Gaming -- Graphics, Narrative or Both?

Hagan

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So, with this The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Fallout 4 trailer, I've found myself wondering, does it really matter?

This video got me thinking about this:


Sure, you could argue that in this day and age we have come to expect great graphic fidelity in games whilst maintaining an entertaining, captivating and engrossing story. I for one used to be a graphics whore; was very focused on how good "true-to-life" a game looked and felt, but is that really what makes a game good.

There are people saying that Fallout 4 looks dated, which it probably does, but is its looks a major selling point?
Now, The Last of Us was graphically gorgeous; scenery, characters and environment looked like a real world, but honestly, even if it'd looked like Fallout, I'd still have given it a 10/10 because the narrative was brilliantly presented.

As far as I'm concerned, great visuals are a bonus, IMO. If the story sucks, the visuals won't make up for that.
What I played was not interesting and no amount of graphic "superiority" is going to have me feeling any different about it.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree?

Do you think that having stunning (photo-realistic) visuals coupled with good narrative is what makes a game? Are people just complaining for the sake of complaining? Am I just running my mouth ranting?

I've probably repeated myself a lot in this thread. :)

Thanks for your responses.
 
As i started reading the topic the first thing that popped into my mind was The Last of us... Followed extremely closely by... The Walking Dead Telltale Game... Im busy playing through both at the moment simultaneously, having a full time job, and i will admit, a slight hearthstone addiction, I dont play as much as i would like to.

But looking at the two games in question. I absolutely LOVE the last of us... But the story of the walking dead has actually captured me more so than the last of us... And i cant believe im actually admitting it... Looking at the two games, they are graphically chalk and cheese... But otherwise, incredibly similar... Both have a lead "actor" looking after a young girl.

Regardless of what anyone says, in my opinion the games are so close together on a rating scale, this instantly makes me say that the better the graphics doesnt mean the better the game. Narrative over Graphics any day... But I do wish Telltale had made their games with the same effort The Last of Us put into the graphics... So Both would be first prize...
 
Yeah both would always be great, but narrative is always higher up on my list of things I look for in games. I don't care how great a game looks if the story is boring. I can get past bad gfx if the story has me hooked (The Walking Dead and Life is Strange immediately come to mind), but I'll easily pass up on great graphics if nothing in the story grabs me (i.e. Every COD ever). I'd probably put narrative even higher than gameplay, which is why some of my favourite games are very cinematic (Beyond, Heavy Rain, The Order 1886 etc - Until Dawn is looking great too!)

So yeah, story over graphics, but if both are incredible (TLOU) then that would be ideal.
 
[MENTION=12147]8sh[/MENTION] just out of curiosity, do you subscribe to that guys youtube channel? Or did u just stumble upon it... Because wow... I cant hey... That guy just annoyed the living daylights out of me...
 
[MENTION=12147]8sh[/MENTION] just out of curiosity, do you subscribe to that guys youtube channel? Or did u just stumble upon it... Because wow... I cant hey... That guy just annoyed the living daylights out of me...

I came across it through someone else's channel.
I'm subscribed to boogie2988, I'm not a big fan of his Francis character, but when he makes a video of just him being him (like blogs or something) talking about gaming and such in general, I find a lot of his points valid and tend to agree with him on a lot of things.
 
[MENTION=12147]8sh[/MENTION] just out of curiosity, do you subscribe to that guys youtube channel? Or did u just stumble upon it... Because wow... I cant hey... That guy just annoyed the living daylights out of me...

Lol he's not that IRL, he puts up an act when he reviews games (Being the stereo typical nerd rager) some of his videos on his channel he is actually himself, 1st time I saw him I was also like wtf:D His channel is actually quite popular, but I suspect people only subscribe once they catch on Francis is only an act
 
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Lol he's not that IRL, he puts up an act when he reviews games (Being the stereo typical nerd rager) some of his videos on his channel he is actually himself, 1st time I saw him I was also like wtf:D His channel is actually quite popular, but I suspect people only subscribe once they catch on Francis is only an act

Look i can understand that, but I couldn't even get through the whole vid :wtf: Just everything from the "lisp" to the raging... I got to where he was like FALL OUT 3 IS THE BEST THING EVER and i was done...
 
Look i can understand that, but I couldn't even get through the whole vid :wtf: Just everything from the "lisp" to the raging... I got to where he was like FALL OUT 3 IS THE BEST THING EVER and i was done...

Lol yeah I get what you're saying, he goes a bit overboard at times:D
 
Guys like these make me ashamed to call myself a gamer... :wtf:

but

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(I'm super partial to the narrative btw :p)
 
Good thread! Bad graphics won't turn me away from a good game. It's always nice when a game looks good but when a game has great gameplay or excellent narrative then it wins easily.
 
Story and gameplay all the way.

I don't care if the graphics are lacking as long as the story and the gameplay is good, I can play almost any game, heck I am busy playing Diablo 2 at this moment because I want the story again. Graphics don't make the game, the content of the game is what matters. Of coarse graphics get your initial interest, but if you want it a game to last, you get yourself a good story and some good gameplay.
 
I'm definitely on the story and gameplay side of things - but when it comes to graphics I'm a sucker for colourful 2D platformers.
 
I'm definitely on the story and gameplay side of things - but when it comes to graphics I'm a sucker for colourful 2D platformers.
Apologies if you've mentioned somewhere before that you've played it, but have you played Ori and the Blind Forest?
 
Apologies if you've mentioned somewhere before that you've played it, but have you played Ori and the Blind Forest?

I haven't yet but I'm keen to get it, I've heard nothing but positive things about the game. It's high up on my wishlist.
 
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