Singleplayer games are the reason why I'm into video games. It's my passion, it's my childhood. I am making this thread cause I care about them and want them to be better.
I feel like modern singleplayer games focus way too much on story telling, which is a shame because a lot of them actually has really great gameplay. Take The Last of Us as example, it has one of my favorite survival horror gameplay of all time, and yet you spend very little time in the game actually playing its gameplay, most of the time you're playing its story. It's a shame, everytime I try to replay The Last of Us for its gameplay I have to sit through literally half-hours of story, talking and walking. I agree the story is amazing but I already know the story, and now it's literally getting in the way of gameplay, the story itself is literally blocking the gameplay half of the time.
Seriously, wouldn't it be great to have a game like The Last of Us that's 99% gameplay focused?
Imagine if the majority of the game is just gameplay(with exploration, puzzles and unique boss fights etc). Even the story happens during gameplay. Wouldn't that be great?
I probably sound like an old man saying this (I'm only 23 btw) but I really miss the good old days where singleplayer games are just 99% gameplay, even the story is told alongside the gameplay instead of feeling like a different part of the game. Take Half-Life 2 for example, the entire story is being told while the player is in control, that's fucking incredible. Sure there're still some story moments where it's mostly just characters talking to you but you never lost your control during those moments. You can still sprint, jump, fire you gun like you should be able to. Most games these days don't let you do that anymore, they treat story moments like it's some fucking movie premiere and refuse to let player control their character normally cause they want them to ''enjoy the story properly'' as if it's a movie.
Why can't developers just give player full control all the time during ''gameplay''? Why is that suddenly a bad thing? Why are players being treated like they are dumb little kids?
Just look at the first chapter of God of War, the gameplay is so fucking amazing that there's really no reason to restrict player's movement during it's first chapter, and yet for some reason you are forced to slow walk and not do anything a lot of time (you also can't run until the tutorial shows up during the first boss fight), it's weird cause the rest of the game honestly plays amazing and give players enough freedom to...well....play. I feel like in some ways the first chapter of God of War is a parody on shitty modern game design that's overly cinematic & restricting while the rest of the game is the real game. I am glad the majority of the game is very gameplay focused though, this is exactly why GOW is my GOTY.
Back to the topic, I don't get why modern singleplayer games sometimes just don't let the player play the goddamn game, I appreciate a good story but good storytelling shouldn't have to come at the expense of sacrificing gameplay or player control.
If Resident Evil 4 was made in 2018 every time something big happens it would turn into this slow walk cinematic moment, like you just rescued Ashley for the first time and now the game is forcing you to walk slowly next to her so Leon and Ashley can have some conversation. That's modern singleplayer design for you.
TL;DR
I respect developers trying to tell a great story but can you please let me enjoy the fucking gameplay?
Everytime I try to replay a modern singleplayer game It always turns into this situation of ''Which boring chapter should I skip? Which chapter has the most gameplay? Well shit I think there's not a single chapter in this game that's 100% gameplay...*sigh*''
I know this picture is supposed to be a joke but it's honestly more accurate than you think in 2018/2019.
I feel like modern singleplayer games focus way too much on story telling, which is a shame because a lot of them actually has really great gameplay. Take The Last of Us as example, it has one of my favorite survival horror gameplay of all time, and yet you spend very little time in the game actually playing its gameplay, most of the time you're playing its story. It's a shame, everytime I try to replay The Last of Us for its gameplay I have to sit through literally half-hours of story, talking and walking. I agree the story is amazing but I already know the story, and now it's literally getting in the way of gameplay, the story itself is literally blocking the gameplay half of the time.
Seriously, wouldn't it be great to have a game like The Last of Us that's 99% gameplay focused?
Imagine if the majority of the game is just gameplay(with exploration, puzzles and unique boss fights etc). Even the story happens during gameplay. Wouldn't that be great?
I probably sound like an old man saying this (I'm only 23 btw) but I really miss the good old days where singleplayer games are just 99% gameplay, even the story is told alongside the gameplay instead of feeling like a different part of the game. Take Half-Life 2 for example, the entire story is being told while the player is in control, that's fucking incredible. Sure there're still some story moments where it's mostly just characters talking to you but you never lost your control during those moments. You can still sprint, jump, fire you gun like you should be able to. Most games these days don't let you do that anymore, they treat story moments like it's some fucking movie premiere and refuse to let player control their character normally cause they want them to ''enjoy the story properly'' as if it's a movie.
Why can't developers just give player full control all the time during ''gameplay''? Why is that suddenly a bad thing? Why are players being treated like they are dumb little kids?
Just look at the first chapter of God of War, the gameplay is so fucking amazing that there's really no reason to restrict player's movement during it's first chapter, and yet for some reason you are forced to slow walk and not do anything a lot of time (you also can't run until the tutorial shows up during the first boss fight), it's weird cause the rest of the game honestly plays amazing and give players enough freedom to...well....play. I feel like in some ways the first chapter of God of War is a parody on shitty modern game design that's overly cinematic & restricting while the rest of the game is the real game. I am glad the majority of the game is very gameplay focused though, this is exactly why GOW is my GOTY.
Back to the topic, I don't get why modern singleplayer games sometimes just don't let the player play the goddamn game, I appreciate a good story but good storytelling shouldn't have to come at the expense of sacrificing gameplay or player control.
If Resident Evil 4 was made in 2018 every time something big happens it would turn into this slow walk cinematic moment, like you just rescued Ashley for the first time and now the game is forcing you to walk slowly next to her so Leon and Ashley can have some conversation. That's modern singleplayer design for you.
TL;DR
I respect developers trying to tell a great story but can you please let me enjoy the fucking gameplay?
Everytime I try to replay a modern singleplayer game It always turns into this situation of ''Which boring chapter should I skip? Which chapter has the most gameplay? Well shit I think there's not a single chapter in this game that's 100% gameplay...*sigh*''
I know this picture is supposed to be a joke but it's honestly more accurate than you think in 2018/2019.
Last edited:
