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Should Stories in video games matter?


BonkersTheAutomaton

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I don't think it's entirely fair to class CoD as having no plot or character.

Seriously, did no one shed a tear when the guy dying of radiation poisoning hallucinated his daughter saying "I love you Daddy." in Modern Warfare?

Then again maybe it's changed since the scenes I saw.

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I'm pretty much just going to echo what other people have said here, but yes, stories in video games are important - depending on what the game is setting out to achieve in the first place.

 

Let's take Paper Mario, one of my all-time favourite series, as an example. The first two (arguably three) games were absolutely renowned for their stories as it was something that Mario had never really done before (excluding Super Mario RPG, another excellent example). It was deep, it was dark, it was funny... and most of all, it was gripping. In every chapter you had some new mission to accomplish, some new driving force to keep you playing - it wasn't just your straightforward "save the Princess" narrative, there was a number of mysteries to solve along the way. And even when it was just centred on Peach being kidnapped, it gave her some real opportunity to shine and flesh out her character.

 

Now, let's look at the latest game in that series to really see what a difference story can make. Sticker Star - a game with the presentation of a typical Paper Mario game but the shallow narrative core of a generic Mario platformer. Bowser kidnaps Peach and scatters the Royal Stickers, Mario goes to the rescue. And you know what? That game absolutely sucked. Yes, there were serious issues with the gameplay, but my major gripe with the 3DS outing was the complete lack of personality and charm that the series was known for, and that all came from the writing. Whereas I'd be eagerly anticipating the twists and turns of the next chapter in Paper Mario 64 or The Thousand-Year Door, in Sticker Star I knew that the next level was just going to be a bog standard level with nothing of real consequence happening until I reached the final battle, and even then that would be predictable beyond belief.

 

That's not to say that there's anything wrong with being light on plot, but it's all about context. Your traditional Mario platformer, or any platformer for that matter? The gameplay itself is the journey there, so you just need the impetus to get you started, however basic that may be. In an RPG or an adventure-style game though, the gameplay can become a repetitive grind, and the lengthy play time can become a slog - you need something more to keep pushing you forward towards the finish line, and an ongoing story is the best way to do that. If you don't give the player a purpose and a reason to strive to complete the game, you can't expect their attention span to last very long.

 

Conversely, not every game needs a big, complex, epic story either. Just look at Sonic '06. Convoluted as hell and all the worse for it. Say what you want about the Colours/Generations/Lost World approach to storytelling, but it's a lot more effective than the tangled mess of a narrative we had in games prior. It's simplistic, yes - too simplistic at times, certainly - but it provides your point A to point B journey, and that's at least easier to follow.

 

Ultimately it's a case of getting the right amount of story for the game in question, and then making sure that story is good enough to capture the player's interest and keep them playing. Does everyone game need a story? No. If I'm playing a puzzler like Tetris, I couldn't give a damn if I had to save the universe from certain doom and the only way to do so was by lining up different shaped blocks - I just want the high scores, dammit. But that's just one end of the spectrum. I recently spent 60 hours plugging through Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, and let me tell you, if that game hadn't had such an engrossing and engaging story, I would have given up on it a long time before I hit the end. But it never felt like a chore, and it never felt like I was spending such a long time on it, all because it was paced to keep me interested and excited from start to finish.

 

So yeah, story is important. How much of it though, that varies from game to game. Sometimes it's the star of the piece, sometimes it's the driving force behind the game, and sometimes it just plain gets in the way. It's all a matter of striking that delicate balance.

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Yes, but with a caveat - not all games need stories, and not all games with stories need to be remotely in-depth. I really depends on design.

 

Now, some people here will know that I'd be heavily tempted to on a "game stories need to more interactive/integrated aka games need to start using cutscenes a lot less" tangent, but that's not really the topic, so I'll leave it at that.

 

Edit: And it turns out this an old topic and I already went on that rant. I find this hilarious.

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I just need a reason to care about what's going on. The difference between Rayman Origins and Legends, despite both games featuring even less story than past Rayman games, is that Origins's world still feels consistent and strung together. There's no dialogue or substantial cutscenes but you still feel like you're working towards something, especially in the world transitions after defeating each boss. Legends on the other hand completely exorcises any investment in the events that transpire, and it doesn't even change up the cutscenes between worlds. You're not working toward anything the same way you're trying to attain a goal in the Mario games; you're just playing individual levels with no real connection with one another. I ultimately had way more fun with Legends than I did with Origins, but I can't deny the things it lacked that I view as basic necessities in a narrative.

Also, some video games have really typical plots on the surface but the execution and heart put into it makes me adore it as much as the most compelling and original stories out there. Viewtiful Joe is really about a guy who becomes a movie superhero, and some of the later plot twists are reminiscent of some iconic films you may be familiar with. That said, it's still one of my favorite stories in a game because the game cared so much about its portrayal of the cast that I was completely invested in what was happening, and I unironically love the big reveals and dramatic emotional and heartwarming moments. I can say the same about Super Mario 64; every time I beat the final boss, I just get so enamored with the final cutscene, credits, and music, and I truly feel like I was justly rewarded for all I accomplished throughout the game.

I can see the appeal of games like The Last of Us and Metal Gear with a heavy emphasis on told stories, but I don't believe there is some higher level of games where one type just outright transcends all others. Games are more versatile than a lot of people give them credit for, and that includes ways the player can be invested in the experience.

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