I think making sure the characters have a strong personality is probably more important then a real story per say.
I also like having a bit more of a dynamic between the fighters during a match, or before it starts, like ryu and ken’s fist pound when they are matched up in 3S. I think little things like that would have more of an effect then just a cutscene after the game ends.
Although I’m among the majority who voted in the poll, storylines in fighters don’t interest me much.
Good posts Shiki, I agree.
It’s not the fundamental priority, but there is no need to have a poor or threadbare story when the developer could have a genuinely good one. There is no way anyone can tell me a good story isn’t preferable to a shitty one. It heightens the emotional investment in the characters and brand of the product, which means bucks n sequels.
It’s kind of like graphics, imo. I don’t play a game for it’s graphics, and if a game plays well but has shitty graphics I won’t stop playing it. But I definitely would rather have gorgeous visuals than shitty ones. Same with story, it’s a welcome and noticeable bonus.
If we take SF as an example, while I don’t pay a huge amount of attention to the plot and it’s definitely secondary, little easter eggs like character specific intros and lines like Ryu telling Necro he fought one similar to him before (referring to Dhalsim) add to the gameplay and atmosphere without being intrusive.
This is very different to a game beiong plot-driven and loads of non-skippable FMV sequences being included. The story in a fighting game can be great for all the reasons discussed, but it should ALWAYS remain seconadary and non-intrusive to the fighting.
Not important to me. Don’t care about it.
Mortal Kombat’s is fucking ridiculous. Their fanbase is actually deluded into believing that the reason people buy Mortal Kombat games - the reason they buy a fighting game - is because they’re interested in the story. But the story is so horribly convoluted that nobody except the most hardcore fanfic writing fanboys can follow it anyway. Midway, though, stupidly paying attention to these people, encourages them by spending unneeded amounts of time and money on complicated story modes when they could better spend that time and energy on thoroughly playtesting their shit. Then their games are released and all the retards who were creaming themselves over the story modes just blast through them in like a week and never touch them again, and in most cases never touch the game again. Meanwhile all the people who wanted to pick up a fighting game to play a competitive fighting game - the people who are supposed to be a fighting games core audience - are pissed because the meat and bones fighting aspect is lacking in so many areas due to the fact that Midway blew their wad on the story/adventure shit in the process of trying to draw the scrubs. Two weeks after the game is released; nobody is satisfied.
On one hand I recognise that story modes can make a fighting game more marketable to scrubs, but on the other hand, when you’re putting so much effort into the story that it’s costing you time and money better spent on the vs fighting aspect, then as a developer of a vs fighting game, you’re fucking up big time. I think a story explanation is kind of expected to some degree, but it doesn’t need much effort poured into it. A guy enters a tournament for revenge, or to promote his martial art, or whatever, and that’s good enough. It doesn’t need to be in depth. As long as the player gets a grasp on the characters personality and understands their motivation then it’s fine.
I always like interesting storylines. I don’t care if the game doesn’t have a good one, but just like graphics, designs and music, story adds to the final product.
There are some storylines that are actually enthralling enough to keep you wondering what’s gonna happen next. Games like Tekken, KOF, DOA, and Soul Calibur do an excellent job of providing an actual story that you need to keep up with. Or so good you get pull in the madness of the prose.
You wanna know what’s going on with the Mishima Clan. With the addition of Lars another soul now caught in the Mishima/Kazama game of Family Feud against Good and Evil. Even though every Tekken ends near a volcano, cliff or somewhere high up. Even though nobody does it better that Geese Howard. He made that shit cool. Why they keep throwing niggaz off a cliff knowing they’re coming back is a mystery in itself. Shoot em in the head and guarantee death. Cliffs are the plot device in Tekken.
For a game that wanted to eliminate the 2 main characters by trying to clone them which then became a huge plot device for a trilogy of games. But something wild happens in every iteration of the games. It’s just cool to sit back and watch because you never know who outside the story circle is gonna get pulled in next.
And for all the shit DOA catches the story is really good. I enjoy that every character has a story use regardless how small. And that’s cool because you can follow your character through something.
And the Soul series has great storytelling for 1 reason. The focus is on single object and it makes it easier to keep up with reasoning of the characters. Even though there have been a couple of wild ass plot twists.
But regardless of that Tekken and KOF keep the most consise storylines with limited retcons. And DOA’s focus on 1 character as the main character per game keeps the plot interesting. A little too family oriented because some characters have like 10 siblings they don’t know about. And the Soul series is really the Siegfried Schtauffen show. And I don’t mind that at all. Cause what ever happens to him moves the plot forward.
But games like Street Fighter in which 1 move story wise that steps on 3 things that happened before it. But it’s still a great story that I still love regardless of the weirdness that goes on in that universe.
Or VF where the story went from Sarah to Kage to Vanessa within 5 games and really much doesn’t mean shit.
Or MK for how cool the storyline used to be until it became cookie cutter. Beat bad guy, save Earth and kill Johnny Cage in every game he’s in.
But story is good for fighting games because as we all know we have characters we personally attach ourselves to. And you want to know as much about that character as much as possible. So even if the story is bad, you just become curious about the intricacies of the game your playing. And that is what story is about pretty much.
I’m entertained by a story in a fighting game. A story, however, is not absolutely necessary for me to enjoy it.
I do, however, love love characterization. I have mained characters I liked when given particular characterization XP.
1st post ever!!-new user
I think the plot is important if the game starts off with half the roster (SC/Tekken etc) and forces you to play story mode to unlock stuff, IMO SC does it better but i do prefer Tekken games
Im not up on SF just recently getting back into it, But it used to be the case that you started off with most chars open anyway?
When it comes to SF:
Barely worthy to be called “water cooler” discussion and much less interesting than gameplay. If you want story, read a book.
a) Storylines.
b) I don’t take them seriously only because they are merely a backdrop for the gameplay mechanics themselves. That doesn’t mean a fighting game can’t have a good story. I just can’t think of any at the moment. Attempts to make an epic story out of a fighting game have so far been laughable (e.g., Smash Bros. Brawl).
Storylines are fun. They give the characters personalities and are another way to experience your favorite games. I love the Udon comic books and the whole street fighter mythos.
I don’t mind things like Gouken being alive, or if a game has no story (Vs. Series), but people who say “story doesn’t matter” are making a blank statement and ignoring all the good things that emerge from game stories.
Story can also have a great affect on the game play. Without story, there is no way that Ken, Ryu and Akuma would ever be in the same game. People would call foul and lazy design if someone stuck three characters wearing different pajama’s with all the same moves on the character select screen.
Getting into a fighting game for its story has got to be one of the most absurd things I’ve ever heard of. The gameplay doesn’t facilitate a story at all. Furthermore, how many good books have you read with 16 or more characters who all have somewhat equal importance. You’ll most definitely end up dissing many of the characters in the game.
You don’t think they already do? I think the SF story is probably the weakest argument you could make to people on why all those characters are in the game together.
Well it depends on the game, a good or even somewhat decent tale can be a incentive to get into a game. Some of the stories aren’t to terrible, in fact if I were to rate them:
MK
KOF
Tekken
SF
To me, the storyline makes a game come alive. Without a storyline you wouldn’t see the relationship between let’s say ryu and akuma. In long run it doesn’t matter, but it helps you draw closer into what each character means to another, and helps you look at the game as something other than learning match ups, and practicing in training mode all day to get down all the statistics about the game. It’s just something to make the game more enjoyable. It helps you answer the question “why are these characters fighting?”
I play games to PLAY them. I don’t mind a good story, but I’m more in the camp that believes that is what books are for.
If they make a story and it works fine, whatever. Sometimes good backstory helps character design. As long as it plays as it does, and the character designs are cool, nothing else really matters.
Note that I never meant to imply that I thought the plots in fighting games are actually GOOD.
The only actually good PLOT in a fighting game was Guilty Gear’s until they messed it up with GG2. It’s like they built up a bunch of characters and storylines but had no idea what they really wanted to do with them.
For people who criticize SF, Alpha 3 actually had really good characterization and brought for the first time what almost felt like a cohesive structure to the story and characters. It really fleshed out and developed important characters like Sagat, Cammy, Rose, Gen, Sakura, Guy, and Cody for the very first time despite the fact that all of those characters had already been in several other games. It wasn’t for the plotholes and the fact that Capcom completely ignored all the plot development from A3 when making 3rd Strike and SF4, I’d Alpha 3 was actually quite good.
Rival Schools and the KOF games don’t have good actual PLOTS, but the characters and development of relationships between them are actually very, very good.
The Rival Schools characters, although they are mostly exaggerated Japanese school stereotypes and most of them don’t have any importance at all to the story have defined characteristics and a few of them even have subtle depth (Kyoko, Kyosuke).
The KOF characters are easily the best characters in terms of personality and depth. It’s actually paradoxical, even if the actual story in KOF is mostly dumb and simple, what the characters do and how they interact with each other are what makes things significant. In other words, the events that happen are not nearly as important as how the characters respond to those events. Characters mature, change, and evolve signifcantly. Look at Fatal Fury 1 Terry compared to post-Garou Terry. Terry is easily the most dynamic and developed main character in fighting games. Kyo also developed a HELL of a lot (both story and gameplay-wise) between KOF 94 and KOF XII
Popular characters die and don’t come back (except for Dreammatchs). Characters who do almost nothing in the plot still have pages of personal history.
Hai guyz, here is my idea for a fighting game story pls tell me what you think:
“Centuries ago, there was born a force so dark and twisted that the very fabric of the universe was poisoned forever, and the holy deities were needed to seal away the dark power forever. Until now. Chaos reigns around the world as the forces of evil are unleashed. Through it all one man from a shadowy organisation sets up a tournament for the world’s strongest fighters.”
I think it works!
This is why it’s no coincidence that this thread is a joke!
I… I’m kidding around. I don’t think I have it in me to troll that hard. :shake:
I said it before and I’m saying it again: if you’re playing fighting games for the storyline you’ve missed the point. Go play an RPG.
fixed ur poast