Quite often, an indie game throws together some common gameplay, like roguelike shooter patterns, with little to explain it. eg, “You’re here to explore for treasure!” Other times, even AAA games go this route, assuming most players won’t care about the base story premise.
But there seems to be a significant contrast to well-developed worlds; like seeing the progressive cruelty of the Nazis in Wolfenstein before you start stabbing them, or seeing the Gommage in Expedition 33 before heading out to fight nevrons. Even more eldritch action-oriented games like DOOM benefited from establishing a “mood” of the Slayer being angry at demons and anyone who ignored warnings of them using just a few quick cutscenes.
This can be a bit of divergence from a game being “story-focused” or building up detailed lore. Some such games are often bad at motivation because the “story” is so confusing to players, most would just admit “I’m just going wherever bosses are to advance the story.” Some very dialogue-heavy games don’t necessarily captivate players on this level, since motivation can often be very simple. It goes back to the age-old strategy of arcade Donkey Kong; having 10 seconds at the beginning of the game where DK captures a princess who calls for help. The early version of the game likely didn’t even have that, and the designer felt motivation was missing. (That decision spawned its own issue, the Damsel in Distress trope, but that’s another topic)
As more conceptual ideas, and especially more perpetual live-service games, become more popular, I see this element of gaming going missing at all ranks of game development - which is a shame, because I think when written creatively, there are ways to set up player motivation through relatively few voice lines and short cutscenes; something going beyond “You are an amnesiac! This voice is telling you where to go. Don’t die to The Corporation!!”
To drive discussion: What are some games you bounced off of, that you think may have been because they were missing motivation? What games found you putting up with a mediocre gameplay experience because you were invested in the given story turnout?
You must log in or register to comment.
I don’t finish
anymany games but something like the Mass Effect **trilogy was, by the end, a bit of a chore but I just wanted to finish off the storyline.Thomas Was Alone, I’ll be damned if I wasn’t getting those rectangles to freedom :D
I find a gameplay goal more important than a story goal. Sandbox games like Luanti are tricky for me, because I need to decide what to do with no real reason to do anything. But if a roguelike tells me “There’s an artifact at the bottom of this dungeon. Good luck!”, that’s already more story motivation than I need, because the gameplay goal is straightforward.
I also find lots of story motivations terrible to begin with, though, when it’s basically “You’re the hero! Go save the world!” and then the gameplay is just genocide. I don’t care, if we’re violencing pixels, but specifically the attempt to justify this violence, is almost always distasteful.
It depends on the mood. Sometimes I just feel like playing something and I don’t want history or cutscenes getting in the way, just gimme a good gameplay loop that is easy to get into and hard to master. Other times I’m looking for immersion, do not mistake with just some good history, it’s a mix of the right settings, art style, sound atmosphere and storytelling. Your example of Clair Obscur is the perfect example for this type of games and it also has incredible gameplay on top of it.
Usually I get into a game because I have a goal, which could be directly related to the storyline, or an explicit in-game objective (get all the collectibles, get an achievement, etc.) but other times I make my own goals, often like completing a challenge with different tools than the one the game expects a player to. Or in open ended non-story driven games I essentially figure out what I want to try to accomplish over one or more play sessions, tends to happen with factory builder games.
This is a fun question! Before I start ranting my opinions, I’d love to turn it back on you, where do you fall on the topic?
As for me, I think it’s important to start by saying narrative motivations are not necessary for me to enjoy a game. I can, have, and will play games devoid of them purely for the gameplay, story, art, fantasy, challenge, etc.
That said, I’ve absolutely played games where a strong narrative motivation enhanced my experience. I think this works best, at least for me, when the character and I share a motivation.
Some examples: not going Hollow in Dark Souls, killing Benny and taking over the Strip in New Vegas, gaining strength to kick Vile’s ass in Mega Man X, saving Ellie in The Last of Us, and feeding my Tamagotchi in… Tamagotchi.
On the flip side, when I can’t empathize with a character’s motivations, or worse, when they constantly complain about doing the things I want to do, it really kills my desire to play. That’s why I’m more of a Bartz fan than, say, Squall or Lightning.
So I guess my point, or TL;DR, is this: narrative motivations work best as a driving force when they help immerse me in my character’s role by giving us a shared goal. They’re not essential, but they can absolutely elevate the experience.
Decent gameplay, bad story, that I left because of the story?
- Neptunia Rebirth 3. Plutia got on my nerves one too many times. I couldn’t stand it anymore.
- Rail of Mobius. The MC actually revolted against my attempts to save scum the story decisions. Then the MC gets himself killed because he’s a dumbass, and I made the other character not save him from his stupidity. This apparently was the wrong decision. I stopped playing because I couldn’t stand the characters anymore.
- I quit the Kiseki series in the middle of Cold Steel 4. Each entry (except Trails in the Sky 3) requires you to get points for useful gear by doing the right things in the story. I decided that I was done with using a guide to figure out what to do next, and quit.
- Noel the Mortal Fate. Revenge stories already bore me, and it felt like the story was going nowhere. The gameplay was fine, but not enough to keep me around.
- Forsaker DingDing & Blade. The story feels like AI generated nonsense.
- Siren’s Call Escape Velocity. I spoiled myself on the ending. It makes everything else feel like a complete waste of time, so I stopped early.
- Chick’n Mushroom Soup. Villain Sue.
- Blood Midnight Blossom. Villain Sue.
- キミが消えてしまう前に. I hate the main character. A simp, a pushover, and a moron. I couldn’t stand him anymore.
- Hundred Line Last Defense Academy. I finished all the quality routes, and only crap was left, which included the “canon” endings. Not gonna bother.
- 彷徨之街 The Street of Adrift. Purple prose, and the early story is dogshit.
- Anything by CyberStep. Indecipherable nonsense.
- Shadow of War. I got bored when the elf guy left.
My dude. I’m with you on Neptunia 3. The plot does not move until Plutia does some S&M stuff to force it. Everything else takes a backseat to Plutia. I hated it.
I’m someone who can’t manage more than about 20 hours in a single player game normally. Only games I sink time into are online.
The only single player game I’ve actually put more than this into is civ5, balatro, mini motorways.
Story games just bore the fuck out of me and it feels like I’m in a vacuum. If I wanted to watch a cutscene I’d watch a movie.
Not even a little bit.
As proof: I love the first Borderlands game.
My motivation for games is to have fun.
If I’m having fun the game doesn’t need to motivate me because I’m already being motivated to have fun
It depends on the game. Some games may build up a world before putting you in, others lets you discover over time. Take Final Fantasy 7 in example (I’m actually talking about the original Playstation release in 1997). Game is heavily story and character based. You start a mission without knowing characters or the story. You are right in the action and details are explained along the way or afterwards. I really really like this. Having a slow start is not wrong either, its just different. Fallout 3 on the other hand has a much slower start. One start the game as baby even, learn the world you are in and so on. And both styles are appealing, as long as not all games have one style only. If not executed well, both styles can be boring or uninteresting.
For games that are not story heavy I don’t care anyway. Donkey Kong Country on the Super Nintendo in example. Some crazy dude stole bananas and now the gorillas are angry. Game starts. This is a game I’m interested into gameplay and challenges, rather than anything else (ok ok graphics and music too). The gameplay is the motivation for me, not a meaningless (or meaningful) story, for this type of game. I do not need any reason other than having fun to play and do the challenges.
I made a similar argument about this a few days ago and got lambasted. I personally think payoff is important. As an adult I have a lot less time for games. To just “do” something when there are so many things to do and even other games to play has to mean something. Not just a “stat” boost. I don’t need another fetch quest. I don’t need a pointless collectible. If I’m doing something I want to be rewarded for it. A bit of lore actually acted out or even better yet new gameplay I didn’t have before.
I’m not saying an arcade type game can’t be fun or worth time. But that gameplay loop in itself has to feel rewarding to me. And in a growing list of games feeling the game the gameplay loop itself holds less value. As 10 of the last 15 releases on Steam have that same damn loop.
This is clearly a subjective thing but I’ll say personally I need to feel some intrinsic value for my time. And lately I haven’t been feeling reward. As a result I am playing less and less games these days …
It depends greatly on the game. For a shooter I probably just want to jump in for a little while and blast things. A lengthy intro will just be annoying.
Even forced tutorials are annoying like that. I like when games give me the option to skip, and then to come crawling back to the tutorial when I clearly should have done it anyway.
I think games that let you pick your own style and pace work best for me. Open world games, for example, where I can go discover the story for myself, but it’s just there in the background otherwise. I’m ok with some hints though, like overhearing NPC conversations or finding random notes.
Even something we simple as Portal works. You’re solving puzzles, but you can discover the story behind it by looking for more clues. Half life, too, is really light on telling you what’s going on until you play through and discover more. But you could also just play it through without paying any attention to the story part.
I don’t think I’ve bounced off a game because it was lacking a story, but I’ve definitely given up on games because there was too much fuss to get going. I have little tolerance for long unskippable cut scenes and dialogue as well.
I have quit games I just couldn’t figure out or enjoy without taking a long time to learn how it works before even getting started. I like to learn things gradually.
Don’t get me wrong: a good story that is revealed over time to be does add a lot to the game. I just want to feel like I’m paying a game, not watching a movie or reading a book
Story based motivators mean almost nothing to me, esspecially when told through non-gameplay means. Having an “intro” cutscene is almost akin to a text crawl/card in a movie - technically it works, and it can be an efficient way to give extra context, but its also likely to disrupt pacing or disorient - basically makes me want to watch less, rather than more. In the same way, I can’t think of any games where story played a significant part in motivation to continue. If I want to keep playing, its because the game is good, not because it told me I should.
Edit: Maybe to help clairify, good plot can be a motivator, but the character’s motivation is not my motivation. Whats important is that the plot is good, not that the protagonist’s goal is just.
Now that you mention it - I don’t believe I’ve ever stopped playing a game for lack of story. I’m ok with a game just spawning me in and having me figure out what I’m supposed to do if it plays well.
On the other hand, I can’t think of any game I powered through mediocre gameplay to see what the plot was.
I love story-based games, so it’s a big motivating factor when choosing what I want to play. However I love all sorts of games, so it’s not the only factor. And sometimes when I’ve played a couple story-heavy games in a row, I’ll look for something else to break things up.
I will be quite forgiving of a game if it has a strong story, but that’s not to say gameplay isn’t important. I don’t play many visual novels, because the genre doesn’t appeal to me. I’d rather read a book or watch a movie or series in that case.
For games without story, I tend to only stick with them if they have something for me to strive towards, engaging gameplay isn’t generally enough. It needs to have achievements or collectibles or distinct levels to beat for me to find it engaging. I don’t play arena shooters for that reason, I just don’t enjoy them.
