10 Games Held Back By A BAD Story
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ย. 2024
- Some games shine with stellar gameplay but falter when it comes to storytelling. For this list, we're diving into 10 games that could have been great if not for their lackluster narratives. From the uninspired plot of "Fallout 4" to the inconsistent tone of "Bayonetta 3", these titles left players wanting more from their stories. Whether it's a nonsensical twist like in “Bionic Commando” or missed opportunities in “Star Wars Battlefront II”, these games prove that even solid mechanics can't save a bad story. Join us as we explore how poor writing held back otherwise promising titles.
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Bayonetta 3’s story was very similar to Devil May Cry 5. Killing off the main characters we known & love over the years, wasn’t what we expected. At least Devil May Cry 5 didn’t bother to kill off Dante. Instead he just goes to hell with Vergil, who he’s happy to be with again after so long, while placing Nero in charge of everything.
For videogames, having a bad story is actually worse than having NO story.
@@Stratelier cough cough the latest battlefield
Yeah hate how they made samus whiny and scared of ridley where she defeated him many times before😂
The worst part is that had Other M instead been the first game in the timeline and depicted Samus's time in the Federation before her first mission to Zebes, that moment could've been one of the best in the series. With it being her 2nd to last encounter with any form of Ridley, the reaction just feels like it's setting her character so far back. And I don't buy that whole "but he died on an exploding planet this time" argument either. The dude got lasered by magic Chozo statues and exploded, then disintegrated into Phazon after suffering a corruption that no other character in the series besides him has survived. He should be way past the point of super dead.
This is partly down to a completely botched localization.
I can't go into detail here, but there's a video here on TH-cam that covers the plethora of translation errors and cultural-viewpoint-related localization mistakes that were made.
The story's a _lot_ more coherent in the original Japanese version. Though there's still some _really_ weird storytelling choices that simply don't read as intended, even when viewed from the standpoint of Japanese culture.
I do agree with @speedude0164, though; even the original Japanese version would have worked _much_ better if it were set during Samus' time with the Federation.
In Other M’s defense, the game was screwed over by the localization. Samus’ moment where she freaked out by Ridley’s appearance was because it was part of her Character Arc in the original Japanese version of the game which got cut in the English version. And if Other M were to get a remake, it could be very close to the Japanese version.
How about the flipside? Games with bad gameplay but a great story. Cyberpunk 2077 at launch qualifies here.
Cyberpunk was good at launch when it comes to gameplay, it's just that things had to work, which mostly it didn't. I'd say RDR2 would fit the criteria though. Maybe even witcher 3,2 and 1.
BL3 had peak mechanics but imo what killed the game was not having the vault hunters all together, sidelining the OG characters and killing off Maya. Why didn’t we just follow the ending to the prequel sequel game 🤦🏽♂️
Forspoken's held back by MUCH more than just it's story! 😂
We get it you hate borderlands it’s just not for you,whatever. It is one of the best looter shooter franchises ever and borderlands 3 was great overall. it’s story wasn’t horrible but didn’t live up to expectations or was anywhere near as good as borderlands 2 but was just decent
He always puts way too much of his personal opinions in these videos instead of sticking to straight facts
I'm saying this about a game I absolutely love, and that would be Mad Max. Now, I'm not saying that the writing in Mad Max the game is bad, it's really not. What holds it back is the ending, it's this massive betrayal of all the character development we've gone through in the game, all the growth. It's a spiral back down to the status quo where nothing and no one matters anymore, culiminating in a fever dream of a boss battle, only to end up right back where you started before any of this even happened. Writing it all out again, it seems more clever than it was, but what the films do that this doesn't is the positive tone. A change has been made, the world is better for it and we can celebrate that. From getting revenge on the guy who killed Goose to laughing about a tanker full of sand. Here though, Max says it best himself. Griffa, a character, asks him "do you know where you are?" and he responds with a chuckle. "Hell?"
You know what’s sad, the bad stories of some of this overshadowed by the good gameplay of games because most people don’t care the story, that’s the sad reality we live in.😢
Game plot is very important.
It can be compare to building's localisation. You can build a beautiful building, but nobody will care if it is located in the middle of knowhere.
As an example I can bring City called Neft Daslari, which is linked to the shore by hundrets kilometers of roads. It was built in Soviet Union in the Middle of Caspian Sea, because Kremlin said it would be more comfortable for oil miners. However, that project became symbol of Soviet absurd and waisting, because of its localisation. It was located only 55 kilometers from the nearest shore and 100 kilometers from Capital City of current Azerbaijan - Baku.
You can built a beautiful game, but terrible surroundings or climate can change exitement into akwardness.
Metroid: Other M is not as bad as history made it out to be. If it wasn't a Metroid game and it's own thing I feel the reception for it would have been much more favorable. Having said that, it's story was not the only thing holding it back
3:52 Same 😒
I say Other M was a good game with a messy story. The reception critics appreciate the game but saying the story plot is not handle well.
Yes, the idea of controlling a 3D character in a 3D space with a NES controller on steroids was awful. Not to mention how awkward it was to use the missiles or how annoying the pixel hunts or the Resident Evil 4-esque camera sections were.
The story itself was due to bad localisation, like X6. Only, unlike X6 where it was a bad translation, Other M had an entirely different script for the Western release than the Japanese release. Though, to be fair, it did offer a good explanation for Neo Ridley in Fusion that didn't contradict Super Metroid.
@mattiasolsson1523 Yeah, I'd say the same. At least it offered a good lore explanation for Neo Ridley, unlike Prime Hunters, which doesn't actually offer relevant lore to the Prime series
We all seem to be forgetting the OG bad story: Blaster Master.
For me, Days Gone is an example of how a bad story can ruin the game, is starts well then there's all that stalling about his wife that I made a lot of effort to not quit to play
Finally they mention Bayonetta 3's story.
So why isn't doom eternal held back, its story is heavily criticized for being shallow
Sometimes I feel like people lean too much onto the "captivating story" aspect of gaming, which makes people want to set expectations onto a game that otherwise had a different art direction in mind or probably didn't intend to take itself seriously. I feel like that may be the case with some of these games. Most people don't play Fallout for the main story, you play it for the sidequests & the exploration, so I don't think that the lackluster main story should count against it.Some times Storytelling in a video game is secondary to the gameplay & environment, but because everyone wants a Mass Effect or Bioshock story out of every game, they wind up disappointing themselves.
Hot take here, but I actually thought bayonetta 3 had the best story of the trilogy, and Borderlands 3 had a solid story
Im willing to fight for my hot take: STAR WARS BF2 wasnt that bad.
Well,
At least it's not Outlaws.
That's for sure.
@@jeuryrabassa4724 Like that's an accomplishment worth praising.
MP very fun even if unbalanced SP very bad and limited
Who agrees Halo 5 should be in this? I know that game does get a really bad wrap, but I can at least appreciate that 343 was trying something new, even if it didn't turn out well with fans. But at least Halo Infinite fixed it.
The gameplay of Other M is really fun but the story did fall and characterization fall flat
Also Viola slander will not be tolerated.
Anyone who says borderlands 3 has bad writing just does not have a clue about the franchise it’s just another borderlands game with the same style of story and writing you all modern gamers are just done and want something new but most people do just want the same games we grew up with
Preach
Or it's simply one person's opinion and everyone is entitled to one. There is no right or wrong here.
It's simple really, they miss Handsome Jack and that's why any borderlands fan says any newer game is bad, there's no Handsome Jack.
@@noahmiller2169 I honestly think the story is bad in all of the Borderlands games.
Gotta say Lilith just got more and more pathetic in every entry past 1.
Borderlands 3 story was mismanaged.
Most western games these days are😂
good game play is sacrificed for bad stories and characters, boring to atrocious designs (looking at you concord) and squeezing every penny out of you
Some of these choices are terrible like Indivisible and Bayonetta 3. I also hate how much emphasis and importance this list puts on a game's story, when it's ultimately the gameplay that matters most. If it was a story-focused game, sure, but many if not most of these games are more focused on gameplay anyway. So if you're really putting that much importance on the story, your priorities just aren't straight.
Dragon Age 2. The only event that would cause you to side with the Templars is the murder of your (Hawke's) mother at the hands of a mage. So of course... 🙄
Nintendo learned from other M. A moment in metroid dread that I loved is when Samus was talking to Quiet Robe but instead of using English she was using the Chozo language which shows she was part of Chozo culture for most of her life . That shows Samus's character 1000 times better than other M ever did
Other M's story being so bad is partly due to a _completely_ botched localisation.
The story is (mostly) coherent in its original Japanese.
But between Japanese societal norms _not_ translating well (what Japanese people consider stoic comes across as emotionless and robotic in Western cultures), and many lines being _very_ poorly translated - with many lines being _completely_ changed in both contents and tone - it...
Well, the result is a mangled mess.
(And to be honest, even knowing what was being aimed for... there's scenes where visual metaphors were tried that _just don't work,_ even in the original Japanese version.)
the only game I enjoyed on this list are: Metroid: Other M (regardless of what people say / thing), Bayonetta 3, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
We need a new Marvel vs. Capcom game.
Bl3 was terrible because of gameplay mechanics, dlc greed, and farming issues. By farming issues, I mean that's awesome I FINALLY got my Gamma burst Maggie at my level after 3 months and the next day the level cap goes up by 2 and it's useless. The lore and story were probably the best part aside from sliding and mounting.
Immortals of Aveum didn't have a bad story at all in my opinion. I think this dude is just expecting masterpieces from every game
The 3rd Birthday should've been on that list LOL.
Sonic Forces really did had a pretty weak story as the likes of Sonic 06 & Boom Rise of Lyric did.
So true about Borderlands 3, there's a reason I go back and replay B2 than choose to suffer through the Calypso Twins again
Am i the only one that fw borderlands 3?
Borderlands 3 has peak gameplay (besides when you get his with splash damage and everything becomes a mess)
Borderlands 3 was good the problem is story like this list is highlighting. It killed the franchise as well.
It was alright
Are u a fellow Spawn fan?🔥@@Spawnwick_Boseman82820
Borderlands 3's story isn't the most awful thing every(I enjoyed it on my first play through). But it's not fun on the replay that we all take part in
Resident Evil 5, obviously. Resident Evil 6 is god awful, overall.
And, stop hating on Viola from Bayonetta! Best girl in the franchise!
Still disappointed with how Bayonetta 3 turned out. Could've been so much better.
I didn’t like the story in ff7r. The multiple timelines thing was too confusing and weird, and only gave me more questions than answers
Probably because it's a trilogy and the answers are in the last chapter.
Yes i agree Metroid Other M’s story is messy but i had a good experience playing the game, it was fun.
The sad fact is that Other M was screwed over by the localization. Samus freaking out upon seeing Ridley was part of her Character Arc in the original Japanese version of the game that got cut in the English version. In the Japanese version, it made sense why Samus had a freak out, but it was out of left field in the English version.
I was today years old when I learned that Forespoken is fun gameplay-wise. 😮💨
Dishonorable Mention:
*Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: The Hidden Treasures of Area Zero
-I know it may seem like a low blow to put a DLC expansion on this list but bear with me. The Pokémon Scarlet and Violet DLC was overall solid. The new areas, features, TMs and moves added, and new Pokémon added (both new and old) were all welcome editions. The problem? Basically everything else. The story and writing around Kieran and Carmine (ESPECIALLY Carmine, who is written as an irritable idiot who thinks the world revolves around her, never takes any responsibility, accountability, or ownership for anything she's done, and at the end of the day, never learns her lesson and expects everyone to just roll with it) and nowhere is this more apparent than in the first half of the DLC, The Teal Mask. Talk about following the flawed writing philosophy of (As Nostalgia Critic's impression of George Lucas in his Strange Magic review puts it: "ChARaCtErs dO tHInGs BEcAUse I wANt tHem tO.")
TL:DR, the characters acted in understandable albiet short-sighted and questionable ways, and then the plot bent over backwards by making Kieran right and forcing us to lie to him when we had no reason to. I'm not kidding, the game straight up forces you to lie to Kieran for no real reason and it NEVER gives you the option to just tell him the truth, even if you were interrupted somehow.
6:34 - 7:22 One of the reason I never touched Borderlands 3
If I remember correctly, I think for MVC there was a whole comic that explain the story before the game came out .
Rumble Roses (2004) Sure It Wasn't Dead Or Alive (1996-2019) but still pretty entertaining If I had a Female CAW In any wrestling game Reiko Hinomoto or Dixie Clements would be my choice maybe DOA's Tina Armstrong loved her In DOA
correction, Samus follow order like always but if something bigger thread coming in like X virus will disobey and destroy the planet
metroid prime 2 and 3 can see she follow order
in 2 search the squad who land.
in 3 repair the cannon, take control of the leviathan and more
When i'm thinking about games held back with a bad Story only 1 game comes to my mind: Sly Cooper 4 Thieves in Time Sanzaru ruined Sly Cooper series and the game ended to a cliffhanger, but there's still no Sly 5 even 11 years later! But to be honest I have LOVE and HATE relationship with Sly 4 it looks good, have a nice gameplay and AWESOME music, but characters and Story are bad what makes a whole game bad, but because of Sly 4 end we NEED Sly 5 plz Sucker Punch or Sanzaru bring the BEST video game serie back thank you! 🦝💙
Jak X Combat Racing
3 wasn't that great either tbh
I'll give Jak X a pass just for nixing the whole Ashelin love interest thing and getting Jak back with Keira.
I know I’ll catch flack for this, but the game that was like this for me was Hi Fi Rush. The gameplay is extremely solid, which kept me going. But at around the halfway point, I was having a hard time continuing, and I realized it was because I could not stand at the characters. They’re all incredibly obnoxious, most of the humor doesn’t land, the snarky, sarcastic, constant insult throwing of the characters don’t really make them feel like the good guys. Unfortunately, the dialogue is far too frequent, none of the characters ever shut up. It starts falling into a cliché, rebel gen z teens versus generic evil corporate guy plot. I just could not bear it anymore and it made it hard to continue. but I will also say, despite the solid gameplay, it does get repetitive at around the halfway point
The last 3 Borland’s games have great stories. I haven’t finished the last on so I can’t really comment on it but they all have great stories.
whats wrong with your arm being your lover
Good list 🎮 thanks guys 👏👏👏 Mojoplays
Borderlands 3 characters were good. I absolutely loved FL4K!
Heres the thing unless im lookin for a game with a great story. Usually, as long as the gameplay is good i could give a shit less.
Replace Fallout 4 with Fallout 76 and I agree
Surprised fire emblem engage isn't on here seeing how so many ppl say the story is so bad.
From what I’ve heard it’s not so much people find the story bad as it’s extremely bare bones after coming from Three Houses amazing and complex storyline.
I actually like Engage more than Three Houses because I accept it's not supposed to be another Three Houses.
@trevorduke5245 my thing is fore emblem has always been inconsistent from title to title from tellius to awakening to fates to echos. Even fe7 to sacred stones lol. Even three houses to three hopes. Idk why people thought engage was going to be a deep complex narrative when the whole marketing was the emblem rings
@@darkstalker696 I view it as more of a celebration of the FE franchise to that point.
Engage was really funny tho
But there are no milk cartons in this future
Only like 2 of these games had bad stories but ok you just don’t have a clue watch mojo just admit it
0:54 - 1:28 Okay, I thought the story was interesting 😂
F4 didnt had bad story comon
I loved star wars battlefont2 and borderlands 3 they were great games
I have Borderlands 3
Man, I really think Fallout 4's story is fine. 😂
how far in until it gets to that point?
I would replace Mvc:I with SFV. The former can be excused on the tenses that this is a crossover, yo. Don’t take it too serious and it isn't canon. SFV doesn't have such luxury. Charlie fans are hurting.
And also add Fire Emblem: Fates.
That had been hyped as a three way choice intense plot only for it to flop. And have the morally grey factions be solved by a deus ex machina.
I knew Bayonetta 3 would be on this list it has a story so bad it makes Kirby Dream Land look like Persona 5 Royal but personally I could have put up with most of it for the Gameplay if it wasn't for the fact that Bayonetta dies which makes it impossible to put up with and makes the other 2 games feel pointless.
*The last of us part 2 .*
It was the pacing that made this game bad. The back and forth kinda breaks immersion. They should have just focused on one then switch to the other.
It belongs on the best stories list.
@@MatiZ815 Nah 👎
Great story. One of my favs.
@@MetroBuumin Good for you , i'm jealous for the people who enjoyed the game i wish i was one of them .
P.D: Sorry for my english .
I'm sad that DMC: Devil may cry wasn't included, sure it was a shitty reboot but the gameplay was still solid, paved the way for some core mechanics of DMC5 and was a good game mechanically but the story with the revised backstory of the sons of Sparda and the rest of the story as a whole just killed the game for many fans. J's reviews did an amazing video on it and is definitely worth a watch, he's how i got into DMC mainline.
Original Bayonetta is one of the best games I have ever played. Bayonetta 3 is🤮🤮🤮
OTHER M CAN GO TO FUCKING HELL! EASILY YOSHIO SAKAMOTO'S BIGGEST MISTAKE THAT EVEN WITH SAMUS RETURNS & DREAD, THAT MISTAKE HAS NEVER LEAVE OUR MEMORY! UNLESS THERE'S A REMAKE THAT PLAYS LIKE MERCURYSTEAM METROID GAMES & FIX THAT GODDAMN STORY, WE ALL DEMANDED THAT GAME TO BE RETCONNED OUT OF THE METROID TIMELINE!
I rarely comment, but man did I hate the stories of uncharted 4 and tlou2.
the last of us part 2 the story sucks
The Last of Us Part 2
Both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom had pretty weak stories.