Are video games better without stories? (Gaming)

by stabbim , Des Moines, IA, USA, Wednesday, April 26, 2017, 15:33 (2554 days ago) @ Schooly D

I think it's a mistake to believe that there's a universal answer for all games.

Something like Mass Effect (campaign/story mode, ignoring ME3's multiplayer here) would absolutely be a lesser experience without the story. The memories I have of those games are almost entirely composed of story elements. I'll never forget that conversation with Sovereign on Virmire.

On the other hand, there are games that are best as just pure moment-to-moment mechanics. I spend a lot of my time in driving sims. Driving games DO get worse when you try to add a story, at least in my experience. But in my opinion, that has less to do with the story element specifically, and more to do with losing focus on what makes those games fun. What I mean to say is, adding story isn't the only way to ruin them - anything you add that takes focus away from what makes them fun will also ruin them. Need for Speed games try to add a narrative, and they just end up making things less interesting to me than something like Forza or Dirt Rally. But adding something else that isn't driving would also ruin them. Putting a Pipe Dream style minigame in the middle of a Dirt Rally stage would make it worse.