Gameplay or Story

[YBBR]

You can separate gamers into two distinct categories. People that prefer gameplay. A tight loop and engaging mechanics. Or people that prefer story. Worldbuilding, dialogue, narrative etc... can pull them through an average mechanical game.

Which one are you?

[Mandatory]

As I've gotten older I'm more about the story and visuals. I play most games (outside of sports) on easy or story mode. I respect that there are a ton of great games that just aren't my bag..

[YBBR]

I am mostly about mechanics first. A good gameplay loop just really appeals to me. If it feels good to me to play, and control, that's generally my number one factor in enjoying a game. There are a few exceptions.

I really enjoy roguelikes or roguelites, one of my favorite genres, and those games are almost always mechanics and the rest is secondary.

[Abe Froman]

Why not both?

[Unbiased Observer]

Good question. The last game I played was Witcher 3, and now I am playing Elden Ring. Opposite ends of the spectrum. I find myself wanting more story from Elden Ring.

[Tommy_Hawk]

Mechanics I haven't really felt since Starfox 64.

I like stories. That's why jRPG's appealed to me so much when I was younger–felt like I was playing as the hero of a book. Nowadays, you build your own story with open-world games. They're fine but I'm getting less appeal out of them.

[YBBR]

Good question. The last game I played was Witcher 3, and now I am playing Elden Ring. Opposite ends of the spectrum. I find myself wanting more story from Elden Ring.

I was pretty much with you with Elden Ring. There are some very interesting story bits but a lot of it is obfuscated through item descriptions and whatnot. I don't want to give you homework, but take a look at some of the Elden Ring videos people have made deciphering objects and the world and explaining the story through them.

[Unbiased Observer]

Good question. The last game I played was Witcher 3, and now I am playing Elden Ring. Opposite ends of the spectrum. I find myself wanting more story from Elden Ring.

I was pretty much with you with Elden Ring. There are some very interesting story bits but a lot of it is obfuscated through item descriptions and whatnot. I don't want to give you homework, but take a look at some of the Elden Ring videos people have made deciphering objects and the world and explaining the story through them.

I am trying VERY hard to not look up anything online about it yet. I am not perfect. But I want to put in a few months, hopefully finish it, and then go to the internet and do a deep dive to see what I am missing.

I like not having any type of quest log. But damn! Last night I stumbled across Yura in a church in the Altus Plateau, and I had forgotten about him. Trying to follow or do quest lines is so difficult. Which is good. But I take notes.

[Unbiased Observer]

Good question. The last game I played was Witcher 3, and now I am playing Elden Ring. Opposite ends of the spectrum. I find myself wanting more story from Elden Ring.

I was pretty much with you with Elden Ring. There are some very interesting story bits but a lot of it is obfuscated through item descriptions and whatnot. I don't want to give you homework, but take a look at some of the Elden Ring videos people have made deciphering objects and the world and explaining the story through them.

The other thing with Elden Ring is that 99% of who you run into wants to kill you. I suppose I have found a dozen merchants, and twenty NPCs. Everything else wants you dead, period.

[YBBR]

Why not both?

You must choose

[YBBR]

Good question. The last game I played was Witcher 3, and now I am playing Elden Ring. Opposite ends of the spectrum. I find myself wanting more story from Elden Ring.

I was pretty much with you with Elden Ring. There are some very interesting story bits but a lot of it is obfuscated through item descriptions and whatnot. I don't want to give you homework, but take a look at some of the Elden Ring videos people have made deciphering objects and the world and explaining the story through them.

I am trying VERY hard to not look up anything online about it yet. I am not perfect. But I want to put in a few months, hopefully finish it, and then go to the internet and do a deep dive to see what I am missing.

I like not having any type of quest log. But damn! Last night I stumbled across Yura in a church in the Altus Plateau, and I had forgotten about him. Trying to follow or do quest lines is so difficult. Which is good. But I take notes.

Yeah. That's awesome. Take notes and create your own idea of the story and then see how that relates to the actual story once you finish it. You'll end up like yeah that's cool. I like my story better, though.

I think looking up where NPCs are is fair because they show up in a lot of wild places in this game. It sucks to miss some of those weirdos.

[Moses Scurry]

Every time a game takes the control away from me the player, it drives me nuts. I'm sorry, but if you want to make movies, go make movies. I'm here to PLAY the game. I started Horizon Zero Dawn, forbidden west and quit. I thought the player perspective sucked, but what really grinds my gears is the first hour was cut scene, cut scene, and there is no skip button. I recall the same with Jedi Survivor.

I'm sure younger gamers are conditioned for this experience now, but for an older gamer from the NES and on era, it sucks.

[Abe Froman]

Story but if the gameplay sucks it totally ruins it for me, so it's really both.

[Tommy_Hawk]

Every time a game takes the control away from me the player, it drives me nuts. I'm sorry, but if you want to make movies, go make movies. I'm here to PLAY the game. I started Horizon Zero Dawn, forbidden west and quit. I thought the player perspective sucked, but what really grinds my gears is the first hour was cut scene, cut scene, and there is no skip button. I recall the same with Jedi Survivor.

I'm sure younger gamers are conditioned for this experience now, but for an older gamer from the NES and on era, it sucks.

The Final Fantasy games on Playstation were awesome but by the time FF X came out it was basically playing a movie. I like playing books, like jRPGs were on SNES.

I remember some nerd at school bragging about how Final Fantasy had like 37 minutes of cut scenes. Ish

[Moses Scurry]

Every time a game takes the control away from me the player, it drives me nuts. I'm sorry, but if you want to make movies, go make movies. I'm here to PLAY the game. I started Horizon Zero Dawn, forbidden west and quit. I thought the player perspective sucked, but what really grinds my gears is the first hour was cut scene, cut scene, and there is no skip button. I recall the same with Jedi Survivor.

I'm sure younger gamers are conditioned for this experience now, but for an older gamer from the NES and on era, it sucks.

The Final Fantasy games on Playstation were awesome but by the time FF X came out it was basically playing a movie. I like playing books, like jRPGs were on SNES.

I remember some nerd at school bragging about how Final Fantasy had like 37 minutes of cut scenes. Ish

That is funny, I fired up i think it was FFX just to check it out, and i had control of the character for about 37 seconds in the first hour. I walked a few steps to progress the story and had one fight.

[salamander]

You can separate gamers into two distinct categories. People that prefer gameplay. A tight loop and engaging mechanics. Or people that prefer story. Worldbuilding, dialogue, narrative etc... can pull them through an average mechanical game.

Which one are you?

Depends on what you mean? I love Fromsoftware's storytelling but it's based in it's gameplay. They have some of the most epic storylines of any games out there but it's incredibly difficult to uncover. Usually the community has to get together and compare notes and find the story.

If it's a story told through cutscenes most of the time I'm not going to love it unless it's an incredible story. Visuals matter very little to me as long as they're not awful. The biggest example of this is Last of Us 1 & 2.

LoU1 told most of it's story through gameplay.
LoU2 told most of it's story through cutscenes and forced walking scenes.

[salamander]

Good question. The last game I played was Witcher 3, and now I am playing Elden Ring. Opposite ends of the spectrum. I find myself wanting more story from Elden Ring.

Once you beat the game and start digging into the story there's a pretty big chance you get obsessed with the storyline. The way these games are put together is kind of incredible. The community pieces it together on their own and there's a whole other side to playing these games that has nothing to do with playing the game. Elden Ring has an absolutely massive and well put together story. It's just not right in front of you.

Once you beat the game, digging into the storyline on youtube is almost just as fun as playing the game.

I spent months just listening to people lay it out for me on youtube while working. Sometimes you fire up the game and go see what they're talking about in game. It's a really interactive and hard to pull off way of laying a game out.

[Unbiased Observer]

Good question. The last game I played was Witcher 3, and now I am playing Elden Ring. Opposite ends of the spectrum. I find myself wanting more story from Elden Ring.

Once you beat the game and start digging into the story there's a pretty big chance you get obsessed with the storyline. The way these games are put together is kind of incredible. The community pieces it together on their own and there's a whole other side to playing these games that has nothing to do with playing the game. Elden Ring has an absolutely massive and well put together story. It's just not right in front of you.

Once you beat the game, digging into the storyline on youtube is almost just as fun as playing the game.

I just got into the part of Leyndell that looks like the Roundtable Hold. Makes me wonder what the story is. Or the backstory to the two guys I killed there as part of the Volcano Manor questline.

I have heard there is a big community for the storyline. I am still holding out so as not to spoil anything accidentally. I just got past Leyndell into the Mountaintop of the Giants. I did not do the sewers yet beneath Leyndell. Or Deeproot Depths. Or whatever else I am forgetting.

There are people you meet, and I still have no idea how to advance the quest line. Like Haight. I cleaned out his castle, but that was a month ago.

[salamander]

Good question. The last game I played was Witcher 3, and now I am playing Elden Ring. Opposite ends of the spectrum. I find myself wanting more story from Elden Ring.

Once you beat the game and start digging into the story there's a pretty big chance you get obsessed with the storyline. The way these games are put together is kind of incredible. The community pieces it together on their own and there's a whole other side to playing these games that has nothing to do with playing the game. Elden Ring has an absolutely massive and well put together story. It's just not right in front of you.

Once you beat the game, digging into the storyline on youtube is almost just as fun as playing the game.

I just got into the part of Leyndell that looks like the Roundtable Hold. Makes me wonder what the story is. Or the backstory to the two guys I killed there as part of the Volcano Manor questline.

I have heard there is a big community for the storyline. I am still holding out so as not to spoil anything accidentally. I just got past Leyndell into the Mountaintop of the Giants. I did not do the sewers yet beneath Leyndell. Or Deeproot Depths. Or whatever else I am forgetting.

There are people you meet, and I still have no idea how to advance the quest line. Like Haight. I cleaned out his castle, but that was a month ago.

Totally. Get a full playthrough under your belt before you do anything. It'll really help in the long run. I will say to maybe pay attention to item descriptions.

Have you gone under Stormveil Castle yet?

[Unbiased Observer]

Once you beat the game and start digging into the story there's a pretty big chance you get obsessed with the storyline. The way these games are put together is kind of incredible. The community pieces it together on their own and there's a whole other side to playing these games that has nothing to do with playing the game. Elden Ring has an absolutely massive and well put together story. It's just not right in front of you.

Once you beat the game, digging into the storyline on youtube is almost just as fun as playing the game.

I just got into the part of Leyndell that looks like the Roundtable Hold. Makes me wonder what the story is. Or the backstory to the two guys I killed there as part of the Volcano Manor questline.

I have heard there is a big community for the storyline. I am still holding out so as not to spoil anything accidentally. I just got past Leyndell into the Mountaintop of the Giants. I did not do the sewers yet beneath Leyndell. Or Deeproot Depths. Or whatever else I am forgetting.

There are people you meet, and I still have no idea how to advance the quest line. Like Haight. I cleaned out his castle, but that was a month ago.

Totally. Get a full playthrough under your belt before you do anything. It'll really help in the long run. I will say to maybe pay attention to item descriptions.

I noticed that. Also noticed after a couple weeks that you really need to pay attention to every bit of stuff the merchants sell, like the little notes. I am doing astrologer, and had no idea for two weeks that Sellen existed. It was right in a note from the merchant.

[salamander]

I just got into the part of Leyndell that looks like the Roundtable Hold. Makes me wonder what the story is. Or the backstory to the two guys I killed there as part of the Volcano Manor questline.

I have heard there is a big community for the storyline. I am still holding out so as not to spoil anything accidentally. I just got past Leyndell into the Mountaintop of the Giants. I did not do the sewers yet beneath Leyndell. Or Deeproot Depths. Or whatever else I am forgetting.

There are people you meet, and I still have no idea how to advance the quest line. Like Haight. I cleaned out his castle, but that was a month ago.

Totally. Get a full playthrough under your belt before you do anything. It'll really help in the long run. I will say to maybe pay attention to item descriptions.

I noticed that. Also noticed after a couple weeks that you really need to pay attention to every bit of stuff the merchants sell, like the little notes. I am doing astrologer, and had no idea for two weeks that Sellen existed. It was right in a note from the merchant.

I completely missed that on my first playthrough entirely.