The best and worst examples

[DC]

What games has the best and worst examples of where the Gameplay meshes with the Themes/Story of the game?

[Kane99]

That's a good question. Honestly not sure. I know Dark Souls gameplay meshes well with the theme and story. It's meant to be crazy tough, all the while telling a deep story that you can get through playing the game. I have never beaten a DS game before, and honestly I don't think I ever will. But I can respect what this franchise has done over the years. The gameplay meshes well with the story and themes, because that's what it is part of. If that makes sense. 

[Reality vs Adventure]

Simulations are probably the best example where gameplay meshes with the theme. Another good example is Destroy All Humans. Not sure what worst would be. Probably a game where you bring a knife to a gun fight. 

Edited November 23, 2022 by Reality vs Adventure

[Empire]

Metal Gear Solid 2 is my favourite example of this and is a rare example of a game story that I don't think you could really pull off in any other medium. It's hard to explain why without getting into massive spoilers, but the ways in which it plays with player agency, the moments where it chooses to take control away from you, and even the points in which it deliberately tries to irritate and disappoint you are all very tightly tied to the narrative and themes in ways that aren't immediately apparent.

[Crazycrab]

1 hour ago, Empire said:

Metal Gear Solid 2 is my favourite example of this and is a rare example of a game story that I don't think you could really pull off in any other medium. It's hard to explain why without getting into massive spoilers, but the ways in which it plays with player agency, the moments where it chooses to take control away from you, and even the points in which it deliberately tries to irritate and disappoint you are all very tightly tied to the narrative and themes in ways that aren't immediately apparent.

 

I'd have to disagree, I thought MGS2 was a very poor execution of this type of diversion storytelling.  Good examples of story's with lots of twists and turns still feel like a one consistent story arc, but MGS2 doesn't.  It stars one arc, tells you that it wall all bullshit, starts another, tells you that one was a load of crap too, rise and repeat.  I like the gameplay, don't get me wrong but terms of story I just felt like the game was wasting my time. By the end (which is rushed, confusing and non-sensical) you feel like everything you've done was pointless, all for nothing.  The fact that it's a game if anything making it even worse, you spend 4 hours running around the Big Shell diffusing bombs and then you told "sorry, you wasted your time"  Oh thank you, I really appreciate that! ₛₐᵣ꜀ₐₛₘ

 

You know what... the truth is it was pointless. MGS2 is full of so much shit you can jump from MGS1 to MGS4 (maybe only play the Tanker section in MGS2) and not miss anything that really matters.  In MGS4 Shake even verbally states the information they learned at the end of MGS2 was a "load of crap".  They introduced some new characters but other than that it didn't advance the story so as a sequel that's a huge fail right there.

[Justin11]

For best examples I would certainly go for the last of us, the characters were just so attune with the story line and the game play itselt had just the right mix of action and adventure.

[Scorpion]

*The Last of Us* beautifully intertwines gameplay with its themes, while *Far Cry* often feels disjointed between mechanics and narrative.