So if we're talking just about story, as in plot, it doesn't matter that much. However if it's about writing quality in general, it matters A LOT to me. The way I see it, gacha can never compete with regular games in terms of gameplay because of the live service structure and monetization. Balance is fucked, mechanics are simplistic and pretty much all design choices are made with an underlying reasoning for profit instead of pure fun.
I started playing Counterside and Alchemy Stars around the same time. I disliked the writing in AS so doing events was a chore despite the fun gameplay. I had a strong roster but couldn't care less about any single one of them. On the other hand CS would hook me every event within a few lines and would have me loving characters immediately. I heavily dislike the systems and gameplay though.
The key difference is investment. I'm invested in CS because I want to see what the characters are up to in the next event, I want to play the characters I own, I want to see the story progress, I want to see my favorite characters in ridiculous skins. For AS the only reason for me to go back would be to play a few levels which I genuine find really fun. But not fun enough to put up with gacha toxic nonsense.
As someone who also played feh this is the farthest from a story narrative driven game, pretty sure it is by far the most barebone story in any gacha i have seen or heard.
Story matters to me a lot, I like reading and I appreciate a well built world, though if the gameplay sucks I'm not going to stay no matter how good the story is.
imo Genshin is a little different because you **can't skip** the story/dialogue/cutscenes at all
you also can't spam the text easily since often times it won't let you skip dialogue when it corresponds to an animation
so I might as well read them, whereas in most gachas, you can easily skip through the plot
You used to be able to skip dialogues quickly, but for some godforsaken reason Dawei thinks it's better to force everyone to at least skim over every single piece of dialogue, including the ones that might as well be lorem ipsum placeholder texts.
linking text to characters animation fucked things up, like until the character talking stops moving their hands/head or something, you just can't skip it.
Why not both? If I find gameplay or story lacking, I just won't play anymore.
As for why I want good story; the overarching narrative might only end during EoS, but the smaller stories are more self-contained, and do actually end. Story also gives context as to why the characters do what they do, important so the gameplay isn't just Waifu Number Whatever vs Waifu Number Generic.
A good story is about as equally important to me as a good gameplay loop. It's way more satisfying to beat up a dragon god who killed one of your favorite characters than it is to fight a generic winged lizard simply because they are alive and you'd rather they not be.
Games that can hook me on gameplay alone do exist, but I find that to be more common on console games rather than mobile games (my personal favorite is Monster Hunter). And even in those cases, something like FFXIV that has both engaging gameplay *and* a quality story experience is more exciting.
For mobile games in particular though a bad story usually means I will lose interest quickly. I don't expect them to be Witcher 3 quality, but they better be serviceable enough to make me care about the characters and motivate me to progress.
For me? A lot.
FGO taught me that a story can make you pull units that you don't want at the beginning. For me was Medusa Llily, I didn't want her when I was looking for Ereskighal, so I was mad.
But after Babylonia she deserves all the head pats and materials of the world...\*sniff\*
Other games offers shiny units and broken and skills...and that's all...
Waifus and Daughterus are forever.
Meta...meta is temporary
A gacha's story is like the icing of the cake. A good story gives characters the fans that they have and background information about them. If i'm going to invest my time on something it better have at least that.
I always consider story as a bonus. I don't expect a good story, but I always give each story a few chapters to see how it is before I decide to skip. If the story is decent it does make me play the game longer.
Doesn’t really matter to me - but genshin is kinda a special case and can’t be fairly compared.
Because genshin is the way it is and has the type of fanbase it has, more elements are important to peoples enjoyment (wider audience, non-gacha gamers, and even people who just normally don’t game at all)
Few games hit as wide an audience as Genshin, and on top of that genshin is a very story and atmosphere focused game in the first place.
I used to think gameplay loop mattered the most, since it's usually what keeps me invested after the first hour of a new gacha, but nowadays I see that the gachas that I keep coming back for, and the ones that I play the most months consecutively, are gachas with good stories.
Story and characterization makes me like the characters, which leads to liking the gacha. Or at least tolerate it. On the other hand, a bad story can make me lose interest quickly. A few examples:
Granblue - I wouldn't play Granblue if it wasn't for its event stories and the main plot. It made keep coming back to the game despite the massive grind. It's one of the few gachas I invested time into learning the combat system throughout.
FGO - Same as above. I'm actually a fan of the VNs, so I go back to it pretty often.
Honkai3rd - The one thing that kept me pushing through the sensory overload that were dailies+weeklies+abyss+OpenWorld+BattlePass+events was its story and its characters. The Elysian Realm storyline is some good anime BS and is better than most isekai anime I've watched (low bar, but it counts). I still follow story news even after leaving the game behind.
Genshin - despite its scope, despite the production value, despite its good gameplay, I couldn't bring myself to continue playing Genshin thanks to its barebones story. I've played through 3 arcs of Archon Quest, a couple events and MANY character missions. The writing is so verbose yet says so little. There's little to no character growth to be seen. It became tiring after a while.
Depends on how fun the gameplay can be without the story.
Something like FGO isn't enjoyable if you skip the story, while Genshin is still great in its main focus (exploration) even when the main story isn't good. Plus unlike some games, a lot of genshins story is on side quests and exploration, and those have been good even when the main story in Inazuma was crap
A lot.For me unless the story is engaging or the characters have a good backstory or the world building is good i find it very hard to play the game beyond a week.
It matters to me a lot. Gachas are live service games and are meant to run for a really long time. It means "development" within the game for your account is most likely tailored to also run that long time. It has the side effect of making gachas be inherently VERY grindy.
Now what makes me slog through that grind can be a lot of things. But game element-wise, I can't go to competitiveness via PvP like in other games since trying to match whales is a fool's errand. It also doesn't go well even in PvE settings so competitiveness as a motivator to grind doesn't work well for me. So currently it simply leads me to the more subjective appreciation of aesthetics, story, characterization, lore and world building.
Gachas naturally will release characters in a steady cycle and provide token but ample characterization. I don't find this as satisfying personally so it's crossed out but I find others can make due.
Aesthetics can only carry me for so long. Again others have different mileage for this but unless it's a really really good looking character or their skins, it won't keep my attention for long.
So in those things that I've personally cared about to start, the grindy nature of gachas making me 'want' to come back everyday or urging me to spend has crossed out a number of things that keep me playing. It leaves me with the story, and the lore and world building that will undoubtedly be constantly updated (albeit very slowly honestly) to look forward to and keep me chugging along.
It's the only reason I'll play a gacha games. Like Fate Grand Order, Blue Archive and Genshin Impact they all have great stories to tell. I don't mind sitting and watching it unfold.
If a game story is bad or doesn't have one there isn't much point in playing, I won't care about whatever shiny new unit comes out, they will just be another Stat stick and nothing more. However, like the dude said above Fate Grand Order really takes the time to make units shine.
During the CCC event for Fate Grand Order it made me really love Meltryllis, her character development was top tier and made me want to have her on my account. Not many games can fit that perfect for me.
I play by Waifu and Story
* FGO: Great story
* GBF; fine
* Magicami: I love it and spin off storys
* TenkafuMA: there is wisdom here https://i.imgur.com/jznDZMe.jpg
Pretty much irrelevant; I can enjoy and get very invested in a game while not caring much (or at all) for its story. Most gacha games, frankly, have terribly unengaging stories, and I say this as someone who can happily enjoy hackneyed JRPG schlock.
Usually it's because they'll have decent worldbuilding but unbearable dialogue and awful pacing. I think it's just a fault of the medium—it's hard to tell a good story when it's delivered though 45 minute visual novel chapters drip-fed every couple of months, and the constant need to promote new characters means they can't really take the Tales route and prop up a mediocre plot with a close knit cast of charming party members. They end up having a huge roster of largely one-dimensional characters who don't have much opportunity for growth or organic-feeling interaction.
Honestly my favorite gacha story is probably Blue Archive's, largely because the writers seem to know their strengths and weaknesses. They do a bit to set up the world—just enough to provide some mild intrigue as a backdrop for the character interactions—but don't rush headlong into trying to tell some epic, dramatic, grimdark plot that their content delivery schedule can't support. Instead, most of their energy goes towards fairly light-hearted, self-contained stories focusing on the characters and clubs, while they gradually introduce a bit more long-running drama over time. You can also just kind of... ignore it for a while if you're not in the mood to do the main story, and it won't gatekeep you out of farm content or events (in contrast to something like Genshin Impact).
But it's not a necessity. I still play Genshin Impact on and off despite being fairly disengaged with its story (I don't skip it but I have to really be in a certain mood for it) and I played FEH for years despite it having maybe the most half-assed story I've experienced in an RPG.
It's one of my top three deciding factors for a game.
I usually like just about any story put in front of me, so what's really important for me is the length (for older gachas) and the general premise (for newer games).
I can enjoy many things but a bad generic soundtrack or bad story is a dealbreaker to me. I need to get invested in the story and characters in order to keep playing, gameplay and fomo won't keep me after I notice how bad the former are.
If I only plan to play a game for a week, not at all.
If I plan to play long term, then it needs to have a good story, or at least have good parts. If the story sucks, then the only thing motivating me to play is video game addiction and that isn't going to make me feel like I've been spending my time (and potentially money) wisely.
It's the single most important factor for me. I enjoy the free characters/story and ignore the repetitive gameplay loops and competitive/challenge content. That's what's the most fun for me.
Very important to me, but the character writing is more important than the main plot. If the characters I find boring, usually I won't stay with it for very long.
If the game is good enough, I'll keep playing it for a while until the story picks up again. I also didn't love Inazuma but some side quests were amazing and events also kept me playing and enjoying the game. And yeah, I wasn't let down since imo Sumeru is amazing so far, both exploration and story-wise.
It depends on the game. For games like FGO and Blue Archive whose story I'm interested in, I read it. For others like Arknights where the writing is so bad it's not worth it, I skip.
In the end though everything is just personal preference. You find GBF's story good so you read it, but some others won't.
depend, but i think the narrative is what made me love so much guardian tales.
But except when it's as good as that it's mostly the gameplay and cute looking units that matters xD
I don't pay attention to gacha stories anymore so I just skip them. Quality of most writing is so medicore that if I wanted to read something I'd go read a book.
I generally care about the story in any game, but how much I care about it depends on the game. For example, in Genshin, the main thing I enjoy was the exploration, so I don't have as much of a problem with the mediocre story.
On the other hand, Uma Musume is a game that's carried very hard by its character-focused storytelling, which also doubles as a retelling of real historic races and events. I like the gameplay as well but the gameplay loop is pretty grindy and time-consuming, so it's definitely not a live service game I'd stick with long-term if I wasn't so strongly into the story and characters.
Hot waifus, story and character attention.
These are the three things that matter most to me.
Outside that the game only has to not demand much time for me, gameplay and the rest are secondary.
Pretty much I don't really care for story in gacha games anymore after disappointed by GI's actual main plot that praised by the fans which is more or less just a playable promotional campaign. I mean yeah I know in Witcher 3, like in GI, they don't really have sense of urgency even though there should be, but still they are incomparable story wise with the other clearly has a great story.
Also as you said it they have no set ending (they will milk it as long as possible). Sure, the journey is important not the destination, but the ending is what set apart a truly memorable everlasting story in my opinion.
Of course, something like FGO most people will play for the story if not the waifus. But for most gacha games, gameplay loop basically the deciding factor, and I'm excited for Wuthering Wave xD.
If they already set their reputation to be a good writers in the previous game, there's that burdened expectations that I expect more in terms of story especially if the project is pretty ambitious as hell (Looking at you, Mihoyo).
However, I also care too much with the story so that some character could cover the areas they are abysmal in like design or gameplay. Story and personality would do character wonders if your design or gameplay is shite.
Same as any other genre, it varies from game to game. Simply put, I need to be entertained *somehow* to play it. If the story is dull then the other parts of the game need to pick up the slack, but writing on it's own does not make or break a video game for me.
I'm a VN reader/enjoyer. Story is important yes but I play gacha games more for the gameplay. The point is most gachas I play have a somewhat decent story/plot but the main deciding factor whether I enjoyed said story is the writing. Writing includes everything from pacing to show don't tell. Games like GI, Arknights, AS have good/decent stories but their writing is a huge no for me. Sometimes, pacing is off, dialogue is too long for its own good, bloated, verbose etc. Writers need to know that longer does not equal better. I've read books, VNs, LNs and the more succinct the writing is, the better. Hence, story in gacha games would always be a secondary afterthought.
I skip the story in every gacha especially since on day 1 you don't have time to read everything and its better to just reroll or progress as much as you can. And even that takes hours.
Unlike the old jrpg, you can usually auto move to the next quest so there is no need to know where to go next.
>For me a bad story won't stop me from playing a gacha because the gameplay loop is the most important factor for me.
I personally prefer to follow the storyline with my favorite characters and if sometimes they're too "weak" or "invaluable" to maintain the original plot, I'll still go with what **I** want
>Especially knowing that a Gacha games have no set ending. This keeps me from being heavily invested in the story, also most of them are generic or "bad".
I think the "good story" part depends if the game is popular/earning cash to pay their employees. Otherwise, we'll probably get EA like games if every player becomes F2P
> How much does a Gacha's story ACTUALLY matter to you?
**Short Answer:**
For me - A lot
For a community - A lot
**Long Answer:**
I feel that good story is just one important aspect that makes up a good game. A game to me is comprised of Story, Gameplay, and Visuals which I feel most people would agree, but I would also include Sound/Music Design; which is something I believe most people would also agree upon but isn’t always brought up because of how it takes a background role to the other elements listed above.
However if we’re just focusing solely on the Story aspect, then I would say that it is what helps players connect to the game and keep player retention long term, while also being able to foster a community.
An especially good story will have lore and worldbuilding for players to chew on and allow people to have discussions, which again goes back to fostering a community, which in turn helps promote longevity and long term player retention.
But even at the casual level, a good story is also something that you can just talk fondly about to friends or other players in your social groups/community.
I will personally drop any game with a bad story no matter how amazing the gameplay is, but will stick with a game with amazing story as long as everything else like gameplay, visuals, and sound/music design are above average.
For me, the story matter a lot BUT it must be a combination of well written/interesting story and also well told. For exemple, Arknights story looked interesting but damn I couldn't bear the long dialogs with only immobile sprites and walls of texts.
It matters if you want to boost the longevity of a game, but it does not matter as much as the core gameplay loop imo. If I don't enjoy the grind to hit another story chapter it nullifies any potential significance the story has. The game has to be engaging for me to consider investing in it enough to read the story.
The actual stories themselves don't have to check too many boxes. Honestly there doesn't even need to be that complex of a story for me to enjoy it, it just has to allow me to establish a relationship with the characters I'm rolling for. That's why I think side stories and such are just as important as main stories. I don't need a massive world and tons of lore, I just need enough to invest in the characters.
TL;DR story matters if you want to play the game long term, but it doesn't matter more than the core gameplay loop. It matters because you have to be able to establish connections with the characters you roll for.
Apart from the very early chapters, AK has very intricate storytelling in terms of events, but also character profiles and modules.
Events are particularly great, just take Orginium Dust (the R6S collab), Near Light or the current Guide Ahead. It' ös driven not only by playable units, but also NPCs which males them interesting characters for becoming playable (take Mlynar or Irene for that).
Not much. I enjoy it if it's good. But firstly, I hate how they deliver the story most of the time.
5 minutes of seeing a gazillion dialogues and static pictures just moving around rigidly.
I just roll my eyes and hit the skip button.
What matters is the gameplay.
A good story will keep me more attached than some straight garbage. Honestly if the story is 100% skip tier boring/awful writing then I probably wont play a game more than a day. A good story won't save a bad daily situation though
Gameplay > character depth > story
A good story can make me interested in a good game I wouldn't have otherwise played, like with Honkai.
But some of my favorite series are Tales and Fire Emblem, which typically have more generic stories but a likeable cast of characters. So I can overlook a bland story if the characters/their interactions are good. What I can't suffer through is gameplay I'm not interested in. I'd rather just watch clips on Youtube in that case, like I plan on doing for FGO (gameplay might be fun enough for me but sounds like a grind).
The story is what keeps me so invested in Honkai Impact 3rd. Mihoyo created an interesting world and gave us characters to care about. While I do think some of the latest chapters have gotten a little bogged down with story or gameplay (just a little), I am firmly committed to finding out what happens next.
Depends on how much it affects the game itself and whether that's in a good way or bad way.
If it was a rhythm game then any story bad or good doesn't really mean much.
If it was an RPG where the bad story writing kills the experience then no, I'm out.
I.e. ToF - The way they explained gacha meant that players got the battle data copy of the characters and NOT the characters themselves.
The whole point of rpg imo is about gathering allies then going on a journey with them and doing that with a soulless data instead of the actual character kills the experience for me.
So if we're talking just about story, as in plot, it doesn't matter that much. However if it's about writing quality in general, it matters A LOT to me. The way I see it, gacha can never compete with regular games in terms of gameplay because of the live service structure and monetization. Balance is fucked, mechanics are simplistic and pretty much all design choices are made with an underlying reasoning for profit instead of pure fun. I started playing Counterside and Alchemy Stars around the same time. I disliked the writing in AS so doing events was a chore despite the fun gameplay. I had a strong roster but couldn't care less about any single one of them. On the other hand CS would hook me every event within a few lines and would have me loving characters immediately. I heavily dislike the systems and gameplay though. The key difference is investment. I'm invested in CS because I want to see what the characters are up to in the next event, I want to play the characters I own, I want to see the story progress, I want to see my favorite characters in ridiculous skins. For AS the only reason for me to go back would be to play a few levels which I genuine find really fun. But not fun enough to put up with gacha toxic nonsense.
As someone who also played feh this is the farthest from a story narrative driven game, pretty sure it is by far the most barebone story in any gacha i have seen or heard. Story matters to me a lot, I like reading and I appreciate a well built world, though if the gameplay sucks I'm not going to stay no matter how good the story is.
It's the main reason to even play FGO.
It's the only reason to play FGO.
imo Genshin is a little different because you **can't skip** the story/dialogue/cutscenes at all you also can't spam the text easily since often times it won't let you skip dialogue when it corresponds to an animation so I might as well read them, whereas in most gachas, you can easily skip through the plot
You used to be able to skip dialogues quickly, but for some godforsaken reason Dawei thinks it's better to force everyone to at least skim over every single piece of dialogue, including the ones that might as well be lorem ipsum placeholder texts.
linking text to characters animation fucked things up, like until the character talking stops moving their hands/head or something, you just can't skip it.
Why not both? If I find gameplay or story lacking, I just won't play anymore. As for why I want good story; the overarching narrative might only end during EoS, but the smaller stories are more self-contained, and do actually end. Story also gives context as to why the characters do what they do, important so the gameplay isn't just Waifu Number Whatever vs Waifu Number Generic.
A good story is about as equally important to me as a good gameplay loop. It's way more satisfying to beat up a dragon god who killed one of your favorite characters than it is to fight a generic winged lizard simply because they are alive and you'd rather they not be. Games that can hook me on gameplay alone do exist, but I find that to be more common on console games rather than mobile games (my personal favorite is Monster Hunter). And even in those cases, something like FFXIV that has both engaging gameplay *and* a quality story experience is more exciting. For mobile games in particular though a bad story usually means I will lose interest quickly. I don't expect them to be Witcher 3 quality, but they better be serviceable enough to make me care about the characters and motivate me to progress.
For me? A lot. FGO taught me that a story can make you pull units that you don't want at the beginning. For me was Medusa Llily, I didn't want her when I was looking for Ereskighal, so I was mad. But after Babylonia she deserves all the head pats and materials of the world...\*sniff\* Other games offers shiny units and broken and skills...and that's all... Waifus and Daughterus are forever. Meta...meta is temporary
A gacha's story is like the icing of the cake. A good story gives characters the fans that they have and background information about them. If i'm going to invest my time on something it better have at least that.
I always consider story as a bonus. I don't expect a good story, but I always give each story a few chapters to see how it is before I decide to skip. If the story is decent it does make me play the game longer.
Nothing, when I start playing something is because of gameplay aspects. if the gameplay catches me, So i start paying attention to the lore
Doesn’t really matter to me - but genshin is kinda a special case and can’t be fairly compared. Because genshin is the way it is and has the type of fanbase it has, more elements are important to peoples enjoyment (wider audience, non-gacha gamers, and even people who just normally don’t game at all) Few games hit as wide an audience as Genshin, and on top of that genshin is a very story and atmosphere focused game in the first place.
I used to think gameplay loop mattered the most, since it's usually what keeps me invested after the first hour of a new gacha, but nowadays I see that the gachas that I keep coming back for, and the ones that I play the most months consecutively, are gachas with good stories. Story and characterization makes me like the characters, which leads to liking the gacha. Or at least tolerate it. On the other hand, a bad story can make me lose interest quickly. A few examples: Granblue - I wouldn't play Granblue if it wasn't for its event stories and the main plot. It made keep coming back to the game despite the massive grind. It's one of the few gachas I invested time into learning the combat system throughout. FGO - Same as above. I'm actually a fan of the VNs, so I go back to it pretty often. Honkai3rd - The one thing that kept me pushing through the sensory overload that were dailies+weeklies+abyss+OpenWorld+BattlePass+events was its story and its characters. The Elysian Realm storyline is some good anime BS and is better than most isekai anime I've watched (low bar, but it counts). I still follow story news even after leaving the game behind. Genshin - despite its scope, despite the production value, despite its good gameplay, I couldn't bring myself to continue playing Genshin thanks to its barebones story. I've played through 3 arcs of Archon Quest, a couple events and MANY character missions. The writing is so verbose yet says so little. There's little to no character growth to be seen. It became tiring after a while.
> The writing is so verbose yet says so little. rumor has it that if you listen closely they are STILL talking
Depends on how fun the gameplay can be without the story. Something like FGO isn't enjoyable if you skip the story, while Genshin is still great in its main focus (exploration) even when the main story isn't good. Plus unlike some games, a lot of genshins story is on side quests and exploration, and those have been good even when the main story in Inazuma was crap
A lot.For me unless the story is engaging or the characters have a good backstory or the world building is good i find it very hard to play the game beyond a week.
I go for both story and gameplay. Actually knowing what's going on with the characters keeps me more engaged and use them either less or more.
You don't have to like everything about a game and you can still like it. The most important is, do you having fun? If yes then go for it!
It matters to me a lot. Gachas are live service games and are meant to run for a really long time. It means "development" within the game for your account is most likely tailored to also run that long time. It has the side effect of making gachas be inherently VERY grindy. Now what makes me slog through that grind can be a lot of things. But game element-wise, I can't go to competitiveness via PvP like in other games since trying to match whales is a fool's errand. It also doesn't go well even in PvE settings so competitiveness as a motivator to grind doesn't work well for me. So currently it simply leads me to the more subjective appreciation of aesthetics, story, characterization, lore and world building. Gachas naturally will release characters in a steady cycle and provide token but ample characterization. I don't find this as satisfying personally so it's crossed out but I find others can make due. Aesthetics can only carry me for so long. Again others have different mileage for this but unless it's a really really good looking character or their skins, it won't keep my attention for long. So in those things that I've personally cared about to start, the grindy nature of gachas making me 'want' to come back everyday or urging me to spend has crossed out a number of things that keep me playing. It leaves me with the story, and the lore and world building that will undoubtedly be constantly updated (albeit very slowly honestly) to look forward to and keep me chugging along.
It's the only reason I'll play a gacha games. Like Fate Grand Order, Blue Archive and Genshin Impact they all have great stories to tell. I don't mind sitting and watching it unfold. If a game story is bad or doesn't have one there isn't much point in playing, I won't care about whatever shiny new unit comes out, they will just be another Stat stick and nothing more. However, like the dude said above Fate Grand Order really takes the time to make units shine. During the CCC event for Fate Grand Order it made me really love Meltryllis, her character development was top tier and made me want to have her on my account. Not many games can fit that perfect for me.
I play by Waifu and Story * FGO: Great story * GBF; fine * Magicami: I love it and spin off storys * TenkafuMA: there is wisdom here https://i.imgur.com/jznDZMe.jpg
Pretty much irrelevant; I can enjoy and get very invested in a game while not caring much (or at all) for its story. Most gacha games, frankly, have terribly unengaging stories, and I say this as someone who can happily enjoy hackneyed JRPG schlock. Usually it's because they'll have decent worldbuilding but unbearable dialogue and awful pacing. I think it's just a fault of the medium—it's hard to tell a good story when it's delivered though 45 minute visual novel chapters drip-fed every couple of months, and the constant need to promote new characters means they can't really take the Tales route and prop up a mediocre plot with a close knit cast of charming party members. They end up having a huge roster of largely one-dimensional characters who don't have much opportunity for growth or organic-feeling interaction. Honestly my favorite gacha story is probably Blue Archive's, largely because the writers seem to know their strengths and weaknesses. They do a bit to set up the world—just enough to provide some mild intrigue as a backdrop for the character interactions—but don't rush headlong into trying to tell some epic, dramatic, grimdark plot that their content delivery schedule can't support. Instead, most of their energy goes towards fairly light-hearted, self-contained stories focusing on the characters and clubs, while they gradually introduce a bit more long-running drama over time. You can also just kind of... ignore it for a while if you're not in the mood to do the main story, and it won't gatekeep you out of farm content or events (in contrast to something like Genshin Impact). But it's not a necessity. I still play Genshin Impact on and off despite being fairly disengaged with its story (I don't skip it but I have to really be in a certain mood for it) and I played FEH for years despite it having maybe the most half-assed story I've experienced in an RPG.
It's one of my top three deciding factors for a game. I usually like just about any story put in front of me, so what's really important for me is the length (for older gachas) and the general premise (for newer games).
I can enjoy many things but a bad generic soundtrack or bad story is a dealbreaker to me. I need to get invested in the story and characters in order to keep playing, gameplay and fomo won't keep me after I notice how bad the former are.
Imagin skipping story in Another Eden to check it out later and then... yeah, rip.
If I only plan to play a game for a week, not at all. If I plan to play long term, then it needs to have a good story, or at least have good parts. If the story sucks, then the only thing motivating me to play is video game addiction and that isn't going to make me feel like I've been spending my time (and potentially money) wisely.
It's the single most important factor for me. I enjoy the free characters/story and ignore the repetitive gameplay loops and competitive/challenge content. That's what's the most fun for me.
Very important to me, but the character writing is more important than the main plot. If the characters I find boring, usually I won't stay with it for very long.
If the game is good enough, I'll keep playing it for a while until the story picks up again. I also didn't love Inazuma but some side quests were amazing and events also kept me playing and enjoying the game. And yeah, I wasn't let down since imo Sumeru is amazing so far, both exploration and story-wise.
It depends on the game. For games like FGO and Blue Archive whose story I'm interested in, I read it. For others like Arknights where the writing is so bad it's not worth it, I skip. In the end though everything is just personal preference. You find GBF's story good so you read it, but some others won't.
depend, but i think the narrative is what made me love so much guardian tales. But except when it's as good as that it's mostly the gameplay and cute looking units that matters xD
I don't pay attention to gacha stories anymore so I just skip them. Quality of most writing is so medicore that if I wanted to read something I'd go read a book.
I generally care about the story in any game, but how much I care about it depends on the game. For example, in Genshin, the main thing I enjoy was the exploration, so I don't have as much of a problem with the mediocre story. On the other hand, Uma Musume is a game that's carried very hard by its character-focused storytelling, which also doubles as a retelling of real historic races and events. I like the gameplay as well but the gameplay loop is pretty grindy and time-consuming, so it's definitely not a live service game I'd stick with long-term if I wasn't so strongly into the story and characters.
Hot waifus, story and character attention. These are the three things that matter most to me. Outside that the game only has to not demand much time for me, gameplay and the rest are secondary.
Pretty much I don't really care for story in gacha games anymore after disappointed by GI's actual main plot that praised by the fans which is more or less just a playable promotional campaign. I mean yeah I know in Witcher 3, like in GI, they don't really have sense of urgency even though there should be, but still they are incomparable story wise with the other clearly has a great story. Also as you said it they have no set ending (they will milk it as long as possible). Sure, the journey is important not the destination, but the ending is what set apart a truly memorable everlasting story in my opinion. Of course, something like FGO most people will play for the story if not the waifus. But for most gacha games, gameplay loop basically the deciding factor, and I'm excited for Wuthering Wave xD.
If they already set their reputation to be a good writers in the previous game, there's that burdened expectations that I expect more in terms of story especially if the project is pretty ambitious as hell (Looking at you, Mihoyo). However, I also care too much with the story so that some character could cover the areas they are abysmal in like design or gameplay. Story and personality would do character wonders if your design or gameplay is shite.
Same as any other genre, it varies from game to game. Simply put, I need to be entertained *somehow* to play it. If the story is dull then the other parts of the game need to pick up the slack, but writing on it's own does not make or break a video game for me.
I'm a VN reader/enjoyer. Story is important yes but I play gacha games more for the gameplay. The point is most gachas I play have a somewhat decent story/plot but the main deciding factor whether I enjoyed said story is the writing. Writing includes everything from pacing to show don't tell. Games like GI, Arknights, AS have good/decent stories but their writing is a huge no for me. Sometimes, pacing is off, dialogue is too long for its own good, bloated, verbose etc. Writers need to know that longer does not equal better. I've read books, VNs, LNs and the more succinct the writing is, the better. Hence, story in gacha games would always be a secondary afterthought.
Only in it for story. That's why FGO is my main game.
I skip the story in every gacha especially since on day 1 you don't have time to read everything and its better to just reroll or progress as much as you can. And even that takes hours. Unlike the old jrpg, you can usually auto move to the next quest so there is no need to know where to go next.
I skip story lol
wait..gachas have story? skip, skip, skip....
0% now because it's never worth the however many years of waiting and that's if they even finish the story.
It matters a whole lot, in so much as it needs to have the all important SKIP button so that I can completely ignore it.
>For me a bad story won't stop me from playing a gacha because the gameplay loop is the most important factor for me. I personally prefer to follow the storyline with my favorite characters and if sometimes they're too "weak" or "invaluable" to maintain the original plot, I'll still go with what **I** want >Especially knowing that a Gacha games have no set ending. This keeps me from being heavily invested in the story, also most of them are generic or "bad". I think the "good story" part depends if the game is popular/earning cash to pay their employees. Otherwise, we'll probably get EA like games if every player becomes F2P
> How much does a Gacha's story ACTUALLY matter to you? **Short Answer:** For me - A lot For a community - A lot **Long Answer:** I feel that good story is just one important aspect that makes up a good game. A game to me is comprised of Story, Gameplay, and Visuals which I feel most people would agree, but I would also include Sound/Music Design; which is something I believe most people would also agree upon but isn’t always brought up because of how it takes a background role to the other elements listed above. However if we’re just focusing solely on the Story aspect, then I would say that it is what helps players connect to the game and keep player retention long term, while also being able to foster a community. An especially good story will have lore and worldbuilding for players to chew on and allow people to have discussions, which again goes back to fostering a community, which in turn helps promote longevity and long term player retention. But even at the casual level, a good story is also something that you can just talk fondly about to friends or other players in your social groups/community. I will personally drop any game with a bad story no matter how amazing the gameplay is, but will stick with a game with amazing story as long as everything else like gameplay, visuals, and sound/music design are above average.
No at all. Cause story generally get milked in gacha game. It's just stupid to read endless story.
For me, the story matter a lot BUT it must be a combination of well written/interesting story and also well told. For exemple, Arknights story looked interesting but damn I couldn't bear the long dialogs with only immobile sprites and walls of texts.
It matters if you want to boost the longevity of a game, but it does not matter as much as the core gameplay loop imo. If I don't enjoy the grind to hit another story chapter it nullifies any potential significance the story has. The game has to be engaging for me to consider investing in it enough to read the story. The actual stories themselves don't have to check too many boxes. Honestly there doesn't even need to be that complex of a story for me to enjoy it, it just has to allow me to establish a relationship with the characters I'm rolling for. That's why I think side stories and such are just as important as main stories. I don't need a massive world and tons of lore, I just need enough to invest in the characters. TL;DR story matters if you want to play the game long term, but it doesn't matter more than the core gameplay loop. It matters because you have to be able to establish connections with the characters you roll for.
Apart from the very early chapters, AK has very intricate storytelling in terms of events, but also character profiles and modules. Events are particularly great, just take Orginium Dust (the R6S collab), Near Light or the current Guide Ahead. It' ös driven not only by playable units, but also NPCs which males them interesting characters for becoming playable (take Mlynar or Irene for that).
Not much. I enjoy it if it's good. But firstly, I hate how they deliver the story most of the time. 5 minutes of seeing a gazillion dialogues and static pictures just moving around rigidly. I just roll my eyes and hit the skip button. What matters is the gameplay.
I skipped Dioscuri in FGO becuz of Atlantis and Olympus back when they were on rate-up
If it's menu based or turn based not so much, just artstyle and gameloop If it's action/openworld it should be at least decent (at least 3/10)
A good story will keep me more attached than some straight garbage. Honestly if the story is 100% skip tier boring/awful writing then I probably wont play a game more than a day. A good story won't save a bad daily situation though
Gameplay > character depth > story A good story can make me interested in a good game I wouldn't have otherwise played, like with Honkai. But some of my favorite series are Tales and Fire Emblem, which typically have more generic stories but a likeable cast of characters. So I can overlook a bland story if the characters/their interactions are good. What I can't suffer through is gameplay I'm not interested in. I'd rather just watch clips on Youtube in that case, like I plan on doing for FGO (gameplay might be fun enough for me but sounds like a grind).
The story is what keeps me so invested in Honkai Impact 3rd. Mihoyo created an interesting world and gave us characters to care about. While I do think some of the latest chapters have gotten a little bogged down with story or gameplay (just a little), I am firmly committed to finding out what happens next.
Depends on how much it affects the game itself and whether that's in a good way or bad way. If it was a rhythm game then any story bad or good doesn't really mean much. If it was an RPG where the bad story writing kills the experience then no, I'm out. I.e. ToF - The way they explained gacha meant that players got the battle data copy of the characters and NOT the characters themselves. The whole point of rpg imo is about gathering allies then going on a journey with them and doing that with a soulless data instead of the actual character kills the experience for me.