190°

Can a Game With Poor Gameplay be Saved by a Good Story?

Video games are a pretty unique medium when it comes to story telling. They can provide an experience that other mediums cannot ever hope to imitate. Immersion in a movie is one thing and is often very difficult to achieve but with a video game one can often find themselves lost within a game’s universe or enthralled by the story being told.

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knifefight3744d ago

Nier (game in the picture) is a game I finished purely for the story. It ended up being one of my favorite experiences overall, of the generation.

The gameplay was so-so and certain parts felt almost broken, but on the upside, they weren't broken enough that I didn't want to play through it. TRULY broken games, damn, I might have to resort to YouTube if the story interests me.

Myze3743d ago

Would like to second that opinion on Nier. The storyline was a real highlight of the generation. Also, would like to point out that the soundtrack to the game was one of the best of the generation as well.

The gameplay really was "meh," as were the graphics, and the lower review scores the game received were understandable. However, ten years from now, 95% of the games that received overall higher scoring this generation will be forgotten by me. I will remember Nier.

Hicken3743d ago (Edited 3743d ago )

I found myself wondering why they used Nier as an image. The gameplay wasn't anything revolutionary; it was just average, like you said. But it wasn't poor.

Of course, the story FAR made up for even that shortcoming.

Edit: And like Myze above says, the music is simply superb as well. All around, it was one of my favorite games of the past generation, certainly.

Sarcasm3743d ago

Some will argue that the Last of Us is a good example of that.

SoulMikeY3743d ago

I think that might be stretching. Both Neir and The Last of Us had fun gameplay to me. It's games like FFXIII that had alright story with unbearable gameplay.

DragonKnight3743d ago

Those people would be wrong. The Last of Us had great gameplay. It forced you to think and be methodical. It wasn't Call of Duty or RE6.

ATi_Elite3743d ago

*HEAVY RAIN quickly comes to mind.*

I'm not a fan of the QTE but it had a great story so YES a great story can overcome poor gameplay.

* H.R. had gameplay i didn't like as the QTE were executed very well.

I straight forward crappy programmed game like X-Rebirth makes me vomit to the point that I almost don't care how well the story is laid out

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KingKelloggTheWH3744d ago

I think it needs a degree of balance, if the gameplay is super bad the story needs to be amazing, also it needs to be well told, cardboard cut outs dont do it for me.

Pozzle3743d ago

I definitely think so. Deadly Premonition had absolutely atrocious gameplay, but the bizarre story and characters are what kept me playing. And I'm glad I did. Because despite its faults (and there are many faults!) it was one of the most fun games I played all last gen.

admiralvic3743d ago

"I definitely think so. Deadly Premonition had absolutely atrocious gameplay, but..."

While I hate to say it, we're definitely seeing a trend where having a single redeeming quality or two is enough to make a game a 10/10, GOTY and the like. A lot of this has to do with the sharp change in peoples perception in regards to what a video game is. In my mind, I've always viewed gameplay as the single most important factor.

Contrary to popular opinion, I didn't absolutely love BioShock for instance. I thought the gameplay was just sooooo bad. I still powered through it (at great disinterest) and while it was an amazing story and one I can understand wanting to share with others, I don't think I would have done it without the popularity. I find myself doing that a lot, where as other people will be like "gameplay is awful, story is dreadful, graphics are poor, but oh my is it funny! 8/10".

I think the real question is how much can 1 great feature be in relation to how many things the game gets wrong. I find it hard to take a review seriously when flaws are written off because the person really liked some element. Perhaps I have a dated view, but I don't exactly agree with where things are heading, though I realize it's going there.

Pozzle3743d ago

I think it depends on the reason you play games and just how many flaws you can overlook. I can see why a person wouldn't like Deadly Premonition, for example. It DOES have a lot of faults, and many of them are big enough to make a person put down the game for good. But for me, Deadly Premonition wasn't just a fun story, but it was also a genuinely unique experience. I have never played a game like it. So even though the gameplay was awful and it had an array of other flaws, I could look past that because the rest was such a unique and addicting experience.
From a completely TECHNICAL standpoint, the latest Call of Duty is a "better" game than Deadly Premonition. And yet I would much rather play a game like DP than yet another Call of Duty, because DP (despite its faults) was a more fun and original game.

With that being said, I do agree that Deadly Premonition isn't a 10/10 or GOTY game in the slightest. Though I'm certainly not disappointed that some reviewers were overly enthusiastic about the game, because it probably wouldn't have received such a cult following otherwise.

3743d ago
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70°

Telltale Games Confirms Layoffs; All Projects Still in Production

Today Telltale Series has confirmed to TechRaptor that it has laid off a number of employees, while the games currently in development remain in the pipeline for the time being.

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mooreneco21207d ago

Sadly, this is Deja vu, with Telltale going through this type of thing before in 2018 - thoughts are with those affected. Games companies and all sectors always follow each other, with the bad press reducing as each new announcement is made - sad times we live in.

200°

Remembering the Best JRPGs on the PS3

Get ready to embark on a journey filled with monsters, magic, and overpowered haircuts, because this list features the best JRPGs on the PS3.

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shinoff2183268d ago (Edited 268d ago )

There wasn't that many. Thanks to the west's criticism. It was definitely lacking compared to every other ps system. Dont get me wrong there were a few good ones i know that.

jznrpg268d ago

Nier, Valkyrie Chronciles, Tales games , Ni No Kuni, Resonance of Fate, FF13’s, Ys8 just a few off the top of my head and there were a lot more.

CrimsonWing69268d ago (Edited 268d ago )

Not nearly to the degree of PS1 and PS2.

@shinoff2183 makes a good point that around the PS3/Xbox 360 gen is when the genre wasn’t as prevalent and began to shy away from turn-based. There’s some standouts for sure, but look at the PS1 and PS2 JRPG library and then compare that to the PS3 and PS4’s.

Theres definitely a decline in a selection of titles. Even worse was the quality seemed to take a massive hit as well. I think Lost Odyssey was a huge standout for that gen when you look at production values, then you look at something like Fairy Fencer on the PS3 and it’s kind of depressing.

But by that generation there was a shift from western developed games overtaking Japanese developed games. Back from the NES to PS2 Japanese games were the cream of the crop… I don’t know what happened but like midway into the PS3/360 life-time they became less so.

shinoff2183268d ago (Edited 268d ago )

Compared to the ps1 ps2 and he'll even ps4 ps3 doesn't hold a candle to either imo. It's also when turn based damn near disappeared. Again thanks to the west's criticism

Crimson I'd put money on the west being at fault, guys like Phil phish, and numerous others at that time were attacking jrpg and Japanese games in general pretty hard.

Ni no kuni was probably my fav jrpg back then , and the blue dragon

GameBoyColor268d ago

Tales got kinda lucky here. When they took a chance and finally brought tales of graces f over west it sold like 250k lmao a lot of jrpgs did 500k or below. Disgaea was worse i think. Bamco decided to keep bringing more games over though.

Tapani268d ago (Edited 268d ago )

Demon's Souls, Dark Souls and Dark Souls II were the best RPGs on PS3 made by Japanese developers. Everything else just fell short always. Ni No Kuni was a full package, an okayish game as well. Nier and Drakengard III had superb writing, setting and voice acting, however, the performance was a real drag on the gameplay. Traditional RPG-wise I'd actually say 360 had better JRPGs, and think that Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon were the best traditional JRPGs of the era. PS3 Valkyria Chronicles was okay, but it is closer to an SRPG.

Ryu Ga Gotoku games were also solid, they were still finding their footing and breaking new ground with new cities and formats.

PS3 was the era that almost made me quit gaming and I started playing on PC because I could not find good performance nor games on the system. PS4 got me back into it, and now PS5 is a mix in and between, I just play my PS4 library on the PS5 and rest on PC, just like during the PS3 era. The only new exclusive Sony JRPG is pretty much FFXVI and it is so streamlined and simplified from the normal RPG experience that I can't fit it into the genre anymore. Dragon Quest XII hopefully remedies all of this, but it is just one game.

These new games will all be on PC (while it does take 2-3 years to wait, and 6-12 months from launch to have them patched + fixed by modders) and they perform better on it. The only point in owning a PS5 is to play games a couple of years earlier, but for a hard-working family man like me, the quality of the experience is more important than playing it as soon as possible. And I can't do modern games at 30fps 720p after playing 120fps at 4K. For older games, that's okay.

PSX and PS2 though, those were the days...Still have a massive collections of classic RPGs in CD and DVD format and a phat PS3 to play them!

FinalFantasyFanatic268d ago

It's kinda like that, the PS3 generation was a bad time for JRPGs, especially with the Japanese feeling the need to westernize their games, shooters dominating that gen, the racism from western game journalists (it was bad, between G4, Phill Fish, and a slew of others), and the higher development costs...

It really made me miss the PS1/PS2 days of JRPGs, even the quality of half of those games during the 7th gen weren't as good. The 360 tried, but Microsoft's consoles weren't popular in Japan and no body in the West bought a Xbox for JRPGs (despite Xbox having Vesperia, Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey).

on_line_forever268d ago

" It's kinda like that, the PS3 generation was a bad time for JRPGs, especially with the Japanese feeling the need to westernize their games "

This is when everything fall down and games looks not fun to play anymore except for few games like demon and dark souls for example

-Foxtrot268d ago (Edited 268d ago )

Nah. It's a bad trilogy of games

The only reason XIII-2 stands out is because XIII was so bad

When the bar is so low, anything after feels better.

goldwyncq268d ago

The monster catching mechanic was nice.

Eonjay268d ago

Don't understand the hate for it at all. Seems forced.

shinoff2183268d ago

Watching the credits roll on ff16 now it is good but , I'd really like to re try ff13 least it's turn based and would fill that gap for me.

FinalFantasyFanatic268d ago

They got better after the first one in the trilogy, not outstanding game though.

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CS7268d ago

Honestly, I played FFXIII a few years after release and maybe because it was after the hype cycle and I knew the flaws of the game, it actually became my favorite FF after VII.

I took off the mini map and never used auto battle and the stuff that mattered to me in an FF was just so well done.

The art and graphics were insane at the time
The music is still special
The story still lingers in memory more than a decade later
The RPG systems were decent

I never really got the hate for it, still have a soft spot for that game inside me.

goldwyncq268d ago

Still better than XV and XVI.

Yui_Suzumiya268d ago

Drakengard 3 goes for a small fortune nowadays

Knightofelemia268d ago (Edited 268d ago )

Only gripe I have with Ar Tonelico 3 is that Saki is annoying as hell whether English or in Japanese. Then Saki's English voice actor became Ionasal on Ar Nosurge she was a little annoying but not as bad. Johnny Young Bosch voicing Tatsumi I thought he did a great job. And Akiko Shikata with her vocals and the music from the games just went hand and hand.

DarkZane268d ago

I wish Ar No Surge and Ar Tonelico 3 would be remastered on PS4/PS5.

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70°

How Nier Connects to the Drakengard Series

Nier and Drakengard are two series that couldn't be more different in their setting and stories, but somehow they are still linked.

vTuro24442d ago

The world needs a Drakengard 1 and 3 remake.