Story

Little to no dialogue, the story tells itself through the characters and their actions as well as the enviroment. I used to like Metal Gear when i was a teenager too but then i
started to read books and my perspective on those games writing changed.

It should either be simple enough to take a back seat to the gameplay (mario has to rescue peach), or else given real thought and built around (eg tactics games - theres always several factions trying to gain power)

it's interesting, believable( in that world), has depth both on background story and characters, makes you want to see it's conclusion and it's deemed null and void by the ending.

Muv Luv Trilogy, even if i don't really consider it a game, the story was completely unpredictable, dealt with so many subjects in such mature way that really got me impressed, the pace it's really something unique going from a simple romantic comedy to a Mecha-SciFi-Political-Philosophical Drama while maintaining that dumb Romantic Comedy Prologue extremely important. Now actual game would be Xenogears, Chrono Trigger/Cross and Planescape: Torment.

The Characters, setting, pacing and Conclusion, no matter how great a story is if the ending renders the entire thing pointless like The Sopranos or Lost did.

The execution
Happy go lucky stories, as well as grimdark tales of horror can be good, it all depends on how well they are executed, and that involves everything to do with the game, including the gameplay.

Pic related, probably.

oh man that was best week ever. Rolled trough the series.

how dare i forget Silent Hill 2? maybe i just buried the memory after what Konami did with the series. This damn game made me deeply depressed but i still loved it.

It sucks that many dismiss it because of the boring prologue(Extra) without ever getting to the real deal, but i never seen anyone drop it after reaching Unlimited.

A story is a storytellers means of getting across a message or idea.

is right

believable worlds and characters suck you in and make you care for whats happening in the world, if it comes at a natural pace then it also feels more believable.

totally agree

What if its strong and made no sense like bioshock infinite. It was very "Cinematic" but I don't think it was a good story, even though it left a strong impression.

Why cant a game with good gameplay have a good story. Gameplay can just boil down to mechanics but with story, the player can experience anguish and excitement and have a will to complete the task at hand instead of just going through motions. You can have an escort mission with a floating box that makes its way from A to B. Or you can escort a character that you've grown to love. Somebody that you and the main character couldn't live without. It makes a difference.

sorry I had to poop.
Journey didn't have much of a story, it had atmosphere. Very well done atmosphere. There was the lore that was on the side, but the point of journey was the journey itself. the ending was nice but it was nice because of the people you met and the challenges you went through. an example for my last point where The sand snake destroys your online friend and you totally freak out. That doesn't make it a good story but it made the journey memorable and it felt like an actual journey by the time you reached the end.
tbh that's the picture I had on hand.

I made this thread because I finished Naruto and I thought about how much I enjoyed it even though it was retarded and filled with filler. The show was absolutely awful at times, but the characters and plot really stuck with me. Then I was wondering how to write a decent story that would connect as much as that did. I'm also from /agdg/ and trying to write down ideas for later, so I wanted outside opinion on why people like the stories they do.

You'll make fun of me for this, but I enjoyed half life two for its story. Simply because of all the unexplained things that were evident plot points when you stopped to take in your surroundings. Like how the sea line was so low or how there was no children.

story through showing not telling, I agree.

So you think mario has a great story?

Consistent, fleshed out characters, and no contrivances. A good story can have twists, but everything should follow logically from the interaction of the characters' personalities. If you have four well-realized characters and put them in a room, the story should flow naturally from it. Also, know when to start and when to end. Stories should usually be set as close to the ending as you can get without sacrificing context.
Good game stories are more complicated, though, because they should tie in with the game's mechanics as much as possible.

Also, contrary to what some in this thread have said, you shouldn't be deliberately trying to "get a message across" to the audience. If you're a thoughtful person with a wide worldview, a message will come across, whether you intend to or not, because you're going to have certain views on the way that the world really is, and you won't be able to help but write in a way that conveys those views. And if you aren't that kind of person, then you aren't a good writer.
If you start with the intention of "sending a message," it's going to be hamfisted and shitty, no matter now much you try to make it otherwise. That doesn't mean that you can't write about heavy or political topics–you can–they just can't serve as an effective foundation for good fiction.

Where did anyone explicitly say that it's important to have a deliberate message concocted from the start?

I also first thought about skipping the first part, I got halfway trough the game and dropped it for a month. Then I continued and finished both Sumika and Meiya arcs. Unlimited just made everything more interesting and I succeeded avoiding any spoilers. The talk about BETA on unlimited only fueled the fear on them for Alternative. And when the shit finally hit the fan… duuuude.

That's what I got from

i almost skipped the first part for how bland it was, but near the end of Unlimited and especially on Alternative it hit me just how important the first part was, it's sucks that it's almost impossible to discuss Muv Luv without spoiling important things.

Kojima is a shitty writer, and maybe that's what makes him, his style, his characters and the scenarios he writes so endearing, but I never got the impression that he was deliberately trying to push some scathing social or political commentary; point being, I think that was merely saying that a good story holds truth, and not necessarily that said truth was deliberately baked into the story.

It's the same with my point about Majora's Mask; the game conveys a number of morals to the player, that any reasonable and intelligent human being can pick up on without having them shoved in their face. The whole scenario with the music box in Ikana Canyon; the scenario in Snowhead; the sub plot about Kafei and Anju; The scenario at Lon Lon Ranch; all of these events use pretext and subtlety to present morals or life lessons that aren't intrusive but are useful in producing a resonant "point".

Do you think this is in opposition to what you have said? Could you elaborate on what you're talking about and give a good example of a game that tries to "preach" its viewpoint at you?

Who gives a shit faggot? Fuck story in games, gameplay is the sole reason I come to video games.

then go play tetris.
Why are you in this thread then,

Tetris has shitty repetitive gameplay that gets boring after half an hour.

Multiplayer Tetris is a fucking blast, especially couch multiplayer. I could play that for hours along with Puyo Puyo and Dr Mario 64

Sounds mind numbing. Gauntlet Dark Legacy is something you can really play couch multiplayer for hours.

I beated it once with my brother on the PS2 and found it to be kinda boring, to each their own i guess.

A good story is once that's entertaining and well written in its progression including ending and their elements. That's all you need.

jesus fuck you niggers, go read a book or watch a god damn movie. Stop bringing your cancer into vidya.

no, u

read the OP you fools.

I'm only making the story something that would make you want to progress it just for the areas including treasures and battles it offers.

This is my favorite story. Though, something makes it different from video games somehow… Hmm…

Adventure games would just be rubbish puzzle games without stories.

nice catches

Yeah man, after the end of alternative. Did you just want like… go back to the good times? replay extra and live happily ever after and swear how goof extra was and promise never hurt it again.

Also as a Finn I would really like lil VN about Finnish front against beta.

which probably would be like very short vn about artillery fire, soldiers getting eaten left and right. Whole country burning!

Depends entirely on the game. RPGs typically need lots of story and dialogue, plenty of character arcs and general world building. An RPG needs to make the player care first and foremost as most of them are about saving the world.

If you have an hour to -not- waste on the internet, on this video Jordan Peterson talks about stories and other things. Very worth hearing and it really explains what you need to have to deliver a good story.

Bump for self-satisfaction and understanding.

heres a good story

no joke fuck you

I'm all about wasting time. I should be learning animation but screw my future amirite.

Did you mean to post this on /tg/?

no I actually posted something similar on /tg/ a while ago.

surprisingly enough, its hard to shitpost in this thread. There is always a selection of good responses.

I guess there is nothing to argue about really, but still.

The ones that don't interrupt the gameplay, the ones where the story is centered around the gameplay, not the other way around
Zelda, and before you fags sperg out no, its not a decent story in its own right by any means, but we're limiting ourselves to video game stories so we don't have many options. I like Zelda not because of its complex plot, because it has none, I like Zelda for its overly simplistic plot. Usually simpler plots are the best kinds, because it leaves the rest to be filled through world building and lore building. Almost like actual folklore.
Something that makes the world stand out. Something so distinct, like a symbol, or a phrase, or even a characters name, that just stating them reminds the average person of that world. Zelda, Link, Triforce.etc

It's not Zelda's story that is memorable (MM it's an exception), it's the world, even you admit it. I think those are two different elements. Though I do agree that the Zelda franchise is something else even if the actual plots are pretty scarce and overplayed.

So I guess my next question would be, whats better. Lore or story?

Story being Zelda
And lore being The souls series or maybe 40k

Characters that feel realistic in a interesting world
Odin Sphere
The characters

Gameplay can only go so far. like it or not story is the next dimensional element in improving games Beyond just being simple Point scoring systems.
I do wish more modern games actually cared about gameplay though in order for the story to shine through

Story is a reason to do a thing (save the princess), characters are why want you do the thing (save Malon's ranch), but world-building and lore are where gaming excels. Not in the telling of plot, nor in characterisation, but in making you feel like a part of the world and, in Zelda's case, making it feel like a real fairy tale complete with its own folk lore. Nintendo gets this, and other companies (Naughty Dog) don't and end up making glorified movies instead of games. People can shit on Nintendo all they want but they're one of the few companies that still put gameplay first, even if they re-use their "actors" and plots as an excuse for different types of gameplay.

Drakengard

It could have been garbage otaku pandering crap really easily like the sequels were, but it wasn't.
Instead it was a mature title with a mature story.

By the Ace Combat 3 plane no less.

back to 4chan or reddit please

i thought this was the video games board not the storytelling board

I thought that your mother aborted you but, 13 years later, here you are.

they don't allow abortions for the 42nd trimester

The best stories are the ones that the players feel like they have a part in. If the game is about killing bad guys and the character the player controls is killing bad-guys in a cut-scene, they're doing it wrong.

For a video game, what makes a story memorable is how much I am actually apart of it. I know you don't want to hear the "Muh gameplay over story" but I have seen a lot of great video games with stories mostly in RPG's but other genres as well. But the ones that stick with me are the ones I actively participate in, or where the game imparts an emotion on me through more than just text, but mechanics.

Recently I had the pleasure of playing Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter and while the story is very simple, "hero living in an underground settlement seeking to take a dying person to the surface". But what really sold me on the story is the tension that arises from the use of a mechanic called the D-Counter. Much like every entry in the BoF franchise the main character is gifted with the powers of a dragon and in this game it makes you into a boss killing unstoppable powerhouse. In combat switching into your dragon form is a sure fire way to win a fight singlehandedly and you truly feel powerful. But all power comes at a cost and in this game you are actually being killed by your newfound draconian abilities.

There is a tiny percentage shown on the top right of the screen that starts climbing very early in teh game after you receive your powers. From then on it will raise at a rate of about 0.01% just by walking around. However once you shift into your dragon form all of your moves will increase it by anywhere from 1% to 2% as well as a breath attack that will increase it by however long you unleash it.

At first I didn't really use the Dragon form since combat wasn't too hard but I did make use of an overworld ability to dash around invincibly which also consumes meter. However, around the time where the story makes it clear that other people are aware of your movements and assassins start coming after you I started having to utilize my Dragon form more. This, and the fact that I wish to explore stages looking for keys to chests that unlock important abilities and inventory spaces meant that I started to slowly accumulate more and more D-counter. Eventually I started to get worried because I didn't see the end of the game in sight, didn't know how much further I was going to go, and the threats were getting high enough that using Dragon moves to ensure my party survived became more necessary. I had to look up a spoiler free guide on IGN just to find out how many more areas I would have to traverse before the end of the game. By that point I believe I was in the 60% range.

Throughout everything, throughout all the story events and cutscenes. That little counter kept me feeling pressure. Not only was I being chased and hounded by enemy forces. But each time they came after me possibly meant that I would have to use more power to get past them, but at the cost of my own life in the long run if I was unwise about it. And the higher that number climbed the more desperate I became to get to the end if only to see that Nina made it to safety (Nina being the girl I am taking to the surface).

What makes a game story for me isn't the plot. It would be safer to say I am more engaged by a game's narrative which exists at the intersection of Story, Gameplay, and A/V elements. BoFV will stick with me for a long time. Much in the way majora's Mask is the most memorable Zelda game to me because of it's story, and how the Time mechanic enhances it. Or how Dead Rising's 72 Hour mode, combat, and variety in items really sells the idea of living through a cheesy zombie outbreak.

Game stories are most memorable to me when the story is reinforced by mechanics.