Story vs. Gameplay

[Wolf Kanno]

When it comes to the FF games in particular, are you here more for the gameplay or the story?

[Fynn]

Balance is where it's at!

[I Took the Red Pill]

When I was younger, I surely would have said story. Now that I'm older and pretty much burnt on standard JRPG story-fare, it's undoubtedly gameplay. I haven't played a Final Fantasy game in years, but if I were to suddenly get the urge, I'd probably go with FFX-2. Garbage story but superfun gameplay.

[Ayen]

Story, though I like the gameplay too. Only thing I don't care for anymore are the random encounters. "Gotta figure out where to go--" screen shatters and battle music plays Goddammit!

[Bubba]

It needs to be both to keep me properly hooked but I would generally favour gameplay. I started playing games back in the eighties though where story was a rare and wonderful thing.

I choose the third option though... mainly because I didn't know what Reaganomics meant.

[Mirage]

I can't play any game without the game part of the game being good.

Good gameplay doesn't mean you have to min-max.

[Karifean]

I definitely value story over gameplay, but I've found that even FF stories can't nearly keep up with VNs, so now I'd say I'm in it for the balance, or rather, the synergy between story and gameplay.

[Pike]

For FF? I am here 100% for the gameplay. FF is where to go for comforting, grindy JRPG goodness.


Good gameplay doesn't mean you have to min-max.

Also this. I don't min/max, I just like to fight.

[Shiva95]

The gameplay is important, but it's still the story that gets me and that makes me want to continue playing, so I voted for the story.

[VeloZer0]

[Looking this over it kind of turned into a random blurb of thoughts without a coherent structure, but here it is any ways.]

I think ultimately game-play is more important, because you can't have it be a video game without it. Interactivity is the hallmark of the genre, if you want a good story delivered without the game-play then you have other media such as film and text.

Also I think it depends on how hard the game is trying to ride the story angle. In a game like FF13 which sacrificed many elements to achieve tighter narrative control it basically lives or dies by how much you get out of the story. A game like FF1 has a story that is more or less ignorable if you didn't like it but liked the game-play.

Obviously for something like an FF game it is the package of the two together that makes the experience. And the better one gets the more having the other drag it down is noticeable.

[Pumpkin]

I mean it needs both, but if I had to pick it would be story. I can put up with mediocre gameplay before a story or characters that I just don't like. If it's terrible gameplay (or difficulty) that's a different story, but just bad? I can deal with it for the right story and characters.

I'd say characters are actually most important and the right ones can make me care about a not so good story

[Freya]

I want gameplay to work well but really I want a story to get invested in. Heck I play visual novels because it's a story with little gameplay. MAKE ME FEEL

[Del Murder]

It's got to have both, brotha. If I had to pick one it would probably be story. RPGs without gameplay are just fantasy novels, and that's not too bad, but all the gameplay in the world isn't going to make me want to play an RPG with no story or characterization. That's not what the genre is about, to me.

[Formalhaut]

Jumping on the 'it's both, stupid!' bandwagon, but if I had to choose one, it would be story. I can play games like Heavy Rain and really enjoy them, even though the gameplay is basically 'interactive cutscene with buttons'.

[Mr. Carnelian]

I generally prefer games with good stories, which grip me and get me invested. If the story is good, I'll probably forgive the game having gameplay problems.

But, if the characters are good enough, I might be able to overlook a weaker story.

However, if the gameplay is really good, I might enjoy playing the game even if the story sucks. BUT, I'll probably only play it once.

For me to want to replay a game, I have to like both the story and the characters. Otherwise, I just won't be bothered. A good example is the game Vanquish. I really liked the gameplay, so I enjoyed playing it. But the story was so weak, and the characters so wooden, that I just didn't want to re-enter that world after the credits rolled.

So, ultimately I'd have to choose great story over great gameplay. But, ideally I'd like both.

[Depression Moon]

Story is what pulled me into the series in the first place, so that's what I value most from this series.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

For me, the gameplay between most all the games is pretty equivalent with each other. Some are better than others (X-2 is the best), but they are generally pretty close with each other. That makes the story and characters the driving factor for my enjoyment of the games for the most part. Both are important for me though, and having really strong gameplay/story can help me overlook the other aspect a bit.

That's not to say I can't enjoy the game if I don't like or really think about the story. In FFI, the story was mostly something I didn't think about, but I had a lot of fun with it. The XIII trilogy has a story that doesn't quite grip me (although I've come to appreciate it more the more I think about it), but I grew obsessed with capturing monsters in XIII-2 and trying to get all of the endings. XIII is the point where gameplay and story both fall short for me. I'm okay with the battle system, but other aspects of the gameplay (linearity in practically every aspect of the game) kind of killed it for me. The story also didn't grip me really.

[Vyk]

I'm kind of in the category of both. I want to say story, but I've enjoyed fun games with no story, and I've enjoyed story games with little gameplay. I think the synergy that was mentioned is important. They don't necessarily have to have good components of both, but they have to mix well for what they are trying to deliver. The games I've enjoyed the most have had enjoyable gameplay and a compelling story. The gameplay doesn't have to be revolutionary or anything. But it has to be fun, as opposed to mindnumbingly repetitive. And as good as the gameplay is, if there is a story, it'll have to be done competently, otherwise there's a ratio of how good the gamplay has to be to make up for it, and there comes a point where no amount of awesome gameplay can convince me to finish some tripe like FFX/XIII with their ridiculous stories and characters. The only way that works is with satire, like Magicka or something

[Mirage]

A good story might make me play a game once (or not even that much if the gameplay is really horrid). Good gameplay will make me play it dozens of times.

[Forsaken Lover]

My criteria for games I like:
Story = Characters > Music > Gameplay.

I wouldn't endure the horror that is the Tower of Babel if I didn't value writing over gameplay.