This should be a fun one. There's some games out there that are just not very fun to play for whatever reason, maybe they are broken, maybe they are tedious and boring, maybe the mechanics just aren't tuned properly. For whatever reason, playing the game just SUCKS... unfortunately some of these crappy games contain AMAZING stories. So let's take a moment and point out all the great video game stories that deserved a far better game.
Great Stories that deserve Better Games
- Thread starter aozgolo
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This should be painless...
Well, Bioshock: Infinite apparently has a fantastic story. Unfortunately I couldn't finish it, because the shooting action was a god awful mess. In this case I'd say the setting and visual design deserved better gameplay.
Well, Bioshock: Infinite apparently has a fantastic story. Unfortunately I couldn't finish it, because the shooting action was a god awful mess. In this case I'd say the setting and visual design deserved better gameplay.
Enslaved, the story is great (well, at least its VERY well presented) but the gameplay really is barebones to the point of being tedious.
Spec Ops The Line, as it is the gameplay is completely serviceble but it could be a lot more then that (and that whole angle of "they made it mediocre on purpose" while somewhat valid doesnt change the fact that they didnt do it better because they couldnt).
Mafia 2, while I understand that the game is a linear story game with a big map (seriously, a big map doesnt mean sandbox game) they really fucked themselfs by not making it a sandbox game with sandbox elements since everyone complained that there wasnt much to do other then the story hurting the sales. It could have been a more succesfull title with some more little effort put into that part of it to avoid such criticism.
Spec Ops The Line, as it is the gameplay is completely serviceble but it could be a lot more then that (and that whole angle of "they made it mediocre on purpose" while somewhat valid doesnt change the fact that they didnt do it better because they couldnt).
Mafia 2, while I understand that the game is a linear story game with a big map (seriously, a big map doesnt mean sandbox game) they really fucked themselfs by not making it a sandbox game with sandbox elements since everyone complained that there wasnt much to do other then the story hurting the sales. It could have been a more succesfull title with some more little effort put into that part of it to avoid such criticism.
As before said Spec Ops the Line was horrid to play, so much so that after an hour I gave up and almost never played again! But the story is the same as Far Cry 2 & 3 so there we go.
Xenosaga would be my pick. I really wanted to get into this series, but the first game is so godawful it killed my desire to check out the reportedly improved sequels. Story was interesting and the villain was fantastic, though.
As much as I LOVE both of these games, Bioshock Infinite and The Walking Dead. AMAZING stories hindered by mediocre shooting in the former and almost non-existant gameplay in the latter.
Too Human. It had a really cool futuristic, technomancy, Norse mythology story which was pretty awesome, but the game play was awful even compared to other mediocre hack and slash games.
I really loved going through the game (even though the twist was a bit obvious) because I'm a huge Norse mythology nut, but it would have been so much better if I wasn't cringing every four seconds because of how bad the game play was.
I really loved going through the game (even though the twist was a bit obvious) because I'm a huge Norse mythology nut, but it would have been so much better if I wasn't cringing every four seconds because of how bad the game play was.
Ooh, I got a ton of these. haha
First and foremost is Hyperdimension Neptunia. Love the game, love the characters, but it just seems like they can't get combat right. Then again, I haven't played past 2 yet, unfortunately.
Another is Fire Emblem: Awakening, but not in the usual sense. The gameplay for the game fits perfectly, but when you're just grinding up zombies to see everyone's support conversations, it gets really old fast.
Finally.... Parappa the Rapper. i love his game, I really do. The characters, the songs, the aesthetics, c'est magnifique. But I can not for the life of me out rap a giant talking chicken, and I have no idea why. I follow the screen and time the buttons perfectly? failed. I follow the beat? failed. Maybe I'm just bad at rhythm games or something, but a little more response telling me how i fucked up would be nice
First and foremost is Hyperdimension Neptunia. Love the game, love the characters, but it just seems like they can't get combat right. Then again, I haven't played past 2 yet, unfortunately.
Another is Fire Emblem: Awakening, but not in the usual sense. The gameplay for the game fits perfectly, but when you're just grinding up zombies to see everyone's support conversations, it gets really old fast.
Finally.... Parappa the Rapper. i love his game, I really do. The characters, the songs, the aesthetics, c'est magnifique. But I can not for the life of me out rap a giant talking chicken, and I have no idea why. I follow the screen and time the buttons perfectly? failed. I follow the beat? failed. Maybe I'm just bad at rhythm games or something, but a little more response telling me how i fucked up would be nice
Don't get mad at me: Mass Effect.
I think its really cool all the lore that they put into the game. But its not intertwined into things at all; its all kept in massive paragraphs on a menu. And the gameplay just never really engaged me so I couldn't even finish the first installment. It does seem like a really cool Sci-Fi world though.
I think its really cool all the lore that they put into the game. But its not intertwined into things at all; its all kept in massive paragraphs on a menu. And the gameplay just never really engaged me so I couldn't even finish the first installment. It does seem like a really cool Sci-Fi world though.
Definitely the first Mass Effect game. The game had an incredible story with some of the best writing of any game this generation. However, the terrible AI, clunky controls, horrible Mako segments, and constant frame rate issues definitely held the game back. I've never been able to play through the game without loosing interest at some point and picking up another game for a few weeks. I always finish it, but the story and characters are the only reason I bother to deal with its gameplay.
I just beat Binary Domain and the story and characters were awesome, the gameplay was just good enough, but with Vanquish's gameplay, Binary Domain would be one of the best games of the gen.
I really don't get how the shooting was god awful. I'm a pretty serious hardcore shooter gamer (I won't play BF and COD because there's no leaning) and nothing about Infinite is bad from a shooting perspective. The game is all about using power weapons in combination with vigors to do awesome shit. I was quickscoping with the sniper rifle just fine and without any aim-assist (unlike COD). Yeah, using a standard machine gun is very average in Infinite but you really shouldn't be using it unless you're in a pinch and even going for the scavenger achievement/trophy on 1999 mode, you shouldn't be using standard weapons much either.Casual Shinji said:
The story didn't end up being anything great. The 2nd game was the best from a gameplay perspective, I loved the battle system. The 3rd game went back to a simple and boring JRPG combat system again, it was more fun than the 1st game but not by much.OrpheusTelos said:
The entire Bioshock franchise would be much better if the excellent stories were complimenting excellent gameplay rather than compensating for mediocre gameplay.
Planescape Torment is a game I could never get into because the amazing writing can't fully make up for the bad combat.
Xenoblade has on of the best stories in a videogame, but the gameplay is absolutely nothing special.
Planescape Torment is a game I could never get into because the amazing writing can't fully make up for the bad combat.
Xenoblade has on of the best stories in a videogame, but the gameplay is absolutely nothing special.
Final Fantasy 8. Somewhere in here, there's a good story, minus all of the poorly-written romance between an angster and an idiot. Squall's "face" at the end (Look at Faceless Squall in Images and cross your fingers that Rule 34 won't show up) could proabably have an interesting story behind it, other than meaningless symbolism.
It's an interesting story and premise, but it's so caped in shit.
Persona 3, also. They turned a story about normal people having to accept reality and their cessational future into every high school kid in Japan having a convenient tragic backstory. Seriously.
Yukari's got mommy issues and a dead dad.
Ken's mother died because of Shinjiro.
Shinjiro's entire family is dead.
Akihiko's sister died in a fire.
Mitsuru watched BOTH, not one, BUT BOTH of her parents die in front of her.
Junpei's dad is an abusive alcoholic.
Kuromaru's owner is dead, and he feels he has no meaning in his life.
It's all so convenient and set-up, even the fucking dog's got a tragic backstory that the player needs to fix.
Persona 4, also. 1 and 2 had better stories, but probably worse execution gameplay wise. Persona 3+4 still have good stories, but worse execution (somehow). In P4's case, it's the grinding. I'd level the entire party - even characters I don't use in boss battles - up to their neccesary level in order to keep the main character ahead about 5 levels, to cut down on the grinding later on.
And Costume Quest. I love the game's art and humour, but the battle system is directly cloned from Paper Mario. I also love Paper Mario, but I spent $10 on something that wasn't Paper Mario, damnit. Now dance, monkey!
It's an interesting story and premise, but it's so caped in shit.
Persona 3, also. They turned a story about normal people having to accept reality and their cessational future into every high school kid in Japan having a convenient tragic backstory. Seriously.
Yukari's got mommy issues and a dead dad.
Ken's mother died because of Shinjiro.
Shinjiro's entire family is dead.
Akihiko's sister died in a fire.
Mitsuru watched BOTH, not one, BUT BOTH of her parents die in front of her.
Junpei's dad is an abusive alcoholic.
Kuromaru's owner is dead, and he feels he has no meaning in his life.
It's all so convenient and set-up, even the fucking dog's got a tragic backstory that the player needs to fix.
Persona 4, also. 1 and 2 had better stories, but probably worse execution gameplay wise. Persona 3+4 still have good stories, but worse execution (somehow). In P4's case, it's the grinding. I'd level the entire party - even characters I don't use in boss battles - up to their neccesary level in order to keep the main character ahead about 5 levels, to cut down on the grinding later on.
And Costume Quest. I love the game's art and humour, but the battle system is directly cloned from Paper Mario. I also love Paper Mario, but I spent $10 on something that wasn't Paper Mario, damnit. Now dance, monkey!