Matt Christian

I got into making games because I loved the depth and emotion in the stories. Yet, none of the games I've made have included any sense of a real, deep story. I feel like this wrong needs to be righted. Question: make a game only for story, or strongly focused on gameplay?

They each inform the other. Most gameplay problems are solveable now. It's now a matter of wrapping it in a narrative that utilizes the gameplay and is interesting.

Imagine a writer asking if grammar or style is more important than content?

Tbh that's still a hard question; for me personally. Yeah I couldn't read a novel of misspelled words, but think of the enjoyment some people get writing based on just their content (I guess like fanfic communities probably?)

Haha yeah exactly! You can temporarily engage people with strong gameplay wrapped in the shell of familiar/desirable stuff like "sci-fi" or "military" or your favorite anime, but the stuff that lasts forever relates to us on deeper levels.

On that note, you can go full reverse and have the most incredible story, but if you don't engage people you're essentially letting that content drown in obscurity

That's true, and I suppose arcade games are proof strong core gameplay can resonate for a long time.