting, dodging and watching as I waited for more story to unfold.

On the other hand whenever I think about my great gaming experiences, I think about how it felt to play. I can't tell you what Shadow of Mordor was truly about but damn was it fun to play. And if you get both a great story and gameplay (South Park Stick of Truth, Uncharted, God of War, The Last of Us) then they fall under the titles I'll remember forever.

Gameplay. The game needs to be fun. The rest is icing.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[KSUowls]

Quote: Originally Posted by dsallupinyaarea

Gameplay matters more and I suspect some that say story would still pick gameplay if it ever came down to it. Video game story telling as a whole is pretty rudimentary and only made compelling by the interactivity, aka gameplay. There's a reason most movie adaptations stink. You remove the gameplay and it shines a big light on just how one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish the story truly is.

I don't know man, at least for me that definitely isn't the case. Personally, any top 10 video game list I put together will begin and end with games that were story rich, and those stories are not remotely as bland as you are suggesting (Xenosaga, Mass Effect, KOTOR and multiple Final Fantasy's just to name of a few).

While this is an overall different discussion, it's main point I think is relevant with regard to video game film adaptations. Yeah they tend to suck, but it isn't because of a lack of interaction you would otherwise get with a video game. There are numerous reasons ranging from bad casting to low budget to straying too far from the source material to (the relevant part) picking games that aren't story focused. I don't know how many people were really playing Tekken, Doom and Mortal Kombat for their story so I don't know why anyone would expect them to make engaging movies.

Obviously there isn't a wrong answer, but I'd put it like this. Story is most important to me because video games, more than any other median that can deliver it to you, offers the most potential for a fulfilling and immersive story. You get all the stunning images and action you would get from a good movie without sacrificing any of the depth that a good book would provide. You get to combine both of those elements while going through those very interactions you say are what make game adaptations suck.

[georgiafan]

Interesting topic I've been following the thread for a while so now time to give me 2 cents.

If I had to pick just one I would go with story. I am narrow minded about the type of games I play and the story / setting Is the first things I look at. When I play a game that's more for gameplay it at least needs to have a average story. I played the free COD game for ps+ last month and ended up uninstalling it after a few hours because it felt like I was just killing people for no reason. I really enjoyed mafia 3 which was on the other side of that. If a game has a good story it makes the fight scenes even if they are average/ repetitive have more meaning.

Since I don't buy a lot if games typically the ones I play have both story and gameplay. Maybe I am generalizing here or even way wrong in my head I think of story games being shorter then games built around gameplay. Since I have a shorter attention span that plays a role and me picking games typically around the 20 hour mark.

[jeremym480]

It's story for me. Gameplay no matter how good can get repetitive and even if it doesn't if it's just good gameplay with nothing else interesting then I'll get bored rather quickly. However, I'll happily point and click my way through a TellTale game if the story is engaging enough.

The same thing applies to sports games with gameplay vs franchise modes. Madden could come out with the best gameplay that any sports game has ever had but if they continue the same lifeless/shallow franchise mode that was to me stale years ago, then it's an easy pass for me.

In a perfect world, I would like both gameplay and story to be good but I can overcome weak gameplay before I could a bad narrative, vice versa not so much.

[canes21]

Does an immersive world fall into gameplay or story? One huge thing I need in games anymore is to feel immersed. The worlds of Red Dead Redemption, GTA IV, GTA V, Watch Dogs 2 all do great jobs of immersing me and that is a huge reason I enjoy those games. Even Mad Max was great at this. A game that isn't immersive or "believable" to me does not hold my attention. The Witcher 3 is another one that is stunning the way they made their world feel alive.