Why do people say video games have bad stories?

People will tell me that game stories suck and yet get mad if the story isnt good. Look at mw3 reboot. Its the worst CoD ever and its not a story. Just a string of events.

But in the land of the blind. The one eyed man is king. Lets not compare games to books or movies because they can never be the same.

Maybe what we arent interested in is the story. Sometimes games can lose their direction of plot. But I think what people care most about is character within the story. Even if mgs has dumb retcons they are still highly motivated by the characters will to move forward. Their wants and needs.

It's a very shallow assertion. Look at the RPG genre for example, they often have very deep, involved stories. That's one of the characteristics of RPGs. Whether it's from the Elder Scrolls, Dragon Age or the Tales series, they all have great stories.

Don't think much to majority gaming stories for the most part either. I suppose my main case is are they suppose to be? you're playing a game, the games design takes priority for majority games.

Outside rare exceptions it's not the story that is well done but the acting/ scene choreography/ or pacing that really deserves praise.

The Last of Us frankly does not have a good story, never did, it's pretty generic with a basic ass plot and a predictable structure. Now are the characters well performed and have depth (character development)? yes. But that's really all these cinematic third person games pull off well. Actor performances. If you really looked at it from a script perspective it's flatter than a John Wick movie.

Now I do think some games do have good stories, but the ones I see that are usually given all the praise in the world such as God of War IV & Hellblade are fairly mediocre stories.

Want a good story? read The Great Gatsby or a novel of equal literary brilliance.

Most video games do have bad stories, and that's usually fine. The player feels a greater connection to the characters than they do in other mediums, because they have a sense they are taking part in the events. The main focus is the gameplay. You are generally there to mow down hundreds of dudes, and as long as the story gives a bit of context why you are doing so, it has done it's job. A lot of shit in games is just dumb. It's fine in a game, but when you try to put it in another medium, it becomes hard to take seriously. Assassin's Creed is a great example of this. The VR world built from memories in your DNA is a stupid concept that doesn't go over well if you try to put it in a movie. Just ask Michael Fassbender.

There are exceptions, I'd argue Planescape has writing good enough for a novel, and even Bioshock comes close (but not quite, as I found while reading the prequel book). And then there are games that really get how stories can work in a way that's unique to video games like Ico, Super Metroid, and Journey. Games that use visual storytelling and atmosphere to convey emotion.

That question probably requires individual opinions and more details about their preferences. Like movies, some are more interesting for certain audiences than others, some get cult followings and some find mainstream success, some don't nail it because they are up their own a**, and some are special effects showcases where they are just strung together.

I didn't care about Braid but many people thought it was deep and genius and the story helped carry the game. I can accept that it is acclaimed by some people and it is probably not for me.

It feels like some people think every game is either good or bad. There are so many games and there is room for subjectivity and preference and you'll still find enough to keep you busy. This can also be applied specifically to the story.

I've played games where I skipped the story and enjoyed the gameplay, like Skyrim, and there are other games where I wish I liked the gameplay because I want to enjoy the story, like GTA4.

They generally do suck because of how shallow they are, not to say there aren't stories that are great (i.e. MGS, Mass Effect, Amnesia, Halo) but these are exceptions and not the norm.

The average video game story outside of actual gameplay could probably be summarized by a few episodes of an anime or children's TV series. They generally cover cliche themes, are easy to follow and not very intricate or compelling.

Part of the issue is the medium fights against good story-telling; people want to play games, not watch or read games. The more there is to watch or read, the less you're playing, which means your game is less of a game.

With that said, some people do enjoy the cinematic "movie games" or the Telltale-style games and that's fine, too.

It's just, you know, part of the reason Half-Life is such a good game is because it did not have cutscenes and the story sort of unfolded around you and you weren't being told what was going on, you just had to witness it from a very very narrow frame of reference. It's a paradox of sorts? Is that a paradox? Contradiction? Whatever, something like that....it has very good story telling but very poor story.

In the old days stories tended to be just a basic template excuse for the set-up of the game. This is similar with a lot of Wu-Tang type martial art movies "must revenge" with a very basic repetitive plotline that acts as an excuse to get action and plot forward.

Then, technology advanced. Ideas sprouted. And now the gameplay acts around the "I want to be a Hollywood movie" rather than the other way around.

Maybe there are some people who just hate some forms of entertainment, but there are enough games to choose from where you can find enough that suits your preferences to keep you busy. It's not like the olden days where like 20 console games came out a year and you had to hope there was something for you.

I think the complaining is from people who expect everything to be made for their specific tastes, but in reality there is so much out there you can't possibly play everything and maybe just 10% of games are going to suit a given person's tastes.

@mrbojangles25: I thought it added a lot in Dave the Diver and Hades. Maybe the story is not revolutionary but the characters are fun and I enjoyed their dialog.

Then there are games like Souls where it's not up front and people complain that they don't elaborate enough and spell it out to you, so people are never happy.

@uninspiredcup: I appreciate that approach too, like in Kane & Lynch or Yakuza where it's over the top and silly but it still puts you in the mood for what's next. It doesn't have to be Shakespeare.

Compared to books (I'd mention movies too, but that's not really true anymore), most videogame stories are light, dumb or derivative. If the general consensus is that videogame stories suck, I agree. Videogame story writers don't have the same pressure as a book writer, for obvious reasons.