Games with great story but bad gameplay

[TheRussian]

Spec Ops: The Li-

Spec Ops: the Line.

Spec Ops: The Line

I've been ninja'd to spec ops

Spec Ops

Spec Ops - The Line

Ah. Not that I didn't see this coming... But still.
I think the bad gameplay seemed almost deliberate. Upon first hearing this before playing I assumed it was a copout by fans who were trying to make excuses, but then I played it and suddenly it seemed a lot more clear.

Yeah, the gameplay is intentionally made to mimic the average modern military game. Creating something unique that was fun to play and different from all the other games would have completely missed the point. It saddens me to see that so many people completely missed the fact that it was trying to be the same as every other shooter in order to effectively fulfill its role as a commentary on the state of modern military shooters.

Yes! Thank you! It seems the three of us understand that Spec Ops' bland gameplay was completely intentional. What's interesting to me is that the characters sort of acknowledge this fact, through exasperation around the combat.

 

[Lovely Mixture]

I can't think of too many games at the moment, but the one that sticks in my mind is the first Yakuza. But it's story is average and the gameplay isn't bad but the amount of battles it forces you into makes you never want to play it again after you complete it.

I'd say Xenosaga II, I tried it on whim cause it looked fun and I enjoyed the setting despite the anime cliches but
I never got past the fifth boss no matter how much I grinded and I could never work up motivation to finish it because the gameplay didn't interest me anymore.

And all this Spec-Ops talk is making me realize I need to play it in order to discuss it.

 

[Elgnirp100]

I am going to go ahead and start a war of Escapist vs. me by saying MGS1.

What can I say? I loved the story more than any video game story in a long time, but the gameplay just left me with an overall feeling of "meh".

It may be because I've only played recently and am used to games with better controls, but the sneaking bits just felt like a chore and the fighting (except the boss battles, they were AWESOME) just felt plain bad.

MGS2, 3 and 4 on the other hand...(I haven't gotten round to playing Peace Walker yet, but I'm sure it will be just as good)

 

[The_Scrivener]

Final Fantasy VIII.

The Walking Dead Game.

 

[The_Scrivener]

I am going to go ahead and start a war of Escapist vs. me by saying MGS1.

What can I say? I loved the story more than any video game story in a long time, but the gameplay just left me with an overall feeling of "meh".

It may be because I've only played recently and am used to games with better controls, but the sneaking bits just felt like a chore and the fighting (except the boss battles, they were AWESOME) just felt plain bad.

MGS2, 3 and 4 on the other hand...(I haven't gotten round to playing Peace Walker yet, but I'm sure it will be just as good)

The gameplay was fine. Except it wasn't.

I fully agree with you. The gameplay was a bunch of good ideas and none of them were polished. That game handles garbage.

To be honest, I don't get the appeal of the story either. That game's "cutscenes" are so long and they don't tell anything that hasn't been told 1000 times in every crappy Tom Clancy novel.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Alpha Protocol should be the immediate answer for this question every time.

I've never actually played this but every time I hear about good stories in gaming but with...bad gaming, this is the title that comes up.

---

Would Heavy Rain count? I don't feel there was enough gameplay but since it's exclusive to the PS3 I guess it would count. I wouldn't say the story was great either honestly but I'm not going to say it was a bad story. It was a good enough story for me to have enjoyed it the first time but I had no desire to go back and try it again.

 

[Lovely Mixture]

I am going to go ahead and start a war of Escapist vs. me by saying MGS1.

What can I say? I loved the story more than any video game story in a long time, but the gameplay just left me with an overall feeling of "meh".

It may be because I've only played recently and am used to games with better controls, but the sneaking bits just felt like a chore and the fighting (except the boss battles, they were AWESOME) just felt plain bad.

MGS2, 3 and 4 on the other hand...(I haven't gotten round to playing Peace Walker yet, but I'm sure it will be just as good)

Not at all.

I'd only war with you over MGS4 because I think the gameplay and story are both awful.

To be honest, I don't get the appeal of the story either. That game's "cutscenes" are so long and they don't tell anything that hasn't been told 1000 times in every crappy Tom Clancy novel.

I'd say it's the characters that make it so memorable. I'd also argue about there's also underlying themes in each game but it's perfectly understandable if you don't enjoy it.

 

[CityofTreez]

Bioshock. Incredibly well written story, floaty easily broken combat.

I've heard this since the game came out and I still don't get it. Bio 2 did improve its gameplay, (And I'm not saying Bioshock's gameplay is perfect, either) but the amount of times I've heard the original have "broken" or "terrible" gameplay is baffling to me.

 

[Lovely Mixture]

Bioshock. Incredibly well written story, floaty easily broken combat.

I've heard this since the game came out and I still don't get it. Bio 2 did improve its gameplay, (And I'm not saying Bioshock's gameplay is perfect, either) but the amount of times I've heard the original have "broken" or "terrible" gameplay is baffling to me.

I've never heard the game-play called terrible. But it's definitely broken, the tonics allow you to do so much (become invisible, make your hits electric, make it so you get health when you hit the enemy) and have no backdraw. It doesn't force you to change strategies as you're a god compared to everyone else.

 

[CityofTreez]

Bioshock. Incredibly well written story, floaty easily broken combat.

I've heard this since the game came out and I still don't get it. Bio 2 did improve its gameplay, (And I'm not saying Bioshock's gameplay is perfect, either) but the amount of times I've heard the original have "broken" or "terrible" gameplay is baffling to me.

I've never heard the game-play called terrible. But it's definitely broken, the tonics allow you to do so much (become invisible, make your hits electric, make it so you get health when you hit the enemy) and have no backdraw. It doesn't force you to change strategies as you're a god compared to everyone else.

The tonics could have drawback (do they in Bio 2?) but playing on hard/survivor makes some of the tonics very valuable. For example having static charge and natural camo equipped is extremely valuable for stealth. It does get rather easy the more your progress in the game, though.

 

[Iwata]

I'd say the Halo series. They never quite gripped me as FPS games, they feel like an introduction to the genre, almost a tutorial-level game, but I do rather like the setting and try to keep up with the story.

Are you being satirical here? I've heard many criticisms of Halo but never that it didn't have solid FPS gameplay

Not at all! And mind you, I didn't dislike the games. I just felt they played it far too safe, to the point that, like I said, it almost felt like a tutorial to the rest of the genre.

 

[snappydog]

Shadow of Memories, which I believe was released as Shadow of Destiny in the US.
Amazing story, it really is, but the gameplay is... it's not so appalling that I couldn't make it through six or seven playthroughs trying to get as many endings as I could, but it isn't exactly brilliant either. I mean... to be honest, it could have been released as a point-and-click and it wouldn't have made any difference, the only discernible thing that sets it apart from a point-and-click is that you actually control the walking from one item to another and so on. (As far as I remember. It's been a while.)

 

[Ren_Li]

Oh hi, every-Bioware-game-ever.

Oh alright, that's a little bit unkind, but with the exception of Mass Effect 2, where I rather enjoyed the combat as well, I've almost always viewed Bioware's actual gameplay as something to get through so I can enjoy the next conversation scene.

Damn, I was about to post just this.

Yeeup. I wouldn't call the gameplay "terrible" (oh, okay Jade Empire, for you I will make an exception) but looking through my Bioware games, I would agree that the gameplay is definitely just something to hold the story and the dialogue together.
Although I though ME3 was better, in gameplay terms, than ME2. (Possibly I'm biased because ME2 could never "pull me in" even with the characters. Three conversations with Garrus on the ship?! THREE?! And someone turn off FemShep's autoflirt before she beds someone I didn't want her to!) I'm currently re-playing the first Mass Effect though and arg frustration.

Back on topic, I'm also going to agree with the comments on Dragon Age: Origins. The second game, as glaring as it's flaws were, made the combat feel much more fluid and alive. Not great, but BETTER.

I love Bioware games. I've yet to play a none-Bioware game that held my attention for as long as a Bioware one, or that I came back to as often. But take away the story, the conversations, and the characters and leave me with just the gameplay, and... Yeah.

 

[Tanis]

The Longest Journey
GREAT story, good characters, nice music, interesting locations.
Too bad it was BORING to play, with most puzzles being 'look up the FAQ because this thing is broke yo.
-Hell, and I LIKE point-n-click adventures.

Oh, I've been meaning to find out about the Longest Journey. Is it great, I just bought but I'm not sure whether to install it?

It's one of those weird games where the logic 'this goes with this to open that' puzzles aren't very, well, LOGICAL at times...

But it's still a classic that one should play if can.

The characters are pretty good and, at the time, were PUSHING THE ENVELOPE.

Hell the first HUMAN you meet is a lesbian that talks about her sex life.
XD

 

[deviltry]

Mass Effect - the most bland gaming experience ever.
Spec Ops: The Line - way too generic.

 

[xshadowscreamx]

NEIR had a good story
as for gameplay? well i think a seasoned jrpg'er will have a more valid opinion but it was not too bad infact pretty good and the boss fight where interesting, it was just the mostly boring sidemissions and boring locations, but the grind back to old locations was horrible, well particularly if you did alot of the side-missions.

 

[OpticalJunction]

Geneforge, all of them. Actually spiderweb games in general tend to have crappy outdated gameplay features and amazing storylines.

 

[Nazulu]

Bioshock. Incredibly well written story, floaty easily broken combat.

I'm surprised this didn't pop up sooner.

I don't know about broken but the combat does feel very clunky and I noticed some of the enemy's didn't take damage straight after the first hit. I would like to go back to it but I just found the game play really mediocre.

Are there mods for this?

 

[Saviordd1]

Oh hi, every-Bioware-game-ever.

Oh alright, that's a little bit unkind, but with the exception of Mass Effect 2, where I rather enjoyed the combat as well, I've almost always viewed Bioware's actual gameplay as something to get through so I can enjoy the next conversation scene.

Eh, Mass Effect 3 and Jade Empire were enjoyable. And DA was to me (Then again I know I'm in a huge minority there)
but overall this.

I might have named a few exceptions but when you come down to it all the way from KOTOR up had combat that made me fall asleep (ESPECIALLY Kotor).

 

[Saviordd1]

The Walking Dead Game.

Wait, there was a game attached to my favorite "Choose your own adventure" comic?!?