5 games with intriguing lore but poor storytelling

While starting a new video game, we expect the title to provide a memorable experience through its storytelling and gameplay. However, certain games often fail to provide a story worth staying for as they focus more on the gameplay, resulting in a lousy experience. The storytelling is as important as the gameplay to deliver the best narrative-driven games, which developers often fail to tell through cinematics but nail through the lore.

You will often come across lore spread throughout the game world with notes lying around, environmental storytelling, and NPCs that offer the history of the world. This helps in making the title world feel lived in when the story fails to convey that to the players. World-building is an important factor, which, when overlooked, can lead to a lack of immersion in the story.

Keeping that in mind, we will be looking at five such games that deliver intriguing lore but are negated by poor storytelling in this article.

NOTE: This article is subjective, solely reflects the writer's opinions, and is not ranked in any particular order.

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Five games that could have done better with storytelling

1) Destiny

Destiny failed to capture the player's interest. (Image via Activision)

Before Destiny 2, there was Destiny, which was released in 2014 for all 7th and 8th-generation consoles. The game's lore was peak fiction at the time, as it was filled with various alien races, an intriguing backstory, and mysterious entities. However, players never got to properly experience the storyline, as the lore was mostly available in Grimoire cards outside the title.

This made Destiny's storyline feel disconnected and confusing for many, forcing the players to give up on the game. However, Destiny 2 has learned from its predecessor's mistakes and improved its storytelling methods, which has continued with expansions.

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2) Final Fantasy XIII

Final Fantasy XIII is a JRPG. (Image via Square Enix)

The Final Fantasy franchise has always featured incredible stories, but Final Fantasy XIII is an exception. The game offers an intriguing setting for the players to get into, as it takes place in the world of Cocoon and Pulse.

However, Final Fantasy XIII fumbles the opportunity because players have to rely on data logs instead of the main story to understand what's happening. This is frustrating as data logs are optional and not part of the main narrative, forcing players to understand a complex storyline that's not paced properly.

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3) Anthem

Anthem had a terrible launch because of bugs and glitches. (Image via Electronic Arts)

Anthem was already suffering from a rough launch courtesy of bugs and glitches. However, even after most of it was fixed, the storyline was a slog to get through, as everything felt disjointed and lacked depth. This affected the story's capability of teaching the players the lore of Anthem, an issue that harmed the player's immersion.

From the outside, the game looked interesting because of the ancient technology and mysterious Anthem of Creation. However, when you play the title, the plot and the characters feel underdeveloped, resulting in lousy storytelling.

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4) The Order: 1886

The Order 1886 featured a cinematic presentation with a lackluster story. (Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment)

The Order: 1886 was one of the best-looking games of 2015 that focused on cinematic storytelling. Even with an emphasis on being more of an interactive film than a full-fleshed title, it fails to convey its storyline to the players efficiently. Set in Victorian London, the game focuses on fighting supernatural forces, which blends mythology and history.

Even with a lore that blends supernatural elements with history for a linear experience, The Order: 1886 fails to engage with the players. This is because the game features half-baked plot points and a rushed ending that doesn't let the storyline breathe and connect with the player.

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5) Mass Effect: Andromeda

Mass Effect: Andromeda is not the best game in the franchise. (Image via Electronic Arts)

Mass Effect is one of the best franchises, but Andromeda is often considered a bad seed. This game tries to introduce players to a new galaxy to explore brewing with Remnant, a new alien species that offers new challenges to the players in a new setting.

The lore for this new entry felt like a perfect start to a new Mass Effect game, but the poor pacing and underdeveloped characters took players out of the experience. Even with the lore sounding interesting from the outside, the empty characters and plot points affect players' ability to engage with Andromeda.