Is gameplay really the most important part of a game?

in #gaming7 years ago

There is a vocal group of gamers out there on the internet that believes that gameplay should always be the most important aspect of a game and I’m wondering whether that’s true or not. So I decided to take a look and analyze the top rated games of the generation and see if I could agree with them or not.

Using this generation alone some of the highest rated and loved games of the generation (by metacritic) are as follows

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 97

Persona 5 - 93

Uncharted 4 - 93

MGS 5 - 93

Witcher 3 - 92

Bloodborne - 92

Having played all these (most to completion) I can say that only two of these have a gameplay focus which are Bloodborne and MGS5. MGS5 has been critically and commercially successful but hasn’t universally loved by the MGS fanbase, in fact, many believe that the direction Kojima and his team took the franchise in was the wrong one. They believed that forgoing all the crazy story elements and focus of the earlier games in favour of more freedom and gameplay options ended up hurting MGS5 as a whole and I’d be inclined to agree.

On the other hand, Bloodborne has very little narrative and almost the entire story is told through visuals and item descriptions. This was one of the best parts of Bloodborne for me, but its real appeal was its gameplay. It was bloody, brutal and super satisfying and there are very few games that can replicate the feeling of beating a boss in that.

Zelda focuses on exploration, puzzles and discover. These appeal to longtime fans of the franchise and to newcomers as well. Although many had complaints with some of the gameplay elements (weapon durability) and quality of the dungeons, most gamers loved the game despite these pitfalls. Personally for me, I got bored playing this game because the combat wasn’t very engaging to me and there was very little narrative at all. I am not one of those people who absolutely loves exploration and I don’t like puzzles either, so I was left in the dark here.

Persona, Uncharted and Witcher are all narrative heavy games that don’t have particularly good or bad gameplay (although W3 leans into the below average territory). The gameplay is serviceable in all the games but what really sets them apart for most people is their presentation, characters, stories and music. However, I will say while find Persona and Witcher to have a good enough balance of gameplay and narrative, uncharted 4 has too much narrative compared to gameplay. Many sections of the game are basically you climbing random areas either talking to someone or yourself and most of it isn’t very interesting or engaging. So ultimately a lack of gameplay (combat in this case) bogged this game down for me.

I mostly play competitive multiplayer games, rpgs and action games so I’m definitely more of an oddball here where I hold different games to different standards depending on what genre they are and what they set out to do. So ultimately, I came to the most obvious conclusion that it simply depends. Some games need deeper gameplay to carry them through (it is pretty much required for competitive games ) and others have the narrative and production values to hold the audience’s attention despite mediocre or average gameplay.

So what kind of gamer are you guys? Narrative focused? Gameplay focused? Exploration focused? Up for anything good? If you guys like this and more me to do more upvote, resteem or whatever. I'll be mostly focused on the gaming side here and may start doing more individual game reviews.

Sort:  

Im definitely the explorer and looter :)

You definitely aren't alone! I'm guessing you like games like Skyrim a lot?

So do I, also love all those crazy achievements, always tryharding for gettin 100% WT with all achievements unlocked

I don't game much anymore but I loved Fallout 3 for the choices and random events. Also, I am big on soundtracks and believe it is an extremely important aspect for immersion.

Oh I definitely agree about soundtracks, bloodborne wouldn't be as memorable without that amazing OST.

I think you are understanding the word gameplay in a different word then most people do. You take it as purely mechanics, but most people understand it as - is the game fun to play.
And some things you don't consider mechanics can even be easily considered mechanics - for example: the exploration and puzzles in Zelda are certainly mechanics of the game. They are part of how you play the game. If they aren't executed in a fun way, they make the gameplay less fun.

The same for narrative (or how I call it - storytelling) is also a part of how the game plays. And again, if the story is not integrated well, it will disrupt the gameplay making it bad.

When people make the argument "gameplay over everything" what they usually are talking is the fact that some companies just go for a game that look visually spectacular but isn't really that fun to play.

Anyways - Great post for starting a nice debate! Would you mind if I included it in today's "best of gaming"?

Yep I don't mind! And yeah to me gameplay definitely refers purely to mechanics, I do consider puzzles part of mechanics but I don't like puzzle games (or puzzles in games) very much, so BOTW was definitely not a game for me!

This is how I was feeling too. "Gameplay" is a pretty broad term. "Mechanics" gets more specific, but games are such a package deal.

Even for mechanically light non video game fare from pen and paper to board games to slot machines, people value style and aesthetic so much. It really can affect the mechanics and thus, the gameplay.

Bloodborne had great combat mechanic, but that deep gothic feel, added so much to the tension of the game it wouldn't make sense otherwise. Imagine Bloodborne's mechanics being ported to Grand Theft Auto 5. Shambling around with melee weapons and single shot guns in a modern city that was way too big and open wouldn't feel the same at all (despite being fun as a departure!)

So I'd say I'm firmly in the gameplay/mechanics camp myself. How many beautiful games have we seen that jut don't do the job with how things happen in the world. It's my major beef with the Rocksteady Batman games. Being Batman feels like a chore and beating on guys feels more like a dance dance revolution rhythm games than hard hitting Batman style combat.

Thats my take anyway. I know people adore those games though. Great post!

I totally agree with @gaming-trail. Gameplay for me is how the game feels and plays, not the mechanics. Gameplay is the most important part of a game, more important than visuals and sound. If the gameplay is good than the rest doesn't matter as much because you will have fun playing the game. This is why a lot of retro games are still hot. The visuals/graphics maybe outdated but the gameplay is still excellent.

cool post upvoted and followed :)

RPG is my top favorite, especially the ones where you have an open world and exploration and puzzles are a big part. However, I share your opinion about Zelda, it's just too slow. Bloodbourne, Nioh and the dark souls series definately are my favorite of all times. There is not really an open world but exploration gets you rewarded and, as you mentioned before, it's very satisfying when you actually make progress. The difficulty level teaches you a lot as well, don't be greedy and have some patience.

My take:
Story is backbone, most game ideas need a good story

Gameplay needs to be fluid, and be appealing and fun (not too hard)

Open-worldness can add on to numerous other aspects, adding an element of exploration and freedom, like Fallout 4 and previous Bethesda games

Soundtrack is an important part of a game, enriching the experience

I think that it depends on the player that plays the game as well. I do enjoy different types of games for different aspects, you can usually raise the difficulty to get some more out of the gameplay of a certain game. But obviously different genres don't need to be focust only on that. Witcher 3 has turned into an old time favorite for me really fast but I do enjoy games that are focused a lot more on the gameplay part as Darkest dungeon for example, or online games as Path of Exile where gameplay is almost everything.

One of the most important things on a game is random events, it means different things and scenarios happening, this keep the game interesting and not boring after many days playing it

This is why I love Fallout 3. I also have New Vegas but haven't played it.

Agree, though Uncharted is one of my favorite series. I have all 3 for PS3 and already done with A Theif's End on PS4. Though I consider solving puzzle and stealth as part of gameplay. I am a big fan of God of War and Uncharted series. Awaiting "The lost legacy" and "God of War" for PS4.