Storyline or No Storyline?

[Lovinity 3]

Upon my observations of gaming over the past several years, even a couple decades, I've noticed that recent games have commonly revolved around some story line. This is contrare to some of the retro games we know and love from older times, such as Super Mario Bros or Sonic. Okay, so older games might have some form of subtle story line, such as with Super Mario Bros you need to save the princess. But in modern games, when you play, you are frequently met with scenes where characters exchange dialogue. This dialogue exchanged reveals some key pointers to the progression in the game's storyline.

 

Now, some of my friends enjoy these periodic dialogue scenes. They sometimes reveal some things about the game that would help you beat it. They sometimes add fun mysteries and quests for you to solve. And they give you a needed break from mashing a bunch of keys on your controller. However, other friends do not prefer story lines like this; they simply just want to play the game and win or lose. They get annoyed by these frequent stops in game play to exchange what they believe to be boring and meaningless dialogue.

 

What are your thoughts on storylines and in-game dialogue exchanges? Do you think these add to the value or thrill of the game? Do you think they reveal some pointers as to how to defeat the game? Do you think they are a big waste of your time and are a gaming buzzkill?

Edited January 7, 2017 by Lovinity
Dialog to dialogue correction

[Horus 1]

Hey,

 

Honestly, I am a guy who loves stories, I am an avid fan of strategy games, and storylines are something that creates an atmosphere where I can immerse myself into a proper strategy game or roleplaying game. That is with the newer games that I have played so far, however, I also have a love for old games like super Mario, where there is a minimal effort put into storylines. The reason for this is nostalgia for one, and secondly, I believe that some games don't need a proper storyline. Like you said, some of your friends prefer to view the storyline and they like it, perhaps it also has to deal with the genre they are playing as well. Some friends like to smash, I suspect they prefer Mortal Combat and FPS games, these games don't need a storyline at all, it seems a moot point really. 

[thebestofthebest 9]

A game with a storyline is a lot more interesting with modem games that have good graphics to work with. I think that the reason why storylines did not work well with old games is that they were mostly limited to giving you dialog though text boxes which reduces your emersion in the game.

[DudeThatsErin 3]

I can't play games with storylines my ADHD gets in the way and I get bored too easily.

I can understand why they are fun. They get you used to playing a particular game and you find out more and more about what you can do.

[zoldos 14]

Most of the games I play are on-line multiplayer combat like shooters.  I don't even remember the last story based game I played.  lol

[MrDangem 2]

It depends on people, some people loves to read story-line while some people like me tend to skip those conversations and play the game asap. 

Edited July 5, 2017 by MrDangem

[zoldos 14]

I do like stuff like "Life is Strange", where it's a "choice and consequence" game where your actions dictates what happens later in the game.

[JennyorAlice 6]

Normally, I play games that have a story to it.  Like Super Mario Bros. or the Harry Potter games, for instance.  Now, I can play games like Mario Kart that don't really have a story behind it but that's a game I only play some of the time and it's more fun to play with other people.  I remember playing that for the first time with my brothers. 

[zoldos 14]

Coolness.  Yeah my favorite type of game is MMOs!  I love any sort of multiplayer.

[TDK 3]

I've played games with and without storylines, though I've always loved the ones with the most (other than Mario Kart xD).

 

Horizon Zero Dawn, Uncharted, Red Dead Redemption, and GTA just to name a few with wonderful stories.

Edited August 4, 2017 by TDK