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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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.
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 …
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 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.
Rare Chernobylite mention. Elex was jank as hell but so much fun also.
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
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
Most of the comments so far are in the negative for external motivation but I would like to say that if it’s done well, I appreciate some backstory and some flavor text (like you mentioned with DOOM). Sometimes it’s nice to make your character’s background and therefore motivations up but other times it’s cool to enjoy a more crafted experience. I still want to be able to play the game though and not be locked into doing pushups or whatever happened with that new dragon’s age. Otherwise I might as well just watch an actual movie or even a gameplay movie lol.
My thought is that if one of the main appeals of the game is (meant to be) the story, the story better be both good and well-told (which I learnt is not the same, see Genshin). For games where the main appeal is the gameplay, I’m more inclined to tolerate a barebones or trope-fest story.
What are some games you bounced off of, that you think may have been because they were missing motivation?
I think I only experienced this in point & click adventure games, where the story must be good to prop up the enjoyment value along the more lightweight gameplay.
What games found you putting up with a mediocre gameplay experience because you were invested in the given story turnout?
I think it’s usually the other way around for me lol, where I put up with a below-mediocre story bc the gameplay is fun. Usually if the story is so well-written that I really want to see how it ends, the devs put effort into making the game’s other aspects good too, so I haven’t seen the kind of imbalance you speak of in the genres I play. Maybe if I played shooters or platformers, it would be more prevalent 🤷
I’m someone who can’t manage more than about 20 hours in a single player game normally. Only games I sink time into are online.
The only single player game I’ve actually put more than this into is civ5, balatro, mini motorways.
Story games just bore the fuck out of me and it feels like I’m in a vacuum. If I wanted to watch a cutscene I’d watch a movie.
I love story-based games, so it’s a big motivating factor when choosing what I want to play. However I love all sorts of games, so it’s not the only factor. And sometimes when I’ve played a couple story-heavy games in a row, I’ll look for something else to break things up.
I will be quite forgiving of a game if it has a strong story, but that’s not to say gameplay isn’t important. I don’t play many visual novels, because the genre doesn’t appeal to me. I’d rather read a book or watch a movie or series in that case.
For games without story, I tend to only stick with them if they have something for me to strive towards, engaging gameplay isn’t generally enough. It needs to have achievements or collectibles or distinct levels to beat for me to find it engaging. I don’t play arena shooters for that reason, I just don’t enjoy them.
Some people enjoy sandboxes that allow you to roleplay and give yourself your own motivations. Crimson Desert is the most recent example of this. Sure, the story and stuff is mediocre and there is no real reason to engage with it but the rest of the world is dense and vibrant, full of things to occupy your time and roleplay as a person who lives in that world. Kingdom Come Deliverance is another like this.
Not every game needs a prescribed motivation for the player character. Sometimes they leave it up to the player to create their own fun while just giving you all the tools needed to do so, and that’s perfectly valid.
Usually I get into a game because I have a goal, which could be directly related to the storyline, or an explicit in-game objective (get all the collectibles, get an achievement, etc.) but other times I make my own goals, often like completing a challenge with different tools than the one the game expects a player to. Or in open ended non-story driven games I essentially figure out what I want to try to accomplish over one or more play sessions, tends to happen with factory builder games.
It depends on the mood. Sometimes I just feel like playing something and I don’t want history or cutscenes getting in the way, just gimme a good gameplay loop that is easy to get into and hard to master. Other times I’m looking for immersion, do not mistake with just some good history, it’s a mix of the right settings, art style, sound atmosphere and storytelling. Your example of Clair Obscur is the perfect example for this type of games and it also has incredible gameplay on top of it.
It depends greatly on the game. For a shooter I probably just want to jump in for a little while and blast things. A lengthy intro will just be annoying.
Even forced tutorials are annoying like that. I like when games give me the option to skip, and then to come crawling back to the tutorial when I clearly should have done it anyway.
I think games that let you pick your own style and pace work best for me. Open world games, for example, where I can go discover the story for myself, but it’s just there in the background otherwise. I’m ok with some hints though, like overhearing NPC conversations or finding random notes.
Even something we simple as Portal works. You’re solving puzzles, but you can discover the story behind it by looking for more clues. Half life, too, is really light on telling you what’s going on until you play through and discover more. But you could also just play it through without paying any attention to the story part.
I don’t think I’ve bounced off a game because it was lacking a story, but I’ve definitely given up on games because there was too much fuss to get going. I have little tolerance for long unskippable cut scenes and dialogue as well.
I have quit games I just couldn’t figure out or enjoy without taking a long time to learn how it works before even getting started. I like to learn things gradually.
Don’t get me wrong: a good story that is revealed over time to be does add a lot to the game. I just want to feel like I’m paying a game, not watching a movie or reading a book
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.
