History Main / StoryToGameplayRatio

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' has literally no story. The "Meet the [Class]" movies give the characters some additional dimensions, and it's implied in a couple of places that RED (Reliable Excavation Demolition) is a demolition company and BLU (Builders League United) is a construction company, but that's about it.

** One must note, however, that it has been hinted at that Portal takes place in the same universe as the VideoGame/HalfLife series; if that's the case (and the connections are revealed in later games), it could have an impressive amount of backstory from the relatively important information about that series.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' spin-off ''Dirge of Cerberus'' is one long cutscene with occasional ThirdPersonShooter elements.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' thus far has the highest ratio of [[FinalFantasy its series]]; the hero goes along a linear path from one scene to the next, with occasional boss fights in between. It's only when you're ready to face the BigBad that you finally have the freedom to travel about at your leisure, which, like ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' below, is pretty much for sidequests, [[BonusBoss bonus bosses]], and extra scenes.
** Also, when ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' was released, they cut down the cutscenes; [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks and the fans didn't like it one bit.]]

* The AceAttorney series is essentially a story that you help move forward by doing the right pre-determined things. It's slightly more interactive than a traditional VisualNovel, but not ''much'' more.

** While it tends to overshadow the previous games due to its sheer amount of cutscenes, ''Metal Gear Solid 4'' actually has a much lower and more balanced StoryToGameplayRatio compared to the earlier games in the series due to having longer gameplay sequences. For a counter-example, check out ''Metal Gear Solid 2'', which has about one hour of gameplay for every two hours of cutscenes. Ouch.

* The {{Steam}} release of DearEsther and ''VideoGame/GoneHome'' are, in essence, a two hour film that you can examine and traverse at your own pace[[note]]if you took away the [=WASD=] and Mouse controls, '''''it would be a movie from a first person perspective'''''[[/note]]. There aren't even any puzzles or challenges, just a narrating voice and subtle cues guiding the player through plot, SceneryPorn and a great soundtrack.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'', a game which deserves a special place, due to the sheer length and quantity of its cutscenes being [[SerialEscalation substantially greater than the previous games in the series]]. Cutscene-wise it's less like one game and more like ''five full-length movies''. The game was even awarded two GuinnessWorldRecords for "longest cutscene in a video game" (at 27 minutes) and "longest cutscene sequence in a video game" (at 71 minutes).

** NothingIsScarier in effect. With this game and its sequel, much of the cause and backstory of the ensuing ZombieApocalypse are only in the footnotes. The characters only meet at the start of the game(or at least a week earlier in the case of the first game), meaning that not all of them are exactly open to sharing their personalities and getting attached, as you never know who's going to turn next.

* ''VideoGame/PAYDAYTheHeist'' is all about the action. Sure, there's [[AllThereInTheManual character bios you can find online]] and you're told what you have to do for each heist, but in the end, you're only playing to shoot at all the cops and take all the money.

->"''Digital games (…) are particulary well suited for the telling of stories. And the telling of stories—games becoming more personal—is what especially interests me about games as a form.''"
-->-- '''AnnaAnthropy''', ''Rise of the Video Game Zinesters''.

->"''Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not that important.''"\\
-- '''JohnCarmack''', quoted in David Kushner's ''Masters of Doom''.

->"''Digital games (…) are particulary well suited for the telling of stories. And the telling of stories—games becoming more personal—is what especially interests me about games as a form.''"\\
-- '''AnnaAnthropy''', ''Rise of the Video Game Zinesters''.

* ''{{Castlevania}}'' generally tends toward a greater gameplay ratio; if there is any plot relevant to the game, it is usually limited to the in-game dialogue or short cutscenes. Even as ''CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow'' provides probably the most in-depth storyline in the franchise history, it still has a large enough gameplay element to maintain a healthy balance against the plot element.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'', a game which deserves a special place, due to the sheer length and quantity of its cutscenes being [[SerialEscalation substantially greater than the previous games in the series]]. Cutscene-wise it's less like one game and more like ''five full-length movies''.
** Granted, it may seem ludicrously placed considering there still is a significant amount of gameplay, ''[[PoesLaw but it really is as bad as it sounds]]''. Watching through the cutscenes and mandatory[[note]](Calling Otacon or Campbell/Rosemary randomly or following major events allows you to spend even more time away from the game to listen to backstory, comments, and irrelevant discussions that can be missed at no loss.)[[/note]] codec conversations means you'll be adding ''several hours'' onto your total time; the game was even awarded two GuinnessWorldRecords for "longest cutscene in a video game" (at 27 minutes) and "longest cutscene sequence in a video game" (at 71 minutes).

* ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'', while keeping the physics-warping puzzles from the first game, expands beyond the test chambers and has quite a bit more story, mostly through the dialogue of the AIs and recorded messages you hear throughout.

Many modern {{Role Playing Game}}s have a high ratio. People who hate {{RPG}}s criticize them by saying they lack gameplay.

Just about every game released nowadays has at least a little story in it. Some games are almost nothing ''but'' story, such as {{Visual Novel}}s -- like ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'' or ''[[HotelDuskRoom215 Hotel Dusk: Room 215]]''.

**

* ''Videogame/BeyondTwoSouls'' is much closer to ''Asura's Wrath'' in the sense that it made ''Heavy Rain'' an interactive (sometimes action) ''{{Drama}}''. It is more accurate to call it a "five-six hour movie with some interaction" than a video game as well.

* The {{Steam}} release of DearEsther is, in essence, a two hour film that you can examine and traverse at your own pace[[note]]if you took away the [=WASD=] and Mouse controls, '''''it would be a movie from a first person perspective'''''[[/note]]. There aren't even any puzzles or challenges, just a narrating voice and subtle cues guiding the player through plot, SceneryPorn and a great soundtrack.

*** Of course, some of those still have puzzles, which leaves us with...
* ''VideoGame/GoneHome'' and ''VideoGame/DearEsther''. If not for the fact that you can discover different parts of the plot in different playthroughs, they would be films that you can control. No puzzles or challenges, just voice-over telling us the stories. Since the games still allow you to move around while you read the story, both games were critically acclaimed.

Just about every game released nowadays has at least a little story in it. Some games are almost nothing ''but'' story, such as {{Visual Novel}}s -- like ''PhoenixWright'' or ''[[HotelDuskRoom215 Hotel Dusk: Room 215]]''.

* ''{{Dreamfall}}''; the first and last few chapters in particular consist almost exclusively of steering your character around from one cutscene to another.

* The {{Steam}} release of DearEsther is, in essence, a two hour film that you can examine and traverse at your own pace[[hottip:*:if you took away the [=WASD=] and Mouse controls, '''''it would be a movie from a first person perspective''''']]. There aren't even any puzzles or challenges, just a narrating voice and subtle cues guiding the player through plot, SceneryPorn and a great soundtrack.

** One must note, however, that it has been hinted at that Portal takes place in the same universe as the {{Half-Life}} series; if that's the case (and the connections are revealed in later games), it could have an impressive amount of backstory from the relatively important information about that series.

* ''{{Half-Life}}'' has a low to moderate ratio: there is story and dialog, yes, but you never lose control of Gordon Freeman during any dialog or event. On the other hand, because you often can't move Gordon to the next area until the dialog is completed (which is usually when the person talking unlocks the door or whatever is in your way), these scenes can arguably be thought of as semi-interactive unskippable cutscenes.

* ''MassEffect'' sits a bit lower down than some would expect, as a lot of its dialogue is skippable. However, it is quite hefty on the talking side of things, but still has plenty of action.
** Well, not to mention that the dialogue is playable, so it's really not ''not'' gameplay.

*** And in an insane twist of irony, ''Xeno''-creator TetsuyaTakahashi has specifically described his newest next game, ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'' ([[InNameOnly no relation to previous]] ''Xeno''-titles) as being on the exact opposite end of the scale from his (in)famous previous works, calling the pursuit of excessive story-to-gameplay ratio "a dead end". As it turned out, Xenoblade ended up having long cutscenes and a complex plot...but it's set in [[SceneryPorn one heck of a]] WideOpenSandbox. Basically, they made the gameplay big enough to contain the story. That Takahashi is now working with Creator/{{Nintendo}} (see above) may or may not have anything to do with this new direction. Or maybe he just played...

* ''RuleOfRose'' had a really intriguing, complex, and fleshed-out storyline, but mediocre at best gameplay. Almost everyone who played it and enjoyed it did so solely for the story.

* ''{{Fahrenheit}}'', also known as ''Indigo Prophecy'' in the USA, has been defined as an "interactive movie" by its creators. Its gameplay and story very much overlap and complement each other.
** Likewise with ''HeavyRain'', the new game by the same developers.