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Bad narrative, great gameplay vs Bad gameplay, great narrative

Sheikah_Witch

I just really like botw
Joined
Apr 8, 2019
Location
Sweden
Which one are you more willing to put up with? Bad narrative or bad gameplay?

I know for a lot of games, they are (as one might argue that games 'should' be) inseparable. But the majority of modern games comes with them fairly separative, in form of cutscenes or dialogue box batches.

Even though this is subjective, here's two examples.
Bioshock Infinite - boring, messy and repetitive gunplay. Very fascinating story that tackles some cool themes.
Metal Gear Solid V - Excellent and fun gameplay mechanics. Story was an unfinished mess.

Where do you stand?
 

Azure Sage

March onward forever...
Staff member
ZD Legend
Comm. Coordinator
I’d much rather have a bad story. Case in point: Dragon’s Dogma has a horribly written story. It sucks. It’s dumb. It’s uninteresting. Yet, the gameplay has kept me going for 240 hours. The parts of the story that I hate are easy to ignore because they don’t intrude on the gameplay. That’s why I still play it. Gameplay is always my priority. Games are about fun first and foremost. If it’s not fun to play, I’m not gonna play it that much, regardless of story quality.
 

GrooseIsLoose

Slickest pompadour in town
ZD Legend
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Aug 16, 2019
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Skyloft
I'm a bit different even though Skyward Sword didn't have a good game play,it had a great backstory and it's the first game (chronological) of the series
 

Spiritual Mask Salesman

CHIMer Dragonborn
Staff member
Comm. Coordinator
Site Staff
Depends on the person probably. I'd say good gameplay over a bad story, but it kind of depends on the type of game we're talking about. If it's a compact linear game where gameplay won't have much time to shine anyway, I'd want a good story and bad gameplay maybe. I think with a bigger game, especially an open world one, I'd stick with gameplay over story.

This is in the hypothetical where I have to make a compromise though. A game should strive to have both a good story and good gameplay.
 

Dio

~ It's me, Dio!~
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Location
England
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Absolute unit
I completed FF13 because I liked the story so much. I found the gameplay to be almost unbearable. I'd say a bad story is the worst offender as the story is generally the reason to play the game. There are a few exceptions though like Soul Calibur 5 which had great gameplay but a bad story. I played mainly online matches though to improve my rank which is a different reason to why I play most games.
 

TheGreatCthulhu

Composer of the Night.
Joined
Jan 22, 2016
Location
United States of America
Gender
Very much a dude.
Bad narrative.

Games are meant to be played, so I have little patience for:

  • Gameplay mechanics that don't make any sense.
  • Glitchy gameplay.
  • Stupid AI.
  • Unfair difficulty. Not difficulty in general, but unfairness. I don't mind a game that's tough as nails, but it shouldn't be unfair. Dark Souls is tough but fair, Doom (2016) is tough but fair, Ninja Gaiden: Black is tough but fair, but I cannot stand a game that is difficult due to bad gameplay design, bugs, and glitches.
  • For RPG's specifically, I hate it when they force me to choose an option that violates common sense in order to get the good ending. For example, Dragon Age: Origins, as good as that game is, Alistair, there's only three Wardens left, you're ****ing right we're going to turn Loghain into a Warden, so man the **** up.
  • Another design feature that bothers me is gains from gaining levels aren't enough to beat the new, stronger wave of enemies that attack higher-level characters. This leads to a game being a grind fest, and grinding is the least fun thing in a game.
  • Bull**** hitboxes and hurtboxes.
  • Bosses that aren't difficult, but are such damage sponges that beating them is just a matter of time and patience is what makes them difficult. Bonus points to horse**** if the boss fight also has unskippable cutscenes and QTE's.
I can forgive a terrible story in a video game if the gameplay's good, but if it's a good story and the game is a giant stinking pile of garbage, I have zero tolerance for it.
 
I'd rather have a great narrative and bad gameplay than great gameplay and bad narrative.

If I don't care what is going on, or if I don't like the characters, or if the writing sucks and the world is bland then what in the hell is the point?

I've played games with bad gameplay that have been saved by their great worlds, characters and narratives. I've become invested and saw hardships such as slowdown, trash cameras, wonky motion controls etc etc, to get resolutions from stories that enriched me.

Good gameplay in a badly told story isn't enriching to me.
 
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NintendoCN

Team Captain
Joined
Dec 6, 2014
Location
North Dakota
Gender
Protagonist
Bad narrative. If a game in unbearable to play (See sonic '06) The narrative isn't worth it. I review story in games, but if I can't get through the game to see the story, there is no point.
 

mαrkαsscoρ

Mr. SidleInYourDMs
Joined
May 5, 2012
Location
American Wasteland
depending on how good the story is, I can maybe stomach bad gameplay, but at the end of the day it is a game, if I don't enjoy playing the game then I'm just not gonna want to care
 

~Kilza~

The Resting Sun
Joined
Sep 9, 2019
I think it really depends on the game (genre, what they're going for, etc), but in general I'd opt for good gameplay over a good story if the meant the other suffered. Like if the gameplay is good then I'd likely be more forgiving and have more fun with it even if the story is bad, but if the gameplay is bad then it'll likely be more frustrating to deal with when playing the game.
 
Joined
Oct 30, 2018
I'd rather have bad story, cuz I can't be bothered to play a game I don't enjoy playing, and most of the time I usually always skip cutscenes anyway.
 

Sheikah_Witch

I just really like botw
Joined
Apr 8, 2019
Location
Sweden
I'm also one that prefers great gameplay bad narrative.

Case in point: Majora's Mask and BotW.

Majora's Mask should really be my one of my favorite Zelda games but I just can't give that to a game with such boring parts like the egg collecting and the gibdo trading.

BotW is my favorite game ever despite it's lackluster story.
 
Joined
Oct 14, 2013
Location
Australia
Which one are you more willing to put up with? Bad narrative or bad gameplay?
It depends on the genre of game.

For first person shooters, that are not mission based, think classic DOOM. In this case no narative is better. "Here's a gun, go kill demons". Those six words is already too much story. They are all about the gameplay.
However on the other hand, every single point and click adventure game lives or dies by it's story. Sure modern point and click games do have new ways to play them, even they live or die by the story.

The answer to your question is both, depending on the game.
If something like DOOM or a fighting has bad gameplay people hate it.
If something like a point and click adventure or a longer RPG has a bad story, people hate it.

As a side note, no story or no gameplay should not be considered bad. Bad is bad. At times having none is what you want for a great experience or even a masterpiece. Classic DOOM is a masterpiece because it has almost no story. To The Moon has almost no gameplay but it's also a masterpiece because the story is so well done.
 

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