I’ve always thought that a really good storyline really helps make a (fighting) game extra special. Tekken is a perfect example. I’ve been playing Tekken since 1995 since it has one of, if not, the best continuing storylines in video game history. It makes me feel like I can really understand why this character is fighting. The Mishima saga, and now after getting and playing Tekken 6, the very interesting King/Amour King/Craig Marduk saga which I never saw coming.
On the flip side, I think a really good game can be really lacking by lack of a good storyline. Virtua Fighter for example. One of the best fighting games ever made but why are these people fighting? Why does Jeffery want to kill this giant shark? Is that the only reason?
Do you think a storyline makes the game better or do you think that it’s not really needed?
A storyline is nice if its there I guess but I don’t judge fighting games based on them, mostly because I’ve never seen a fighting game that actually had a good storyline. They almost always boil down to the same idea, which is that the fate of the world hinges on a fighting tournament.
Story and Background -> Character Design -> Fighting Style -> Play Style
So, to a certain extent, everyone who plays these games owes a little something to story…even the most hardcore of hardcore tourney level players.
But, even beyond that, a characters story and background totally affect which characters I personally play. After all, if you’re going to spend hours in training mode, it helps when that character appeals to you on as many levels as possible.
They help people relate and pick favorite characters which is an important part of fighting games. However if the game already has an established following then story can just take a backseat ala SF4 and 98+ Kof’s.
I dont know about all that. I think the closest thing is me representing that character as I fight other players. And as lone dragon said character design and overall presentation keeps me entertained beyond the fighting mechanics. Without good presentation you are left with barebones.
Storyline makes things more interesting to me. A character’s personality, background, etc does play quite a bit of an influence on my character choices, along with looks and playstyle. For example, one of my favorite characters is Kain R. Heinlein from Garou. He looks appealing to me, and a very fun playstyle. I thought he was cool, so I started using him. What really hooked me to the character though afterwards was his story and personality.
Now as for lets say a VF character, I just cant feel any sort of connection with anybody. A lot of the characters are just too bland. I like Vanessa’s playstyle and looks, but she has like no kind of backstory or anything. “I had amnesia, now I’m… here. Fight me!” I just kinda lose interest in the character, you know? She becomes more of an avatar than anything and personally I dont like that.
But hey, this is just me. A lot of other players could really care less for the story, and even choose to ignore it. I like an interesting story when it comes to pretty much any kind of game. I dont make storylines in fighting games a science like some people though.
Edit: As for crossover games, who cares? Make up your own or whatever.
Yeah but every single one of those characters in that game has a background so deep or prominent and most of them are well known outside the game anyways. So why bother with the story?
I think it helps. I think VF5 is boring as fuck for the fact that there’s nothing to the characters. It’s like “Here’s this person and here’s what they do.” and outside of that, it seems like there’s nothing else.
VF is actually a pretty touching story about Jeffry’s struggle with autism. Obsessed with boats, he’s eventually so enraged by the fact that he can’t hold down a steady job he goes mad with rage, fighting everyone he comes across. Finally, the make a wish corporation steps in and gives him his wish, a fighting tournament in which he can win a boat.
I think background stories for characters are decently important for giving some life to characters being played. Overarching story lines are less important really and most fighting game storylines are completely terrible and the others are maybe passable.
Story doesn’t drive people to continue playing a single game competitively for years and years, and the people that do that are the only Street Fighter players I care about, so I don’t really care about a story.
But really, I think that as a videogame whole, story is important. Unless it’s a crossover game, a game with any likeable characters is lacking in the TLC department if it does not have some semblence of a story.
I’m a fan of the story in King of Fighters. I can’t really follow it, but I like it. There’s always been a lot of strong character development in the South Town series, with many fighters having established relationships with the other members of the cast. Mai has an unrequited crush on Andy, Terry Bogard and Blue Mary seem to be dating, Iori and Kyo have a rivalry that goes back many generations, that sort of thing.
I seem to recall that one of the KOF games actually had a play mechanic based on these relationships. Emoticons illustrated how one character felt about another, and if the characters weren’t a good match (say, Yamazaki and practically anyone else), the character on the sidelines wouldn’t lift a finger to help their partner. On the flip side, if the two characters were compatible (ie Ryo and King), the fighter on the sidelines would jump in and save their partner from certain doom. It didn’t have a profound effect on the gameplay, but I thought it was a pretty cool idea nevertheless.
lol development in kof? mai/andy thing has been going on for 10 years. terry and iori have had the same clothes for 10 years (maybe they are superstitious and only bring out their lucky clothes once a year lol). athena APPARENLTY IS STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL (iirc she was in ‘high school girls team’ in one kof) WTF LOLOLOL. yuri still thinks leg warmers and spandex is in. lolololol. kensou and king look like they’d be right at home in a mid 90s jackie chan movie somewhere.
Storyline certainly makes a fighting game better because it allows you to assotiate yourself with a character you play better. I would say Samurai Shodown has strong storyline, Mortal Kombat has good storyline too but with alot of plotholes recently, KOF too has more or less good storyline but it suffers from characters constantly popping up in one iterations and being removed in others, plus from fact that mainstays often found themselves in similar storyline niches that in prev. installments.
Guilty Gear storyline look solid as well, but too many things are left unexplained, and now storyline is shifted to GG:Overture which is not exactly a fighting game
Tekken is often quoted as example of bad fighting game storylines, I mean 70% of its endings are done just for the lulz, plus the whole mishima family tree thing reminds of soap opera