How important is story in a video game for you?

Naturally, I'm not talking about sports or genres where story is not required, but how important is "narrative" in a scale of values to keep you invested in a video game?

From my personal experience I can say that story sometimes is the main reason why I finish a video game. For instance I recently finished Watch Dogs, but had it not been for the story, I probably would have just dropped it after the first 2 hours, but that desire to know what happens next lead me to completing the main story. (not that the story was that great anyway)

Gameplay is still primary for me, but the fact that there's a story to play out can make me forgive a not so great gameplay, thus giving me a reason to progress in the game to the very end, for narrative's sake alone.

I don't forgive bad gameplay. If I don't like it, I just quit and play something else. If I really want to know about the story, I'll just read/watch it somewhere, so I don't have to waste hours of unistisfying gameplay.

I’d say that story is pretty important to me. Unless I’m playing something with or against other human players I generally like to have some kind of narrative that keeps me motivated enough to pursue some sort of end goal in a game.

I gave up on video game stories.

Story is important to me. I've enjoyed the stories in gaming going back to the Genesis and SNES days (NES didn't have incredible story telling yet).

When a game has a great story like Uncharted, Witcher 3, Horizon, etc, the game is far more memorable.

Very Important. Of course it is justifices a bad gameplay. But in some games with bad story but good gameplay, I had some problems. Like FFXV. It has bad story, thus I didn't see the point to advanve the game. All I did is doing side quests, which are all the same.

On the other hand, Yakuza series is one of the memorable for me. Yakuza 4 for it is time, was my favourite game. I didn't like the gameplay, but I loved the story and characters. They gave me a reason to advance the game.

It's important but not a deal breaker. Gameplay will always triumph

very

but if the gameplay really sucks i probably won't be able to finish the game

I value gameplay, art style, and music far more, but an engaging story can spice up the experience in particular genres.

Yakuza Ishin, for example, has such fun gameplay, but the bonus of having an interesting plot and seeing so many returning characters from across the series puts it over the top.

In 90% of the cases the Gamplay is more important. Story is only more important if its in a story heavy genre like visual novels or telltale-ish adventure games.

Its not as important as gameplay. Its one of those things where if I liked the story telling I can be ok with not so stellar gameplay. If I don't like the gameplay or just don't click and the story is garbage then I have lost all motivation.

As long as it's not so bad as to be distracting. Gameplay is still top priority, but good story and writing? That's a welcome bonus. Icing on a cake, if you like.

Even if you exclude games that simply don't need a story, it still depends heavily on the individual game for me. Some games I'm in it for the story, others I'm in it for the gameplay and the story can be utter tripe. Of course, having everything be awesome is preferable...

Story is definitely important to me... pretty much all of my favourite games have good stories.

Good story is bonus but yes story is pretty important however game design and gameplay in general are priority.

most of my fav games have been very high on story department.

Mafia 1 and Deus Ex 1 has single best story ever in gaming history, then games like system shock, Half life, Max Payne, Metro. all have incredible story.

A good story can greatly enhance a game and really suck the player into the experience. It definitely factors into my overall enjoyment of a game. Games like Breath of the Wild become disappointing because of there shit storytelling. A game like The Witcher 3 excels in story and makes you feel more invested in the experience and gives you a bigger payoff.

0. I want to play games that are fun to play.

has to be the most if not one of the most important aspects of a game

great story and good gameplay are the best. i excuse all legacy platforms for crap story as long as the game was fun as hell

Then you just wasted money.

Anyway, not since MGS1 where I thought the story was actually good. After that, story in video games are god awful.

So with that being said, I only care about if the gameplay is good or not.

It depends on the experience, sometimes a game can get by with very little story, such as in Dark Souls. I finished Dark Souls 1 and 3, and I have almost no idea what the story is about, I wouldn't be able to tell you anything memorable about it despite having spent probably around 200 hours combined on both games. But the gameplay experience is very strong, the enemy and location design is great, and I loved the online integration aspect... so I didn't really need a meaningful story, just a strong premise(I'm a weak guy and I have to defeat all these monsters to get to the end and level myself up along the way) and the mysterious lore and dialogue was good enough despite there not being a meaningful story that I was able to connect to.

In most cases though a great story can enhance an already great game. It's difficult to do however, and the most memorable stories for me are usually ones with a nice, 6th Sense-style twist at the end, and those are very rare & difficult to come by these days, but they still exist. I usually look for deep storylines in RPG games. In Action games like DOOM or even Action Adventure/RPG games, it is on a case by case basis, but I definitely need a good premise and a goal that fits within the game's overall premise to keep me engaged....there has to be a goal to the game and a clear premise that interests me from the beginning.

Depends on the game. I wouldn't play something like Doki Doki Literature Club or Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney for the compelling gameplay of scrolling through text boxes and making occasional choices, but, at the same time, I wouldn't expect a rich, layered, and complex narrative from the latest Mario or Kirby.

very important

The vast majority of stories in games are boring af. There's very few games that I watch the cutscenes for.

These are games like gta V, Sunset Overdrive, Yakuza, Zelda that have entertaining cutscenes or just interest me.

Then there's games that are usually made by EA or Ubisoft where I skip the cutscenes as quickly as possible.

It depends... RPGs need to have good stories, platforms don't.

3rd person shooters do, fps don't.

So it really depends on the genre.

And dark souls could be so much better had the plot and lore presented in a conventional way.

Yes it's a waste of money, but I'd rather quit it than playing through a game just because I bought it. Bad gameplay is detrimental to the experience.

Not critical, but I'll enjoy it a hell of a lot more if it has a good story to it and I'll be more likely to finish it. Even if the gameplay is good, if there isn't a good narrative pushing it then I'll rarely finish the game.

Not at all for me. This is why building games are my favorite genre. I like to use my imagination so I would prefer to create my own story within a game. When a game spells everything out for me, I get bored.

I never ever cared for Video game stories, its boring, i'm all about the gameplay.

if i can digest it, i'm fine with it.

By the way, some genres do require a narrative. How would you make an Uncharted (or the likes) game without a narrative? There has to be some logical progress through the game and what you're doing in it.

If it's interesting, I care. If it's bland and forgettable with predictable twists and boring characters, I don't care.

Story is important for me. I like games with a good story. It is important for me even in MMO games.

I think story has a major impact on whether I play a game. But it needs to have good thought out gameplay at the same time.

I like story games and it adds to the fun value of the game. If the gameplay is fun and you add a good story on top of it then it will be a great game.

They're completely optional.

A sense of progression does not require a narrative.

To me its very important. For example i finished Ni no kuni 2 some weeks ago and the story was so cheesy and weak that i was passing 50% of cutscenes, ingame dialoques etc. There was never a connection with any character, no emotion overall, realyl bad soundtrack overall most of the time was disconnecting you from what you were doing on screen, ending never felt like a big achievement because of weak story etc. It was a let down mainly because of this ridiculous story/script/direction.

Really overated RPG, 7/10 my score for it.

Story in games that should tell a story might be more vital to me than anything else. Check The last of us. Connection from start till end with all protagonists. Even if gameplay at times was good at best i was eager to see whats going to happen next so much that i didnt mind at all.

just depends on the game, it's kind of a balance with me, if a game's story is lacking but has solid gameplay then I can be forgiving of its story, and it can also go the other way, if the gameplay is lacking sometimes a good story can pick up the slack

Story is very important to me in gameplay. It gives the characters meaning and myself a personal sense of satisfaction when i am creating my own characters personality and story lines. These can in turn effect the outcome of the game for example The Witcher and Skyrim the elder scrolls.

For me its the most important thing along with characters.

It depends on how story heavy the game is. if you are going to devote a lot of time to dialogue and cutscenes, it needs to be worth it.

something like Dark Souls that is more gameplay focused, story isn't as important, so if its bad i dont care that much

Then it'd be an arcade game.

Story in a game does nothing for me other than get in my way.

I want to DO something when I play a video game.

The only exception is Elite Dangerous and not because of the quality of the story but rather the idea that the players can affect the story in unplanned ways in which the developers might alter the path to fit

Very. It gives a purpose to the missions.

I enjoy good stories, but it really depends of the genre if I'd like it to have a story or not. For example driving games with a plot, no thanks, will be skipping all cutscenes and such. I'd rather have an engaging story in an action adventure/RPG and even then games like Bloodborne/Whatever Souls don't really suffer from the lack of conventional story telling.

Very important, I might have put up with The Witcher 3's mediocre gameplay and finished the game if it wasn't for the fact that the actual story felt like forced melodramatic shit and gave me no motivation to keep playing.

That said, many people loved that story and over-looked it's unimpressive gamplay to be considered one of the best games this generation just on the strength of it's lore/story.

The next big multiplatform AAA game coming this year is Red Dead Redimption II and no doubt everyone expects a grandHollywood film level story production or they would be disappointed.

There's no excuse for a half assed effort on Story for $60 AAA game today in 2018.

It's not what I play games for.

I feel the same. Sometimes you just want to get lost in a good book, movie, or game.

I don't need a story, I want a goal.

99% of video game stories suck anyway.

@pitty8982: I don't forgive bad gameplay. If I don't like it, I just quit and play something else. If I really want to know about the story, I'll just read/watch it somewhere, so I don't have to waste hours of unistisfying gameplay"

Agreed 100%. No story is good enough to make me waste my time or money on a game. I have to enjoy pressing the buttons and seeing the results on screen. If I'm not enjoying a novel or film i stop reading or watching. And story is their point so a game? LOL ?

I enjoy the entertainment of games stories though. For instance I'm replaying on of my all time faves, Maximo on ps2. Do i really care about Sophia? Is getting her back what i need to know in order to play it? LOL ? stop.