I read an article the other day that someone wrote about story in video games and how a real literary story is pretty rare.

It's also pretty often that, while it may get praised by critics, story driven games don't succeed on the level of other, less thoughtful games. I mean, obviously, games like Metal Gear have had tremendous success, but it seems like the general public doesn't have much interest in a game that has an engaging plot.

Why do you think that is?

This is important to me because I want to write the story for a video game at some point in my life.

Also: recommend some good story driven games! Or just talk about them. Whatever.

I prefer games with good story, though not all of my favorites have it. A good example is the Final Fantasy series. In all of them you play through a story and it's very interesting. A lot of games today, though, have no real story to them, or that story is taken from a movie (such all those Harry Potter games out there).
Some games with no particularly deep story can still be good, but the memorable games are the ones that tell a story in the form of playing.
I also find that there are two sides to a story: the setting (the world all this is set in and what has taken place before the game takes place) and the plot that the game goes through. If both are strong the game will probably be good. If only one is strong it might go either way. If the game has neither, it relies solely on gameplay to entice players. For instance, the first Timesplitters game, for PS2, had no really story or background story, but as a first person shooter it was alright. The second Timesplitter game offered plenty of background story but little plot. The third one offered plenty of plot story but not too much background story. I like the second and third ones not just because of story but because the gameplay is fun.

So if you want to write the story to a video game, I don't think you should worry too much about games without real plots. If you write a good story and the other people in charge make the gamplay fun, it will be a great game.

i like to play rpgs occassionally, but i really have to be in the mood to devote time to a game like that

I'd probably have to be cynical and agree with the notion that story-driven games don't have an much (immediate) success. The games that are the real sellers are, like, Madden and Guitar Hero, games that have very little story to them.

I put immediate in there simply because of the Final Fantasy games, which got huge success after a few years on the market when their quality was really appreciated.

I don't even think Final Fantasy is really a good example of games that have a good story. Sure, they're story driven, but it's like really generic fantasy. They're RPGs so obviously there's a decent amount of time put in the story but they re-use things, it's just boring.

Obviously there are exceptions: FF7 had a good story.

Would Gears of War be considered as a story driven game? Lol. If so, the greatest story driven game I've ever played.

Um, getting to literary stories in video games, the first thing that came to mind was... oh c'mon, you know already... Greek Mythology... yeah, you're right, God of War! Actual Greek mythology with actual monsters about a person who used to be an actual spartan, and he goes and claims the seat of god of war. I hope that counts. Mythology is like, well, old. Set the standards for future literature and storytelling.

Um, Don't know if thats what you were looking for people, so i'll stop.
Heeeyyyy heeeyyy i wanna be a rock star... God I love that song.

No, God of War was another game I've seen mentioned. Never played it though.
I don't know if I said this before, but Grim Fandango is supposed to be an amazing story driven game.

I think Gears of War is pretty story driven as well... I mean, you actually gotta read the instruction manual to get the full thing. But it's also part of a planned series, so we don't know if the story will go down a shit basic road or something more advanced.


But... just... Metal Gear, people.

When you say "no," you mean that the article you read contained something on God of War? Therefor, since it was already mentioned it technically doesnt count?

Well, I'll come out with this then; Drakengard. Pretty story driven, and a certain points the plot can turn in a different direction. Star Wars KOTOR as well. Every choice changed something in that game, which is why I loved it. But those are rpg's. Don't know if they're story DRIVEN if the player can basically change it.

Would Metroid series be story driven? I mean, they're all (yup, every single one) in a timeline of Samus's life as a bounty hunter, and her story with the Federation.

I don't know how to really explain what I classify as a literary story. I mean, all games have a story but how many of them win awards or get praised for their engaging plotline? Metroid has a story but it's not really an emphasis on it.

I don't know why I said no.

Lol, maybe you got used to typing "no" when you reply to me. Haha.

Yeah, i see the whole reason why Metroid can't exactly be classified as a story driven game. Hmm, I wish i could bring one up, and I'm sure that if i go through my collection right now, i would find something. All that's coming to mind is Dynasty Warriors, but thats historical Chinese eras, the "Three Kingdoms" stuff.