Your decision process on gaming purchases

[Incognitus]

Had this discussion with a buddy a while back on the importance of story in video games. He doesn't touch a game if he knows the story is lackluster. However, I can overlook bad story if other conditions are true. I am curious how other people think. Let me explain my thought process when it comes to games:

(Note: For the purposes of this list, I personally only have these three things I care about. Some people care about Graphics/DLC/modability/other things, and when you reply you can use those.)

I divide games into three basic categories: Story, Gameplay, Music. Story and Music are pretty straight-forward. Gameplay is mostly how fun the game is to pick up and play, but may also encompass any replayability, multiplayer, New Game+ mode... those sorts of things. So when it comes down to my decision on what to purchase or play, my decision process is like:

• If the game has awesome Music, awesome Gameplay, awesome Story... I go out looking for it as soon as possible.
• If the game has awesome Music, good Gameplay, average Story... I see if I can borrow it from a friend, download a demo or rent it (but honestly, who rents these days?)
• If the game has awesome Music, good Story, average-to-bad Gameplay... I look for the soundtrack and perhaps read up on the story if I am interested.
• If the game has awesome Gameplay, good Story, average-to-bad Music... I buy it when comes out but listen to my own music.
• If the game has awesome Gameplay, good Music, average Story... I'd buy it if I wasn't playing anything else at the moment.
• If the game has awesome Story, good Gameplay, average-to-bad Music... I look for a video of all the combined cinematics in sequential order.
• If the game has awesome Story, good Music, average-to-bad Gameplay... I look for a "Let's Play" of it on YouTube from someone with a sense of humor.
• If the game has average-to-bad Music, average-to-bad Gameplay, average-to-bad Story... I laugh with the people who openly mock it on the internet.

Keep in mind these are just some combinations. There are always gray areas. How do you guys think?

[DragonHeart]

Hmm...I'm not sure that I really have a defined decision process on buying games. Basically it boils down to does it look interesting to me? If yes, I'll poke around a bit, check out trailers, reviews if there are any and see what some trusted friends think. Depending on how I feel at the time, I'll either buy it or add to my Gamefly queue, since I can't afford to flat out pick up everything that looks good. I do prefer games with a strong story, but I will also go for games I can play with friends, like I'm just getting into Dota 2 cause I have some friends who play.

[loaf]

I'll buy the game.
Play it.
Then determine if it's worth keeping or doing another play through.

I don't do what you're telling me Incog. I don't believe a single word any video game says or what any reviewer says. You haven't played the game yet, why should you believe someone who might not have the same interests as you in a video game. It's like is a guy who enjoys playing Sports Games, gives a review to you about some new RPG and he bashes it and you're like hmmm maybe I shouldn't play it.

[DragonHeart]

It can be worth looking at reviews just to see if there's some major problem with it, though. Like Tomb Raider reviews are kind of scattershot and didn't really affect whether I bought it or not, but Aliens: CM was universally panned so I know to stay far, far away. Not that I was interested in it myself, that's just the first thing I thought of. I watch reviews partly so I can get a look at the gameplay and such, not so much for the review itself.

[Clint]

I buy cheap used games from second-hand stores. I will stand there in the store, pick out a few games, look at the boxes, and determine what I want to play. If the game is fun, then it's worth keeping. If not, I'll take it back to the store, trade it in, get store credit, and buy more cheap used games.

And honestly, what does story matter in a video game? It's a game. The story can be great, but if the gameplay sucks, it's still a shitty game.

[DragonHeart]

It's a balance. A game with a great story but terrible gameplay is as unplayable to me as a game with great gameplay and a terrible story. Both have to be at least good enough for me. It does depend on the type of game though. I don't expect an epic story out of say an action game, but I do expect it to be consistent and at least entertaining. I also rarely play a game for its multiplayer, so a good story adds replayability for me.

[Unknown Entity]

I'll be honest with you? I used to be really picky about the games I buy, and I'd only ever buy or ask for games I'd read reviews for, watched trailers for, and then I'd use friends as guinea pigs. I also used to only buy games once they got dirt cheap in the pre-owned section of the store.

...but then I got a job in a game store, got a discount, and got surrounded by video games almost everyday. I'm not so picky any more, and I tend to spend a lot of money on collector's editions, but I still have standards: I don't play Call of Duty or FIFA. I've easily bought over twenty games this year already, and I got a new console. Only problem is that I now have a backlog I'll probably never beat until they stop making PS3 games (probably not getting a PS4 - PS3 still has loads going for it, with Assassin's Creed IV, Destiny, Beyond: Two Souls and Watch Dogs coming out for it).

[Incognitus]

I don't do what you're telling me Incog. I don't believe a single word any video game says or what any reviewer says. You haven't played the game yet, why should you believe someone who might not have the same interests as you in a video game. It's like is a guy who enjoys playing Sports Games, gives a review to you about some new RPG and he bashes it and you're like hmmm maybe I shouldn't play it.

Hey, I'm 100% with you on reviewers. I detailed my views on official game reviewers in another thread at some point but I don't believe a single word they say, either. I take everything an official game reviewer says with a giant glass of salt. I may glance at a review or two before buying something I've already convinced myself to buy, but I don't base my intent to purchase on any one official game review. Not by a long shot.

I do, however, trust my friends with similar interests in games. And like you, I don't trust my friend who only plays first-person shooters to tell me about the latest RPG, for example.

And honestly, what does story matter in a video game? It's a game. The story can be great, but if the gameplay sucks, it's still a shitty game.

I'm with you on this. I don't particularly find story all too interesting as a focal point. I play games to game, not to enjoy some elaborate story-driven narrative. A good story is a bonus, sure, but it is not a driving point in a game purchase for me. If the gameplay sucks, I won't stick with it for long. If it's awesome I play the hell out of it. For example I loved the gameplay of Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. Played it for more hours than I can count but never progressed even halfway through the main story. Item world, item world, item world. The gameplay is why I turned on my PS2, not the advance in story.

But apparently some people think differently. No, I don't understand it either.

[DragonHeart]

Considering that this is an RPG forum, I think you'll find at least a few people who play for story. Personally, I don't understand people who don't play for story. I have literally seen people play an RPG by skipping past all the dialogue to get to the boss battles. Totally missing the point of playing it in the first place.

I'm not saying I play only for story; as I mentioned before, it has to have at least decent gameplay too. It's just not as big of a contributing factor when I'm deciding what to buy. I bought the new Tomb Raider based on the fact that it looked fun and had very defined themes that I thought would be interesting. I actually enjoy hunting around for the journals and things (mostly...Mountain Village and I are not friends) for that aspect of it. Would I still play it if the gameplay was shitty? Probably not. Gameplay is obviously integral to a good game, but it's not the only metric by which to judge.

And hey, for all you know I have horrible taste in games. I like to think that's not true, but like all forms of entertainment, good is subjective.

[Angantyr]

If its part of a franchise I already love I will probably get it, though it depends on my financial situation at the time. I've got a big backlog so the only two games I want right now are HDN V and Uncharted 3 but I will consider other games if I can find them cheap.

[Incognitus]

Considering that this is an RPG forum, I think you'll find at least a few people who play for story. Personally, I don't understand people who don't play for story. I have literally seen people play an RPG by skipping past all the dialogue to get to the boss battles. Totally missing the point of playing it in the first place.

I'm not saying I play only for story; as I mentioned before, it has to have at least decent gameplay too. It's just not as big of a contributing factor when I'm deciding what to buy. I bought the new Tomb Raider based on the fact that it looked fun and had very defined themes that I thought would be interesting. I actually enjoy hunting around for the journals and things (mostly...Mountain Village and I are not friends) for that aspect of it. Would I still play it if the gameplay was shitty? Probably not. Gameplay is obviously integral to a good game, but it's not the only metric by which to judge.

And hey, for all you know I have horrible taste in games. I like to think that's not true, but like all forms of entertainment, good is subjective.

I accept that there are those who play games for story. I just don't understand it as a chief motive to buy a game. I'll give you a crazy but true example: My friend buys any game when he hears it has a fantastic story. He bought Skyrim for this reason, but he didn't like the openness of questing and the exploration aspect (he wasn't familiar at all with the series) so he traded it in. Recently he heard from a few of his trusted sources that Halo 4 had a fantastic story. He's somewhat familiar with the previous games, having owned one or two of them, but he is not a FPS fan. At all. He still wants to buy it. And he's not playing multiplayer, which is the prime reason most people buy those games! I don't understand it.

In the interest of full disclosure, I frequently skip cut scenes and speed up lengthy dialogue to get to fights. Some games don't give me a choice and I must sit through it. I should note that the lack of a good story doesn't affect me playing it. My friend, whom I trust, said that Final Fantasy X-2 had a very fun battle system. Now I hated the story of Final Fantasy X---perhaps the characters moreso---but I'd borrow it if my PS2 wasn't already in storage to see for myself. If it has a terrible (=subjective) story but still good game play, I will at least rent/borrow/download a demo to see what it's about and purchase it if the game play exceeds my expectations. The story of Disgaea: Hour of Darkness never appealed to me---it didn't stop me from buying it and spending 80+ hours in Item World! It was fun game play! Just talking about it makes me want to reclaim my PS2 from the depths of my garage, to see if eight years of dust collection didn't ruin it.

All I'm saying is that a game must have something more in the equation to offer before I pull the trigger on a game purchase. You are saying the same thing from the other perspective, I guess. For me, it's not a simple X = Buy, where X equals story. It's more like (2Y^n)/(Z - 1) + X = Buy, where X equals story. I won't bother defining the other variables, just trying to illustrate my point: for me, story is an added bonus. When I buy Tomb Raider tomorrow, it will be for the game play. From what I've seen it looks like a nice hybrid of Resident Evil 4 and the Assassin's Creed games, which to me is awesome. The story will be an added bonus if it is good (=subjective). And if it's bad, I'll still play it if it's fun.

I purchase and play games for reasons other than story. To each their own, though.

[DragonHeart]

That's exactly why I didn't buy Skyrim, heh. I actually dislike most western RPGs because of the lack of a strong narrative.

To each their own, really. I don't understand why you would buy a story-driven game and then skip all the cutscenes, just as you don't understand why I would buy a game based on my interest in the story.

It's not mutually exclusive, as the best games often have an abundance of both excellent story and gameplay, of course. IMO anyway. I love Tomb Raider and Assassin's Creed as much as any Final Fantasy. That I might play such games for different reasons doesn't mean I enjoy them any less. And I certainly have as much fun launching grenades at asshole enemies as anyone else.