Spil kan være rigtig mange ting, og de behøver ikke altid at tilbyde det samme, eller opnå en effekt på samme måde. Nogle spil prioriterer historiefortælling, hvor mekanikker og strukturer designes til at skulle frembringe en følelsesmæssig effekt, snarere end mekanisk tilfredsstillelse, eksempelvis.
Et spil der har eksisteret midt i denne debat er Death Stranding (og efterfølgeren), hvor relativt rudimentært gameplay benyttes til at skabe en specifik respons hos spilleren via et hav af virkemidler. Troy Baker siger til GamesRadar+, at der ikke er nogen specifik opskrift, så er han glad for at Kojimas spil prioriterer "impact":
"I think that there's a lot of people that are making games - and I don't blame them - that, right now, are trying to razzle dazzle the player the entire way and make sure that they're having fun. After all, it's entertainment. But I think that there's other people who go, I would much rather have the player walk away impacted than entertained." This approach is inherently risky. "You do put a lot in the middle when you take that kind of philosophy in making something, especially of this size and this magnitude. Hideo is still making games in very much the way that he made Metal Gear, where it is so conceptualized, and so huge, and so thought out that I think the only way he knows how to swing is big. And when you do that with trust, and you surround yourself with talented people - not only in the cast, but also in the crew - and you still execute that, man, it's a miracle. Truly is a miracle."
Det er klart at det ene ikke udelukker det andet, men spil har altid en prioritering.