Gameplay-Driven vs Story-Driven Games

[hanselthecaretaker]

Interesting feature [http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/TommyThompson/20190130/335238/Behind_The_AI_of_Horizon_Zero_Dawn_Part_1.php] on Horizon: Zero Dawn?s AI prompted this topic. I?d love for their next game to be more gameplay-driven with minimal story/narrative. I liked H:ZD?s story but it?s really not what I played the game for, or what made it fun.

I?m also playing through The Witcher 3 now and I think I?m at the end of the Bloody Baron quest, because I?m about to collect payment from the Baron. I?m left thinking that as good as it was, I?d hate for most of the quests to be this time consuming. It started getting frustrating feeling like I was being led on a string, or on a wild goose chase so to speak. I like the story, but I keep thinking I could just be watching this on YouTube instead if that?s the main goal of the game.

I think I?ve gone full circle on this. Games used to be all about gameplay with the most basic story outside of a few exceptions. Then when CGI and FMV became more prevalent, story and narrative were brought more into the limelight. To me I was in awe of this approach until around Final Fantasy 9. From a technical standpoint it peaked with The Last of Us, because Naughty Dog is pretty much impeccable at it. But now I?m increasingly weary of it when realizing how far gameplay advancements have lagged behind. It?s why the SoulsBorne stuff was so appealing to me because the story was basically discovered through the gameplay, and you could progress at any pace or approach you liked, with the main limiting factor being skill.

Again though, a caveat there would be that the game design could be more dynamic instead of stat-based, because hacking away at something for one minute instead of ten isn?t exactly forward-thinking design. I?m hoping Sekiro makes more steps towards this, where playing intelligently or creatively will be more rewarding and successful.

 

[Lufia Erim]

I personally play for story. Why i am doing something is just as much as what i' doing. If The story is trash it won't hold my attention very long. Like the division.

Of course exceptions to this are Fighting games and the like ( Rythm, dance, arcade).

 

[Yoshi178]

gameplay. why would i play video games for story? i can just go the cinemas and watch a movie if i want story.

.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I like that I have a choice of one or the other, maybe 20% story focus vs. 80% gameplay or vice versa, depended on what I'm in the mood for. But generally there needs to be somekind of narrative hook, whether it's through dialoge or environmental storytelling, to pull me into a game. I need to feel like the setting of the game has some texture to it. Gameplay only entertains in the moment, a game's story/charaters/world entertains long after you've stopped playing. As much as I liked Monster Boy I can't say it's preoccupied my thoughts at all once I was done with it.

 

[sXeth]

I'd say you can make a near-100% (there's still gonna be some story in how the visuals are presented or the names of things) gameplay game, and generally do well with it.

The reverse is, maybe 1 in a million odds. You'd need both an incredible story and a solid foundation for why its not just a movie/book/etc. The closest you get is maybe the Telltale-esque stuff, but that's already kind of questionable as games, and the interactivity that semi-justifies that in most of those is just a blatant lie because of the difficulty of actually implementing a narrative around player choice.

 

[Lufia Erim]

I'd say you can make a near-100% (there's still gonna be some story in how the visuals are presented or the names of things) gameplay game, and generally do well with it.

The reverse is, maybe 1 in a million odds. You'd need both an incredible story and a solid foundation for why its not just a movie/book/etc. The closest you get is maybe the Telltale-esque stuff, but that's already kind of questionable as games, and the interactivity that semi-justifies that in most of those is just a blatant lie because of the difficulty of actually implementing a narrative around player choice.

You mean like visual novels? Or walking simulators? Both of which have gotten critical acclaim on this site ( and elsewhere ) in the past.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

Gameplay driven for sure. Games very rarely offer writing on par with just OK works in other mediums so why would I play a game for story when I can go elsewhere for that? That's not saying games shouldn't try for solid writing because that can be a very good reason to want to push forward. Though, gameplay should always the priority because as Yoshi basically said why am I PLAYING the game if the gameplay sucks and I'm only here for the story? I think the best games meld gameplay and story to create something special whether it's something serious and "cinematic" like TLOU or something completely bonkers wacky like Bayonetta or something like a Team ICO game where the gameplay subtlely creates an emotion connection with the characters. I think that's the important blend that makes a game most imprinted on your memory vs when someone ask you about XYZ game that you played over 10 years back and you're like "oh yeah, that was a fun game" and that's about all you got. With that said, a game can just do that just on gameplay alone if you get super into where you feel like you mastered it like how people have such fond memories of Halo MP or Smash Bros or SOCOM back in the day, much like a former professional sports athlete can talk all day about the intricacies of their sport.

I?m also playing through The Witcher 3 now and I think I?m at the end of the Bloody Baron quest, because I?m about to collect payment from the Baron. I?m left thinking that as good as it was, I?d hate for most of the quests to be this time consuming. It started getting frustrating feeling like I was being led on a string, or on a wild goose chase so to speak. I like the story, but I keep thinking I could just be watching this on YouTube instead if that?s the main goal of the game.

I totally felt the same way about Witcher 3 because I really found the gameplay mind-numblingly boring and I really only cared about the story beats. I definitely felt I could've gotten all the "good stuff" out of the game by just watching a 10 or so hour Witcher 3 "movie" on Youtube and saved probably 100 hours and did something much more worthwhile in that time instead. And there's very few RPG decisions to be made during the game either, it's not even on par with a David Cage or Telltale game in that department either. I totally don't get the hype for Cyberpunk because CDPR have yet to prove they can make a good GAME.

 

[Casual Shinji]

And there's very few RPG decisions to be made during the game either, it's not even on par with a David Cage or Telltale game in that department either.

How's that? You make decisions during the narrative all the time. The difference being that it's more about putting the player in a moral chokehold, rather than a choice mechanic that incourages the player to simply game the system.

You'll have a random encounter where a bunch of farmers in an occupied territory are ready to hang an enemy soldier. The farmers have had family and loved ones killed by the invaders and are totally justified in their grief and anger, but the soldier is actually a deserter who just wants to leave the battlefield to see his wife and daughter again. Do you let the farmers just hang this innocent guy so they can have some catharsis, or do you help the deserter meaning you have to kill these farmers? And this is before you know whether this guy is actually telling the truth.

This isn't on par with David Cage or Telltale, because it's way, way better.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

I like both kinds of games but most of the stuff I play is story-driven. I love things like visual novels and whatnot.


There are some games like bayonetta or bloodborne where the gameplay is what you're there for, also most fighters (though my fav series Blazblue combines visual novel storymodes that last for tens of hours with excellent gameplay) so it's not like I don't care about those games.



I'd never watch a game on youtube, the experience is not the same when you're not the one doing the things and are just watching it. It feels a hell of a lot less personal. Also for the witcher specifically, you lose control of your choice-making which is a huge issue if you decide to watch it on youtube.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I kinda like a nice balance between gameplay and story. I love a good story, but I also want to live the story and not just passively observe it. If I wanted to do that I'd just go watch TV or a movie, or read a book or something.

 

[skywolfblue]

I kinda like a nice balance between gameplay and story. I love a good story, but I also want to live the story and not just passively observe it. If I wanted to do that I'd just go watch TV or a movie, or read a book or something.

I will second this.

Games that go to one extreme or the other don't end up being as good. '
I don't care for visual novels, and I don't love games without story. HZD would not have been as good if it did have it's compelling story.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

I don't think those two are irreconcilable. When it comes to Open World games I will say I prefer set piece driven ones like the Red Dead Redemption series or the first two Mafia games over mechanics driven ones like Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Metal Gear Solid V.

I'not necessarily a great defender of using the term "cinematic" when discussing games because I feel like comparing it to film is selling the unique narrative capabilities of the medium short. Video games are something very much separate from film and storytelling works differently in them. And the way storytelling works in games fascinates me to no end.

I enjoy games like Dark Souls or Bloodborne for their gameplay to be sure but I find their way to convey information even more interesting. I love games as a narrative medium.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

I prefer games that aren't on either extreme end. I'm not a fan of Walking Simulators where the game is basically all story and you just wandering around looking at things but I also find that I tend to get burned out quickly on games where there's no story at all because once it starts getting really difficult and/or tedious, I tend to lose my motivation to finish it.

Other than that I can usually get behind any combination of story and gameplay combination.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Boring answer but ideally you get both. Gameplay makes the game fun, story makes it memorable.

 

[sXeth]

I'd say you can make a near-100% (there's still gonna be some story in how the visuals are presented or the names of things) gameplay game, and generally do well with it.

The reverse is, maybe 1 in a million odds. You'd need both an incredible story and a solid foundation for why its not just a movie/book/etc. The closest you get is maybe the Telltale-esque stuff, but that's already kind of questionable as games, and the interactivity that semi-justifies that in most of those is just a blatant lie because of the difficulty of actually implementing a narrative around player choice.

You mean like visual novels? Or walking simulators? Both of which have gotten critical acclaim on this site ( and elsewhere ) in the past.

Pop music wins grammys. Hokey sitcoms regularly win awards. Avatar is one of the most successful movies ever made.

I did start with "I'd say", so feel free to hold your own opinion. And I'll just wonder why people playing those don't just watch a movie.

And 'this site"? I never really did hang out here for the video game reviews, so that's hardly an argument to sway me. Probably a good thing really. Considering we had that long period of maybe 1 review every 5 months. And nowadays the Review feed doesn't subsort, so its just clogged up by MovieBob doing his spew at a 4 or 6 to 1 ratio to the videogame ones.

Visual Novels already kind of give up the idea just with the name. They're literally called novels.

I can't think of a single one of the Choose your Own Adventure games that has managed to keep any of the initial momentum, as episodes kept rolling in and the wider populace realized how little the choices really did.

Most "walking simulators" do aspire to have some sort of puzzle game content.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

I'd say you can make a near-100% (there's still gonna be some story in how the visuals are presented or the names of things) gameplay game, and generally do well with it.

The reverse is, maybe 1 in a million odds. You'd need both an incredible story and a solid foundation for why its not just a movie/book/etc. The closest you get is maybe the Telltale-esque stuff, but that's already kind of questionable as games, and the interactivity that semi-justifies that in most of those is just a blatant lie because of the difficulty of actually implementing a narrative around player choice.

You mean like visual novels? Or walking simulators? Both of which have gotten critical acclaim on this site ( and elsewhere ) in the past.

Pop music wins grammys. Hokey sitcoms regularly win awards. Avatar is one of the most successful movies ever made.

I did start with "I'd say", so feel free to hold your opinion. And I'll just wonder why people playing those don't just watch a movie.

And 'this site"? I never really did hang out here for the video game reviews, so that's hardly an argument to sway me.

Visual Novels already kind of give up the idea just with the name. They're literally called novels.

I can't think of a single one of the Choose your Own Adventure games that has managed to keep any of the initial momentum, as episodes kept rolling in and the wider populace realized how little the choices really did.

Most "walking simulators" do aspire to have some sort of puzzle game content.

There's a lot of visual novel hybrids nowadays like Tears to Tiara 2 and the Utawarerumono series. Basically they have Srpg gameplay like final fantasy tactics or fire emblem but the story parts are all like a visual novel until a battle happens.

 

[Worgen]

Ideally you get a mix but really good gameplay will triumph over a bad story before bad gameplay will be bearable with a great story.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Ideally you get a mix but really good gameplay will triumph over a bad story before bad gameplay will be bearable with a great story.

I think that depends on the genre. If it's a Jrpg then the story being good is prolly more important wheres if you have a fighting game with a terrible combat system but good storymode then it's the reverse.

 

[Dalisclock]

I'm in the camp that says ideally you have a good mix of both. Going too far to either extreme limits how long it's compelling. The best walking sims can be engaging for a few hours but not longer and the same with games that are "Do what you want" with no/minimal story. There's only so many times I can play "Shoot/stab the guy, conquer the fort and take the stuff" with no reason to justify it.

With no story/bad story even the best gameplay loses any real context to keep going once the mechanics start to get routine and no gameplay means I'm pretty much just there to keep following the story, so the story/atmosphere need to hold up the entire load.

Granted, I've harped on this before, pacing means a lot here. A 40 hour game needs to feel like those 40 hours are justified, not 5 hours of game/story with 35 hours on grinding tacked on. If you only have 5 hours of worthwhile material, make the game 5 hours long and price it accordingly.

 

[Something Amyss]

Depends on my mood, I guess. I play more story-oriented games from time-to-time. I also play multiplayer shooters and MMOs.

Interesting feature [http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/TommyThompson/20190130/335238/Behind_The_AI_of_Horizon_Zero_Dawn_Part_1.php] on Horizon: Zero Dawn?s AI prompted this topic. I?d love for their next game to be more gameplay-driven with minimal story/narrative. I liked H:ZD?s story but it?s really not what I played the game for, or what made it fun.

I didn't enjoy HZD's gameplay at all. I considered checking out the difficulty that focused on sdetting, but couldn't find the energy to care because the gameplay bits didn't interest me.