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What is in your opinion the best story told in gaming?
- Thread starter Slushimi
- Start date
Mass Effect 1.
Metal Gear Solid 1.
Dark Souls.
Half-Life 2.
Morrowind.
EDIT:
Hearts of Stone is another good mention.
To be clear, I pick titles that are good stories utilizing the specific format of video games, not every game does that.
Metal Gear Solid 1.
Dark Souls.
Half-Life 2.
Morrowind.
EDIT:
Hearts of Stone is another good mention.
To be clear, I pick titles that are good stories utilizing the specific format of video games, not every game does that.
Just experienced MGS2 for the first time this past summer and it really changed how I looked at storytelling in video games. Like, it's far from being a well told story; it lacks cohesion and at times appears to lack logic, but the pure ambition of what Kojima was trying to say is unmatched to this day, even outside of video games.
100% agree.
100% agree.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons because it actually used the unique aspects of the Gaming Medium (player input) to convey key parts of the story without relying on the traditional Dialogue or Written words.
Otherwise I think some recognition is due for naturally occuring dynamic "stories" like the EVE Online betrayal epics. Games that have meaningful player choice would be worthwhile to mention, but I don't think any of them have a particularily good story or end up just being branching story.
Everything else could have been done just as well with another medium (Books or Movies/Shows) and likely be better for it. Even ones I absolutely addored and affected me a great deal like Red Dead Redemption 2 really didn't tie Story and Gameplay very well if at all
Otherwise I think some recognition is due for naturally occuring dynamic "stories" like the EVE Online betrayal epics. Games that have meaningful player choice would be worthwhile to mention, but I don't think any of them have a particularily good story or end up just being branching story.
Everything else could have been done just as well with another medium (Books or Movies/Shows) and likely be better for it. Even ones I absolutely addored and affected me a great deal like Red Dead Redemption 2 really didn't tie Story and Gameplay very well if at all
Outer Wilds for me.
Not a whole lot of stories cover
in such a beautiful way. From the Interloper to the Sun Station, every aspect of that world, its characters, and their motivations are so fully realized with barely anyone directly speaking to you.
There's simply a lot there if you explore and it all makes more than enough sense. Truly a story that requires the medium and vice versa.
Not a whole lot of stories cover
loss and how it's not necessarily a bad thing
There's simply a lot there if you explore and it all makes more than enough sense. Truly a story that requires the medium and vice versa.
The greatest game stories can only work as a video game because they use everything at their disposal in unison to convey their ideas. Story can be told through level design, environmental art, game mechanics, etc. just as much as it can be told through writing.
BioShock uses all of these things, and I haven't come across another game that really does the same at the level that it does.
Ill add dark cloud 2. Its not the best story im sure but its just something tha gives me a ton of nostalgia:
-the entire ost is underrated beyond fuck.
-the locations and characters are charming
-the story of a boy from the past, a mother from the future, and the way the past and future connect blew my mind as a kid
TLG and SOTC utilize gaming to tell a story that cant be told anyway else
RDR2 and LOU1 take the expensive AAA approach and have done an exceptional job telling their stories
-the entire ost is underrated beyond fuck.
-the locations and characters are charming
-the story of a boy from the past, a mother from the future, and the way the past and future connect blew my mind as a kid
TLG and SOTC utilize gaming to tell a story that cant be told anyway else
RDR2 and LOU1 take the expensive AAA approach and have done an exceptional job telling their stories
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together is my pick. Incredibly well written, full of tough choices, and fantastic dialogue all around. Not to mention several routes that allows you to learn so much about characters despite taking a radically different path.
Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception/Mask of Truth
The House in Fata Morgana
Undertale
Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse
My top four hasn't shifted in years. Zero Escape (999 and VLR) is up there in terms of themes and the way it utilises the medium effectively, but the stories themselves aren't the main draw looking back on them.
The House in Fata Morgana
Undertale
Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse
My top four hasn't shifted in years. Zero Escape (999 and VLR) is up there in terms of themes and the way it utilises the medium effectively, but the stories themselves aren't the main draw looking back on them.
In terms of stories with relatively low stakes and a small scope, Gone Home is really damn good especially when you examine and think about the subplots.
It's probably not really deserving of the honor, but the storyline of Final Fantasy XIV from A Realm Reborn through Shadowbringers is something I think about at least once a week even though I haven't been subscribed since Shadowbringers' launch window in 2019 (I played about 3 months after the debut of Shadowbringers).
I got super attached to the cast in XIV and the general hopeful attitudes that the story seems to cycle in and out through its dramatic beats in a way that just won't escape my mind.
It's an MMORPG but I think it's probably my favorite Final Fantasy and maybe even video game narrative ever. It helps that my experiences with the community have largely reflected the vibe of the game itself and I feel like when I play it, I'm not the only one that's absolutely enthused to be a part of its ongoing story. In my case, it's a pretty distinct and unique story impression I've had from a game, nevermind one that's multiplayer.
I got super attached to the cast in XIV and the general hopeful attitudes that the story seems to cycle in and out through its dramatic beats in a way that just won't escape my mind.
It's an MMORPG but I think it's probably my favorite Final Fantasy and maybe even video game narrative ever. It helps that my experiences with the community have largely reflected the vibe of the game itself and I feel like when I play it, I'm not the only one that's absolutely enthused to be a part of its ongoing story. In my case, it's a pretty distinct and unique story impression I've had from a game, nevermind one that's multiplayer.
KOTOR is one of the goats to me, but back in the day, 2 didn't click for whatever reason.. Might have to give it another shot. Is it BC on Series X?
It is, though you lose the quality of life improvements from the community patch I mentioned. If you absolutely cannot play it on a computer or mobile device though, here's the Microsoft Store link:
Not trying to be an elitist, but it's clear that many gamers were unwilling to open their hearts and minds to the poignant themes of BMX XXX.
it's the house in fata morgana and its prequel and it's not even fucking close, wake me if some AAA garbo ever touches that let alone breathes the same air as those two games
Completely missed where you recommended the mod! PC it is! Thank you!
- KotoR; #1 GOAT
- Mass Effect; Bioware's follow up to KotoR had big shoes to fill, because they needed to create an entirely new universe as grand feeling and interesting as Star Wars. They nailed it and then some. The sequels never came close for me. I wish I could play this again for the first time. That Main Menu bootup feel was something else.
- Halo 2; while CE introduced the universe, this one expanded it in such a grand way that the universe became an almost tangible thing to me. The whole concept of Halo Lore was pretty well started with this game.
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time; this one is on this list because of how little story there actually is, but how grand the hero's story actually felt driven by mostly the gameplay. Just a really nice early take on the Hero's Journey in 3D. Loved MM, but more for it's writing than overall story. To me OoT takes the cake for Zelda.
- The Last of Us; More than any other ND title, this one stuck with me the most. Brilliant and succinct. Like reading a really good novel.
- Bioshock; For it's moment-to-moment delivery and twist. Incredible worldbuilding through dialogue and audiologs.
- Portal 2; For the best puzzle-game narrative and writing I've ever played. My favourite Valve game. The funniest game I've ever played.
- Fable; Nothing has felt quite like this since. I love the way fairy-tale way the whole thing plays out.
- Alan Wake; the only "thriller"/"horror" game story I ever could get into. Super Steven King vibes. Super Twin Peaks vibes. Love this. Need more.
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Nothing quite nailed the tone that the game was going for quite as well for me in any other Rockstar Game. Love this one.
Disco Elysium, and it's not even close (in my opinion, of course). It's the story of a very human character, with all the flaws we have. It's also the story of a world that's eerily similar to ours, only it doesn't try to hide things that are more hidden in the real world.
I'm partial to Max Payne 2, Grim Fandango and the original Fallout.
I think Grim Fandango takes it.
Good one.
I think Grim Fandango takes it.
Good one.
As a whole package, Hotel Dusk still stands head and shoulders above everything else I've played.
As a reader of books, I can't imagine anyone playing videogames for their stories. Time and time again when I've played a game that supposedly has great writing/a great story, I've been disappointed. Don't get me started on visual novels like 999. Don't get me wrong, I do think things are headed in the right direction, but even the best of the best right now tend to be pretty amateurish.
I'd love to be proven wrong, but I also tend to play games for the gameplay and I love genres like stgs and fighting games which are almost strictly gameplay.
The only game that I've genuinely continued to play because of the story was Yakuza (particularly Like a Dragon, but all of the recent ones have been pretty great).
I'd love to be proven wrong, but I also tend to play games for the gameplay and I love genres like stgs and fighting games which are almost strictly gameplay.
The only game that I've genuinely continued to play because of the story was Yakuza (particularly Like a Dragon, but all of the recent ones have been pretty great).
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I came to mention this game. I still think about SOMA all the time. The story is just incredible.
Virtue's Last Reward has some of my favorite characters in the medium and blows your mind like five times over. It has the coolest use of alternate timelines I've seen. I love so much about that game.
God, I liked Zero Time Dilemma, but if it was on par with the first two games that whole trilogy would honest-to-god be one of my favorite stories in all of fiction. 999 and VLR are so damn good.
God, I liked Zero Time Dilemma, but if it was on par with the first two games that whole trilogy would honest-to-god be one of my favorite stories in all of fiction. 999 and VLR are so damn good.
In terms of plot, Ghost Trick. In terms of themes, NieR: Automata. In terms of characterization, Life is Strange.
