How much do you Value Storylines?

I naturally don't value storylines in video games, since the gameplay is the most important factor on what makes a game a game, but whenever there's something that contradicts the initial plot without further explanations (ex: having two separate versions of the same character playable in a roster, despite being only one character in that universe), that's when I start feeling concerned about the story is taking.
 
A game is a set of rules to be played by; story isn't necessarily integral to that in any way. Generally, I don't want to play a book, and consider a lack of story be a good thing. You know how a lot of things say 'story-driven' on the back of the box like it's a selling point? Yeah, no thanks. I love open-world games with lore about the world itself, not current events within it; like, I find the codex entries in Mass Effect more interesting than any other part of the narrative.
 
Depends on genre. Games like FPS shooters (unless the game's based on a movie or something like Goldeneye) don't need a story, as these days they're heavily based on multiplayer gameplay. A good example of this in practice is Call of Duty. While it doesn't really have the most brilliant story out there, what it excels in is multiplayer connectivity, and playing with others online. Games like most RPG/JRPGs e.g. FF series are basically structured on the story, and gameplay built around it. For games like this, it's essential to have a story structure in game, to enhance the experience. Platformers need a rather small story, just so it doesn't seem like your adventure's purely nonsensical.

just to tl;dr, the story's good in a game that focuses completely on it.
 
I need a good, interesting storyline - think Heavy Rain or The Last of Us - in order to actually play through a game. My exceptions are Skyrim, which I just do whatever, and Sims, where I like to make up my own storyline.
 
I love good storylines and they are the most important part of a gaming experience to me.
One recent game whose stoyline i loved was The Last of Us.
I loved the characters, how they evolve, how relationships shift and turn, and the ending was just wow
 
It depends. A great story can be the defining feature of a game. It can turn a bad game good and a good game great.

On the other hand, it can also be completely unnecessary. Some games don't need one, others, I would go so far as to say they shouldn't have one. Beat Hazard comes to mind. You might be able to pull off a story that makes that game better, but I think it would largely be unnecessary and would probably come off as corny unless someone really, really smart did it.

That said, my favorite game of all time is story- and character-driven, so there's that. KotOR 2 wouldn't have nearly the place in my heart that it does if it didn't have an interesting premise and well-written characters. But then, Civ4-BTS is also one of my favorites, and that doesn't even have a story.
 
Zorogami said:
I love good storylines and they are the most important part of a gaming experience to me.
One recent game whose stoyline i loved was The Last of Us.
I loved the characters, how they evolve, how relationships shift and turn, and the ending was just wow
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I loved the whole apocalyptic setting of The Last of Us, and the story only made the experience even better! It was one of the best games with a good story last year, and I only wish that more single player games would integrate a more, I guess, "human" storyline. The evolution of characters and relationships were, like you said, one of the most intriguing parts of the game, and it's definitely one of the few games that I would actually consider replaying simply because the game mechanics and the story were amazing.
 
I mean a game doesn't have to have an amazing storyline to be just absolutely amazing, Shadow of the Colossus is a prime example. You have no real story until halway through the game and then it's simply foreshadowed/implied. You're tossed into the game with a horse, sword, and a dead girl with a God telling you to run around and destroy giant beasts made of stone and earth. Then when you get to the end you finally figure out what the hay hay hay is going on.
 
O'aka XXIII said:
I mean a game doesn't have to have an amazing storyline to be just absolutely amazing, Shadow of the Colossus is a prime example. You have no real story until halway through the game and then it's simply foreshadowed/implied. You're tossed into the game with a horse, sword, and a dead girl with a God telling you to run around and destroy giant beasts made of stone and earth. Then when you get to the end you finally figure out what the hay hay hay is going on.
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Actually... that was why I stopped playing Shadow of Colossus... since it starts with storyline sequence, I expected it to be story-driven...
 
Satoshi Ookami said:
Actually... that was why I stopped playing Shadow of Colossus... since it starts with storyline sequence, I expected it to be story-driven...
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Well that's a shame, the whole mechanics of the game really make up for the confusing/lack of storyline. (except for the retarded ass way your character runs. that can never be forgiven.) I really didn't understand the game at first but I knew it was hyped up a lot and was reviewed really well and so when a storyline thing did come up I kinda sat up on edge looking all over trying to guess at what's going on and for me that was pretty intriguing.
 
O'aka XXIII said:
Well that's a shame, the whole mechanics of the game really make up for the confusing/lack of storyline. (except for the retarded ass way your character runs. that can never be forgiven.) I really didn't understand the game at first but I knew it was hyped up a lot and was reviewed really well and so when a storyline thing did come up I kinda sat up on edge looking all over trying to guess at what's going on and for me that was pretty intriguing.
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I still have the game, so I never rule out the possibility of returning =D
 
Depends on the genre honestly. If it was an RPG, I kinda want a decent story to drive me forward as I progress through the game. If it was a fighting game, I could probably make do without a story since it's a fighting game.

But, I always appreciate a good story in a game. So, I do want the story to be somewhat bearable if it is an RPG.
 
Arc said:
If it was a fighting game, I could probably make do without a story since it's a fighting game.
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Why do you want fighters without story?
I like the little story fighters have =D
And if you try Persona 4 Arena you will understand that there's no way that game would work without storyline =D
 
If it would be like a good storyline then maybe I would enjoy it, but if it is predictable and drags out the inevitable then it wouldn't be something I would enjoy playing even if I did play it. But some games let you make your own story line, but sometimes you do to many things at the same time, like in skyrim, no organization, it's fun, but cluttered.

For me? I could care less about storylines.
 
Satoshi Ookami said:

Why do you want fighters without story?
I like the little story fighters have =D
And if you try Persona 4 Arena you will understand that there's no way that game would work without storyline =D
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Persona 4 Arena is an exception LOL.

But, it's like most of the time the story in a fighting game is just awful or makes no sense. For example, trying to create coherent understanding of Blazblue's story is just an absolute chore.
 
Arc said:
Persona 4 Arena is an exception LOL.
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Oh, then that's okay =D

Arc said:
But, it's like most of the time the story in a fighting game is just awful or makes no sense. For example, trying to create coherent understanding of Blazblue's story is just an absolute chore.
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Well... Blazblue has so many games that it is kinda hard, I agree with that =D
But individual stories cannot be that bad, or they are?
I only own Continuum Shift Extend and still haven't found time to try it so I can't speak from experience but I would presume it can't be that hard since it's JP game with anime sequences =D
 
Satoshi Ookami said:
Well... Blazblue has so many games that it is kinda hard, I agree with that =D
But individual stories cannot be that bad, or they are?
I only own Continuum Shift Extend and still haven't found time to try it so I can't speak from experience but I would presume it can't be that hard since it's JP game with anime sequences =D
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Well, Blazblue only has three main games, so that's not much of a problem.

There are individual story, but honestly the story only revolves around the main characters. So Ragna, Jin, Noel, Rachel, Hakumen, etc are the only real important ones. Also, Chronophantasma completely ditches the the individual story thing, and just went with different story chapters.

And, it's not hard to understand what happens in the story, but more of why things happen and the reasoning behind them.
 
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