It Doesn’t Matter How Good Graphics Get, Games Like The Last of Us and Metal Gear Solid Long Ago Perfected Gaming’s Most Important Feature

There’s still a lot of scope for The Last of Us when it comes to the continuation of its story. We have gotten a TV series based on Naughty Dog’s video game already, but that doesn’t mean the games should just halt there.

Its gameplay was good and attention to details was simply amazing. But what made the lasting impact wasn’t those graphics but the narrative that follows throughout the series. That is perhaps the most vital factor in a game. Creators need more focus on it today.

Graphical Advancements May Come and Go, but a Story Will Remain Forever

If graphics are skills of an individual, storytelling is their talent. While the former keeps getting better with time, the latter comes naturally and is at the core of that person.

When a title drifts away from a coherent story, it makes it less like a video game people will like.

And then there are ones sparking debates over a possible sequel. Maybe that already makes a perfect case as to what’s important.

Another ‘Solid‘ example of why plot matters would be the acclaimed franchise video game auteur Hideo Kojima created. That man is obsessed with cinema and doesn’t see his video games any different. Otherwise, who would work on a 71-minute cutscene for a game?

Of course, he grew weary of Metal Gear Solid, but the result is in front of us. An unconventional setting focusing on supernatural elements is still a treat to this day.

And then popular games like Call of Duty and Battlefield, that we once enjoyed, have become an example today as to why stories matter more than graphics and details when it comes to fun in video games. It’s not just about that smooth AK-47 reload.

A Great Plot Is Something Where Everything Will Make Sense Even if It Doesn’t Initially

A story is like the skeleton that makes the base for how it will carry the other elements of a body. Give a body something crackable and it will fall, while give it a strong one, and it will live on.

Take Dmitry Glukhovsky’s Metro series, which was praised by the fans for its plot but also for the visuals. Same goes with Tom Clancy’s novels, including Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, and most notably, Splinter Cell. Though not all the games adapted from Mr. Clancy’s novels were successes.

A great story is nothing short of a finely woven fabric where everything is connected. It makes sense—heedless of the genre.

Two possibilities are there: either experiment in rapid successions and it may become a success. Or give it ample time and thought, and it will become a success. That’s why a small bot beating big guns is synonymous with success in the history of video games.

Colonel John ‘Hannibal‘ Smith from The A-Team explains it the best:

Give me a minute; I’m good. Give me an hour; I’m great. Give me six months; I’m unbeatable.

Maybe not six months, but a plot given ample time and thought is unbeatable.

What video games do you think come with great plots? We would like to know in the comments section below!