Do Games Need Good Stories to Succeed?

The Princess has been taken by a...tall....dragon..person. You're a....plumber...GO SAVE HER!

Sound like a good story? Not so much...especially since it's been done TIME AND TIME again. However, the game play for the Mario games is tried and true. Being the number one selling video game franchise...numbers don't lie. Of course, Mario's been in many spin-offs and sports games that stray away from the classic Mario game play, but at it's root, Mario has a sub-par story with incredible game play. Take the latest Mario platformer for example:



At it's core, Mario Galaxy has the same simple story...save the princess from the dragon. However, the game play along the way makes for one of the best games I've played this gen, personally. Mario Galaxy is easily one of the most game play-varied games in the genre, introducing a combination of flying, swimming, running, racing, and others I know I'm forgetting. Is the game great? Let's be honest, all Mario platformers really are. Is the story great? Not in the least bit...but with a game franchise like Mario, it's not about the story.

Another great example is almost any racing game. Notice how I said almost...because there could be some I haven't played that have a decent story...however, none that caught my attention thus far. What do all racing games have in common? You have to finish the game first, or destroy your competitors before they destroy you. Simple? Yes. Fun? Yes. Racing games don't have to rely on a great story to succeed. Take the Need for Speed series for example, which is the fourth best selling game franchise:



Though recently, they've tried to add a story into the game, they've been nothing short of god-awful. However, they always have some hot chick eye-fucking you through your t.v. through each cut-scene, so it makes sitting through a cut-scene less painful.

Aside from that, the Need for Speed series has been fun for me, finding secret pathways, running away from cops, and in the thick of it, coming out on top at the end of the race. Again, nothing short of a terrible story with eye candy, but a really fun game franchise nonetheless.

One last example for you:



Left4Dead, or you can call it by it's longer name: Insanely addictive multiplayer zombie-shooting slaughter-fest. If you play with a good group of friends, or even shitty friends..it doesn't matter..you'll have fun playing this, even if it's only in little spurts. Does this game have a good story? Nope. There's zombies, and you need to kill them. Super cliche, but it works. Left4Dead isn't one of those games that you need to necessarily know anything about story-wise to enjoy and comprehend. In fact, I think this game would be worse if it did have a story. Left4Dead practically leaves it up to gamers to decide the story for themselves, which I find a lot more compelling then finding out this is all because of a virus..that was dropped on Manhattan via bat feces or something.

The Princess has been taken by a...tall....dragon..person. You're a....plumber...GO SAVE HER!

Sound like a good story? Not so much...especially since it's been done TIME AND TIME again. However, the game play for the Mario games is tried and true. Being the number one selling video game franchise...numbers don't lie. Of course, Mario's been in many spin-offs and sports games that stray away from the classic Mario game play, but at it's root, Mario has a sub-par story with incredible game play. Take the latest Mario platformer for example:



At it's core, Mario Galaxy has the same simple story...save the princess from the dragon. However, the game play along the way makes for one of the best games I've played this gen, personally. Mario Galaxy is easily one of the most game play-varied games in the genre, introducing a combination of flying, swimming, running, racing, and others I know I'm forgetting. Is the game great? Let's be honest, all Mario platformers really are. Is the story great? Not in the least bit...but with a game franchise like Mario, it's not about the story.

Another great example is almost any racing game. Notice how I said almost...because there could be some I haven't played that have a decent story...however, none that caught my attention thus far. What do all racing games have in common? You have to finish the game first, or destroy your competitors before they destroy you. Simple? Yes. Fun? Yes. Racing games don't have to rely on a great story to succeed. Take the Need for Speed series for example, which is the fourth best selling game franchise:



Though recently, they've tried to add a story into the game, they've been nothing short of god-awful. However, they always have some hot chick eye-fucking you through your t.v. through each cut-scene, so it makes sitting through a cut-scene less painful.

Aside from that, the Need for Speed series has been fun for me, finding secret pathways, running away from cops, and in the thick of it, coming out on top at the end of the race. Again, nothing short of a terrible story with eye candy, but a really fun game franchise nonetheless.

One last example for you:



Left4Dead, or you can call it by it's longer name: Insanely addictive multiplayer zombie-shooting slaughter-fest. If you play with a good group of friends, or even shitty friends..it doesn't matter..you'll have fun playing this, even if it's only in little spurts. Does this game have a good story? Nope. There's zombies, and you need to kill them. Super cliche, but it works. Left4Dead isn't one of those games that you need to necessarily know anything about story-wise to enjoy and comprehend. In fact, I think this game would be worse if it did have a story. Left4Dead practically leaves it up to gamers to decide the story for themselves, which I find a lot more compelling then finding out this is all because of a virus..that was dropped on Manhattan via bat feces or something.

Great storytelling is really important to me, because it can make even a game with mediocre gameplay mechanics enjoyable, if for nothing else than to see what happens next (though there is a limit to that as well).  However, it is indeed a balancing act.  Games that have meh-to-awful stories have to REALLY bring it in the gameplay department to compensate.
 
Storytelling is just another factor into what makes a game, just like the graphics, music, gameplay etc.  People who tend to discount the importance of good storytelling in games do nothing to help the image of video games as crass, hypnotic brainleeches that turn us into zombie vidiots.   I don't care what Kojima and his ilk say, games can be art just like anything else.

No, but I respect games that can tell a great story far more than games that don't even try.

No.  Why?  Peggle.  Games by their purest definition do not involve narrative.  Here's a ball, hit it with a stick. Repeat.
But on the other hand, I'd rather play Puzzle Quest than Bejeweled. 

Some people prefer their storytelling to come more from one medium versus another.  I play more RPGs than I read fiction books in any given year, and I'm fine reading books and playing games that have no stories at all.
Also, 0G Achievement Unlocked for use of "eye-fucking" in proper context.

They don't need great stories, but they have to be at least competent.

RPG's always require good stories because without that they're pretty shit since the gameplay almost always sucks ass. Good stories always make a game better though obviously but no, most genres don't require a good story for a game to be successful, you can look at a bunch of console shooters for evidence.

For specific games, no. But if they put in a story, they better make it make sense by the end.

There's always a balance... 
If game play  is great, story doesn't matter so much 
If the story is great, game play has to be at least passable, or the frustration isn't worth the effort when you can read a synopsis online 

I'm a firm believe and promoter of great stories in games. Though I will freely admit that a great story isn't necessarily a requirement of a good game. Though as i've explained in previous blog posts of mine, I think a good story puts just *that* much more polish and greatness on a good game which then elevates it to heights that it could never achieve without a great story.

Good Story: Dragon Age
Sales: ~2.2 Million
 
Decent Story: inFamous
Sales: ~1.29 Million (PS3 only)
 
Vague Story: Borderlands
Sales: ~2 Million

I guess it would help if I added in that the only genre that needs a good story to strive in my opinion, are RPG's. A bad story can ruin an RPG for me.

For me it's all about the gameplay.  It can have a piece of shirt story, but as long as it's a ton of fun, I will still play it.

I came in to say Mario, but you've already done so. So, you answered your own question... Wtf?

RPGs with bad/no stories also work. Ie, dungeon crawlers, roguelikes and what not. Play this.


(I could also say, the majority of RPGs have laughable stories anyway but I guess some like it).

It all really depends on how much the game falls back on the story. Super Mario Galaxy's simple story works because for a lot of the time the game isn't even concentrating on the story, it's concentrating on gameplay, however when Need for Speed tried to throw their relatively weak story into their game it didn't work because the story was given so much attention by all the cutscenes throughout the game. There's a difference between a bad story and a simple story.