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How often do you remember a game's story?

Bloobs

Al Pachinko, Konami President
I remember that one where the dude was like "Would you kindly" and then you would do the things, and then some other guy at the end told you to embrace libertarian ideals. And then the next 15 years happened and I gotta say, probably should have listened to the Ron Paul guy and not the Would You Kindly Guy.

I also remember this game:
chaboncito-corriendo.gif

It was about this little guy in a suit... and he walk around, and it ain't got no point to the game, he just walk around jumpin' on shit. He look like Mario in the future. But the funny part is look at this... yooooooop... now if you didn't catch that, I just went back in time.

jonathan-blow-soulja-boy.gif

You wont believe it but I bought the anniversary edition on Steam this morning and was yelling yooooooooooop the whole time while playing.

 

Paasei

Member
If the story is of any interest to me, I think I remember most, if not all, of them.

Just like the game you mentioned, that isn't one of those. I have no clue what's going on story wise and I just wanted to shoot robots. Combat/gameplay is good, that's enough for me with any game.
 

acm2000

Member
I finish pretty much every game I start before moving on or if it's just not for me I never go back, so I remember it for about maybe 24 hours after I'm finished 😂
 
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Very rarely, the problem isn’t my memory it’s the fact that stories and characters are often so boring that I end up skipping through cut scenes, if not that then I let the scenes roll but pay my attention elsewhere.
 

StueyDuck

Member
Modern games are tougher because of all the terrible writing and dialog, plus all the added shite padding devs add to extend a game.

That being said it's a case by case basis. I'm more sci-fi than fantasy driven and horizon for example has stuck with me, where as any game with things like the eye of grognork and the 3 queens of endermire and all that terrible generic fantasy shit just goes straight in one ear and out the other for me, I can't think of anything more boring.

Final Fantasy games really being the only exception usually.

But if a game is shit , it's shit, don't ask me what the hell happened for most of starfield. The 20 or so hours I played of that feels mostly like a fever dream
 
Depends, I typically remember the big plot points and my general experience with the game. But even some of my favorite games fade after not having played them for 10+ years, and that makes me happy to replay them so it can be kind of a new experience again.
 
Rarely ever. Only the best and the worst have any kind of staying power in my head. I'll never forget the Last of Us' Story and I'll unfortunately never forget the last of Us 2's story....
 

Bartski

Gold Member
rarely but if I do it's very special games I've replayed multiple times and there are a few of those
 
I don't think I have forgotten a story of any game I have played. I don't know if it's normal or not. I even remember the level design of a lot of the games I have played. Not every incidental element though. As I am getting older though, I am forgetting the controls of games if I haven't played them in a month or two.
 

roxya

Member
I usually can't remember anything from a single playthrough.

Horizon is a good example, especially because I fucking loved the story of the first game, I found it super engaging and was so invested in unravelling the mystery of how the world came to be that way. Then years later I play the sequel and... can't remember shit. I had to look up basics like, what did Ted Faro even do?
 

Toots

Gold Member
I tend to remember twists and endings rather than the whole story.
The ones i remember fully are stories that resonated one way or another (Nier and Xenogears being perfect exemples - i like post apocalyptic dark ages settings).
 

Killjoy-NL

Member
Games (and stories) are like women:
I enjoyed my time with most, some were a complete waste of time, but I forgot about most of them incl names and remember only a few details that stood out for whatever reason.
 
I'd say very often. I might not remember every specific dialog exchange, but the basic plot and the major plot points, sure.
 

Humdinger

Member
I usually remember the outline of the story, the skeleton of the plot, but I don't remember the details. Same with movies and books.

Horizon's story was kind of convoluted, so a refresher video prior to playing could help. I agree that HFW's writing is mediocre at best. I thought the first game's story was very good, though (by game standards).
 
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Not every often regardless of how much I like the game. I often can't even recall character names like a few days after I finish a game.

Doesn't really happen to me with TV or movies. No idea why.
 

sigmaZ

Member
Seen every plot played out ad Infinitum throughout my life. I don't really care about lore or minute details as much as I do solid story mechanics and plot action, which is what I remember of games these days. That and perhaps moments were the dialogue hits and the music heightens the emotion of the scene. Otherwise I just gloss over the story of most games these days.
 

Larxia

Member
I really struggle with that in general too, even with good stories, not just bad ones.
Very often I'll remember that I really liked something, the overall feeling I got from it, but the details will be very blurry or just absent.

It's a huge problem with TV shows, if I have to watch a second season a year or more after the first one, it will feel very uncomfortable for me and I'll usually feel like I need to restart from the beginning to have everything clear in my head and enjoy it all properly.
BUT, it's also very annoying, because sometimes I don't remember enough to feel comfortable watching a sequel, but I remember too much to want to restart from the beginning :messenger_tears_of_joy::messenger_loudly_crying:
 

BlackTron

Gold Member
I'm more likely to remember a resonating theme or event because it's a lot easier for a game to pull off one of those than a decent story.
 
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