One of the biggest complaints I see when it comes to things that get in the way of gameplay, is story. Over-emphasis of story in video games that can take away from the time spent actually playing. But is it always bad and what makes for the right balance?
How Much Does Story in Video Games Matter? – Retro Bird / How Important is Narrative in Retro Video Games?
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I honestly don't know why many retro-leaning gamers are often against story in games. I personally don't just like to destroy anything and everything in sight – I also like to know why it must be done.
Super Mario Bros. tells the tale of a magical pixel-man known as Mario. Here, Mario must slay the evil King Koopa, ruler of the anti-pixels. Mario will defeat Koopa's pixelated minions and rescue Princess Toadstool!
I just wanna blow shit up
It matters mostly on how well it fits the gameplay itself. Something like “Adventures of Lolo” or “Kirby’s Adventure” is perfectly fine with minimal story. However, some games are absolutely enhanced by having complex/interesting stories. Dark Souls, Hollow Knight, Killer7, and Final Fantasy 6/7 are absolutely improved by having such stories. But again, I think not everything needs it.
I'm both a retro and modern gamer, and I enjoy when a game has story. It may be because I'm a big RPG guy, but it's probably also my love of delving deep into the worldbuilding and lore of a game or series.
As I play more and more of the newer stuff, I feel less and less like I’m play a game. Maybe why 95% of the time I’m playing ps2 down to nes.
I often skip the story part in games. I did like the ninja gaiden story back in the day.
I also like reading stories in the manuals. I remember reading the origin of Sonic and how Donkey Kong got his bananas stolen in the manuals.
I don't dislike a large amount of story but I do dislike watching a movie that is supposed to be a video game. So it's more about a game looking too realistic for me. If I wanted to watch a movie then I wouldn't have just bought a video game.
I never got the idea of sprawling pervasive stories in games. Maybe if I had time for modern games. Retro games are simple enough not to need it.
I would say I play a good mix. Probably more on the Gameplay side though. However, The Best game I have ever played that has very little Game Play and is all story is SNATCHER for Sega Cd. It is a G@D D&mn Master piece. The music, the story, the art, the voices on that Sega Cd. Still blows me away today. There aren’t many games I can think of that did so much with such little game play.
It is just kinda interesting to look back at games and think man that had a lot or none but still so fun
My problem with most RPGs is that I normally love the stories but I can´t get into turnbased fights and stats. I can tolerate light RPG elements but the rest is not for me.
I'd say it's almost a 50/50 split. I really enjoy jrpgs but on the days I'm working I dont wanna sit through 30 min of cutscenes before actual gameplay. My go to these days is Mario Maker 2
I can tell you the story for contra 3 the alien wars . Aliens invade kill those fuckers the end.
How about games which expertly integrate story into the gameplay? I think of something like Super Metroid where the story/ambiance are constantly on your mind but it barely interrupts gameplay
Huge elaborate story's should be relegated to RPGs and Adventure games and Metroidvania titles AAA games need to be scaled back they cost to much to make and when they fail more often then not they take whole companies down when they sink just look at cyber punk for proof of that most aaa games take to long to make and when they fail to be release on time they begin to lose momentum along with all the hype and when they get released early they are riddled with glitches and game breaking bugs.
I don't need a story for Tetris but I'm pretty sure modern AAA developers would try to shoe horn one in anyway.
I think it matters very little. It shouldn't get in the way. Halo is an example of a game that has a story gets in the way and slows things down and takes itself too serious. Maybe in an RPG it could really add something, but in most games, nahh.
That was one of the cool things about NES manuals and Nintendo Power. That’s where I went for the stories.
For me story is important if the game tries to make it important. If the game doesn't care about the story that's cool too. I like all types of games and it just depends what I'm feeling that day.
I actually disagree about this generation. With the twitch streamers and games as a service they seem to care nothing about story. I grew up on jrps so I love a good story. Go figure my favorite games are FF7 and metal gear solid
I'm right on the fence with this… The only newish game I have been playing (Skater XL) has no story and I love that! Just jump on skate around and done, but with retro game I do love a story some are really freaking good, but games without stories are really good tooo! Damn bro
I do like games with no story like the mario series, cuphead, sonic and donkey kong but some times its nice to play games with very much story like the walking dead, Pokemon and Zelda so it all comes out to what you are in the mood for for me😀
Perfect amount of story to me: ToeJam and Earl, or Castle of Illusion. Sets the mood and gives you a purpose, within a minimal (skippable) intro sequence.
The first 3 Sonic games have almost no narrative or cut scenes – they tell the story through gameplay and level design. Maybe that’s why I never liked the Sonic Adventure games (not saying they’re bad, I just don’t enjoy them).
That said, I love RPGs for the stories. For example, the original Grandia just draws me in and I really like getting to know the characters. The sequels, not so much…
generally I'm not playing games with a lot of story. If I am – I'm not paying attention lol. If I have a question about why I'm doing something/ the story behind what I'm doing then I'll google the story's synopsis.
I am a huge rpg fan so I am way more forgiving of bad or clunky gameplay if the story is good. When it comes to games that I love to be gampley centric I play Strategy games, city builders, or racing games. It all kinda depends on what I'm in the mood for. I just love video games.
No
As I was watching I was playing what I though was a puzzle game, but ended up being an RPG focused on story and with a puzzle game as a battle system. So my puzzle game is shuffle in a sequence of dialogues and walking around searching for more dialogues. My A button already has my fingerprints as I press it constantly to skip to the puzzle game. You said what I've been saying for 10 years. Story in games are usually an excuse to give context to our action and should be as brief as possible, unless the context is the core mechanic of interaction. The Curse Of Monkey Island is one of my favourite games and you need to understand the story to know what you're doing, otherwise the point and click doesn't make any sense. L.A. Noire is an investigation game, so you need to understand what you're investigating and what your next course of action is. Call Of Duty could be about a guy trying to rescue a dog from a mermaid and I couldn't care less, I just want to shoot things, because that's where the fun is. GTA they always talk about stereotype stuff and I just want to DO things.
All story should be skippable