3 Reasons Why There's No Need For Story in Fighting Games

Original Gamer: "There has been a growing movement in gaming calling for better story-telling in games, which I totally agree with. The problem is that these people are so focused on narratives they believe that it should be a part of every genre in some sort of fashion, with the exception being sports games. But like sports games, there are some genres that are simply not made to have a strong narrative and is one of them is the fighting game genre."

[NastyLeftHook0]

story's in fighting games are the icing on the cake imp. i like to know why im fighting atleast.

[armycore]

Icing on the cake? Then you must have enjoyed bad icing for most of your life since most fighting game stories are fairly lame.

[SnakeCQC]

no need for such bad language over nothing

[Kalowest]

You must have never played an Arc System Works fighting game. They have some of the best stories in a FG.

[TekoIie]

I have a similar opinion.

I watch porn for the music since the lyrics are amazing.

IN OUT, IN OUT SHAKE IT ALL ABOUT! ; )

[Hufandpuf]

LOLWTF what song is that!?

[TekoIie]

BRAAAAH!!!!! Its The Okey Cokey!!!!! I am ashamed of you for not recognising it in its sexual form >:(

[KING85]

LMAO! That made chuckle quite a bit.

[GraveLord]

A game without a story is crap. For exampe, play Street Figher X Tekken, then play Mortal Kombat(2011). You notice a huge difference in not only features and gameplay, but story.

I usually prefer Japanese games, but when it comes to fighting games, I prefer Western.

[BlackTar187]

i prefer SF games over MK games anyday of the week.

but i enjoy them both

[smashcrashbash]

It's that type of thinking is why games are becoming worse and worse. Why can't we have a proper story in a fighting game? Is there no need or they just don't want to make a story?

[armycore]

It's about realizing what's important. In fighting games, it's the gameplay. That stands head and shoulders above everything else in the game. However, reviewers are treating fighting games like RPGs taking points off because it's a bad story. That's not important. Is it nice to have? Of course it is, but it's not needed.

The Fight Night series tried to add a storyline to their game. It wasn't bad but it wasn't needed because it was all about the gameplay in that game.

Just because gamers love a great story, doesn't mean that if a game doesn't have a great story, it should be shit on.

[TekoIie]

I think this person cant tell the difference between a storyline and backstory for characters... Would rather play as a character that has some form of back story compared to a dull soldier...

[Snookies12]

Blazblue was the only fighter in which I cared about the story... And it's really good at that, which surprised the hell out of me. Albeit it's super hard to actual understand what's going on... In any case, Blazblue does it right for a fighter, and Mortal Kombat kind of had something, but it wasn't all too serious. I think it's perfectly reasonable to want a story to a fighter either way.

[Lucretia]

dude for real the story is so good

[Hicken]

I was interested in BB because of the artwork. I honestly thought it was gonna be some sorta rpg. I didn't immediately trade it in because of Noel, who stole my heart, then told me being in love with her was a major violation. I've bought every entry in the series- sans the Vita version, but that's only a matter of time- because the story is excellent, ESPECIALLY for a fighter, as I don't play much in the way of fighting games, anyway.

Also, there was more Noel.

[Lucretia]

tho i think Blazblue's story helps make the game

[SnipeySnake]

Was just about to mention Blazblue. I definitely want story in my Blazblue games.

[Tonester925]

I enjoyed the Fight Night Champions story. Would that be considered a fighting game?

[Lucretia]

nah, not a fighting game, its a sports game. but still the story mode is good

[armycore]

Funny enough, in the fighting game category of the AIAS awards, it is considered a fighting game.

[Adolph Fitler]

Screw all this empasis on story for fighters, racers, & most of all first person shooters.

The fps genre has gone story crazy, while the gameplay has seen no innovation or improvement at all since Timesplitters, last gen.

I pray for another Timesplitters on current machines (exclusitivity on PS3 as the Sony PS big reveal for this week will do me).

As for fighters, all they need is the same....improved "GAMEPLAY" features....I would skip the fmv story sequences in a fighter in most cases, whereas gameplay is timeless....you can only really watch a scripted event once in a game if your into that thing, or the sequence is good enough, but gameplay is absolutely detromental to repeated play.
I just wish my fave fighters like Tekken, Mortal Kombat, Soul Calibre, etc, etc, are improved by offering 50+ characters, the less enthralling characters (like the animals in Tekken) are scrapped in favor of new sick characters (like Steve, Raven, etc, etc in Tekken), & I really hope gameplay is sped up, changed up just enough to make the game feel familiar, but fresh, & I would love to see all these fighters either introduce, or improve background interaction, MKvsDC had some of the best in recent memory (& that is an old game), I would love it if you could shoulder charge your character & send them crashing through 10 consectutive walls, then pick up a piece of the rubble, like a chunk of concrete, or a timber 4x4 wall stud & smash your enemy with it, or if they recovered fast enough they could cream you to even it up...(obviously the weapon breaks after 1st hit to make fair). Imagine you could slam your opponent down on the floor hard enough to send them crashing through it, only to hit the floor a level below & go through it too, & bang, bang, bang, through another few floors, then your character jumps down & crashes onto there chest.....Now that would be sick.

Improve your game with gameplay, not irrelevant crap. Games should be games, if I wanna get a story, I'll watch bloodsport.

[Feylynn]

"gameplay is timeless....you can only really watch a scripted event once"

This is the core of your opinion here, and it's totally cool that it's how you value your games.

If you want to understand why someone would think differently and value story in a game though consider that I find it to be: "Story is timeless... You can only play a game so many times before it gets stale".

Good story stays with me. I'll never forget games like Final Fantasy IX or Majora's Mask because of their story and characters even though I probably wouldn't play either of them now since the gameplay is old. I've already beat them, no reason to do the same puzzle again.

Fighters are no different, I don't play BlazBlue, Guilty Gear, or Soul Calibur any more but I love the story or characters so much they are always on my list of favorites.

[Frankfurt]

Last year's Mortal Kombat pisses all over his argument. It had better writing than any videogame movie, and it was more fun than even the MK movie itself.

Then you have convoluted crap like the BlazBLue and KOF XIII story modes, which support his argument (and i like KOF!).

[armycore]

Well better writing than a video game movie doesn't take much. But I did address it in the article. While I enjoyed the story mode, let's face it, it's a retelling of the first 3 MK games. That's part of the charm of the story mode because it a trip down memory lane with the game.

[Captain Qwark 9]

it was a retelling so they can reboot the universe without making the previous games non existent. having dine that, future games can all have original stories and original characters without sh*tting all over the fans who have followed the lore for decades.

that said, it was an excellent story mode and had me hooked. i dont believe any game should be lacking a story in any genre, the player should have motivation to see a game through to its end and imo story is that motivation. not every story needs to be in depth with crazy twist worthy of an academy award but it should be something perhaps worth seeing through to the end, even if its as simple as saving the princess.

[Omnislash]

There really is no need for stories, I mean its fine to have one since it adds to it but sometimes it backfires.
For instance, lets look at Capcom. They wont add some of their awesome fighters because of their story, like Urien and Gill and many other great characters, and instead they add the crappy ones...

[Tapioca Cold]

There is no real need for story in a lot of games. Especially games like military shooters and such. Look at SOCOM, who cares about the characters? I mean great, give them names but I do not need dramatic back stories. Seals are anonymous, don't care who they are fighting, bust the door down and get shit done! Storyline shoveled in ruined the series.

Also, the need to have a storyline has ruined other games. Most notably Splinter Cell. They destroyed that series with a ridiculous hollywood storyline involving betrayal and his daughter etc. it was a joke. Why can't they treat games where the protagonist is supposedly a badass, anonymous government agant who gets the job done. NO QUESTIONS ASKED. That's the way it is in reality.

I don't need storylines. I just want to kick ass!

[Venoxn4g]

MK proves you're wrong.. I need story in fighters, but done right..

[honkyjesus]

Fighting games are the mentally challenged next door neighbors of video games.

[Britainz-Fin3st]

Haha i can relate to that.
Always the weird family with the scruffy house lol.

[kevnb]

theres no need for much story in any game, although if done well it can enhance the experience. Most times the stories in video games are horrid and bog down the experience. Other times the story is simply ok, but the gameplay is half broken and the only reason to play is the story.

I wish developers would wake up, alot of forum goers and reviewers focus alot on the story... but 90% of people just want to play a damn game. Almost all the most successful games don't focus on the story, or atleast dont let it get in the way of pure gameplay. This focus on story is forcing many gamers straight into multiplayer, ignoring the single player experience altogether.
It seems like only blizzard, valve and nintendo really get it, by making the story there but not in your face.

[Britainz-Fin3st]

A game needs to be fun to PLAY.
Otherwise it isnt a game is it, or atleast not a good game.
Stories are needed in some games. but take Dead or alive for example. i did not play that for its gripping "story" if you can even call it a story.

[Godmars290]

Be nice if actual writers were involved if a story was going to be put in a fighting game. With the consideration that first and foremost that it is a fighting game.

[byrnezy]

MK9 story was great, it made the game what it was.

[ziggurcat]

LOL at people that think there's a story in fighting games to begin with...

[SeraphimBlade]

I do have to disagree. Necessary? Not strictly speaking. But it's nice to know character motivations and relationships. I'm sure I'm not the only Soul Calibur V player who wanted to know what the hell was going on with the 20-odd characters that weren't explored in the story mode.

[coolman229]

I'm gonna be honest. I like fighting games, but I wouldn't be interested in them if none of them had stories. The main reason I like Street Fighter, Tekken, BlazBlue, and other games is that there is a story that I can follow even if I haven't played the game. If there was no story, then I wouldn't have been interested in these games in the first place.