Gameplay vs. Story: Which Matters More?

[JayCutlersCig]

I’ve grown up playing video games, but it wasn’t until recently that I began to weigh two very important aspects of them: gameplay and story. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve begun to notice the details in both, which in turn, has made me both appreciate and loathe video games even more. I’ve learned that it’s okay to have love-hate relationships with games when they sacrifice one or the other.

Take, for instance, Uncharted 1-3. The gameplay was an absolute SLOG. Bullet sponge enemies, weird cover systems, etc. But the story alone kept me going; I wanted to find El Dorado, I wanted to discover Shambhala and so on and so forth. The fourth installment in this series absolutely mastered both, IMO, and it was a fitting send-off to one of the best series ever.

It was the same case with Fallout: New Vegas; I couldn’t stand the gunplay but I loved the story of revenge in Sin City, and that alone has made me go back and play it again.

So, which one’s more important to you guys? Gameplay or story? For me, it’d have to be story, through and through, but I’m curious to see what you guys think.

[canes21]

Gameplay, but barely. There has been plenty of games that had one, but not the other that I couldn't play. The only reason I picked gameplay was because a buddy and I just recently beat Dying Light this past year and that game had such an awful story, but the gameplay was fun for the most part.


Typically, though, I need both to be at least decent quality for me to really finish a game. I don't think i would have beaten Dying Light if it weren't for the Co-op capability.

[peter42O]

Honestly, it depends on the game itself.

While I care more about gameplay than I do story and characters, take Mafia III for example. The gameplay is tedious and repetitive but it's the story and characters that make the game what it is. 2016's best story and soundtrack in my opinion. Gunplay and stealth were decent at best. Outside of gameplay and visuals, it's everything else that kept me invested in the game.

On the other side, take Far Cry 5 for example. The gameplay and shooting mechanics are excellent as always in Far Cry but while the antagonists are great, the story itself falls apart due to the silent protagonist and character creation. To me, it's a joke.

Some games hit on both aspects such as Horizon Zero Dawn and God of War but these are far and few between. Usually, games that are strong in one aspect are normally weak in the other aspect.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Story all day long for me.

[opd897]

Gameplay, pure and simple. If I want a story I'll pop in a movie.

[GaloVingador]

Gameplay.

And I really, really appreciate a good story, it's crucial to make the experience memorable. But I can stand a stupid story if the game is fun to play. A good story that is a chore to play it through, not so much.

It's when both are awesome, like in NieR Automata, that masterpieces happen.

[KSUowls]

Depends on the game/genre.

A lot of RPG's can get by without great gameplay if the story is amazing.

It doesn't matter how great of a story a FPS has if the mechanics of shooting suck.

[mgoblue]

Story, but gameplay can't suck. I'm better with a enriching story game with maybe janky gameplay (Skyrim, Fallout, etc are somewhat like this). Some of the "multiplayer only" games are less on story and more about the gameplay loops and that doesn't really do it for me anymore (Destiny type games)

An exception for this is the Quantic Dreams games (Detroit, Heavy Rain, etc). Gameplay IMO wasn't deep enough. Those I'll just watch on youtube lol