Poll: Story or Gameplay?

[Justanothergamer300]

It was just a thought a had. How come games with interesting stories have crappy game play ( Silent Hill) or a game with good game play (Gears of War 1 & 2) have a crappy story. Why can't developers do a good job in both fields?

 

[WayOutThere]

I voted for your 3rd option. I say we should have story through gameplay (a la FEAR).

Edit: As to why games with great stories have bad gameplay I don't know. It use to be because of technological limitations though that does not apply today.

 

[Radeonx]

You do realize that your opinion doesn't determine a crappy story, right? With that said, developers do use both. Although, I'd rather have great gameplay and a half decent story then a fantastic story, but unable to play the game.

 

[Phoenix Arrow]

You see, I was all set to say gameplay. But then you pulled out Silent Hill as an example.
Gameplay in Silent Hill isn't THAT bad. It isn't good, but it doesn't put you off the game.

 

[Kajin]

I was prepared to start yelling at you for not including a third option before I actually noticed the third option.

Good for you! Take a figurative cookie.

Good story? That's great. Good gameplay? That's great. Both? Yay!

 

[Urgh76]

both duh but i see your point, they only do half of the job most of the time

 

[Guitar Gamer]

gameplay for me generally but a good story tops it off for me, if I have fun playing a game almost nothing else matters, unless the story is A grade and it is such eye candy that I can't resist looking around but for me game play is generally whats #1

 

[DrDeath3191]

While I like both, gameplay should be the main focus in any game.

 

[Logic 0]

They can be good in both fields just look at Final fantasy tatics.

 

[Wakefield]

I will play a game with bad gameplay but good story before I'll play a game with good gameplay and terrible story. If you have a terrible story it just breaks the immersion.

 

[Lord Beautiful]

It'd be lovely to have both, but gameplay wins over story in terms of importance. Sure, a good story makes you want to play through a game, but good gameplay makes you want to play through it again.

 

[quack35]

Gee, I wonder what people will pick...

 

[Tdc2182]

I voted for your 3rd option. I say we should have story through gameplay (a la FEAR).

Edit: As to why games with great stories have bad gameplay I don't know. It use to be because of technological limitations though that does not apply today.

Thank you. That is a ver underated game which I thought had a very good story. Same thing with the condemned games. Yeah when you became a Super Saiyan at the end of that game, that was a bit much, but they have alot of opportunity for the next game.

 

[Justanothergamer300]

You see, I was all set to say gameplay. But then you pulled out Silent Hill as an example.
Gameplay in Silent Hill isn't THAT bad. It isn't good, but it doesn't put you off the game.

I that was on me.
It wasn't bad, hell it didn't stop me from beating the game but still it could be better

 

[theSovietConnection]

I will take poor gameplay over a bad story any day. A good enough story can get me to play through even the worst of controls.

 

[Clashero]

I'd rather have a fantastic story with minimal gameplay, than pure gameplay glee and a terrible story (which is actually worse than no story). See Dreamfall and The Longest Journey for examples.

 

[IncindiaryPickle]

I'll take gameplay over story any day. I play games for gameplay, I'll watch a movie if I want a story.

 

[Generator]

Good point, it does usually seem that way. Of course, if you can strike a balance, that is the ideal development, but usually it is just sort of one or the other. I'm not really sure which I like more, though.

 

[Gigaguy64]

as with most things a happy mediem is the best, but i can suffer through a bad story if the game play is good.

 

[A Weary Exile]

You see, I was all set to say gameplay. But then you pulled out Silent Hill as an example.
Gameplay in Silent Hill isn't THAT bad. It isn't good, but it doesn't put you off the game.

It really does not interfere with the gameplay that much and the story keeps you going waiting to see what's next. Although I must say there are some parts that are extremley difficult (Two Pyramid Heads, Final Boss) that screw up the game's flow.

OP:Both should have equal importance. With all the money developers get for making games are you telling me that they can't hire half-decent writers? If I had to choose one though I'd say gameplay because I can just ignore the story (But I'd prefer not to) and just mindlessly play the game.