5 Games With Great Stories But Terrible Gameplay

As amazing as the narrative is, without good gameplay, it’s just a bad video game. That’s because gameplay is king. Whether you’re exploring the eerie streets of Yharnam in Bloodborne or fighting mythical beings in God of War, the gameplay needs to be exhilarating. Because if it isn’t, no matter how good a story is, players will lose interest quickly.

Unfortunately, though, there have been many games that have made this mistake. They succeeded in storytelling but failed when it came to gameplay. Either because they had dull combat, poor level design, or game-breaking bugs. This list features some of the biggest misses of the video game world. Games that told a great story but had terrible gameplay, which led to rightful criticism. So, here’s a brief on games with great potential that ended up being a mixed bag.

1. Vampyr

One of the best vampire games is 2019’s Vampyr. It’s an incredible experience where you play as a doctor turned vampire in the early 20th century. Throughout the narrative, you are presented with several dozen choices about who to kill, who to manipulate, and who to pit against each other. Your choices have a direct effect on the world and its other NPCs, and it’s also entirely possible to finish the game without killing anyone. There are innumerable good things one can say about Vampyr’s story. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of its gameplay.

For one, Vampyr takes place in a congested semi-open world. London is divided into different districts, and everything in it is squeezed in together. The streets are narrow, there is no verticality in the design, so you can’t go on rooftops, and there are long loading screens between districts. Travelling through the city always feels like a chore rather than a fun part of the game. 

Furthermore, the combat lacks challenge and variety. Most enemies have familiar movesets. Bosses in particular don’t require you to develop a specific strategy to beat. Your offensive arsenal is vast, but there are no unique or memorable weapons. The superpowers aren’t that strong, and soon you’re stuck in a loop of dodging and getting a few shots in.

Vampyr is an amazing game. The only reason it didn’t get enough recognition was likely due to its gameplay. If Vampyr 2 is ever made and it addresses these issues, there’s no doubt it can be one of the biggest vampiric hits of all time. 

2. NieR: Automata

NieR: Automata is widely regarded as one of the best narrative-driven games. That said, its awesome story is dragged down by mediocre gameplay, specifically the combat. In NieR, you play as androids fighting machines on a post-apocalyptic Earth. NieR’s gameplay is third-person. The world-building is spectacular, and you’ll feel immersed seeing the many wondrous sights. The combat, on the other hand, is fast-paced but also very boring. 

NieR’s combat is repetitive. The basics include attacking with one button, blocking with another, and holding down another to make your support bot continuously shoot projectiles. Once you master these in the first few hours, things become stale since the combat doesn’t evolve. You’ll find new weapons and new types of projectiles while progressing, but they are just reskins. One weapon might be slower and another faster, but as far as combat goes, you’ll be mashing buttons. 

There’s never a need for strategies, and when there is, it’s in a very basic and boring manner. At that point, you’ll realize the only thing pushing you forward is the fantastic story. If a memorable adventure is what you’re looking for, NieR: Automata is a solid choice. But expecting thrilling combat is where you should draw the line. Hopefully, if we ever get a sequel, that’s something it fixes.

3. Yakuza 3

Anyone who has played the entirety of Yakuza generally agrees that Yakuza 3 is the weakest of the series. And what’s more is that you can credit all of its shortcomings to one core aspect: the gameplay. There are plenty of things wrong with it, but hands down, its most broken aspect is AI blocking. All bosses and enemies infinitely block your attacks. You will throw a hundred punches, and only two or three will get through, while they’ll simply block the rest. 

You might think there’s a way to break their blocks, but surprisingly, there isn’t, and this is entirely intentional. The only way to counter this is if you spam grab attacks of your own. So basically, Yakuza 3 doesn’t have a combat system. Instead, it’s an utterly repetitive loop of you spamming grab attacks and the enemies spamming blocks.

Words can’t describe how frustrating that is, and honestly, you can’t even call something like that a combat system. But even when the combat starts working in an encounter and you get off a few punches, it’s shallow. Kiryu’s moveset is bare bones. It’s simply blocking with one button and mashing the same three or four hit combos on repeat. 

On top of that, the flashy Heat Actions are what make the Yakuza series so fun. But even they are severely toned down in Yakuza 3 and rarely occur. Yakuza 3 has a decent plot revolving around Kiryu trying to protect his orphanage. It’s a story worth watching, but as far as playing it goes, it’s a terrible experience.

4. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor can be defined as more of the same. It’s the same as its predecessor, Fallen Order, but just bigger. The story continues Cal’s journey as he battles the Empire while traveling across the galaxy. The narrative takes you to different large planets with plenty of unforgettable sights. On the gameplay front, however, nothing’s been changed.

This time, Cal’s Lightsaber has five different stances. But the catch is, he can only use two at a time. In the first game, there were only two stances, and you could also use two at a time. While Jedi Survivor increases the number of available stances, you can still only use two simultaneously, and that feels like it’s the same game all over again. 

Dodging was more fluid before as well, and the hitboxes and enemy attack patterns in Survivor felt unbalanced. Fallen Order was more polished at launch compared to Jedi: Survivor. And while overall Jedi: Survivor is a good game, the one thing that ruins it is the step down in combat from the first game.

5. The Callisto Protocol

In the year 2320, you’re trapped in Black Iron Prison located on Jupiter’s moon Callisto. A ship crashes into the prison, and a mysterious outbreak is turning inmates into monsters. That’s an outstanding premise. However, where The Callisto Protocol fails is in the execution. Specifically, when it comes to the level design and action. The Callisto Protocol is extremely linear. There are no open areas, only linear branching pathways. All of the game takes place inside the Black Iron Prison. The prison is made up of small rooms, so during the entire game, you are simply going from room to room. That gets claustrophobic real fast, and soon you’ll feel annoyed.

Then there’s the issue of the non-existent combat system. Instead of a dedicated dodge button, you simply have to move the left stick in any direction, and the character automatically dodges. Melee attacks are also just a single-button mashing sequence. Ranged combat is very limited due to the scarce ammunition. Stealth is another hit-or-miss mechanic. You can sometimes sneak up behind monsters and shiv them, but these cases are rare, and the game almost always incentivizes using force. And that covers everything in gameplay. 

The Callisto Protocol no doubt has amazing visuals comparable to the likes of Horizon Forbidden West and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Its story setting is also just as intriguing. However, when you look at the gameplay and poor level design, you can’t help but wonder if this could have been a TV show instead.