What is in your opinion the best story told in gaming?

[toy_brain]

For me, the best stories remember to keep things tight and personal at all times. They are about people, their flaws, their relationships, and a simple goal they are trying to achieve.

So, Silent Hill 2 and SOMA are obvious ones.
I feel like I wanna include Syberia 1 and 2 as well, because despite playing them a long time ago (The first one came out in 2002!), I can still remember the broad strokes of those 2 games, and the journey (both physical and of the self) Kate Walker goes on. The ending of Syberia 2 is a bit anticlimactic and even somewhat daft, but its one of those 'its about the journey, not the destination' things.

I have such fond memories of those games I still dare not risk playing Syberia 3 because it's apparently a bit shit.

 

[TeHi & BuSp]

Suikoden 2 : no videogame can beat it.

 

[Bing147]

do you need to play the others to play this?

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Nope, its pretty intuitive. I've played 2 others in the series since, but I need to get back and play the early ones still myself.

 

[Secretofmateria]

For me its a toss up between mass effect 1 and final fantasy 7

 

[JigglesBunny]

Silent Hill 2 is still the gold standard.

 

[Slushimi]

Suikoden 2 : no videogame can beat it.

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I just came at the

Spoiler

betrayal

and while interesting, does it get better from that point on?

 

[Deleted member 2317]

 

[disparate]

KOTOR 2 for the main story, though I'd say DA Inquisition (plus expansions) has the best worldbuilding of anything- it was so good it retroactively makes DAO and DAII better.

 

[xir]

not the best overall story by What Remains of Edith Finch marries mechanics with narrative in a great way, also Brothers Tale of Two sons does that as well in a neat way

 

[Vee]

Easiest way for me to put in my top narrative is if it can make me cry, as someone that grew up thinking it was cool to show off how unfeeling I could be It was such a relief when i got older to stop this shitty masculine bravodo front that ruined my investment because i tried to be " too cool to feel emotion"

that out of the way without question the house in fata morgana fucking destroyed me and so far has ruined me on VNs(cuz a large majority are filled with shitty anime tropes) because itvset the bar so high.

Also undertale, i cant even right now but toby fox is legendary for creating this.

 

[KodiakGTS]

Of all time it's probably Alan Waken or KOTOR. Of the last generation I'd say What Remains of Edith Finch or the Talos Principle.

 

[DevilMayGuy]

I'm torn between TLoU1/2, uncharted 2, nier automata, and 13 sentinels.

 

[Hikari]

Xenogears by far.

 

[Viale]

House in Fata Morgana is almost certainly on eof the most impactful stories I can remember. I'd strongly encourage everyone to give it a shot honestly. I think back to the game incredibly often.

For more traditional(ish) games, I'd probably go with something like disco elysium even if I was personally a little mixed on its ending. It's still an excellent ride.

 

[Bruceleeroy]

TLOU2
Shadow of the Colossus
Xenogears

 

[lord_of_flood]

999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors is easily my favorite. It was completely engaging the whole way through and had some of the hardest hitting moments in all of gaming for me. No other game has come close for me.

 

[Dremorak]

For me its Xenoblade Chronicles
The Characters, Story and Music come together in a way that nothing else has resonated with me since.
Xenoblade 2 hit similar notes for me, but I think that was just in the ways it reminded me of Xenoblade 1.

Also To the Moon hit me emotionally like nothing else has, even movies haven't done that to me before (a few came close though)

 

[Phabh]

Untitled Goose Game. What a twist!

 

[Harmonius]

Mother 3, Final Fantasy Tactics(and Tactics Advance), SMT Devil Survivor, Xenoblade Chronicles and Fallout: New Vegas are my go tos

 

[Deleted member 923]

The House in Fata Morgana (hands down the best imo)
Nier Automata
The Last of Us 1 and 2

 

[StereoVSN]

OP is clearly talking about greatest love story and protagonist even presented in the gaming media... Namely Squall Leonhart and Final Fantasy VIII... Whatever...

On a more serious note:

Planescape Torment was possibly the best. Runners up:

- Steins;Gate had best time travel story jna video game and on par with better scifi novels.
- Mass Effect Trilogy for all it's faults overall presented an amazing Space Opera.
- TLoU 1 was very good. It wasn't ground breaking perhaps, but very competent. RDR 1&2 could fit into here as well.
- Deus Ex Original and HR were quite good storywise.
- BioShock 1&2 (with DLC) told an intereeit fallen utopia story.

There were a lot of others, for example Trails in the Sky series, Persona games and many more.

 

[Jencks]

TLOU2
Shadow of the Colossus
Xenogears

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Hell yeah. Many on this site will call it a convoluted mess (they aren't entirely wrong) but I still love the story of Xenogears. Not too many games on that massive a scale.

 

[psynergyadept]

Cheating a little but the legend of heroes series is one of the most underrated stories in gaming; it's not the most jaw-dropping story but the commitment from Trails in the sky to now is quite amazing and worth it imo!!! And it's not even done yet!

im going to be like 50 before they finish this story...(or at least when the cometo the west.)

 

[SuzanoSho]

The best story told in gaming is the moments we share together here on ResetEra.

And it's plot twist is the friends we've all made along the way.

🙂

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

Off the top of my head:

KOTOR is a clear winner for me.

But also:

KOTOR 2
Metal Gear Solid 2
Metal Gear Solid 3
Xenogears
Shadow of the Colossus
Final Fantasy VI
Portal 2
999
GTA: San Andreas

... I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch, though.

REALLY, REALLY wish Nintendo would release Mother 3 over here ... I feel like I'd really, really love it.

 

[SasaBassa]

Control
GoW PS4
TLOU 1+2
I have a soft spot for capes so Arkham Asylum and Spider-Man PS4 were just long episodes/retells which I enjoyed a lot (Have yet to do Miles)
Zelda is not really a story-story but Wind Waker's place in that universe is prob my favorite nonsense one.
Bioshock 1 -- normally hate shooters and this was gripping af.
RE is fun for nonsense as well.

 

[KeRaSh]

Final Fantasy IX
The Last of Us 1 & 2

Those were the first that came to my mind.

 

[Rendering...]

I can't make a definitive list of best game stories or anything, but a few semi-recent ones that I really enjoyed are: The Last of Us Pt. II, NieR: Automata, Death Stranding, and Uncharted 4.

All of those games have great characters, well developed themes, and appealing settings. And it doesn't hurt that their gameplay is fun as hell.

 

[Sento]

Dark Souls

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

Tough call but...

Majora's Mask has aged like a fine wine in regards to storytelling in the Zelda universe and I don't think any Zelda game has topped it. I always end up coming back to this over Ocarina of Time (which I also played to death, mind you). Watching how differently people come to terms with the reality of their own deaths flew over my head at 10 years old but it gets so much better the older I get. Ocarina of Time is great too, but it's storytelling has remained stagnant.

Silent Hill 2 is a horror benchmark and becomes much richer when you realize that the 4 endings are not 4 different climaxes to the story told, but 4 different stories being told period. Much like my next pick, it also takes its predecessor and flips it on its head, opting to tell a more intimate, low stakes story about loss, grief, and the nature of justice.

The Last of Us Part II is a recent one, but one I feel will stand the test of time. Hit a very niche itch of revenge genre story for me that I've only really seen pulled off in a handful of movies.

Spoiler

The halfway switch up and its execution also really reminded me of the Trey Edward Shultz movie Waves from last year, in more ways than one, which I haven't seen anyone point out yet.

The dissolution of the... ugh... ludonarrative dissonance through a more utilitarian approach to violence, and denying you the dopamine hit that videogames have programmed us to expect I thought was a stroke of genius.

I guess these would be my top 3 if forced to chose.

Some honorable mentions...

I thought Horizon Zero Dawn was one of the most unique takes on the post apocalyptic genre I've ever seen, but not a lot about it really resonated that strongly with me, and the game becomes a little less interesting once the mystery is unraveled. I'm enjoying my time with RDR2 so far, but not far enough in to be making hard calls yet, I feel like the Deus Ex games (especially the earlier titles) don't get enough credit from gaming press these days, and Spiderman PS4 (and especially Miles Morales) have basically set the standard for what superhero games should be. I think I actually liked Miles Morales from this year more.

 

[Ego]

Personally speaking, Shadow of the Colossus is still unrivaled in the way it uses the medium to convey it's story and deep lore. It's the climax of videogame storytelling.

I was also very impressed by TLOU Part 2.
It is a very deep and unfiltered gaze into the human heart, the human dilemma. It really uses the potential of the videogame medium in ways I have never seen before.

 

[JusDoIt]

It's The Last of Us Part II. The polarized reaction to the story alone puts it in a space no other game occupies, but on a personal level the game's story resonated with me like no other in the medium.

 

[GoutPatrol]

Suikoden 2 : no videogame can beat it.

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Suikoden 2 certainly made the other stories coming out at the time look very...childish.

When I think about being able to use the medium of a videogame in order to tell a unique story, I think about what would be lost if you were just watching someone play the game vs. you playing it yourself. The Last of Us 1&2 are good, well-told stories...but they would work as a movie or tv series and I don't think alot of its message of main themes would be lost. I would say What Remains of Edith Finch is the best I've ever played when going through this criteria. The fish factory scene hit me in a very profound way that I've never really felt in a game before. I think the story of SotC is probably better than The Last Guardian, but because of my growth in controlling Trico and how that relationship improved over the game made its story feel more special to me.

 

[Kain]

Xenogears

 

[DuvalDevil]

Red Dead 2

 

[Darkstorne]

KOTOR and Mass Effect 1 are really solid contendors, but Mass 1 does have an unfortunate plot hole with Saren's actions early on not making any sense when you think about them (literally no reason to go rogue at all, and doing so makes his goal harder to achieve), so I'd give it to KOTOR.

I really hope Bioware can recapture that magic and focus on a great main story again. Seeing a lot of people nominate Mass 2 though is concerning, and kinda highlights why Bioware have moved away from great main stories. Too many people confuse good character writing with good main stories, and will praise Mass 2 in this thread - a game whose main story was literally "We have no idea what to do about that Reaper plot line we set up so... go enjoy a bunch of unrelated character short stories to put together a team to take down a brand new random enemy we created specifically so we could stall the Reaper plot for a bit longer (and still fuck that up in the final entry...)"

Mass 2 was fun, but it amounted to nothing narratively. It was a plot designed to stall the core plot. Nothing important was advanced. And then Mass 3 failed to deliver on expectations. Though I wonder how much of that is because Bioware only had two years to work on the game to be fair. That ending might have been envisioned to be so much better originally, and not just the Citadel part but everything on Earth leading up to it.

 

[Dnomla]

Xenogears, I guess. For it's scope, ambition, and how well it actually holds itself together until the end.

 

[VanDoughnut]

-Uncharted 4: charming characters/great villains, great performances and scenes bringing the characters to life, the chemistry between Nate and Elena, the Goonies/Indiana Jones style adventuring mixed with a honest and touching look at marriage and getting older.

-TLOU/TLOU2.
-Suikoden II
-MGS3
-Shadow of the Colossus/TLG
-Bloodborne- world building/atmosphere/mystery goes a long way in making the story vivid in my mind; even if I don't pretend to understand half the lore!

special shoutout to Spider-Man and Horizon. This new take on Spider-Man is just delightful and the sci-fi world of Horizon is sick as hell.

 

[Deleted member 56803]

Everything that Ice-Pick Lodge has created is utterly fascinating and unique. Pathologic 1/2 remain the most ludonarrative harmonious works in the medium, The Void is a brilliant feminist text, Knock-Knock has that perfect oneiric mood, and Cargo is blissfully weird. IPL understands what the medium can do and actively works toward it. Apart from those though, I'd say

• Planescape: Torment
• Disco Elysium
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Outer Wilds
• Silent Hill 2
• Spec Ops: The Line
• A House of Many Doors
• Kentucky Route Zero
• To The Moon
• Killer7
• LISA
• Beckett
• This War of Mine
• Shadow of the Colossus

 

[Deleted member 56803]

For me it's Planescape: Torment. Also wanted to give a runners up shout out to Kentucky Route Zero, To the Moon and Finding Paradise, I loved the stories in those games!

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And each of those made me cry.

 

[Deleted member 56803]

The answer is always Silent Hill 2. Not only did it forever change my relationship with video games, it went on to influence my taste in films and what I look for in general from audio-visual storytelling. I completed a fresh playthrough early this year and nothing else I played in 2020 came close. It's one those timeless experiences that grows richer and resonates deeper each time I go back to it.

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SH2 influenced my taste in media as well. It is also my argument that fixed camera angles can be a meaningful way of interacting with a game.

 

[Lydecker]

Any votes for the Vivi storyline in FFIX?

And TLOU part II.

 

[aCid]

It's not quite the same thing, but there's a SOMA mod that turns off the monster aggro mechanic so that you can just explore the environments without worrying about them. Some people prefer going through the game that way.

SOMA Mod Stops Monsters From Attacking, Improves The Game

SOMA is a contemplative horror game dripping with psychological, oftentimes existential dread. It’s also about running from scary monsters. Surprisingly, however, stripping out that second part actually makes the game more enjoyable and, in some ways, scarier.

kotaku.com

I didn't play SOMA myself but watched a let's play of it, since horror games aren't my thing. I think the story came through just fine that way too, as long as you don't watch a player who endlessly talks over the game.

If you want to avoid the game entirely, then there's a novel that explores some similar concepts, though the title of it is a bit of a spoiler.

Spoiler

Amazon.com: Mindscan (9780765349750): Sawyer, Robert J.: Books

Amazon.com: Mindscan (9780765349750): Sawyer, Robert J.: Books

www.amazon.com

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Thanks for your input! I'll check out a let's play, since it's navigating those gross techy environments that is sort of a turn off, not the monster aggro per say. Thanks for the novel recommendation too!

 

[gremlinz1982]

Planescape: Torment.
Tyranny.

 

[Astral]

The House in Fata Morgana and Xenogears come to mind immediately. Xenogears in particular has such a ridiculous scope. The Last of us 2 might be somewhere far behind these two.

Also, after 6.0, FFXIV's will probably be one I think about for a long time.

 

[Finaika]

Click to shrink...

What's the story of this game?

 

[Gavatron]

The Last of Us (both games) has kept both my attention and my palms sweaty throughout the entirety of each game. From the downtime chit-chat between characters to the intensity of the battles and the drama unfolding is first class.

 

[LapinAgile]

The Sands of Time trilogy was and still is one of my favorites.

 

[willoneill]

Star Control II. An absolute masterclass in terms of writing across a huge range of distinct alien voices, and with an incredibly well-woven plot beyond that.

It's funny, sad, everything.

 

[RadioHeadAche]

The House in Fata Morgana is definitely up there.

It's the most human story I've ever experienced so far, in that it encapsulates the true beauty and the absolute vile darkness we're capable of and everything in between.