User blog comment:Thedoucheinthenorth/Two gameplay flaws with Skyrim/@comment-3202167-20121102163219/@comment-3492791-20121105233844

Story and Gameplay should be happy little friends pick flowers and giggling softly to each other. If you invite them into your house, it doesn't matter how lovely company one of the is if they other goes knocking down all your shelves.

By that seeming abused analogy I mean that Story and Gameplay should be on par with each other, seamlessly integrated into each other if at all possible. One being better than the other does not, ever excuse the other being poor.

Also keep in mind that videogames, being a primarly interactive medium, thrive on gameplay, not story. A game can live with a good story, or really any story at all, if the gameplay is good. A game will not survive if it has a good story but really poor gameplay. We are here for the gameplay, not the story. If all we wanted was a good story we'd read a book. The story no doubt addes to the experience, but it is not crucial. For example you see a moive, and while all the acting was terrible, it had a great soundtrack. That feature alone does not recommend the movie to success, as the music is only a feature added for extra effect, not critical to the movie. A good soundtrack can make a good movie all the better, but no matter how great it is it can't excuse a bad movie.

There is a nagging in the back of my brain telling me to go on, but I think i've said more than enough as is.