Is a strong story more important than graphics?

Solitudinarian

Solitudinarian

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I recently replayed the first Tomb Raider and Tenchu and was surprised at how intriguing these titles still are despite their blurry backgrounds and low ploygon count characters. Given the graphic limitations at the time of their initial release, the developers had to rely a great deal on story and gameplay. It seems that recently, story and gameplay have taken a backseat to pretty pictures, where many, many titles today rely on those advanced graphic aspects and leave the story floating in the breeze (Black, for example), and others hold tight to idea of a good story while using the graphics advantage to help further the story and make and overall great game (God of War). Since most of the games today rarely have both good graphics and good story, gamers must choose which is more vital to game experience; what is your choice?
 
Is a strong story more important than graphics?

Absolutely.

I mean, one of my favorite games of all time is Link's Awakening DX for GBC, which is a heapload ("heapload" o_O... is that even English?) of pixels. I just love the story though--romance! adventure! chopping gels into tiny pieces! a near-impossible trade sequence (ok, so the trading wasn't that hard, but it was fun)!

This theorem of great story being more important than graphics may not hold true if the graphics are absolutely awful (which you don't get too, too much of anymore). Look at another Zelda game, Wind Waker--the graphics certainly weren't the most advanced ever, but I thought the story (which was cute, and we I know how much the guys here like cute things) made up for the lack of realistic graphics. Heck, the story was complemented by the cartoony graphics... it was like watching an animated movie or something. *gets ready to dodge rotten vegetables for bringing up WW*

Any way, story in a game is VERRY important. "Old school"/classic games help prove that point. They're still played today, even though their graphics are long outdated.

Plus, if a game doesn't have a good story going for it, that almost immidiately screws it over when I review it. That might just be me though.
 
Gameplay should always be most important, but the thing is, graphics can't cover up shotty gameplay while story can. I played the entire .hack series. In retrospect, it had awful gameplay, but it had some massively epic story. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have touched it.

Graphics, however, can be important in the story. I mean, some games, I think, had stories bogged down by their graphics. Tales of Symphonia and Final Fantasy Tactics, specifically. I mean, Tales of Symphonia had some GRIM story moments, and it wasn't really as effective with brightly colored anime characters. Final Fantasy Tactics had children getting killed, and old men getting torchered and impaled, and the chibi-style sprites weren't as effective as realistic graphics. Granted, there were limitations at the time because of the PS1, but if it were to come out now...it wouldn't cut it. But really, everything needs to click. But a game can get by on gameplay alone. Story can mask mediocre gameplay. But a story can be constrained by the graphics.
 
I agree Story goes a long way for me. Looks are nice to have but story ang gameplay matter the most. And is that not the reason for games gameplay? Anyway. Maybe be cause I fall a sleep when I try to read books I tend to like visual storys. I. E. Movies, TV, and Video Games.

Zelda, RE, MGS, FF any, And almost every RPG that was made. Few action games have a good story to me but some I liked were, GOW, Onimusha, POP, HALO ( caught me by suprise. even though the ending sucked by game standards. I thought as far as story goes it was good.)
 
Now a lot of this is going to be opinion.. but it all makes sense to me so...

Back then people had lower expectations of graphics .. so although they may look poor by todays standards doesn't mean the graphics struck people as awful back then. Might be a little off-putting going back to them now though.

About stories getting worse .. game developers run out of ideas and a plot driven series can start running out of steam if there aren't any logical directions to take the story. Improving the visuals is the simplest way as graphics are less subjective than everything else.. and it doesn't require new ideas. Poor graphics are especially unattractive to the more casual gamers who will dismiss a game if it looks bad, without knowing much about the game. Casual gaming is probably where the industry is growing the most though.. so it's probably the main target market.

Then consider that the more resources devoted to keeping up with graphics can result in less money being assigned to working on the story. Also remember that as game becomer bigger and more expensive business.. the companies making games are less likely to take risks, prefering to rely on tried and tested formulas than gambling on something different.

Ultimately the purpose of any game is to provide enjoyment to the consumer and that requires a balance of many elements. Gameplay. Length and replayability. Graphics. Sound. Story or setting. Originality. Polish (saving & loading times, glitches, menu designs etc)

If you're making it a choice of graphics or story... I'd probably go graphics. If a game has good gameplay and good graphics.. but has absolutely no story it would still be fun to play. If I game has a good story and good gameplay, but every moment you're thinking how terrible it looks then it probably wouldn't be that fun. You might push on through it to find out how the story ends but some parts would probably be chores.

Gameplay is the most important part though.. and it's a shame if the developers spend lots of time making a game look better when they should be making it play better.
 
Your reasoning was very sound to me up until the choosing graphics over anything part XD Especially the part about having no story at all.

Most of the time, it seems to me anyway, the story is very strongly intertwined with the goal, or reason for beating, the game. As such, if there is no story, there is no point in playing the game. You can have crazy/fun gameplay all you want, but there should be a point so that the game is at least a little rewarding.....
 
Meggo the Eggo said:
Your reasoning was very sound to me up until the choosing graphics over anything part XD Especially the part about having no story at all.

Most of the time, it seems to me anyway, the story is very strongly intertwined with the goal, or reason for beating, the game. As such, if there is no story, there is no point in playing the game. You can have crazy/fun gameplay all you want, but there should be a point so that the game is at least a little rewarding.....
Click to expand...


Amen Sista. *snaping fingers*.


Lets see games that kinda look ok but the story sucks and then in turn the game sucks because it is not point. ( wow that was such a run on sentence )

50 Cent - Sucked all around
True Crime both - Sucked
Oni - It looked good but the story was weak so no point in playing that game.
PDZ - The game looks great. But we all know what happend here. *yawns* BOORRING
A lot of FPS have weak story Aera 51 is one that comes to mind.
Tomb Raider AOD. Look good but you play and the story my God i want to barf.
GTA San Andreas - Sure looks were not great. The game play was to be good. but the story was so lame. I'd rather watch Spongebob all day.
 
Heh.

I have played games with absolutely no story at all.. but still found them very fun, so that's why I said that.

Of course it does depend on the specifics a lot..

Maybe we just have different attitudes when it comes to playing games. Maybe when you save the world from some insane foe you go "Yay! I defeated <insert name of enemy> !" where as I go "Yay! I completed <insert name of game> !"

The difference being I don't have to defeat a final villian to feel I have accomplished something.

Another possibility is that I haven't played any games with really good stories.. lol.
Any suggestions?
 
Well what ype of games to you like to play RPG or action cuz i can point out a few good ones for you. Also what systems do you have.
 
I usually play action games.. but I'm fairly open minded really.

Currently all I have is a PS2 and a PC. PC is kinda new so it should be able to handle most things.
 
Well I'm not a PC gamer so I can not help in that department.

But Go pick up the entire Resident Evil series if you have not played any of them. Devil May Cry 1 and 3. The Onimusha series is good. POP is good. God of War. The Metal gear Solid series. even though 1 is a PS1 game it's still good. Radia Stories was good. Mark of Kri was a good story. Kingdom Hearts has a great story. Almost any FF is good to play. I liked Star Ocean. Xenosaga 1 was GREAT. try not to play 2


O yea Buy a Gamecude and get Eternal Darkness. The Zelda games. That will blow your mind. And thats a few.
 
But Go pick up the entire Resident Evil series if you have not played any of them. Devil May Cry 1 and 3. The Onimusha series is good. POP is good. God of War. The Metal gear Solid series. even though 1 is a PS1 game it's still good. Radia Stories was good. Mark of Kri was a good story. Kingdom Hearts has a great story. Almost any FF is good to play. I liked Star Ocean. Xenosaga 1 was GREAT. try not to play 2

Got RE3 and RE4
Got DMC and DMC 3
Got MGS, MGS2, MGS3
Got FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX, FFX, FFX-2

Soo... Onimusha 1+2+3, Prince Of Persia, God of War, Radia Stories, Mark of Kri, Star Ocean, Kingdom Hearts, Xenosaga episode 1.

Anyone know if the Wii will get GC games?
 
Yes you can play Cube games on the Wii. But why wait when you can play them now. Look at it like this. Your not gonna wanna spend time on the cube games because of the soooooooo many good Wii games that will be out.


And phsyconauts was great too.
 
We've all enjoyed both aspects of gaming. I propose that there's a third aspect: gameplay. Who's played Mario Bros and enjoyed it? How about Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat? Both stories and graphics were less than admirable, but they were fun. Tekken, on the other hand, is pretty, but the gameplay has always been awkward for me. I won't play it.

If I have to choose, though, I'm going with story. As long as gameplay flows well. I like it when the plot takes a twist just when I think the end is near. Halo had me thinking I needed to simply kill the aliens, then it throws in the explanation for the rings and unleashes the Flood. Then throws in that the covenant actually have religious ties to the ring and aren't mindless killers. Very cool.

Knights of the Old Republic is another story that didn't exactly blow away other games graphically, but I've played it through several times and each time has fresh elements to it.

If I were to build a game, it would be built around a story. Gameplay would be crucial and then graphics would be added.

When it comes to developers choosing which one to follow, it's all about the Benjamins. If they can only afford to have slick graphics, then that's what they'll go with. The game may have the depth of a kiddy pool, but the graphics will make the advertisements. People will see the pretty pictures and buy the game. It's only after they beat the final stage and say "that's it?" do they realize the game was a waste of money. All aspects of a game cost money. Good writers, good artists, good programmers are expensive. If they have to choose...
 
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