# Is it just me or are games getting more "action" based rather then story



## DrakeSparrowTree (Feb 13, 2013)

What I mean is games like "Dead Space" or "Resident Evil"
These games were originally listed as surivial horror games yet you usual can breeze through Resident Evil 6 without much horror. Same can be said about the latest dead space. I feel like the next generation of gamers are the kind that would rather see bigger guns better graphics more action. This isn't a rant or anything more of me trying to understand where this feeling may be coming from.


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## benignBiotic (Feb 13, 2013)

I think that's a pretty common realization. Games have always been about pushing graphics and hardware. That's all well and good but plenty of game developers clearly developed (lol) the mindset that "A game doesn't have to be phenomenal if the graphics are absurdly high quality"

The explosion of FPS games in the last decade or so has made ripples throughout the industry also. Everyone is trying to get a cut of that market. Final Fantasy XIII and Silent Hill: Homecoming tried to attract the action/shooter crowd by making combat more exciting and fluid. I'm sure there are other examples. It's safe to say the FPS/action market isn't looking for a great story so much as solid gameplay. 

There are still plenty of games that tell a cool story and have a lot of action. And there are games that manage to be great despite having almost no story to them.


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## Fernin (Feb 13, 2013)

I'd argue the same amount of story is there, it's just not told with 10 minute long cutscenes anymore. In the majority of games now a days the narrative unfolds AS you're playing, integrating them in a way that makes it all feel like gameplay, where as in the days of yor there was a very clear separation of the gameplay and story telling elements of a game and you could generally tell how 'full of story' a game was by the number and length of its cutscenes. Now a days, not so much.


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## Term_the_Schmuck (Feb 13, 2013)

Would you rather play an MGS game with 10 hours worth of exposition?

There's more than enough story in Dead Space and Resident Evil for those who want it.  Just because they're not assaulting you with "THIS IS AN IMPORTANT PLOT DEVELOPMENT" doesn't mean a game is lacking in story.

You're also confusing the issue itself by at first complaining about story and then you go off on a completely separate issue of how much horror should be in a "survival horror" game, which in all honest who cares?

There's more than enough gamers obsessed with story and plenty of games which cater to them should they be adventurous enough to seek it out, though they're starting to come full circle into the same issues with the comic book community in that many of these games coming out today have some long and complicated continuities that can really be best experienced by playing through a game themselves.  No kid five years from now is likely going to play the first Uncharted/Halo/Half-Life/Resident Evil/Dead Space/Metal Gear/Elder Scrolls and so on and so forth.  Many games don't lend themselves to continuity such as Mario and in some respects LoZ (unless you're completely obsessed with the timeline) or they simply reboot themselves ala Tomb Raider and the recent DMC to cater to people born after 1995, AKA every industry's demographic at this point.


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## Judge Spear (Feb 13, 2013)

...
Aren't video games supposed to be purely gameplay? I mean, if you're complaining that RE and Dead Space are no longer horror, that's valid. But complaining about action...in a video game? That's like complaining about too many words in a novel.

But then again, I could be biased since my game preferences are VASTLY different from probably most others in this thread.


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## Cairn (Feb 13, 2013)

Fernin said:


> I'd argue the same amount of story is there, it's just not told with 10 minute long cutscenes anymore. In the majority of games now a days the narrative unfolds AS you're playing, integrating them in a way that makes it all feel like gameplay, where as in the days of yor there was a very clear separation of the gameplay and story telling elements of a game and you could generally tell how 'full of story' a game was by the number and length of its cutscenes. Now a days, not so much.


 Though I miss there being lots of games with long cut-scenes, this integration of the narrative does make games a bit more fun to play repeatedly. Sometimes the long cut-scenes make playing through a game dull after a couple of times.



XoPachi said:


> Aren't video games supposed to be purely gameplay? I mean, if you're complaining that RE and Dead Space are no longer horror, that's valid. But complaining about action...in a video game? That's like complaining about too many words in a novel.
> 
> But then again, I could be biased since my game preferences are VASTLY different from probably most others in this thread.


Don't you play any games with lots of story in them? Heavy Rain, for example, was COMPLETELY story because it was like an interactive movie, but it was still pretty fun.


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## Schwimmwagen (Feb 13, 2013)

It really is a "lowest common denominator" thing. Term's right that not everyone is going to want to play one freaking longass game (same with movies) and to appeal to the wider audience, they shorten it some. 

Though it really is a result of games becoming more of a mainstream form of entertainment. Games used to be hard as shit at one point and so didn't appeal to anyone outside of a small group - not everyone had the fortitude for that sort of thing. Some games were extremely long, too. It's kind of like how in old books, you'd get several pages describing a single character at once, whereas modern readers wouldn't readily go for that sort of thing, so it's shortened considerably. It's only natural for a form of entertainment to become popularized eventually.

Market, demographic, blah blah.

Though really, I like my games to be like a book or project, something I can really sink my teeth into. A nice long story that moves at the right pace of progression to not be a drag, but takes its time so it can be savoured, like a good book, as unlike movies, books and games don't make you go through them in one sitting. And then games I play by myself again and again to tackle the big picture of winning that takes hundreds of hours bit by bit, such as Mount & Blade. 

I like these things and so do many others, but the fact remains that this isn't the majority of the market. However there is obviously a demand for these kinds of games, so they actually are still being made. They're most often non-mainstream PC games or RPGs (especially JRPGs). As long as nerds exist, they will make things they like and share/sell them.


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## Judge Spear (Feb 13, 2013)

Cairn said:


> Don't you play any games with lots of story in them? Heavy Rain, for example, was COMPLETELY story because it was like an interactive movie, but it was still pretty fun.




Never. I hated Heavy Rain for being completely story. If something has too much of it, it's not a game to me and I won't play it. Just look at my avatar.


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## Schwimmwagen (Feb 13, 2013)

XoPachi said:


> Never. I hated Heavy Rain for being completely story. If something has too much of it, it's not a game to me and I won't play it. Just look at my avatar.



We get it, you're a hipster, now go play Silver Surfer on the NES. :v

No but seriously, I put gameplay in greater importance than story most of the time, but you can't just shun something because it wanted to explore interactive games as the art form it is.


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## Judge Spear (Feb 13, 2013)

Gibby said:


> We get it, you're a hipster, now go play Silver Surfer on the NES. :v
> 
> No but seriously, I put gameplay in greater importance than story most of the time, but you can't just shun something because it wanted to explore interactive games as the art form it is.



Sure I can!! O{}O
And I'm not claiming it to be a BAD game universally. I just hate it to death myself. I guess I should clarify though. I hate what I call "spoonfed narrative". When it's just cutscene after cutscene after unskippable elongated cutscene, after dialogue sequence after dialogue sequence, after heavy paragraph ridden, game splitting dialogue sequence. I can appreciate what I find to be balanced well done narrative that ties into the game. Metroid Prime is a perfect example of this. 

But games like Heavy Rain? Metal Gear? Skyward Sword? Final Fantasy (before 12)? No thanks. That's for you all. 

But since most games don't tell story like Metroid Prime, I just stick with what cuts the extra and lets me shoot phoenixes with lasers, infiltrate and blow up a space fortress, and blast aliens with spread guns.
My preference just comes with the stigma of being a "CoD fag" nowadays even if you don't own a single title. I can deal with it though.

...

FUCK YOU! I'm no hipster. I'm not in no Starboks on a Mac everyday! Don't even have one nearby. >.>


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## Verin Asper (Feb 13, 2013)

Depends on the game if not the genre the game resides in I say.


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## Schwimmwagen (Feb 13, 2013)

XoPachi said:


> Sure I can!! O{}O
> And I'm not claiming it to be a BAD game universally. I just hate it to death myself. I guess I should clarify though. I hate what I call "spoonfed narrative". When it's just cutscene after cutscene after unskippable elongated cutscene, after dialogue sequence after dialogue sequence, after heavy paragraph ridden, game splitting dialogue sequence. I can appreciate what I find to be balanced well done narrative that ties into the game. Metroid Prime is a perfect example of this.
> 
> But games like Heavy Rain? Metal Gear? Skyward Sword? Final Fantasy (before 12)? No thanks. That's for you all.
> ...



I'm with you with the idea that the story has to tie into the game well, actually. I don't like longasfuck cutscenes unless they're very occasional. Flow in a story is one thing, but flow in a story AND a game is a bit of a bugger.

Also your mention of FF games made me wanna try playing one again. I actually enjoyed what I played with FF1, but I oughta try some more. A good RPG with depth and not too much story.

I did play some of FF9, but I have to admit, while I liked it, I could not abide the slow as shit progression (the opening HNNNNNNG). The frustration of playing a game and not actually playing made it difficult to care. So yeah, it has to flow and involve the player. FF isn't good with these. Silent Hill 2 as my fave example of a story-heavy game is, though.

Though I do like some games that are soley about the story with interactivity alongside it such as The Walking Dead, that was damned great. Really immersive and exciting despite players doing little (and flow well, balancing interactivity and listening/watching, too). 
I don't get the people that rage at the kind of game as they play them, I see idiots buying Heavy Rain and acting surprised that the game isn't Max freakin' Payne despite the info and chatter surrounding it. I find it a shame as I think games in the style of Heavy Rain/Walking Dead deserve greater exploration. But Walking Dead's reception is almost nothing but positive so yeah.


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## Verin Asper (Feb 13, 2013)

Gibby said:


> I'm with you with the idea that the story has to tie into the game well, actually. I don't like longasfuck cutscenes unless they're very occasional. Flow in a story is one thing, but flow in a story AND a game is a bit of a bugger.
> 
> Also your mention of FF games made me wanna try playing one again. I actually enjoyed what I played with FF1, but I oughta try some more. A good RPG with depth and not too much story.
> 
> ...



Walking dead was the one game that was heavy on the story that I liked, the game was "The Walking Feels" to me


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## Judge Spear (Feb 13, 2013)

All in all, I just would prefer if games stayed just that. It seems like it defeats the purpose to put so much effort into narrative so I stick to the humble games. What REALLY gets frustrating is when games get tossed to the side and down rated strictly because they focus on the gameplay more. So the stuff I'd like flies under my radar because it's not being talked about. I still find them, but I have to dig and dig.

Crazy. Times have changed and I'm slowly being kicked out. :/


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## Fernin (Feb 13, 2013)

XoPachi said:


> All in all, I just would prefer if games stayed just that. It seems like it defeats the purpose to put so much effort into narrative so I stick to the humble games. What REALLY gets frustrating is when games get tossed to the side and down rated strictly because they focus on the gameplay more. So the stuff I'd like flies under my radar because it's not being talked about. I still find them, but I have to dig and dig.
> 
> Crazy. Times have changed and I'm slowly being kicked out. :/



Gameplay without context is boring.


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## Schwimmwagen (Feb 13, 2013)

Yeah, there's gotta be some context, even if it's minor as hell.

Without context, you can't have a setting, you can't have a character, you can't have particular weapon/enemy/level designs, all that jazz. In fact, I think it's impossible to remove 100% of any game's context unless it's Pong or something. Even "aliens are invading, shoot them with your space ship!" is in some part context. It establishes a setting, theme, and goal in just one line.


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## benignBiotic (Feb 13, 2013)

XoPachi said:


> FUCK YOU! I'm no hipster.


:-I  Exhibit A: 


> But then again, I could be biased since my game preferences are VASTLY different from probably most others in this thread.


I love ya to bits but you are a hipster.

Fernin brings up a good point. These days story is generally told right alongside the action. Characters talk during gameplay, we see events happen in-game. It's fluid and fun. Don't get me wrong though I will sit down to a cutscene heavy game like MGS4 any day. Really I'll play whatever I'm in the mood for. Some days I want to grind at some hard-a$$ platformer, some days I just want to play story-focused RPGs.


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## Verin Asper (Feb 13, 2013)

just wait a minute its probably more that pachi actually doesnt pay attention to the story, or context of the games. The types they play seem to be ones that tell you a brief run down on things and thats it. They dont have the attention to have something that occasionally pull them away from the action.


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## Judge Spear (Feb 13, 2013)

EDIT: Forget it.


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## Saybin~Iacere (Feb 13, 2013)

As publishers try more and more to appeal to a wider audenice the game will suffer more and more. If they could make it so 90 year olds could play COD in the same capacity as a 16 year old they would. The trick is for the developer to try to maintain the gameplay. Deadspace 3, while it did suffer, WAS STILL f**king awesome to play. Its also up to the consumer as well. Don't buy crap games, and support those you want to see continued!


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## Golden (Feb 13, 2013)

I definitely think you're on to something OP, but I think games are becoming more like Call of Duty clones: not only has their been an explosion in the number of FPS games in the last five years, they are all copying the formula of CoD (classes, action instead of realism, fast gameplay, etc). I think this is in response to consumer trends, as Call of duty continues to have recording-breaking launches while Nintendo (which has tried to expand the traditional gaming consumption base) has been stagnating in comparison.


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## Greycoat (Feb 14, 2013)

I think a lot of action games actually do have good stories. Perhaps not as long as games prior, but I don't really mind because some of that stuff was convoluted and obnoxious. Lord, even the RE movies understand how messed up the story is, and if we're going to talk about DeadSpace, I think it was pretty well established whats going on in the first game, so the main focus being gameplay is fine by me. Afterall, a good story line makes it well liked and memorable  A fun game makes it sell.

I don't really blame them going cheap for the money, although it certainly wont get the praise.
Although there are those few games that are memorable despite being really stupid. I'm looking at pretty much every Super Nintendo game!


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## Alastair Snowpaw (Feb 14, 2013)

Dead space was never survival horror it was always action semi-horror.


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## Digitalpotato (Feb 14, 2013)

Well of course you're not going to be as wowed by the stories anymore...what used to work no longer does and they have to be trying harder and harder to wow you or get you to be interested in the story without thinking "oh this was done before."


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## DrakeSparrowTree (Feb 14, 2013)

Thats what I am saying. While I don't hate it I also don't like it. I feel like the FPS era is dying slowly.


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## Sarcastic Coffeecup (Feb 14, 2013)

Sadly the games are becoming more and more focused on multiplayers, leaving the story and SP to less importance. This shift in focus has lead to laziness where they can't even be arsed to make proper cutscenes anymore and the storytelling lacks the punch or subtleness. I'd like to see more cutscenes with speech. They portray the feels better than a random radio transmission. 
FPS era is being strangled by CoD and Medal of Honors. MOBA seems to be the new popular genre.


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## BRN (Feb 14, 2013)

Term_the_Schmuck said:


> Would you rather play an MGS game with 10 hours worth of exposition?


Yes

[yt]cPdM4_IhCbw[/yt]


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## Stratelier (Feb 14, 2013)

Sarcastic Coffeecup said:


> ...proper cutscenes...


Define that.


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## BRN (Feb 14, 2013)

Stratadrake said:


> Define that.



_ 





SIX said:


> [yt]cPdM4_IhCbw[/yt]


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## Harbinger (Feb 14, 2013)

Dont mind more action as long as it doesnt take away time from horror and suspense, although with Resident evil this is the case. 

Dead Space 2 straight away was more actiony than the original, but still pretty close to it. Dead Space 3 even more so, but it was no where near as bad as i thought it would be, still had some great atmospheres, i hope they limit themselves at DS3's content though. It is a shame explosions and action are all that matters in games now it seems. As for good graphics thats just a massive bonus, if you have two games who both play great, the one with better graphics is going to be the one worth playing, makes it more immersive.


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## Stratelier (Feb 14, 2013)

SIX said:


> [video]


Sorry, I don't speak video


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## benignBiotic (Feb 15, 2013)

Alastair Snowpaw said:


> Dead space was never survival horror it was always action semi-horror.


Yeah it's a horror-themed shooter. Love the series though.


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## Fernin (Feb 15, 2013)

benignBiotic said:


> Yeah it's a horror-themed shooter. Love the series though.



I've never understood why people insist saying DS isn't isn't a horror game game because it's not purely SURVIVAL horror. Horror exists outside that narrow definition, heck look a System Shock, FEAR, Bioschock, Amnesia, Jericho, Fear Effect (arguably), Doom, The Suffering, and quite a few others.


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## Schwimmwagen (Feb 15, 2013)

For DS specifically, I think people are reluctant to call it a horror game because it's not really that scary.


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## Fernin (Feb 15, 2013)

Gibby said:


> For DS specifically, I think people are reluctant to call it a horror game because it's not really that scary.



Horror and scary aren't the same thing. -_-


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## Demensa (Feb 16, 2013)

Gibby said:


> because it's not really that scary.



I don't know about anyone else, but playing the first one was scary as hell for me...

As for the original topic, I think it just depends on what games you play. 
Some games like to focus on action, some don't. There will always be a demand for both, so I'm not really worried by an increase in 'action' centric games.


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## DarrylWolf (Feb 16, 2013)

To be quite honest, I think an overwrought story does little to pad out bad gameplay and it should be secondary to making a functional game. Now, I like games with clever plots like Eternal Darkness and Chrono Trigger but to me "Rescue the princess from the forces of evil as Mario/Link" or "Restore the Four Crystals of Light to grace" are better plots when the games are an absolute joy to play.


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## Fernin (Feb 16, 2013)

DarrylWolf said:


> To be quite honest, I think an overwrought story does little to pad out bad gameplay and it should be secondary to making a functional game. Now, I like games with clever plots like Eternal Darkness and Chrono Trigger but to me "Rescue the princess from the forces of evil as Mario/Link" or "Restore the Four Crystals of Light to grace" are better plots when the games are an absolute joy to play.



I don't disagree with the principle of your post. I simply felt inclined to say CT is NOT a clever story. At all.


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## Schwimmwagen (Feb 16, 2013)

Fernin said:


> Horror and scary aren't the same thing. -_-



It's undeniably horror-themed, I just find it wierd to call it a _horror game_.


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## Kahze (Feb 16, 2013)

Story needs to be threaded within gameplay seamlessly. Lets think about halflife 2, where situations occured that you didnt have to pay attention to if you wanted to move around - you could. I want rare cut-scenes and the kind of narrative that happens while you play. 

Now the coolest thing you could surmize is emergent story narrative based on a player's actions where the AI is smart enough to understand and react verbally to what you are dong. That's the future.


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## Magick (Feb 16, 2013)

I'm not a fan of games that don't have much of a story, though having a good amount of action based gameplay can help it out given the proper context. One aspect of story based games that I love is when you make certain decisions and it actually has an impact on what you do later on in the game, and not just one of the scenarios where you can choose one of five options but still have to face the exact same obstacle(s) later on regardless of what you choose.

That said, I enjoy a wide variety of games with varying amounts of focus on a story/plot and while I MUCH prefer games with a good, solid story woven in I admit that sometimes its fun to just put on some random action game and not have to think about what the reason for doing whatever it is you're doing.


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## Verin Asper (Feb 16, 2013)

Gibby said:


> It's undeniably horror-themed, I just find it wierd to call it a _horror game_.


its weird as I dropped the Horror from it and just tag Sci-Fi to it


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## Fernin (Feb 16, 2013)

Ultimately for me it's little story or alot of story, I don't care. So long as it's a GOOD story.


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## CynicalCirno (Feb 16, 2013)

"Better graphics better action" is a fairly stupid idea, it seems, as better graphics means more required processing power, therefore more expensive computer components to run the game, and that's pretty hard on our gaming pocket.

I've also heard that hiring somebody to write the script is pretty expensive, but I have no idea how about how expensive it is. 
It's not only the games that shifted from plot to battle, but the audience. As previously stated, game companies seek wider audience in order to haul in more money. Wider audience means making a game fit for more people, more appealing in certain ways. A large part of the audience wouldn't like to play a game that's essentially a book(see visual novels) - because that just isn't lively. A gamer would like to play a game in which he does something he'll never do in real life. I indeed view gaming as a little bit of escapism, and I feel like adding realism will raise the difficulty level from elite to near impossible, but substitute the gamer's life. That won't appeal to people who play to escape.


On another note, don't lose hope! There are still some great titles out there, that can score you a great time without any story or action. and that overly realistic games will conquer your minds, not today, but one day.


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