Does plot really matter?

[Arn]

I've been thinking, do you play games because of the plot or because of the gameplay?

I mean, it's a video-game meaning you have to play it not only read the godamn thing. If want to read, go read a book it's infinitely better. Sure there are awesome plots in game,s but is that REALLY important in a game? I can play games with terrible plots because of gameplay, but I can't stand bad gameplay even if the plot is really interesting.
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[Flamfas]

I can still enjoy games without understanding the plot (I import Tales), but playing a game with a DISTRACTINGLY BAD plot definitely detracts from my enjoyment of the game.

And sure, games with superior gameplay can get away with a subpar plot, but why wouldn't you want a game that has both great gameplay and story?
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Gaming in 2013:
16 Games Beaten
8 Games Added to Library
Last Update: [beat] Pushmo

72 Unbeaten Games
Target: 75 Unbeaten Games

[Lunar Eclipse]

I can overlook a lot of the plot stuff as long as the gameplay is enjoyable and the cast is well-written. I usually don't even notice plot holes unless they're glaringly obvious, probably because I tend to play games over a long period of time and forget contradictory stuff from earlier in the game once I get deeper into it. And yes, it's nice to have a plot that's actually good on occasion, but I also prefer a "normal" plot with good characters to a plot that is so overly ambitious that it becomes exceedingly convoluted and so self-indulgent that it detracts from the experience.
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[Kratos Auron]

Yes, plot is important.

It doesn't need to be an extremely deep, or moving plot. But, there does need to be motivation to play. In my opinion, characters are even more important than plot. If you have a cast of widely different and enjoyable characters, sometimes watching them interact is more fun than playing the game itself. But again, there needs to be characters. Bethesda games are fun to play, but I get bored every now and then because I can't relate to anyone. Everyone just refers to you as the Dragonborn, and that's about as deep as it goes. Even your wife/husband only has a handful of lines to talk to you about.

I myself would be fine with having a default name, so long as I could actually converse with people. Give my character a personality, a voice. It really ruins immersion for me when I feel like I ultimately don't feel any connection to anyone in the game.

Point is, you need a plot for characters to follow in some way. You also need likable characters to follow said plot. If there is no real motivation behind the characters, why would you want to play the game? There are always exceptions, such as The Sims, where EVERYTHING is up to you. But, if it's a AAA release title, and they want to sell you a cinematic, over the top action game, it needs some sort of story, or at least an inkling of why these things are happening. (Unreal Tournament.) I guess, ultimately, it just depends on the game.
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Electrode is credit to team

[Sânta Claus]

I'm playing through Cave Story and I'm like "what is even going on"... even though I'm more than half-way through the game and I KNOW what's going on, I still don't know what's going on. But I like the gameplay a lot. The shooting is fun, the boss fights are interesting... but the plot isn't doing it for me.

Then there's a game like Fire Emblem where I really care about the characters and the story that links them all together, but the gameplay is just a glorified rock-paper-scissors. A really GOOD glorified rock-paper-scissors, but it's still rock-paper-scissors.

Then there's a game like Ghost Trick that just boggles my mind, because both the plot and the gameplay mechanics were just so GOOD. I honestly cannot weigh one aspect over the other for this game, because both were done so well!

I could keep going with examples, but I'd say that there are some games where plot suffers for gameplay--but the game can pull it off because the gameplay is tight. The inverse is true too: there are games out that that have gameplay that should really be considered trite garbage, but the narrative saves the day. I don't think one is inherently better than the other. They just have different strengths in different genres.
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Don't bro me if you don't know me.

[Accelerator]

I don't really care about the plot so much as the characters. Plot is nice all but even if the plot is really good it's not going to interest me if I'm not engaged in the characters involved in it.

Gameplay>characters>music>Plot>Graphics is probably my importance rating.

But yeah, characters can make anything good. See:The Persona 4 cast being incredibly hilarious and amusing discussing incredibly menial ****. Or Tales of Rebirth's second half possibly being one of the most dumb plots ever but the character interactions and individual struggles save it.
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[Switch Hitter]

Easy answer, but it depends on the genre of the game. It is supposed to be story- or character-driven? Then yes. I just beat Heavy Rain (90% story), and holy ****, all of you with PS3s who enjoy great writing, go play that right now.

On the other side of the coin, Dead Space 1? I don't give one damn about Isaac or Unitology and I'm just playing it because it's fun, but it's also not a focus of the game unless you want to read all the files. Pretty much every fighting game is the same way.

Two middling examples are the Mass Effect and Resident Evil series. Outside of some instances, ME has both strong characters and fun gameplay, but is leaning more towards character development. In Resident Evil, I feel like they give me just enough of most characters to care, but not too much get bogged down in the story. I'm pretty sure the trend of it turning into an action series actually started back in RE3, but if you avoid the survival horror debate, the series has pretty much always been a fun soap opera brimming with explosions and silly monsters. It's just more apparent nowadays.

[Celestial Phoenix]

As long as it's not predictable and run-down; you know, some actual effort was put into the writing in general, I don't care. A plot is a plot and there is something you can always learn from.
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SSBB FC: 2621 4547 1776
"Even Death has a predator."
- Celestial Phoenix

[Slivius]

To me, also, characters are more important that the plot.

That said, it depends a lot on the type of game and the plot.

It's roughly like this:

Some games don't need plot, like SSB, Gazillionaire or the multiplayer part of a shooter. I tend to play them in short bursts, and can leave them alone for long periods of time.

Some games don't need plot, but become more enjoyable because of it, like Plants vs Zombies, which, although it has very little plot, did become more endearing because of it.
cough pokemon cough
It's the same to me as the previous category.

Then there's games that need plot, because otherwise they wouldn't work, like Golden Sun. The plot isn't Gold Star Material, but it would completely fall apart without it. Without the plot, I'd probably still play the game if the world is rich and the characters are interesting (even if the mains aren't but the NPC's or villains are). Otherwise I leave them alone.

Finally, there's the games which need (relatively) good plot in order to fully enjoy them and for them to work at all, like the Tales Series and Radiant Historia.
I tend to play these in long successive sessions and enjoy them a lot.

All in all, it's like a sliding scale in two directions:
There's a fine line between good characters, good plot, and good gameplay, and if the game puts a lot of (good) emphasis on one of them, the others are less important.

I should also note that it is sometimes very refreshing to play a game without plot and just beat it.

And then there's games like portal, which have everything going for them.
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Also known as Sliv, Slivvie, Quilvius, Slivendiferious, and slivijizzisious

Ruilus wrote:

Holy hell. Yesterday was a blur of wine, whiskey and brandy. I can't remember where I left my sofa.

[AzureFlame]

Plot is important to me.

when i play a game, i get into it.

gameplay is important too.

If the gameplay sucks.

then no real reason to play it.

if plot, storyline, etc. sucks....

then the whole time its just...

boring.
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[Drake]

Is plot important? Only when it's necessary.

Is plot necessary? Only when it's important.
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[Abicion]

I just play video games for tits and gore so this doesn't really effect me.

(Please ignore 20+ topics I've made about Duke's rage-inducing characterization in Tales of Vesperia.)
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SOON.

[Slivius]

[Aha Disco Elf]

I have to agree that plot doesn't really break a game for me, but having a nice one really helps the game to be more immersive.

And easy example would be Ys; the series is very cliche with the plot (not that it's bad), nothing too stellar and the main protagonist is a mute powerhouse who mows everything in his path but the game is still very fun to play, however it just happens to be that I like Ys Origin the most among all the games because apart from the fun gameplay, it has characters and plots that actually makes me care about them.

[Zacewing]

I generally think gameplay should be the most important aspect of any genre (except VN's, obv). I enjoy good stories in games (especially RPG's), but if a game isn't fun to actually play, 9/10 times nothing else good about it can save it for me. I personally can't see why people would prioritize story over gameplay in a video game.
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