Can a good story save poor or medicore gameplay for you?

[kibbitz2000]

For me, gameplay needs to come first, and it's not necessarily an issue of the gameplay being good or bad. If I can't enjoy it as a game, it's very difficult (and so far, impossible) for me to proceed as much as I like the story.

The closest example of a game where I liked the characters and story but didn't like the gameplay but still finished the game? Devil Survivor. I suppose Planescape and Baldur's Gate II goes in here too.

The list of games with possibly legendary story/gameplay that I never finished or even got far because of my dislike of the gameplay is probably longer but the ones that come to mind most easily are Final Fantasy Tactics, Jeanne D'Arc, Mass Effect and KOTOR1. I'm still trying to decide whether I'm willing to step in for Portal at the moment.

 

[Negatempest]

Ah, I have been debating this myself and come to a simple conclusion. An game you personally enjoyed will always be a treasure in your heart. I have played games in both sides of the spectrum where some clicked with me and others did not. So, it's just about taste.

 

[sapphireofthesea]

Most of the games I really enjoy have pretty simple mechanics, but are awesome good in story telling. If the story is no good (except for RTS) I don't get into it at all and simple don't play it.
Examples are Neverwinter Nights (Was awesome and kept me going through constant deaths) VS the Bauldar's Gate games (which I could never quite get into the stories of, with 2 exceptions).
Another example is Stalker VS every other FPS. Not entirely sure how it did it but I replayed (until then never happened) the first and second one 5 times and 3rd one i'm on 3rd playthrough. The story and gameplay just worked so well that twas fun to play through the story again a few times.

So yea, Gameplay just needs to be a decent enough vehicle to carry the story for me. If the story is bad then doesn't matter how pimped the ride is, it is not gonna interest me (part of the reason I have lost interest in the Final fantasy games, stories got shorter and shallower).

 

[Schmittler]

Yes, but it depends on the game. I've also witnessed this backfire however. I played Alan Wake expecting to enjoy the story, and ended up enjoying the slightly different take on the 3rd Person Shooter genre and finding the story to be extremely boring and unoriginal.

 

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

Just how mediocre are we talking? It its painful to play, I'd rather just watch an LP. If its playable enough, then definitely yes.

 

[Mikeyfell]

I've come to a realisation that some of my favourite ever games have nothing special going for them in the gameplay department, but they all have one thing in common - and thats a strong, gripping plot as well as terrific characters you care for.

On the flipside no matter how polished or technically brilliant a game is, I sometimes get bored and uninspired if the story is of little substance.

Anyone else agree with these sentiments?

I agree for the most part. The part where I differ is that I can slide in the "story" department. (Sorry I'm the kind of prick who thinks "story" and "Writing" are two different things)

I loved Mass Effect and Dragon Age and their stories were "Kill ancient evil thing" (or in the case of Dragon Age 2 "Wouldn't World War 2 have been cooler if Jews knew magic") Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 are also good examples of Characters > Story. Characters I can get attached to is the most important thing to me in any media.

I'm with you completely on the flipside point. Gears of War and Call of Duty and all those games that are "Mechanically perfect" just bore me into a coma. it's like "Great... the shooting handles perfectly, now make me give a shit." That being said I still love Rock Band and Peggle with a passion and they don't offer story or anything. Hell Peggle doesn't even have any context for what's going on you're just an adorable animal who hates the color red.

 

[Togs]

Ill be more inclined ot finish it, and more forgiving of it but its still crappy- id rather have a bad/no story then bad gameplay- it may as well be a movie otherwise.

EDIT= Just had a brainwave, currently in the process of replaying Brutal Legend which is the perfect example of this- the story, world, presentation and very concept are gorgeous, brillaint and fist pumpingly awesome, the gameplay however is boring, repetitive, and unpolished- whilst I love it already it would've worked a hundred times better if it had just been an adult aimed animation.

 

[Xman490]

This makes me think of Brutal Legend. I guess both the gameplay and story are mediocre at best, but I felt it was worth the $9 I spent for it.
I rarely play games mainly for the story. If I wanted a good story that didn't take many hours, I'd watch a movie, and I rarely buy RPGs these days.

 

[Togs]

This makes me think of Brutal Legend. I guess both the gameplay and story are mediocre at best, but I felt it was worth the $9 I spent for it.
I rarely play games mainly for the story. If I wanted a good story that didn't take many hours, I'd watch a movie, and I rarely buy RPGs these days.

Oh snap, swear I didnt see this beofre my edit.

 

[crop52]

Yes. The characters are more important to me than the story though. I really liked all of the FFXIII characters, so apparently I have low standards for characters.

You should've made this a poll, I'd be really interested in seeing those results.

 

[Gigano]

Having played and enjoyed several visual novels whose gameplay is pretty much the equivalent of Microsoft Powerpoint, with the occasional choice thrown in, that would be a definite yes.

If I'm going into the game expecting gameplay to be a more dominant element though, then it'd really take a captivating story to keep me playing through it. Implementing poor and repetitive gameplay is quite frustrating, whereas a game conceived with extremely minimal gameplay in mind from the start is easier to (not have to) deal with, and doesn't create any expectations in that area to begin with.

 

[Funky Flump]

Yeah, I love a good story and thats carried me through a few bad mechanics and games here and there

 

[starwarsgeek]

Knights of the Old Republic 2 is one of my favorite games. I consider its story to be one of the best in the expanded universe, and--out of what I've read and played--the best Star Wars story since the original trilogy, and it gets bonus points for working its genre into the plot

The gameplay is pretty decent, but Lucas Arts forced them into a rushed Christmas release (cashing in on the first game's popularity, I guess). The gameplay can be buggy and there was a lot of cut content. I guess a good enough story can redeem a sloppy gameplay experience for me.

 

[baddude1337]

I always thought gameplay in Metal Gear games was a bit stiff, but being a massive fan of the series I love the story, even if Metal Gear Solid 4 was basically a movie with hardly any gameplay, which was a shame because the first 2 chapters in that game were the best in the series.

A game that counteracts this is Final Fantasy 13, though the story is a bit crap to begin with anyway as you have to read loads of text to understand whats going on, but it was interesting but the gameplay bored me so much I couldn't play more than 10 or so hours.

 

[General_Tragg]

I really enjoyed Enslaved which I'll admit doesn't have the best game play ever, good story though even if it was let down somewhat by the ending, wanting to know what happened next is what kept me playing.

Bad voice acting can really kill a game for me, I was intrigued by Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom, got the demo in the beasty talking like he swapped his brain for a sandwich everytime you do something I couldn't deal with that. Similarly I'm not sure I'll get the new tomb raider when it comes out, her voice just annoys me, I don't mind the accent so much, though it does cross my mind that the american developers are only aware of 2 types of british accent, it's just that she sounds like she's having trouble talking and thinking at the same time, and it really irks me. I can deal with that for the whole game....

 

[weker]

Deadly premonition is all i can say hands down is a game where gameplay is in last place

Crap. Wish i read the comments first. I rented this over christmas. Played for about 20 minutes and turned it off. Then i gave it a second go cos i had nothing else to do and i loved it.

The game itself is a paradox as it is not only the worst but the best game in history.
but it also the only unique game I know of that has nothing like it.

 

[CleverCover]

Yes. Yes it can.
I play all my games for the story lately, which means I'm probably missing out on great games with excellent gameplay but bad stories...but meeeeh.