One thing I've always wondered about... why don't games allow you to view all the CGI in a selectable menu after you've finished the game? Or even view past CGIs while you're playing through it? I can't tell you how many times I've been playing through an RPG, stopped for a while, then picked it up again only to be totally lost story-wise. This might be why I don't find RPG storylines that compelling anymore... I don't have the time to marathon through RPGs like I did when I was a kid.

Well that's cause it was such a minimalistic story. Very straight forward with a few minor twist and turns to keep it interesting for the games duration. Kind of like <b>Pixy</b> said, the story served the game and gave you a reason to do what you were doing without trying to be the great american novel. Actually RE4 is very similar in structure to the first Halo (only with boss battles).

This also bugs the hell out of me:

The whole "NOW LETS HAVE A CHAPTER TAKE PLACE IN THE MIND OF ONE OF THE CHARACTERS" deal. Great, now your whole party can run around in some weird bizarro land with images relating to the traumatic past of said character.

ugh...I get so sick of that crap(ie.- FF7, playing inside Cloud's mind).

I never felt that FF7's storyline got in the way of the gameplay at all, but then again that's one of my favorite RPG's.

In contrast, I'm having a hard time working my way through FFX as the characters and storyline have been uninteresting and annoying to me.

BTW, since I've yet to play it, how is the story to Prince of Persia: Warrior Within? I already know the issues of the change in tone and style. I just want to know if the story is as well integrated as in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

I know im in the minority here, but i liked the mgs 2 storyline. Sure I was like WTF? but after playing the game another time through I just liked the idea of how the game fucks with your head. For me I think the story is very important to the game. Sure good gameplay is needed, but its the story that sucks you in and makes you belive that you are in that universe. Thats why I really enjoy the FF series MGS and other RPGS.

Or say, "Hey, I know you don't know what's going on, but come check out this scene" to someone else? I know I have wanted to do that more than once. But yes, the ability to see "Previously, on....." would be nice to counter those extended gaming breaks.
There was a program that let you view PSX game videos on your PC on demand, but I have no idea what it was called.

The only game that I can recall ever giving you a recap of what you were up to is Metal Gear Solid. Everytime you loaded your save file you were offered the opportunity to read a few pages of text that summarized where you left off.

Personally, I liked the story in WW. It wasn't as good as SoT, but it wasn't as bad as some people say. Most people hated the darker tone, and I admit I didn't like it that much at first, but it kind of grew on me. The dark tone actually fits the story, so it makes sense.

Cool. So does the story stay out of your way, like in the first game? By that I mean that it doesn't constantly break up the flow of gaemplay and merely serves as a complement to the game, rather than the main attraction. That's part of the reason I liked the story of TSOT. It was a good story, well told, and din't take centre stage, making me wish I was playing instead of watching.

WW has about the same number of cutscenes as SoT, and they are all short and to the point. You will be playing much more than watching just like in SoT. Also, there are 2 endings in WW, so it is worth playing through the game twice to see both endings. I did anyway. WW has life upgrades similar to those magic water fountains in SoT. In WW, if you manage to find all the life upgrades, you get the 2nd ending. The 2nd ending is actually the true ending that the developers are using for the next game, PoP: The Two Thrones.

Thanks for the answers, kgrogers1979. That definitely sounds right up my alley. And the new game does look sweet. I hope there are plenty of chances to use the chariot.

Yeah I am really looking forward to The Two Thrones too. The developers have said it completes the trilogy, so I can't wait to see how the story ends. They also are getting rid of the crappy heavy metal music from WW and going back to the better "Persian" music. The only thing that really worries me is they are adding "stealth kills" to the game. I hope they don't turn it into a stealth game.

I know this thread is about bad videogame plot, and I agree that it's wrong when a game's story gets in the way of the actual game (as in 99% of all RPGs), but the best example of how to do it right is Half-Life 1 & 2.

You are always in control and playing the game while the story is going on, and it's up to you if you want to explore your surroundings to go deeper and find out more about what's going on in the story.

"If I want a good story, I will read a book/watch a movie" - thats what I hear a lot.

But to me, watching a 2 hour movie is not the same. RPG's give you a 30+ hour combination of story and gameplay. No other form of entertainment does the same. The closest thing is the "choose your own adventure" novel.

I'll second the excitement for The Two Thrones. It sounds like they're taking the best of both worlds and are gonna be releasing one awesome game. I actually liked the music for Warrior Within. Most of it's by the same guy who did SOT, Stuart Chatwood. They just told him they wanted more of an edge. However, I do feel that the music for SOT was much more fitting. Looks like POP 3 is gonna be just what everybody wants...

Admittedly, though, a lot of that 30+ hours is padding. And I love RPGs. But most (if not all) of them require at least some kind of mindless leveling up that artificially pads a game's length. Luckily, the best of them invent some fun ways of improving your characters when they level up, but rarely are the repetitive fights what I would consider "fun." I can think of very few games that don't have this kind of "grind" built into the system.

And I'm not saying that we should be void of stories in rpgs, or in any games... they really do make a difference. They're usually just not the focus of the game by any means, even for seemingly story-centered games like RPGs.

BTW, Tales of Symphonia also does an excellent job archiving past events to get you caught up... but I would still like to be able to view the cutscenes.

Uh, didn't Godsmack do the Warrior Within soundtrack?

No. Godsmack only did the intro song and end credits theme. Inon Zur did all the cinematic scoring and Stuart Chatwood (of The Tea Party) did all the in-game music. Now Inon Zur and Stuart Chatwood have collaborated on all the music for Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones.

Are you not a big fan of the Tales series and Dragon Quest series. I'm not sure how you of all people can say story in a game takes a back seat to everything else in a game, looking at the games that you seem to enjoy. I've played Tales of Symphonia (all 72 hours that it took me) and there was much story. Most of which, I enjoyed. I guess I don't understand how you can play a game for so many hours and possibly not enjoy the story going on. A friend of mine will play an RPG and every time there is reading to do he skips it. Just watching him do this gets me up in arms.

Correct. I enjoy both series due to their gameplay. I cannot understand why that's so hard to believe.

I completely agree with you on the gameplay. It just sounds like the story comes in a distant second for you. I'm not trying to argue with you or make you out to be something weird. I'm just the type that thinks a good story or plot is just or even more important as the game play in an RPG. Good character developement is also very important to me. I love it when a game tries to make you "care" about the persons in the story. With the example of Aeries, no, I'm not the kind of person who cried when she died or even cared that she was no longer in the game, but I did think it added a nice touch to the ongoing story and plot. (I too thought, why can't someone just toss the girl a phoenix down though.) Any way, wasn't trying to cause pissing match. Just two different opinions, and thats cool.

Although I play RPGs for both a good story and good gameplay, I can sort of see where Pixy is coming from. Afterall, I love the gameplay of Final Fantasy X-2 but don't much care for the story (although I did like the story of Final Fantasy X, in spite of a few eye rolling moments and poor voice acting from the two leads). So it is possible to enjoy an RPG soley for the gameplay aspect.

Indigo Prophecy comes to mind, amazing game with an incredible storyline, then it seemingly skips two chapters and becomes a lite-version of Dark City. Great game with an overall good story, but it's just beyond annoying how it ultimately turned out in the end.

IMO, if you were to take the story out of any RPG, you are left with one of the most boring gaming experiences ever.

If Dragon Quest VIII had a decent storyline, then more people would buy DQVIII to play DQVIII, not to play the FFXII demo. Seriously, people are trying to figure out ways to play this demo without purchasing DQVIII to such extremes that they are looking towards Ebay or simply buying it and trading it into Gamestop. And these are all die hard RPG fans, seeing as how much they love FF. That tells you something about games like DQVIII which lack a half decent story.

It makes me sad actually. Dragon Quest VIII has it all, great art, music, graphics, nice and simple battle system,....too bad it lacks the most popular aspect of the turn-based RPG - a good story.

and its not like a great story would have taken anything away from the game.