Weekend Hot Topic, part 1: How much do you care about video game stories?

I’ve always been a sucker for a good story in a video game. For me, it increases immersion. The first story that really blew me away was Zelda: Ocarina Of Time and now, whilst I do play games that don’t feature memorable stories, the ones that stay with me are the ones that feature interesting stories.

The rise of the walking simulator has been fantastic for me, as they’re story-driven and usually have short running times. In recent years I’ve really enjoyed Firewatch, The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter, Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture, Life Is Strange, and I’m trying to find the time for What Remains Of Edith Finch and Life Is Strange: Before the Storm.

I do think that developers are getting better at writing interesting stories, maybe mainly indie developers, so I hope this trend continues. Stories that explore the grey areas rather than being black and white stand out to me, the ones that feature ethical quandaries and do not handhold the player, for example Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic II.
Matt

I’ve been saying it for years, but for most games story comes so low in the order of important attributes that it’s barely worth mentioning.

As soon as someone says something along the lines of ‘I need a good story for my games’, I instantly switch off. Apart from the fact that it means they’re prepared to overlook aspects of games that – for me – are more fundamental to their quality, it also indicates their standards for what makes a ‘good story’ must be about as low as you can get.

People are very quick to draw parallels between gaming and cinema but I’d just as soon demand to know the story behind the meal I’m eating or the crossword I’m completing.

A couple of exceptions that have made me think twice include Mass Effect (the way compelling characters are set up and introduced in the second game is unsurpassed), God Of War for its threat of genuinely interesting character development, and low interactivity games that are clearly made primarily for their stories.

Even then, though, the quality of writing is usually nowhere near that of non-interactive storytelling media which, as I suggest, implies to me that those who care so much about story either don’t know what good writing is or don’t understand what it is about certain games that they’re really enjoying.

I know that’s elitist and condescending but the number of times I’ve seen people write off classic games that purposefully – almost as if to prove a point – have minimal story makes me wonder why they got into games at all instead of sticking to books, theatre, films, and TV – all of which offer more than just the mere potential for literary enrichment.

More to the point, though, I’ve played a ton of story-based games and come up with long lists of suggestions that would make them better while I don’t think I’ve played a game and thought ‘the story needs to be better’. The only exceptions being those games where the creator has decided the story is the primary thing that warrants the game’s existence.
Panda

The only time story is genuinely important to me is when playing a role-playing game, as the story effectively is the game. Provided the characters and plot remain interesting beyond the first few acts, I will take the time to watch cut scenes and engage with all the non-player characters; the latter also as they often offer clues to further progress or initiate side quests. For most other game genres, I find story elements of casual interest but ultimately irrelevant.

Chrono Trigger is probably the game I have cared most about, owing to the depth of the characters and the way they can reshape and improve their world through optional player choice – remarkable scope for a 16-bit title. I’d also remark that music, used effectively, is a tremendous contributor and almost has an ability to tell a story by itself (check out Solace by Tettix as an example).
Graham Wade

Importance of story for me really depends on the genre. Point ‘n’ click games and role-playing games are probably the games where they are most important. A bad story or poor dialogue in a point ‘n’ click game will almost immediately stop me from playing it, an example of this being Deponia. This can’t be mitigated by good puzzle design, as a lot of puzzles require dialogue clues and if I don’t even want to hear the dialogue then there’s not much point in playing. On the other extreme, Grim Fandango has some of the worst puzzles in any point ‘n’ click game I’ve ever played, but the strong story (just about) kept me playing through.

In role-playing games while the story is important even an awful one can be saved by a good battle system. For example, Tales Of Graces has an awful story and some of the most unlikeable protagonists in a role-playing game I’ve ever seen, but I kept playing it as the battle system was the finest in the series’ history. If the game is more generic turn-based fare, then the importance of the story rises significantly. Dragon Quest V springs to mind as a game I frequently replay due to the very strong story even though the battle system is pretty bare bones.

If the game has excellent writing, like the Ben and Dan games or the Phoenix Wright series, I will watch every cut scene and talk to every character about every topic possible just to see what kind of dialogue was prepared. If the writing is subpar then I’d probably skip or button mash unless it was essential.
Lord Darkstorm

For me story is towards the bottom of the list when it comes to how much I enjoy a game, although it depends on the game really. If I am playing a narrative led game like a Telltale game or Quantic Dream type game, I’m expecting the story to be the main appeal and that the gameplay isn’t going to be that fun or involving, but for other types of games I will always put gameplay first.

I always go into a game with the hope that the story might be worth following and so I will watch the cut scenes during the first half of the game, but then I ask myself if I can recount what’s happened so far and if the answer is no than I will skip the rest of the story-related cut scenes.

As a recent example I have been playing Spider-Man and while I am finding the gameplay lots of fun, the story also has me interested as well so I will follow it through until the end. On the other hand, I had totally lost what was happening in Rise Of The Tomb Raider recently so I stopped following the story.

A narrative-based game has to have great reviews now before I will consider playing it though, as I recently played Oxenfree and was bored by the story, even though it had decent reviews. Each to their own I guess.
Angry_Kurt (Twitter)

In my opinion a good story isn’t mandatory but it’s definitely one of those things that can elevate a game from good to great. Conversely, a boring story with poor characters can have a negative effect, regardless of how good the gameplay is.

The Witcher 3 is a good example of the former. It looks amazing and the world is huge but the combat is only decent in my opinion and Geralt is a bit slidey and awkward, like he doesn’t actually have his feet planted in the world. The characters and stories in the game are what make it great.

As an example of bad stories turning me off a game, I’d offer up any number of Japanese role-playing games. They used to be my favourite genre, but so many of them have such samey storylines. I don’t want to invest 100 hours in a game if it’s just going to follow most of the story beats of the last one I played.
deckscrubber0

To me, story is the most irrelevant part of a video game. If a game doesn’t play well first and foremost then I’ll give up no matter how good a story is.

The Last Of Us is a prime example. The story I found quite engaging but the game is so very clunky that I found myself getting incredibly irate with it and to this day have never finished it. Other examples of this uneven paradox would be the worst ‘games’ I have ever played in my life: Heavy Rain, Mass Effect, and Shenmue (this last one may be a trailblazer but be honest, it plays terribly).

But then flip the coin and look at some of the titles that have little to no story but fluid or intuitive gameplay: Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, The Elder Scrolls games, Doom, Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, and Overcooked 2. All these titles and more have had me coming back time and again because playing them is fun and fluid. I couldn’t care less what their stories are about.

There have, of course, been titles that have married both story and gameplay (even visuals) to just the right degree, such as: the Wolfenstein reboots, The Witcher 3, God Of War and, on the slightly older end, Half-Life. One of my favourite titles from the last gen I’d love to see a remaster of was Singularity which also got the story/gameplay scale just right.

So gameplay-driven story can be done but if one has to suffer, I’ll give up the story first.

I just wish more devs would follow Nintendo’s example of coming up with a gameplay idea first then building a game around it rather than Naughty Dog’s of writing a story and then shoe-horning some clunky controls in as an afterthought.
Phil Spearpoint