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[keraj37]

There is a similar thread, touching the subject: https://www.neogaf.com/threads/do-y...n-games-or-mechanic-driven-games-why.1655953/
But I still think it is worth to start the new one.

I do like Witcher 3, and I like all the modules of gameplay, like upgrading gear, exploration, combat, gwent with collecting all cards, the fantastic world that feels alive etc.

But today I ran into an issue, when I tried to play the gwent with one guy in Skelige, and instead of just starting conversation and choose the option to play gwent, I was forced to watch the cycle of cut-scenes and begin the obligatory mission.
It was frustrating, so I asked myself: why am I frustrated playing a video game, which should be by definition leisure time and entertainment?

And the answer is: though I play a lot of story driven games, the story is like a background for me, that has only one purpose - to justify all the gameplay mechanics.
You know what I mean? In other words, all the story elements, make me feel I am part of the real world, so for example, chasing some alchemy ingredient to make better potion, is justified.

I started this thread, to see if I am not alone in these feelings, or I have some issues and need to change a hobby.

 

[systemr123]

It's the wrong game to get this Eureka moment as the witcher 3 is great. That being said, modern story-driven games suck the most of times. Where is the simple fun games that you just like to play because, you know, having fun!

Nintendo seems to be about the only big publisher left that makes fun games opposed to games that feel like a chore to play through. I really sort of hope for a new video game crash that resets the whole playing field where publishers go back to create fun games, without MTX...

 

[kanjobazooie]

Same here, but I feel that I can't enjoy them because I don't have the energy to take in the story. (not necessarily because they're bad or boring)

 

[Tsaki]

You should have chosen a different game for your example, since Witcher 3's story is driven by your decisions, so the story is part of the gameplay as well.

 

[Jigsaah]

When I get into a story based game I look at it almost like a movie or reading a good book. I sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. Baldeur's Gate 3 is a great recent example, I took my sweet ass time with that game. Took over 150 hours to beat it, not because I had trouble or couldn't beat certain encounters. I just wanted to really soak up this masterpiece. It's also Starfield was disappointing to me. I was ready to absorb that story but it was just....not interesting to me. I liked the concept of Starfield's story. The execution was mundane and dated though.

 

[LectureMaster]

Story driven game is good only when the story is good, when Witcher 3 is actually the case. But it's a rare case now in modern gaming.

Go play some gameplay focused games, OP, Lies of P is great.

 

[Puscifer]

I'll bite and say that story driven games aren't bad but they've gotten so hand holdy they're tedious to play. Witcher 3 I agree with, I finished Witcher 2 4 different times between PC and Xbox One X, (3 PC, 1 Xbox) and it's crazy how it feels so much more reactive to my decisions than Witcher 3 even to the point that punching someone in the face literally dictates 15 hours of gameplay.

I still don't feel like Witcher 3 had a single quest that felt as reactive as the quest where the persecuting of an elf led to her death or you finding out the true story and making decisions on how to handle it.

 

[wvnative]

Story-driven is like 95% of what i play, it's what i like.

That being said, this is why they make many different games, so...go play something more gameplay driven after this revelation?

 

[IDKFA]

No. A vast majority of story lines in games are pure gash. I skip 99% of cut scenes because the stories in games are just so poor.

Games should just stick to being games. Have some basic lore in the background if need be, but I don't want hours of cut scenes with poorly written trash. Games are toys, not books or films.

I rest my case.

 

[Punished Miku]

Very strange reaction to The Witcher 3. When I tried it I got it mostly because I was assured it was a masterpiece with some of the best quests and story ever. In reality I was so repulsed by the actual shoddy gameplay I had to sell my copy, which I almost never do. Basic movement felt like absolute crap. Inventory management, gear management and the economy were crap. Leveling up system, crap. Quests mostly consisted of following glowing footprints. Combat was a bit of a ballerina dancing disaster as well. Attempting to play this after Dragon's Dogma was definitely a shock to the system.

I'm left with the assumption that it maybe has a good story at least that I didn't stick around for, because the gameplay was straight terrible. I'm actually not even convinced you had a eureka moment at all, and you might just hate the gameplay and pacing itself and just didn't correctly identify what about it you hated. If you prefer high quality controls or arcade quality type gameplay, then I'd suggest staying away from anything that looks even slightly cinematic. Some can be good, but a lot have major issues with gameplay and/or pacing that people totally ignore.

I actually feel bad for people like you sometimes that genuinely start to wonder if they need a new hobby. If I actually trusted what reviews and the "majority" opinion says about games, I'd probably wonder the same thing. Unless you have iron conviction and know your own taste extremely well, then the majority will simply bulldoze you over and ensure you think Witcher 3 is a "masterpiece." No wonder so many people feel jaded these days.

 

[Gaiff]

I wouldn't go as far as saying that I hate story-driven game but I do hate poorly paced games where control is being constantly wrestled away from the player. BG3 is heavy on story, cutscenes, and dialogue but for one, most can be skipped and for two, there is a great degree of player input because those cutscenes demand a lot from the player and enhance the roleplaying to new heights.

In GOWR however, the story just served to annoy me. Not only is it inferior to the original game (2018) and didn't deliver on its lofty promises (Tyr sucks), but the cutscenes allow me to do nothing but watch and I have no say whatsoever in them. I also immensely dislike the constant forced walking sections that slow down the game to a crawl. GOW is also much faster paced and action-oriented than TW3 or BG3 so the contrast is even more jarring when the game just stop to have you listen to character talk or banter.

 

[analog_future]

I can no longer play games without some type of a story. Even if it's a flimsy story. There just needs to be some type of a "why" to my actions or I feel unengaged.

 

[Aces High]

The worst thing are story-driven games with mechanics so bad that they get in your way all the time and then you have to "play" on easiest difficulty in order get your $70 story.

 

[keraj37]

I can no longer play games without some type of a story. Even if it's a flimsy story. There just needs to be some type of a "why" to my actions or I feel unengaged.

Yeah, I relate, that is what I said:

the story is like a background for me, that has only one purpose - to justify all the gameplay mechanics.
You know what I mean? In other words, all the story elements, make me feel I am part of the real world, so for example, chasing some alchemy ingredient to make better potion, is justified.

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

Story is window dressing in anything but specific genres such as Point & Clicks for me.

I place far more value on environmental storytelling and things like that. Things I can kind of take or leave. That's the sprinkle on top of great gameplay. I don't play games for the sprinkle.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

No. A vast majority of story lines in games are pure gash. I skip 99% of cut scenes because the stories in games are just so poor.

Games should just stick to being games. Have some basic lore in the background if need be, but I don't want hours of cut scenes with poorly written trash. Games are toys, not books or films.

I rest my case.

"Yeah... I watch A24 movies. How could you tell?"

 

[Last Hearth]

There is a similar thread, touching the subject: https://www.neogaf.com/threads/do-y...n-games-or-mechanic-driven-games-why.1655953/
But I still think it is worth to start the new one.

I do like Witcher 3, and I like all the modules of gameplay, like upgrading gear, exploration, combat, gwent with collecting all cards, the fantastic world that feels alive etc.

But today I ran into an issue, when I tried to play the gwent with one guy in Skelige, and instead of just starting conversation and choose the option to play gwent, I was forced to watch the cycle of cut-scenes and begin the obligatory mission.
It was frustrating, so I asked myself: why am I frustrated playing a video game, which should be by definition leisure time and entertainment?

And the answer is: though I play a lot of story driven games, the story is like a background for me, that has only one purpose - to justify all the gameplay mechanics.
You know what I mean? In other words, all the story elements, make me feel I am part of the real world, so for example, chasing some alchemy ingredient to make better potion, is justified.

I started this thread, to see if I am not alone in these feelings, or I have some issues and need to change a hobby.

Story driven games are fine, but the story better be good, which most of them are not.
If story is the driven motivation of the game, and the story or story telling sucks, then your game has little redeeming value. Also important is that the gameplay and the story can't have the disjointed dissonance that some of these games have. A primary example is the recent Tomb Raider games where she's a cold blooded killer in the gameplay and in the story telling part she's all agonizing of killing people.
Witcher 3 worked because it had good story telling and the gameplay complemented it well instead of taking you out of the story.

 

[DragoonKain]

I don't hate story driven games. I dislike games that are heavily gameplay driven that disrupt the pacing and play with forced story parts that don't add anything to the game. Games that balance gameplay and story well though are fine to me.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

It's the opposite for me. In open-world games, I get too distracted way too easily, making me lose interest in the game rather quickly.

Doesn't have to be a negative, but for singleplayer games, I prefer a story-driven game that's lineair, so I can actually focus on the story and enjoy the game.
Gameplay mechanics are there to progress the story.

Also, I really dislike The Witcher 3 due to it's mediocre animations and clunky combat.
Completely turned me off of the game.

 

[Robb]

No. A vast majority of story lines in games are pure gash. I skip 99% of cut scenes because the stories in games are just so poor.

Games should just stick to being games. Have some basic lore in the background if need be, but I don't want hours of cut scenes with poorly written trash. Games are toys, not books or films.

I rest my case.

This is my stance as well.

That said I definitely don’t hate games that focus on story, I just wish those games would’ve put all those resources into something worthwhile. I still enjoyed my time with TLoU despite skipping all the cutscenes, for example.

 

[Astral Dog]

I thought the story was the main point of Witcher 3 since i found the gameplay to be really annoying

 

[tr1p1ex]

yeah altho it seems like your example is about not being able to skip cutscenes.

But not a fan of story games. or story in games. the less the better. I like enough to justify what I am doing and to add some flavor. But I can fill in the blanks. I fall asleep with loads of narrative etc. It's just all babble I've heard before.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

The best stories I’ve experienced are in the games where the story is unfolded organically as you experience the game and explore the world.

For example, I’m fascinated by the lore and story in Elden Ring and Dark Souls, but couldn’t give two shits about what was happening in The Last of Us.

 

[SlimySnake]

You are playing a story driven RPG though. There are other RPGs like Souls games that dont have any of that shit.

I also prefer my games to just be about gameplay, but if you are doing a story then it needs to be done well. Just like combat or graphics, if you are adding something to the game, it needs to be good. And when it comes to stories, you kind of do have to sit back and let them tell it. Witcher 3 has quests that are boring, but others are exceptional. It pays off at the end.

 

[A.Romero]

Cinematic games are almost a sure bet (with capable studios) so they exist mainly in the AAA games. People lve high production values.

Tight and innovative gameplay are secondary as it is not what the mass market is demanding.

More than quitting I'd say you should spend more time on indie and AA games. Ignore AAA because you won't find what you are looking for mostly.

 

[Mattdaddy]

I think its all about the context of the conversation for me. Cause I do love story-driven RPGs, and Witcher 3 is one of my all time favorite games.

But I still definitely skip dialogue if its completely meaningless.

For example if Im having a conversation with main character or a side character and its relevant to the story or quest, I listen to every word and explore every dialogue option.

If its a shopkeep droning on about the weather and its strictly there for the ambiance and has zero impact on the story or anything... I typically just fly through it.

But that stuff definitely doesn't make me hate the game, just registers as a minor nuisance.

 

[SmokedMeat]

I’m all about gameplay. Even in story driven games I don’t give a shit about the story.

Oooh Kratos and his boy went to deliver some ashes up a mountain. Who gives a shit? I want to eviscerate Minotaurs.

 

[MacReady13]

You are definitely not alone in this regard. Story driven games are, largely, pointless and not really the way gaming should focus most of their attention. Stories in games are fine but seriously, after the banging opening of Spiderman 2 I am forced to clean a fucking house?! Is this in service of the story? Why am I being forced to do this shit? I quit the "game" straight after that and haven't gone back yet. I jumped straight into Mario Wonder and had a fucking BLAST as I was actually PLAYING the game!

 

[Humdinger]

I'm sort of in the same boat. I realized recently that I am sick and tired of the cinematic approach to games -- long cutscenes (typically amounting to 6-8 hours total), or long periods of "walk & talk" where your main input is to push a stick forward while listening to dialog.

I'm not opposed to story-driven games in principle, though. For many years, I was a big advocate of them. Videogame storytelling was pretty lame, and I wanted it to get better. But I'm not happy with the direction the medium has gone, as far as telling stories go. In particular, I'm thinking of the Sony cinematic approach, although it's not confined just to Sony.

 

[IDKFA]

"Yeah... I watch A24 movies. How could you tell?"

I sympathize. We can't all be cultured.

 

[Danjin44]

If I enjoy the story then I don’t see the problem, this is why I can enjoy Japanese point & click adventures like 13 Sentinels, Ace Attorney, Zero Escape and AI: The Somnium Files.

 

[Fbh]

I like story driven games with interesting stories/characters that rely on cutscenes and know to keep the focus on the gameplay, I also like games where the player has some degree of agency over the story. For example in the Witcher 3 I loved interacting with characters and I liked how sidequests could have a few different outcomes. If anything I'd argue the stories are what made a lot of the content in The Witcher 3 so good, because from a gameplay perspective a lot of them are just "follow the gps --> interact with glowing element --> engage in average combat".

What I've come to dislike over recent years are "cinematic" games where the story is told through lengthy, boring and unskippable in-game sequences with barely any real gameplay; The first 2 hours in Uncharted 4 (and multiple other parts of that game), most of the flashbacks in TLOU2, several of the Angrboda sequences in Ragnarok, etc

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

I do make some exceptions for Ken Levine games and Hideo Kojima...but Death Strandings story was Dog **** so maybe it's just Ken Levine games now.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Wouldn’t say I hate them, but if a game is going to put a heavy emphasis on story, then it either must

- be really, really damn good (AKA Cyberpunk 2077), or

- be something that’s fun and makes me want to know what happens next, and works well as a video game instead of trying to mimic a Hollywood movie or HBO series

 

[iHaunter]

It can be good depending on whether you find the story interesting or not. It's almost like reading a book, you likely won't finish if you don't find it compelling.

 

[Danjin44]

Nintendo seems to be about the only big publisher left that makes fun games opposed to games that feel like a chore to play through

FROM games also make gameplay centric games, they have amazing lore that you can choose to engage with it or not.

 

[systemr123]

FROM games also make gameplay centric games, they have amazing lore that you can choose to engage with it or not.

Love FROM games . I don’t know if I would count them with big publishers but yes, those games are all around the gameplay and it shows

 

[Danjin44]

Love FROM games . I don’t know if I would count them with big publishers but yes, those games are all around the gameplay and it shows

You count Capcom games like Monster Hunter series, which is mostly focused on gameplay more than story.

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

I do make some exceptions for Ken Levine games and Hideo Kojima...but Death Strandings story was Dog **** so maybe it's just Ken Levine games now.

Death Stranding is a great example of my post above. I thought the actual STORY was what the fuck ever but the world's lore (emails, documents) and environmental storytelling was fantastic and really interesting. Thing is I have the option to engage with that outside of gameplay or not and that's what I appreciate. The cutscenes bore me to tears.

 

[Danjin44]

My problem with games like Witcher 3 and RDR2 that it felt like the actual gameplay and combat was afterthought.

 

[systemr123]

You count Capcom games like Monster Hunter series, which is mostly focused on gameplay more than story.

I didn’t mention Capcom at all?

 

[Phase]

Play some old games and you'll come back around.

 

[mayham2199]

I love them but I do need a break every now and then. For instance AC6 has been great as a break from TLOU 1 Part 1 which I also loved replaying.

 

[zenspider]

Here here! I got Mario Wonder after all the chatting I checked the box to see if I bought Mario RPG by accident. Shut up already!!
Joking aside, I used to love RPGs and story-driven games, but after years of From Software doing story correctly for the medium, I can't mess with poor-man's cinematics. After getting back into retro and arcade games, I lost all patience for the cutscenes and text boxes.
I'm at least at the point that I'm still looking at story games... World of Horror looks awesome, for example, but if you're trying to "tell a story" AND make a game, you're probably just going to put annoying things in my way.

 

[DaciaJC]

Can't say I agree, if anything I've become more partial to story/character-heavy games. Many of the best memories I have of games in the last decade have been of moments interacting with characters in such games as The Witcher 3 and Baldur's Gate 3.

 

[dem]

Fuuuck your logs and notes and fetch quests.
Its all garbage.

There are very few companies putting out games where the story isn't just annoying bullshit you can't wait to skip.

Like Valve. Give me more Valve.
Why is Valve so good and everyone else so terrible? Half life is 25 years old and somehow shits on 99% of games out there.


Just give me a fun game to play.

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

I'd like the opposite of the now-popular "Story Mode". A "Game Mode" where all the walk & talk, cutscenes and other superfluous elements are stripped out. If people can now buy games with an option to exclusively experience the 3rd rate soap opera stories of most of them, I'd like an option to exclusively play the actual game.

 

[Raonak]

I feel the opposite. I love story games because they give context and motivation to stick with and complete a game.
The vast majority of my favourite games of all times are games with great gameplay combined with great stories, music, presentation, etc.

For me, games without stories are so easy to put down and never think about again. Even if you do have great gameplay.
That's why souls games take me years to beat, if at all, because while their gameplay is good - like all gameplay, it becomes mundane and boring once you figure it out.

That's why i'm not really that into arcade games, indie games, nintendo games, mobile games, etc.


Not to say that all games need stories, but for me, it does elevate the experience. Even something like returnal was massively boosted by it's somewhat minimal story.

 

[Ogbert]

This is why rogue likes exist.

 

[bobone]

I agree completely.
Story telling in From Soft games are perfect for me.
Its there, and its really great stuff, but its in the background. You have to actively seek it out, and they never waste your time making you watch cutscenes or skip through dialogue.
I don't think its a coincidence that the most played games right now have literally ZERO story and are just pure fun to play. (COD, Fortnite, Overwatch, Minecraft, LoL, Dota, Counterstrike, GTA online, etc.)