Do gamers still care about storylines in games?

I don’t know if its just me or not but for the past few months I have been caring less and less about the storylines in video games. And this is coming from someone who loves good storylines and plots that really engage people and immerse them in the game world.

But I don’t know, lately I feel like I could care less about the storylines presented in games.I just want to play the actual game. I could care less about the main characters background story or how he/she/it got to where they are in the game and why they are doing whatever it is that their doing in the game. I just want to play,explore through the game world and see what stuff I can interact with.

So I’m just wondering, how big of a deal is the games storyline to you? Again, to me it tends to be a big deal and I love a great storyline but I just don’t care as much as I use to anymore. Maybe its because I have played to many games with good storylines or maybe I just know what to expect from a games storyline these days and just need to wait for something more original to get me back into it.

I have played a lot of games recently but none really had an engaging storyline. The last game I played that had the most original and engaging storyline plot was Deadly Premonition aka Red Seeds Profile and that was what around the beginning of 2010 I believe?

I think this might just be a phase I am going through where I don’t care to much about storylines. But Idk, lately I just feel bored with game storylines.

But you know, these days I think gamers in general don’t even care about game storylines anymore. Games are always being developed so rapidly now and there are fantastic game releases daily (it feels like everyday the next big thing comes out now) and people are just forgetful. They jump from one game to another really quickly and forget the previous game they played in a snap. One day the latest trending game is swaped out with a different new big hit and the game already feels years old even though it was only released a month or so ago.

So even for my next game project that I am planning, I don’t even plan on focusing to much on the storyline. Sure I will have some short simple storyline or background but I want to focus more on gameplay and more fun and less on plot with my next project.

I feel like the storyline is a crucial part of the game and it could either bore the player with in the first couple minuets of the game or really engage them if done right. Personally, I like to just get into a game right away and start. I have been playing The legend of Zelda A Link Between worlds recently and I love the approach they took with this zelda game compared to others. Very minimal dialog and cutscenes and the game just pretty much starts you off playing right away instead of going through all this chunky backstory about the princess and the land and the triforce and the evil and so on. Just, “hey something went wrong, take this sword and go” bam the game starts.

Ok, well that was my little (I guess long) opinion on how I feel about storylines in games these days. What about you guys? do you still care about engaging storylines or do you want to just play the game? do you feel like a good storyline is necessary for your own personal game projects? (Personally for mine I don’t)

Lets hear it.

Well, different people like different things. But I guess it should depend on the game. If I decide to play a point-and-click adventure/quest game - I’d expect a great storyline and that’s why I’ll play the game. Also you kinda hint that you can still have a good storyline but not bore the player.

I hate it when I download a Space Shooter game made by a hobby developer and it’s full with 2-3 min long cut-scenes. It’s a space shooter - I just want to play.

Honestly? No, Gamers cares more about Graphics and Gameplay nowadays.

Think of Battlefield 4(Sorry, i’m fan of FPS), why people like Battlefield 4 multiplayer?
Good Gameplay + Good Graphics.

Everyone knows the campaign of Battlefield 4 is so boring.
The game should always be smooth NOT buggy(example: games made in BGE: buggy).

Tell me a game that got popular because of storyline? Even GTA have noob storyline…
Papa getting heart fall, so drive slowly xD. << GTA mission.

People will rather watch movie than playing a game.(if the game is ONLY focusing on storyline.)

Remember, Good Graphic + Super B Gameplay will make people play the game.

Graphics need to be acceptable and gameplay need to be unique.

Let’s say i’m developing a game call xxxx, the game multiplayer is the same as battlefield 4, why will some one choose my game over Battlefield 4?
unless if my game got something that’s better than Battlefield 4.

Good Luck!

In the “good ole’ days” the storytelling generally took a backseat to the gameplay because of the limited hardware. And if the gameplay was good and fun, you generally cared about the story because it gave context to what you were doing (even if the story was extremely simple). Now that the hardware is good enough to tell stories more effectively, gameplay is taking a backseat to story. And because story is given such a high priority, the gameplay suffers and often treated like a distraction from the story (story is also more production friendly and predictable compared to fun gameplay, and big studios like that)

In your particular case you don’t care much for the story (because lets face it, most of the time the story is crap) and so you want to just get to the actual gameplay…but instead you get a story you don’t care about shoved in your face. If the story really was so great, it’d keep your interest. And since they were focusing so much on the story, the gameplay probably isn’t as great as it could have been, which further takes away from the engagement.

For a personal example, I absolutely did not care for the story in Portal 2…until the gameplay actually started. I rather dislike all the flashiness and grandiose of the first couple of chapters and had to really force myself to get through them. It wasn’t until the puzzle solving and gameplay picked up about half-way through that I started paying more attention and actually caring about the story.

Mm, the Bioshock series is the first thing that comes to mind. Perhaps the Walking Dead games, too.

IGN released a relevant article a while back, and according to the research quoted there most people don’t even finish games, and those who do can’t remember much about the plot. So the ideal thing would be to make a game where plot is present, but minimal, so that those who care about it will find it, and those who don’t will tolerate it because it’s not in their face the whole time. Granted it should be something nice and original, not another zombie outbreak or whatever, though a lot of studios have been creative enough to make over-used concepts like that work, so i guess it boils down to being creative and having a proper balance.

Some people, though, want to make a plot-driven game despite knowing that (idiots like me.)
But then again i’m not planning on selling the games i make so i guess i’m allowed to be an idiot.

It depends on the genre and the target audience. Racing and sports games usually have zero plot. Multiplayer FPS’s and puzzle games can get by with very little. But adventure games and single-player RPG’s tend to rely on it pretty heavily.

Like a few of the guys have said, I think it does really depend on the type of game. However, I can only speak about my personal likes, story means everything to me still.

The whole reason I got into games was due to them crafting stories, worlds and adventures. It’s also the reason I got into game development - to return the favour and do the same. In the end of the day, create a game that feels right for you too (backing it up with some research too wouldn’t hurt!).

I can’t help but feel that a lot of games with ‘story’ these days aren’t thought through stories, copied / pasted story or are not overly original. Also, again in my opinion, there is a big difference between having a story and being able to tell a story - Bioware games are a good example of this. Mass Effect and Dragon Age games, story terms, aren’t anything amazing as such (I love them but it’s the hero saves the world trope). What is important is the way they tell the story - that is key. It’s what makes those games best sellers and keeps them interesting for a lot of players. Maybe telling a story in a game in a different way would help you?

Games with story will always find a market audience. If you don’t feel like they mean much to you anymore then try your hand without one (or a different twist at telling one). See how that goes =).

Just my thoughts.

Portal, Gone Home, the Final Fantasy series, Chrono Trigger, really ANY jRPG, Baldur’s Gate, Fallout, Fallout 2… I could go on for a few hours, really.

Anyone who says “gamers don’t care about story” is ignoring the fact that most games don’t make the effort to tell a good story in the first place and even when they do they usually do a shit job at it because almost all the writers in games are there because they can’t get jobs in film.

A storyline in a racing game is relatively boring (need for speed… but driver parallel lines was nice), but other than that I don’t play games without a story. Last of us should be a notable example how a story can be told…

People really forgot to mention “God of War” series. I brought psp, only to play god of war psp exclusive versions. Picked ps2 only for god of war ps2 versions. Also prince of persia series. Might be sound a little bit odd, the 2008 version even changed my game deving life.

A game without a story is a man without balls, mostly.

It depends, I didn’t find an immersive story anymore recently, last time I think it was with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and before that Baldur’s Gate saga.

Give me Metal Slug and I don’t need a story but awesome action gameplay.
Give me Elder Scrolls and I expect a good story and awesome gameplay.
Give me adventures and I need a good story.

The general design decides. Just like in movies. Michael Bay movies have their audiences while Art House movies have their audiences, as well.

A (to some) somewhat controversion thought: “Ailent Hill - Shattered Memories” lived and died with it’s story and especially ending. I guess that’s why so many people didn’t seem to like it. The gameplay wasn’t the same any more but the story in the end made up for that, completely, IMHO. From all the people I’ve talked to none finished it, though. Which is arguably a testament that the story development may not have been as good as it’s ending. I this case I’d rather say that players missed the classic vibes, though. :wink:

Depends on the player and the game, some games don’t need stories while other do, some player like story driven games while others don’t.

TL;DR : Nothing is absolute.

Story is important to me, mainly because I play RPGs a lot. Of course a good story is only part of the bigger picture of what makes a great game.
The Last of Us maybe had a good story but I thought it sucked because the story wasn’t good enough to hold up weak gameplay. I could go on and on with similar examples.

I think with RPG you want a good but not intrusive storyline, that constantly demands you watch its lengthy cut-scenes. You want players to make their stamp and possibly just ignore the main quest line if they want to. But if the main plot is good that will keep player interested in following the quest line and not side tracking.

Sure multiplayer kills off any storyline, but it’s been that way for a long time. Think Halo 1, did people play that online for the plot?

COD 4 was probably the last fps game I cared about the story in, I thought it was really, really, well-done. Far better than the story lines of the subsequent CODs.

I still think storylines are important in some games.
A lot of the time a good story helps to alleviate bad gameplay (although it should not be an excuse for it). I would have never have gone through Spec Ops: The Line or the Portal games if it weren’t for the story, and I found that most of Skyrim fell flat for me because of how bland the story and characters were. I think a lot of problems with story these days is that most of the time its done poorly, and stories rarely take advantage of the benefits provided by an interactive medium. Last of Us had a pretty good story, but there was no real reason why it had to be a game, and could have performed just as well were it a book or a movie. A game like Spec Ops, on the other hand, would have lost a lot of what made it so good had it been a film/book.

It all depends on the type of game i guess, but for me story is often what makes me play through a game ot just shut it down.
Interesting story = play-through guarantied : )

I think one of the issues is that most games nowdays have bad stories, and with a bad story you don’t care and just want to play the game. But if you have a really good story that will engage almost any player.

Different strokes for different folks, right? Some people will start mashing buttons as soon as a cutscene or dialogue comes up to get through it as fast as possible and get back to gameplay. Others consider the story the essential reward for advancement in a game.

For me personally, story can salvage what would otherwise be a boring, repetitive, or mediocre game. I can’t tell you how many times that I would’ve quit a game if not for the story that kept me engaged and wanting to see what happens next. Thomas Was Alone is a great example. There’s nothing all that special about the mechanics or the art style or the puzzles. What is special is that it had good writing and fantastic voice acting. That primarily kept me playing for far longer than I would have otherwise.

Honestly, and maybe this is just because I’m getting older and free time is more and more precious, but I find that nearly every game I play gets repetitive to me at some point and is longer than I’d like it to be (especially FPSes). I am almost always sick of a game by the time I beat it. And in many of those cases I wouldn’t have bothered to beat it at all if not for the story.

Now, I should also mention that when I say “story” I don’t exclusively mean cutscenes and dialogue trees. I think of story as the experiential aspects that go beyond mere gameplay. When a game has an old run-down drug store on the street corner with vines growing up the outside walls, that tells a story. When you walk into a room and there’s a phonograph playing an old jazz record, that tells a story. When you find those hidden rooms in Portal with words and pictures scrawled on the walls, that tells a story. When you see NPC villagers go about their lives in an RPG as the day and night cycle into one another, that tells a story.

Story is a tool that makes your game immersive, and immersion is a good and powerful thing. I wonder if you’re really just sick of heavy-handed cutscene style storytelling?

A lot of people in the west care more about graphics and online play, in Japan they care more about the storyline.
As a result that PlayStation sells best in Europe while Nintendo dominates Japan.

It’s not always the case.
While being a European, I prefer storyline far above graphics and online play.
Even if it’s a game with Nintendo 64 graphics, I’ll play it as long as the storyline and/or gameplay is awesome.
The irony, I still play N64 games more often than anything from this generation.