How important is the story in a game for you?

For me it's probably the most important thing. The characters have to be good and the story itself just as good. Where would you rank how important the story of the game is overall?

For me it depends on the kind of game but story definitely matters, character development and having a reason to keep playing is most important to really get engaged.
Also having a great story really adds to replay value.

Story is key for me, without a story the game is absolute useless to me.

Its its a story heavy game like something Telltale makes or a Bioware RPG, then its fairly important. however for most games, if the gameplay is good enough, I dont care if the story is straight nonsene or not.

Until I played Shadow of Mordor, I thought story was make or break for a game. I still think story is an important part and I enjoy them, but if the gameplay is fantastic, then story can take a backseat.

I would prefer if a game has a strong story. Otherwise, I can't get invested. It's the main reason why many supposedly great games - like Diablo 3 recently - fell flat for me. Great gameplay, sure, really forgettable story. It just doesn't work well for me if there's no effort thrown into the story, with very few exceptions.

1. Story
2. Characters
3. Gameplay
4. Graphics

It depends on the type of game.

Depends on the game. I just played Her Story last week and I think it was amazing and the game rides solely on its story's merit alone.

@The_Last_Ride:

Depends on the game, games like call of duty or fifa then not at all. Rpgs and action adventure and it's the most important thing. will not play games with zombie or demon stories.

Depends on the game type for me as well, but a well written story can make even a mediocre game into something amazing. The best example is probably a game like Spec Ops, where the game itself is a decent (but not extrordinary) TPS but the story made it one of the most talked about games that year.

On the other hand, there are a ton of games that I enjoy that have no story at all. Sandbox games like Minecraft, schumps or schump-like titles like Ikaruga, Resogun, Geometry Wars, etc all work fine without any kind of real narrative. Fighting games often have story and background for their characters, but not a lot of people play a fighting game expecting a "good" story. At best they are usually just laugably funny.

-Byshop

Some of these responses amaze me.

Gameplay and atmosphere are far more important to me.

The only notable exception that comes to mind is Deus Ex (the original).

@Byshop: yeah sandbox games like minecraft don't need a story at all but if a game is made with a narrative and it's written well, I agree it can made a mediocre game amazing, and even make us overlook some issues would otherwise be obvious

I care about story in a video game as much as I care about graphics in a novel.

Story is not important to me in a videogame.

A bad story can put me off a game if its supposed to be a story driven game but some games only need basic or non-existent stories and am quite happy playing those too. I will buy a game though if the story is recommended as a major selling feature.

Story is the absolute least important thing a game can possibly have. A good story will never push me to play through a game.

1) Gameplay

2) Visuals (gives satisfying feedback to your inputs)

3) music

4) Story (if anything ruins games more than helps them)

It really depends on the game. Beat Em Ups for example really have no story besides:

Gang takes over city. Gang leader kid naps main characters love interest or best friend or family member. Gang leader is defeated and main character saves city while saving his friend/family/love interest.

The latest beat em up I have played was Shank and it was a damn fun game with barely any story. Super Meatboy was also an incredibly fun game with hardly any story. Megaman is another game where story wasn't very strong until Megaman X and Megaman 7. So honestly, it really depends on the genre of game that you like. I'm a simple guy who likes old Run N Guns, Beat Em Ups, Shoot Em Ups and Hack N Slashes. For these type of games, gameplay and music are actually more important than the story itself. It is actually acceptable for the story to be weak in these types of games. Devil May Cry is or was one of the biggest Hack N Slash titles and you have to admit that the storyline in those games are really not that great. Fantastic gameplay and soundtracks though.

I never expect a good story unless it's relevant to the game. That's how I see it. Some people place a game solely on story, and when they do, they forget gaming is about gameplay first and foremost.

I want games to let me make my own "story" through my own actions rather than force-feeding me someone else's. So many games today place the player as nothing but a bit actor acting out someone else's script. I prefer fully interactive games that are open ended.

very important.. i usually cant get into a game unless there is a good story to follow

not very. some of my favourite games dont even have a story and i have enjoyed many a game with an average story.

too many games are also guilty of being completely story driven, at the expense of everything else. not good. how the story is told can make or break a game.

but a game with the right mix of good gameplay, player freedom and good gameplay also goes down well.

Yeah story and characters are very important to me too. It's probably the difference between a good game and a great game for me (ie. all my favourite games have great stories/characters).

Story is something that can help or hurt a game but it can not carry a game. If the only good point of a game is the story or if the game is just an interactive story then it is a poor game.

Story matters:Not At All.Not in the slightest.

how important each aspect of a game is to me it's purely arbitrary. Because if it's a fighting game then I care very little about the story, if it's an RPG then I would say that story is the most important but I liked Dark Souls anyway. But then I played FF12 and hated it with a passion because of the story even though I thought the gameplay was very good. I love DMC's story and gameplay even though the story of the series is ass. Metal Gear's and Yakuza's storylines are a fuking badly written mess yet I like them more than Bioshock's or Planescape's.

So at the end is not even the quality of the gameplay or the story what makes me like a game... In fact, now that I think about it I don't even know why I like the stuff I like. haha But one thing is for sure though, I just don't like Platinum Games.

Story means nothing to me as long as the game is good.

Depends on the game and gameplay.

If it's something like Unreal tournament then It doesn't require much of a story, same with Racing.

i would say the same

@The_Last_Ride For me, the Story is a fundamental part of the game. When I review video games, I normally comment about how good or bad the plot is in a game.

It's not. Even in an RPG, or something like Shenmue, I wouldn't play them if I didn't enjoy the gameplay.

that should always be part of the review

its my number one priority .

Since I think video games have the capacity to be art, and I like a good story, it is very important to me. Story is pretty much the most important aspect in any form of entertainment for me (anime, movies, games). Especially a good moral dilemma to back up the story to get me thinking. The story can't just be mindless lore or solely rely on plot twists.

However, I also believe a video game should take advantage of its unique medium, and allow the player some important interaction, whether it's to make choices that affect the story, or just interact with the world, enhancing the atmosphere. Some games that do this very well are Bioshock 1, NIER, Hotel Dusk: Room 215, and The Swapper. They all blend their stories with gameplay incredibly seamlessly, and are intellectually engaging.

It depends mainly on which type of game I am playing. Only I required is that all the steps must have some unique features so that I will have more fun.

@The_Last_Ride: Not much important because first I have some concentration problem, second English is not my native language and sometimes I don't understand. Third because I'm use to public games that does not say much as a story: No intelligence given is the norm. I'd say that normally, if they gave intelligence with story, I'd be much more interested so more important for me.

It depends on the genre. In an RPG, the story is very important. In a platformer, I don't give a damn about the story, just give me great level design.

I agree with this, for the most part. Though if a game has tons of unskippable dialogue/cutscenes it does need to be atleast interesting. Otherwise I'll switch to a game with a better(or no/less/skippable) story.

Only games where story is my #1 priority are games like Heavy Rain, Telltale games, etc that don't really have much gameplay. (I also don't play those a lot, just now playing Wolf Among Us and haven't touched Beyond Two Souls, Walking Dead Season 2, etc)

Extremely important, good stories (add here plot, characters, lore) will keep me playing the game even if graphics suck, the combat or some other feature is totally broken and etc. This rule doesn't apply grand strategy games like EUIV (duh).

maybe you're playing the wrong games?

Story the most important for me graphic next then finally gameplay. Now i would add character development but it pretty much comes with the story. The reason i think story is the most important is that the reason retro games were so popular was because of their amazing stories and let's admit it for most part the game play and graphic sucked for like 95% of those games.

Follow me on Twitch I play League of legends and other games

http://www.twitch.tv/mvpisking/profile

I care about gameplay, controls, and level design the most. I don't pay attention to the story that much. I appreciate good graphics, but don't understand graphics whoring. People act like it's the most important thing. If you buy games just for graphics, you're doing it wrong.

I can make an exception for the PS3 version of Shadow of Mordor though. That should have been next gen only. The graphics are terrible, even for last gen standards, and the controls are less than desirable.

Very! If it has some cliche story that has zero thought put into it I would stop playing

Japanese games....

Depends. If the game's story stands in the way of gameplay and starts bugging me, then yes it matters, if not then gameplay is more important then level design and art and then story.

Not all of them are like that though

Cliche games are not a problem for me since I played the entire game of Spec Ops a truly write by number with how the plot is made and the dialog said.

I known other that call a story cliche because of one or two elements is common in other stories while ignoring the thought put into the story.

Please don't hate on me, but I don't think an *explicit* story is that important, or even wanted for me. I prefer what is called "environmental storytelling." Just my two examples:

* Myst: the game sequence and visuals make it clear what's happened: you are lost in a world you don't understand and have to explore to make sens of the puzzles. The primary enjoyment comes from figuring out how to proceed. I only read all of the books/journals to find clues to the puzzles, I don't much care what Atrus's father did, or what was their home world called, etc.

* Skyrim: all I need to know is I'm in a medieval fantasy setting, and am about to enter a dungeon/cave to kill some monsters and get some treasure. If the graphics are moody enough to convince me of this, I don't need to know why the king sent me, or why his brother moved to wherever to anger him, or why his lineage...

None what so ever. I've played every Dark Souls game and I couldn't tell you one thing about the story. I grew up in a time where there was very little story in games. A lot of modern games seem to have immature stories aimed at 14 year olds.

Story is very important to me and it makes or breaks a game for the most part, I mostly stick to story driven games or ARPGS