Games don't need stories.

[dharh]

richardhutnik said:

dharh said:

 

Of course you can have a game without a story. There are tons of games that focus solely on gameplay. However, I applaud the trend of adding both RPG and story elements to the other genres. Especially adventure games. Heck if they aren't going to have at least a minor story in an FPS they might as well cut the solo mode out altogether.

Are we better off if the stories suck?  I will agree if a GOOD story, properly told, is there, then things will likely be better.  But if the story is poor, then you have to rely on gameplay, and other reasons to play, to compel you to play.

Games are given quite a lot of latitude. Take graphics for example. There are plenty of good games out there that don't have the best graphics, even for their time. However, to reach the top of the pile a game pretty much needs both good graphics and good gameplay.

If we look at the top games in each genre we start to see some patterns. For RPGs its obvious, good gameplay, good story. For adventure and FPS games its good graphics, good gameplay. Platformers still uniquely seem to stick with gameplay.

The point is that different genres have one or two things that they _must_ have, and in some of those genres its the story. In some cases whether a story is poor or good doesn't make a lick of difference.