I hate when a game has crazy complex lore hidden throughout the games world, just tell me the story outright

i agree. for me the lore should be as simple as "you're the red dude and you jump on the little mushrooms and turtles". got it. i don't need to know why, or who the turtle's parents are.

In terms of narrative style,

Metal Gear Solid >>>>>> Dark Souls.

Yeah I'm here to play a videogame, not watch a movie. So please less direct storytelling. Most of these Sony exclusives are just glorified movies with gameplay added like that trash God of war game

Personally games with a mix are favorites Bioshock, Hades, Psychonauts, etc come to mind. Where yes there is a ton of extra plot in the background but there is still a character driven narrative so you aren't frustrated if you miss something

Laughs in elden ring

So….Breath of the Wild? I love that game lol.

I think it's all about player choice. Some people enjoy digging through every nook and cranny to find hidden lore, while others just want to experience the story without any extra work.

Egad, No!

Fallout would be nowhere near as fun if I didn't get all this cool hidden lore by searching old computer terminals.

I think it's the best way to balance the video game part of a video game and the story part of the video game. If you're interested in the story you can look into the lore but if your just focused on the game you do just that; albeit with a mysterious, captivating story or bundle of stories unfolding in the background. Fromsoft games do this the best, I think.

I like it when a game has a main story you follow, but if you want to you should be able to access a lot of side information. Skyrim is a good example.

Something like Dark Souls is too obscure. You practically can't figure anything out unless you visit the wiki.

Lore and story are not the same thing.