I dunno about the whole gameplay vs story thing, I think you can appreciate both and how each feeds into each other. Shadow of the Colossus’ story is held in such high regard because of the way it’s fed to you and the journey you undertake. Then there are games which are largely narrative based but work much better as interactive media due to the way they designed the narrative, like 428 Shibuya Scramble, Steins;Gate and the Zero Escape series. The Metroid Prime series turned world building into a gameplay mechanic, encouraging you to scan everything not just to learn enemies’ weaknesses but to learn about the lore. The Souls series then took that concept and instead of giving you the lore in a handy database, basically encourages you to look at the Wiki. I don’t think it’s easy to say that gameplay is better or story is better as both elements are key to interactive media as a concept.
@Onigumo as a big fan of the souls series I am a huge fan of good level design... in those games in particularI get great satisfactionfrom the mental-mapping of the game world and everything seems so well thought out, from the spacing of safe-zones to item and enemy placement. I'm also a fan of good open-world design, if that can be described as good level-design... dunno might be a slightly differentthing. Still, I go back to my original point though, if the game plays like crap... I'm probablynot gonna see much of that great level design.
@nessisonett as I pointed out, I know there are many perspectives on this and it comes down to personal taste... just in my gaming the playability (& a good 'gameplay-loop') is primary to what provides the most 100% pure dopamine deployment.
I have to admit @MaulTsir I'm a bit pleased (Even if it is rather selfish of me) to hear you think rather similarly about the story and characters when most others seem to absolutely love it.
I never really found the hordes that exciting either to be perfectly honest. The only thing I really REALLY got on with was that sweet bike and the traversal mechanics.
I do hope you think more fondly of the story though (As I'd never want anyone to not enjoy a game) and hope you enjoy it even more. Keep us posted!
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy lol well I have to call an egg an egg 🤣 the game is actually good and where I'm up to so far (I'm at Iron Mike's Camp) I'm enjoying playing the game like I've said the actual game play has me entertained, I really enjoy clearing out camps and nests and riding about on the bike seeing what else the map has to offer, the weather changes and the day and night system is brilliant and really makes the game feel alive, you can tell that alot of effort has gone in to that side of the game its just a shame I can't say the same for the writing or character creation. It doesn't make it a bad game it just doesn't make it a great game in my opinion.
@colonelkilgore I agree with you about gameplay although for me it's always gameplay and story what are the most important I want a game to play well and keep me wanting to come back to find out what's happened next. For me you can have good games like Days Gone , The Division 2, GTA 5, Crash Bandicoot, World Of Warcraft and many others that have really good game play and replay value but not the strongest of stories and I'll enjoy them and play them and at the end I'll say yeah that was good, similar to Detroit Become Human great story but average game to play but I still really loved it. My favourite game of the ps4 generation was God Of War, fantastic gameplay even though gameplay is another opinion based topic some people will say games like God of War are repetitive and admittedly they are there's only so much a developers can do but when you mix excellent gameplay with an amazing story you end up with GOW, The Witcher 3, Mass Effect. And I also agree with you about TLOU 1 and 2 both have really simple gameplay but the story drives you to see the next part similar to Uncharted which is also a great story with very simple but well done gameplay.
I've rambled a bit now so I Will summarise to say I totally agree that a game needs to be fun with Good gameplay it's basically what we play games for but the last 10 - 15 years has changed in the gaming industry and if a game can deliver me gameplay and storytelling that is what I'm personally after. I also love films and TV but would say if the film had great acting and good visuals but not a good story then it wouldn't fulfil that itch similar to games.
As for the discussion that's bloomed from talking about Day's Gone with regards to Story and/Vs. Gameplay... for me my stance is very simple.
It depends what the game is going for.
I'm not gonna judge the original pacman for not having a story. It has a simple and very enjoyable game loop that was perfectly designed around munching up all the various currencies it could in arcades.
Same with say Crash Bandicoot 1 that I reviewed in the review thread.
It's a near pure platforming experience and I wouldn't hold anything against it from the very basic and child friendly story that the game tells throughout it that could be summed in a few sentences... Or the polar opposite of that with the Danganronpa games that's mostly story based experiences with very little gameplay.
They have very different critera they set out to do in very different genres so I'll naturally mark them on a very different scale.
Of course the reason I hold this view and up to a higher standard in particular is due to the fact I typically like to review everything I play (Or at the very least write down some detailed impressions as I go along through it/finish it)... So I'm going to take everything a game does into consideration as what I say will entice others into either buy a game or turn their nose up to it (Not that I regard my reviews or writing that highly )
It's why I have my unique scoring system now within those reviews of me giving my subjective personal score alongside a more objective score too to try and take into all the faults one might have (Or in a game I didn't like the potential positives).
It's the reason why I gave a Day's Gone a 4/10 (Whilst objectively I gave it a 5 bordering a six). Eveything it did regarding it's story, characters, world building (Hell even the music was boring), fell absolutely flat for me.
If I didn't enjoy over half the game (that it puts a strong emphasis on)... Why would I ever score it more then half of my reviewing scale?
... Sorry for the ramble. Just wanted to get that off my chest 😅
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy so just to reiterate, I like a good story (and all the other stuff) it's just I put a premium on gameplay.
It's like visiting a restaurant, yeah I like good service, love me some nice decor, ooh live music that's nice too... but my review will 'weight' the food above all of those ancillary things... same with gameplay and games. Not all facets need to be weighed equally, even in these times of equality 😉
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Just saw your post on Nexomon. That's actually really cool how much you can customize the experience. Imagine if you combined the great monster designs and iconic imagery of Pokemon with that sort of post-launch support.
The last game I played was Death Stranding, still playing it but just on a break now. @Jimmer-jammer Have you played that? What game(s) are you playing right now on PS4?
"Man is the pie that bakes and eats himself, and the recipe is separation." - Alasdair Gray
That would be a very cool experience indeed. But since gamefreak can't even manage letting you bypass the tutorials every game and only ever implimented a difficulty setting once(?)... I think there's more chance you'll see Breath Of The Wild 2 become an Xbox exclusive @Ralizah
I've had a go of the Dragon Quest XIS demo on PS4 (I didn't even realise there was one) thanks to our talk about Dragon Quest the other week.
... It's not bad so far.
Got to the prison escape with the thief(?) guy who's name I completely forgot (Found his voice acting a little hokey compared to the other characters so far). The demo has actually went on a lot longer then I was expecting to be honest!
For a switch port it's quite the looker still (Though I also haven't seen the original version so I don't know how much of a downgrade the visuals took) and I recognised a few enemies from DQ8 despite not plsying that in a LONG time.
Dunno why you can move the character about when the game is as turn based as turn based combat gets though... Very strange descision there 😞
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Yeah, the DQXI S demo is super generous. It's like the first eighth of the game or something.
The Switch port, IMO, looks amazing considering the capabilities of the system, but the PS4 version of DQXI S has some improved texture work and runs at a higher resolution, as far as I'm aware. Although the dumbed down lighting from the Switch version means it'll never look as good as the original did on PS4/PC.
Oh, and about the weird free movement during battles... you can actually disable that. I did. In the settings, you should see something called... "classic camera," I think. It makes the game pure turn-based without the nonsensical free character movement during battle. You should also be able to increase the battle speed. Combine those two, and you get some amazingly snappy battles.
I just finished Immortals: Fenyx Rising, and I came away extremely impressed. I wasn't originally going to get the game due to lackluster reviews and suggestions that it was too short for my tastes, at about 30 hours. I ended up getting it due it going on sale half off after the Holidays, and after putting 90 hours into my first playthrough, I can say that I really enjoyed it. Its a somewhat more casual experience than the recent AC games, but still fun to play, has really smart funny dialogue, and has really tight gameplay.
@TheBrandedSwordsman I really, really enjoyed Death Stranding. What a unique experience. I usually have a main game along with a smaller side game going, so right now I’m running through Cyberpunk 2077, which I’m really enjoying, and Doom, which I’ve almost finished. I’m also going through Haven with my wife, and Sackboy with my kids. Haha that sounds like a lot but we move through them fairly slowly.
What are thoughts on Death Stranding?
“Reason is the natural order of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning.” C.S. Lewis
Yeah, the DQXI S demo is super generous. It's like the first eighth of the game or something.
Oh wow really? I was just kinda racing through it kinda expecting it to be over once I'd got to the castle (and even then I thought it was being rayher generous compared to some of thr other demos I've played) so I didn't even bother with the side quests the game gave me so far @Ralizah 😅
The Switch port, IMO, looks amazing considering the capabilities of the system, but the PS4 version of DQXI S has some improved texture work and runs at a higher resolution, as far as I'm aware. Although the dumbed down lighting from the Switch version means it'll never look as good as the original did on PS4/PC
Oh, and about the weird free movement during battles... you can actually disable that. I did. In the settings, you should see something called... "classic camera," I think. It makes the game pure turn-based without the nonsensical free character movement during battle. You should also be able to increase the battle speed. Combine those two, and you get some amazingly snappy battles.
Yeah I'd already found that and done that. Still just a bizarre thing that you can move around in the battles for absolutely no reason or benefit.
I... can see why even with the orchestra why people don't like the soundtrack all that much. It heavily relies on the brass section which just becomes an annoyance on the ears to me in particular and the tracks aren't very long either.
They also seem to have got rid of the system DQVIII had in battles... The tension system I think it was?
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Yeah, I have mixed feelings about the system in DQXI where characters will sort of randomly power up. I thought the tension system from VIII added a pleasant layer of depth to the combat. One of the few things I prefer in VIII over XI.
The music is simple, but I feel like it's a good match for the straight-forward heroic fantasy of the game. Also, some pieces are just lovely. Like this one:
It definitely wouldn't top my list of best video game soundtracks, but it's about 1000x better than the MIDI version of the score from the original version of Dragon Quest XI.
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy The pep powers and soundtrack are the two main reasons I kinda dropped off the game a bit through Act 2. A lot of what it does it good but it’s as if the game is trying its best to make me not enjoy playing it.
I’m finally onto the finale of Yakuza 5 and this game has been a bit of a slog.
The fourth (and new) character was mildly interesting but his whole story leans very heavily into baseball. Luckily I have a passing interest in the sport but god help you if you don’t!
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