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The last game story that "blew your mind"?
- Thread starter Typhon
- Start date
Control really did a number on me, I was so invested in everything in the oldest house, read every single file, listen to the audio logs, went for the dlcs, got the platinum, just hooked me from the star. And the AWE dlc was just amazing to a Alan Wake fan.
Agreed on this.
I really liked how the story was told through exploration, as for the main missions you typically went into areas you hadn't visited before. You could begin to piece things together through the details in the environment, before seeing how things played out in the past in real time.
Once you get past a certain point it becomes harder to resist the temptation to beeline towards the main objectives as you simply want to know more about this world and its past.
For sure this. The revelations about the world and your place in it as well as where they could go next is really "mind blowing".
Multiple times throughout Outer Wilds
- Figuring out what can be done with quantum rocks
- Powering the testing lab and seeing the results
- Accessing sun station
- Learning result of sun station experiment
- Realising why the Hearthians still exist while the Nomai don't
- Finding quantum trials
- Quantum moon's sixth location
Florence. There's been stuff before it that tells its story just as well (Up's opening scene comes to mind), but the minigames, from arranging things on a couple shelf and choosing which piece of sushi to eat first does a whole lot to make things just a tad more felt and personal. The closest thing to a poem in game form.
Disco Elysium, probably. And I hope I can say "Shadowbringers" in a month or so. I'm still going through Stormblood's post-game!
Demon's Souls remake. Still the most impressive next-gen game I've come across. It's stupid good looking!
whoops, didn't read "story" in the title...Hmmmm probably TLOU2, never saw so much commentary about a game before, it was really fun experiencing that story at launch. What a ride.
whoops, didn't read "story" in the title...Hmmmm probably TLOU2, never saw so much commentary about a game before, it was really fun experiencing that story at launch. What a ride.
Great pick. I would also say The Last of Us Part II is probably the best video game story though. No other game is so aware of the connections the audience has formed with the characters and exploits them to put you in the exact headspace it wants you in. If you allow the game to take you on its journey, you will be rewarded with the best story video games have to offer.
Exactly this. You were exactly where they wanted you the whole time. It's so well done.
That ending tease made me jump out of my chair. Never been sold on a sequel so hard.
TLOU 2 story telling was just perfect.
That ending of Half Life Alyx was kinda surreal. Holy shit.
That ending of Half Life Alyx was kinda surreal. Holy shit.
Deadcells, my gaming consist of rogue-lites and Monster hunter so not a huge impactful story in most of them.
You are the king and every time you die you lose your memories. Before becoming the beheaded the king wanted to imprison and kill anyone that had the infection.
I'll throw another.
Darksiders ending. "No, not alone."
Gave me chills. Too bad it never really paid off.
Darksiders ending. "No, not alone."
Gave me chills. Too bad it never really paid off.
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I'm not sure about "blowing my mind" but the last game story to affect me emotionally in a big way was The Last of Us Part II.
The Last of Us 2. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it for the past year.
Before that, Disco Elysium, although that's not really a case of the story as a *whole* blowing my mind as much as it is little pockets of writing here and there.
Before that, Disco Elysium, although that's not really a case of the story as a *whole* blowing my mind as much as it is little pockets of writing here and there.
As a whole The Last of Us II was bold, innovative and ultimately draining. I don't know if any moment in the story actually caught me off guard, it was more of the the actual gameplay scenario of going against the "hero" that sort of blew my mind and put everything into perspective.
In the previous game the convo with David was a mind fuck as well, they way he described your actions without you knowing it was about you at first and made you look at yourself as the villain. I thought that was a great moment and a really nice twist.
The last time I went full mind blown over a story twist was "Would you kindly?" I still haven't had one like that in a looooooong time.
In the previous game the convo with David was a mind fuck as well, they way he described your actions without you knowing it was about you at first and made you look at yourself as the villain. I thought that was a great moment and a really nice twist.
The last time I went full mind blown over a story twist was "Would you kindly?" I still haven't had one like that in a looooooong time.
I keep hearing this so I'm still waiting for a PS5 patch, Sony pls. For me, it was probably AI the Somnium Files. So many twists and turns.
Horizon Zero Dawn, it has the best plot twist of past generation. Years have passed since I finished it and I have yet to blow my mind with anything else, let alone top Zero Dawn's explanation.
Bugsnax had surprises, but the last segment had me more trying not to puke than anything.
Bugsnax had surprises, but the last segment had me more trying not to puke than anything.
Horizon.
i legit didn't expect things to get so dark.
returnals has been interesting so far, though I've not yet gotten to the big twist.
i legit didn't expect things to get so dark.
returnals has been interesting so far, though I've not yet gotten to the big twist.
This one is tough because "blow your mind" implies that it really surprised you in some way. Under that rubric, I was actually surprised by the reveal at the end of 13 Sentinels. Looking back after that reveal, I don't think the story is mind-blowing in its quality, necessarily. It's very enjoyable, but the method of storytelling wasn't especially novel. It didn't really take advantage of the things games can do outside of letting you move around some of the most impressive 2D art ever created.
So overall, I'd say Shadow of the Colossus was the last game story to really blow my mind. It sets up a solid beginning through a traditional cutscene, but then really takes a hand-off approach, letting the player explore the space emotionally. And then it ties everything together at the end, forcing the player to reconcile how they felt about the game while they were playing it with the inescapable result.
All three of Ueda's games have managed to pull that off, but Shadow of the Colossus was the first one that I played and, thus, had the largest impact.
So overall, I'd say Shadow of the Colossus was the last game story to really blow my mind. It sets up a solid beginning through a traditional cutscene, but then really takes a hand-off approach, letting the player explore the space emotionally. And then it ties everything together at the end, forcing the player to reconcile how they felt about the game while they were playing it with the inescapable result.
All three of Ueda's games have managed to pull that off, but Shadow of the Colossus was the first one that I played and, thus, had the largest impact.
The trailer for Stranger of Paradise: Final fantasy origin. I couldn't believe what the motivation of the protagonist was when I found out. You have to listen very carefully or you'll miss it.
Just echoing some other people's comments:
Soma told a really interesting and thought-provoking story in a fairly simple but powerful way. I really liked the delivery.
TLOU2 told what I thought was a fairly ordinary revenge story but added so much nuance and emotion to it that it really stuck with me for way longer than I expected. The characters in it are some of my favourites in any medium.
Soma told a really interesting and thought-provoking story in a fairly simple but powerful way. I really liked the delivery.
TLOU2 told what I thought was a fairly ordinary revenge story but added so much nuance and emotion to it that it really stuck with me for way longer than I expected. The characters in it are some of my favourites in any medium.
Judgment is my choice. It's so good i can't wait for Lost Judgment.
Just google it. The story is super long and I'm not sure I could best summarize it with spoiler tags unless I typed forever.
Honestly I would recommend not reading the story and just playing the game as it's one of the best games of last generation.
This is where I'm at. I was definitely not expecting that game to go a lot of the places that it did.
My definition of mind blowing: invested in story, invested in characters
LoU2, pretty good!
Edith Finch, walking sim, but great!
undertale, old now, but also very good
mother 3, very old, also, pretty good
other 'story heavy' games recommended to me I bounced off of:
new god of war (sloggy middle)
disco elysium(cant get into this one for some reason, P&C , adventure game I guess?)
omori(slow start, didn't hook me)
nier: automata (got past the first cycle, lost interest.. I know I'm missing out, don't have the energy to replay it 10 times or w/e)
LoU2, pretty good!
Edith Finch, walking sim, but great!
undertale, old now, but also very good
mother 3, very old, also, pretty good
other 'story heavy' games recommended to me I bounced off of:
new god of war (sloggy middle)
disco elysium(cant get into this one for some reason, P&C , adventure game I guess?)
omori(slow start, didn't hook me)
nier: automata (got past the first cycle, lost interest.. I know I'm missing out, don't have the energy to replay it 10 times or w/e)
I will go with 2020 GotY Hades. Several strong moments at the time I was playing it, but took some more time to realize exactly how good also that aspect of the game was.
