Quite often, an indie game throws together some common gameplay, like roguelike shooter patterns, with little to explain it. eg, “You’re here to explore for treasure!” Other times, even AAA games go this route, assuming most players won’t care about the base story premise.
But there seems to be a significant contrast to well-developed worlds; like seeing the progressive cruelty of the Nazis in Wolfenstein before you start stabbing them, or seeing the Gommage in Expedition 33 before heading out to fight nevrons. Even more eldritch action-oriented games like DOOM benefited from establishing a “mood” of the Slayer being angry at demons and anyone who ignored warnings of them using just a few quick cutscenes.
This can be a bit of divergence from a game being “story-focused” or building up detailed lore. Some such games are often bad at motivation because the “story” is so confusing to players, most would just admit “I’m just going wherever bosses are to advance the story.” Some very dialogue-heavy games don’t necessarily captivate players on this level, since motivation can often be very simple. It goes back to the age-old strategy of arcade Donkey Kong; having 10 seconds at the beginning of the game where DK captures a princess who calls for help. The early version of the game likely didn’t even have that, and the designer felt motivation was missing. (That decision spawned its own issue, the Damsel in Distress trope, but that’s another topic)
As more conceptual ideas, and especially more perpetual live-service games, become more popular, I see this element of gaming going missing at all ranks of game development - which is a shame, because I think when written creatively, there are ways to set up player motivation through relatively few voice lines and short cutscenes; something going beyond “You are an amnesiac! This voice is telling you where to go. Don’t die to The Corporation!!”
To drive discussion: What are some games you bounced off of, that you think may have been because they were missing motivation? What games found you putting up with a mediocre gameplay experience because you were invested in the given story turnout?
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Yes, very much so. I bounce off games quick if I don’t feel like I’m working towards something, even if I think it’s fun. I know many people get ticked off by games nowadays withholding content, but I have to admit I’m part of the problem. I need some sort of progression system, even if it’s a battlepass.
But I prefer something like what modern roguelikes tend to do, where you gradually work towards upgrades that make you stronger like Hades or sidegrades that get added to the pool like Risk of Rain or Slay the Spire. And typically these also unlock higher difficulties to keep the challenge on.
Another good example is Minecraft. I used to fall off of after “solving” the basic problems of building a base and getting better tools/armor, since the sandbox aspect couldn’t hold my interest. But I played a big modpack with friends that gave us all kinds of things to do, and I really liked the progression systems they added. You could build machines that required different fuels but could be used to make ore refinement progressively more efficient, or make a mecha suit with upgrade modules, or learn a spellcasting system, or build a remote-accessed inventory system with upgradable storage, or make a nuclear reactor for massive power. And many things were quality of life improvements that solved problems I wouldn’t have thought of, like adding a crafting table interface to item storage or auto-stepping over small ledges. It felt like there was always something to learn and improve on. It was perfect for someone who chases the sense of satisfaction from a goal being completed.
It depends on the game. Some games may build up a world before putting you in, others lets you discover over time. Take Final Fantasy 7 in example (I’m actually talking about the original Playstation release in 1997). Game is heavily story and character based. You start a mission without knowing characters or the story. You are right in the action and details are explained along the way or afterwards. I really really like this. Having a slow start is not wrong either, its just different. Fallout 3 on the other hand has a much slower start. One start the game as baby even, learn the world you are in and so on. And both styles are appealing, as long as not all games have one style only. If not executed well, both styles can be boring or uninteresting.
For games that are not story heavy I don’t care anyway. Donkey Kong Country on the Super Nintendo in example. Some crazy dude stole bananas and now the gorillas are angry. Game starts. This is a game I’m interested into gameplay and challenges, rather than anything else (ok ok graphics and music too). The gameplay is the motivation for me, not a meaningless (or meaningful) story, for this type of game. I do not need any reason other than having fun to play and do the challenges.
I play a lot of games that either have no story or can easily be enjoyed while ignoring the story. The motivation for me to go out of my way off the main quest path is better/more fun stuff.
I think they need at least that, if there is no real motivator in the story line.
Now that you mention it - I don’t believe I’ve ever stopped playing a game for lack of story. I’m ok with a game just spawning me in and having me figure out what I’m supposed to do if it plays well.
On the other hand, I can’t think of any game I powered through mediocre gameplay to see what the plot was.
Decent gameplay, bad story, that I left because of the story?
- Neptunia Rebirth 3. Plutia got on my nerves one too many times. I couldn’t stand it anymore.
- Rail of Mobius. The MC actually revolted against my attempts to save scum the story decisions. Then the MC gets himself killed because he’s a dumbass, and I made the other character not save him from his stupidity. This apparently was the wrong decision. I stopped playing because I couldn’t stand the characters anymore.
- I quit the Kiseki series in the middle of Cold Steel 4. Each entry (except Trails in the Sky 3) requires you to get points for useful gear by doing the right things in the story. I decided that I was done with using a guide to figure out what to do next, and quit.
- Noel the Mortal Fate. Revenge stories already bore me, and it felt like the story was going nowhere. The gameplay was fine, but not enough to keep me around.
- Forsaker DingDing & Blade. The story feels like AI generated nonsense.
- Siren’s Call Escape Velocity. I spoiled myself on the ending. It makes everything else feel like a complete waste of time, so I stopped early.
- Chick’n Mushroom Soup. Villain Sue.
- Blood Midnight Blossom. Villain Sue.
- キミが消えてしまう前に. I hate the main character. A simp, a pushover, and a moron. I couldn’t stand him anymore.
- Hundred Line Last Defense Academy. I finished all the quality routes, and only crap was left, which included the “canon” endings. Not gonna bother.
- 彷徨之街 The Street of Adrift. Purple prose, and the early story is dogshit.
- Anything by CyberStep. Indecipherable nonsense.
- Shadow of War. I got bored when the elf guy left.
Dang, so you don’t recommend 100 Line? It’s so highly rated. Hmm…
100 Line goes through a prologue, and then some routes of your choice when the prologue is done.
The Prologue is worth playing. When that’s done, you get to choose what routes to play next.
Thing is, some routes are pretty good (Death Game, Box of Calamity, Cult of Takumi, Slasher) while others are very very shit (Eva’s Route, Box of Blessings, SF, Conspiracy).
The game is also somewhat resistant to modding despite being the perfect game for it. I’ve tried it myself, and getting the game to cooperate with mods, much less multiple mods together, is very frustrating.
So I advise: Play it past the prologue, but when you reach routes that bore you to shit, switch to another route. If you run out of the good routes, stop playing.
My dude. I’m with you on Neptunia 3. The plot does not move until Plutia does some S&M stuff to force it. Everything else takes a backseat to Plutia. I hated it.
I find a gameplay goal more important than a story goal. Sandbox games like Luanti are tricky for me, because I need to decide what to do with no real reason to do anything. But if a roguelike tells me “There’s an artifact at the bottom of this dungeon. Good luck!”, that’s already more story motivation than I need, because the gameplay goal is straightforward.
I also find lots of story motivations terrible to begin with, though, when it’s basically “You’re the hero! Go save the world!” and then the gameplay is just genocide. I don’t care, if we’re violencing pixels, but specifically the attempt to justify this violence, is almost always distasteful.
Yay a Luanti mention!
If I’m not playing something fun in a few minutes, I’m probably going to bounce off. I’m not here to watch a movie.
I don’t want to watch a long intro. I don’t want a lot of cut scenes and exposition up front.
The dark souls games have a little cut scene that you can skip, and then you’re off to playing. Perfect.
My motivation for games is to have fun.
If I’m having fun the game doesn’t need to motivate me because I’m already being motivated to have fun
This whole post is about going the next step in that line of thinking: What feels fun to you?
I generally won’t know unless I’m playing something and having fun. It could be any reason. I like games of all genres but small details could change whether I’m having fun with that particular game.
I made a similar argument about this a few days ago and got lambasted. I personally think payoff is important. As an adult I have a lot less time for games. To just “do” something when there are so many things to do and even other games to play has to mean something. Not just a “stat” boost. I don’t need another fetch quest. I don’t need a pointless collectible. If I’m doing something I want to be rewarded for it. A bit of lore actually acted out or even better yet new gameplay I didn’t have before.
I’m not saying an arcade type game can’t be fun or worth time. But that gameplay loop in itself has to feel rewarding to me. And in a growing list of games feeling the game the gameplay loop itself holds less value. As 10 of the last 15 releases on Steam have that same damn loop.
This is clearly a subjective thing but I’ll say personally I need to feel some intrinsic value for my time. And lately I haven’t been feeling reward. As a result I am playing less and less games these days …
Story based motivators mean almost nothing to me, esspecially when told through non-gameplay means. Having an “intro” cutscene is almost akin to a text crawl/card in a movie - technically it works, and it can be an efficient way to give extra context, but its also likely to disrupt pacing or disorient - basically makes me want to watch less, rather than more. In the same way, I can’t think of any games where story played a significant part in motivation to continue. If I want to keep playing, its because the game is good, not because it told me I should.
I could never get into The Witcher knowing he was a mercenary. Same for Assassin’s Creed. Elex and Chernobylite are two that I really enjoyed even though they had their graphical limitations. These days I mostly just play Portal 2 community maps as a way to destress after a working day.
He was “abandoned” by his mother and raised by a group of monster hunters. Take that as you will.
TIL. doom had a story. wtf? I know there was like a page of text at the end of each episode. If they’d made that a cut-scene or something I’d like to hope it’d be a one button skip.
All cut-scenes should be skip-able. Compulsory cut-scenes kill my boner and I’m almost certainly not going to finish it.
I “played” the free episode of some shit called ‘the last of us’ based on reviews on steam or something, Fucking dire. Shit movie, barely any game.
I put it in all caps because I’m referring to the 2016 reboot. It tries to be fast paced, but even though the Slayer is silent they’re pretty successful in giving him an angry, rebellious personality.
Oh right. I didn’t know about that one, why’d they call it the same name?
I never even completed doom 3; it wasn’t awful but failed to live up to expectations, just felt a bit boring and slow; probably bogged down by all that story.
For what it’s worth, Doom 2016 does a really good job of appealing to the goopy goblin gamer brain that hates story in away that other Doom games (perhaps with the exception of 1&2) just don’t. There’s only one sizeable chunk of low-gameplay story and there’s a clear acknowledgement that you clearly are going to run out the door as soon as it unlocks because you don’t give a shit. Doom Eternal completely dropped that pretense for some reason so I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much (I don’t dispise cutscenes like you do but I don’t play Doom for them).
I don’t finish
anymany games but something like the Mass Effect **trilogy was, by the end, a bit of a chore but I just wanted to finish off the storyline.Thomas Was Alone, I’ll be damned if I wasn’t getting those rectangles to freedom :D
This is a fun question! Before I start ranting my opinions, I’d love to turn it back on you, where do you fall on the topic?
As for me, I think it’s important to start by saying narrative motivations are not necessary for me to enjoy a game. I can, have, and will play games devoid of them purely for the gameplay, story, art, fantasy, challenge, etc.
That said, I’ve absolutely played games where a strong narrative motivation enhanced my experience. I think this works best, at least for me, when the character and I share a motivation.
Some examples: not going Hollow in Dark Souls, killing Benny and taking over the Strip in New Vegas, gaining strength to kick Vile’s ass in Mega Man X, saving Ellie in The Last of Us, and feeding my Tamagotchi in… Tamagotchi.
On the flip side, when I can’t empathize with a character’s motivations, or worse, when they constantly complain about doing the things I want to do, it really kills my desire to play. That’s why I’m more of a Bartz fan than, say, Squall or Lightning.
So I guess my point, or TL;DR, is this: narrative motivations work best as a driving force when they help immerse me in my character’s role by giving us a shared goal. They’re not essential, but they can absolutely elevate the experience.
Motivation from a character often pushes me to prioritize one game when I have many in my backlog. A key example of this is the Ace Attorney games, especially when compared to another mystery game like Return of the Obra Dinn.
In both games you’re solving a mystery, figuring out what happened. In Obra Dinn, you see the “happen” and fill out forms for which person was who, and how they died. But you’re not going to stop anything terrible from happening - that part’s done.
However, in Ace Attorney, every case has the same premise: Some poor fellow has been accused by an overeager justice system of murder. Worse, circumstantially it does seem likely they did it - and no one believes their story. As their defense, you prove them innocent AND drag out the evil miser who landed them in that situation, solving the mystery as you go.
In one of my favorite cases of the trilogy, the defendant was photographed in the act of stabbing the victim by a witness who was behind a fence. The accused was the only person at the scene, arrested on the spot, bears a cut on her hand from using the knife. When questioned, she willingly admits to killing him. Only reason you take the case is that she has no apparent motive, and her sister begs you to do it, feeling she couldn’t ever do such a thing. And yes: She’s innocent. Unraveling that mystery is one thing, but unraveling the motives to figure out how to help these people is another.
I can’t stand open worlds with no clear goals, the shine quickly wears off the world itself and I’m just left wondering what I would even want to do it. Mile wide, inch deep content deserts just switch me off immediately.
I play games to escape the purposelessness of life, not simulate it.
I love open worlds, but I need some sort of goal / completionist aspect going on to actually have fun. Because yes, just wandering around quickly wears thin, unless a game map is exceptionally beautiful or has good environmental storytelling.
A goal for me might be a % map completion, collecting certain items, finding steps of a side quest - I guess just something to be able to say, ok I’m done, I explored/completed it all.
I played a thousand or two hours of Skyrim… never completed the main quest… but it was always there as an objective that I was maybe heading towards. Elder Scrolls have usually struck a good balance between “here is a big world to wander around” and “here are some key objectives and narratives to drive you forwards”.
It felt like a boring, endless fetch quest with combat. People tell me that my issue was playing it without mods.
Your issue is that you weren’t playing it with mods.
lol. Which do you recommend?
