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[GigaBowser]

Good stories that happen in games are rare, but yes my friends it's that time of year again where we discuss good stories in videogames.

I don't think a good story is the most important part of videogame but it definitely helps in many genres. I will give some opinions later on but I will get us started.

Red Dead Redemption

RDR2 was awesome, but RDR is still the king.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Legacy of Kain series
Trails series

 

[Flabagast]

SOMA.

Nothing else comes close. And I mean literally nothing, even after playing nearly every beknown good « story game » in existence, of every generation.

I hope a story as strong as this one will come out in gaming at least in the next 20 years, whatever form it takes. But unfortunately I am really not sure that will happen. It is that powerful a story.

 

[AJUMP23]

Mass effect 1 is my favorite.
kotor 1 is so much fun.
Halo 1 - 3 are a blast.

 

[93xfan]

Tetris. Any plot holes found are on you.

 

[squidilix]

Silent Hill 2

 

[Punished Miku]

Nier 1 and 2
Pentiment
Mass Effect 1 and 2
Citizen Sleeper
Triangle Strategy
Legacy of Kain series
Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2
Final Fantasy 4, 6, 9, 10, 11
Norco
As Dusk Falls
Bloodborne
Morrowind
Psychonauts

 

[LectureMaster]

My top 3:

Nier: Automata

Xenoblade 1

YS VIII

And if we are talking about adventure games and visual novel, then there are way more dope stories, like Zero Escpae, Ghost trick, etc.

 

[Punished Miku]

Zero Escpae, Ghost trick, etc.

Really good picks all around but nice to be reminded of these.

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

TWD game
Dark Souls 1 & 3
TLOU 2
Shadows of the Colossus
Gravity Rush
Hades

Off the top of my head.

 

[adamsapple]

Ride to Hell: Retribution

 

[Punished Miku]

TWD game
Dark Souls 1 & 3
TLOU 2
Shadows of the Colossus
Gravity Rush
Hades

Off the top of my head.

Hades is a great pick, and Gravity Rush.

 

[xellos2099alpha]

My top 3:

Nier: Automata

Xenoblade 1

YS VIII

And if we are talking about adventure games and visual novel, then there are way more dope stories, like Zero Escpae, Ghost trick, etc.

No stein gate?

 

[Dr.Morris79]

SOMA.

Nothing else comes close. And I mean literally nothing, even after playing nearly every beknown good « story game » in existence, of every generation.

I hope a story as strong as this one will come out in gaming at least in the next 20 years, whatever form it takes. But unfortunately I am really not sure that will happen. It is that powerful a story.

THIS! Flabagast speaks the truth. And it's highly doubtful, sadly.

 

[DaleinCalgary]

There is a big difference between a good story and a good story in a video game.

A good story in a video game doesn't exist. A plot line only.

 

[NightmareFarm]

Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy VII, Metal Gear Solid 2, Horizon Zero Dawn, Tales of the Abyss, inFAMOUS, Devil May Cry 3

 

[intbal]

Does it still count if the story ended on a cliffhanger that will never be resolved?

 

[calistan]

Tetris. Any plot holes found are on you.

The tale of how Tetris ended up on the Game Boy is the best videogame story ever. They’ve had a movie in the works for years, currently Taron Egerton as Henk Rogers.

 

[CatLady]

All the Halo campaigns
Quantum Break
Prey 2017
Deus Ex Human Revolution and Mankind Divided
Gears of War All
Assassin's Creed 2 Brotherhood and Odyessy
Horizon Zero Dawn
Fallout 3
Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice
Dishonored All and DLC

That's what I can think of at the moment, but I know I'm forgetting a bunch.

 

[Mozzarella]

Planescape Torment (S+) (Worldbuilding-Writing-Plot complexity)
Knights of the Old Republic (S) (Plot complexity-characters)
Witcher 3 DLCs (S) (Writing-Directing-Characters-Worldbuilding)
SOMA (S) (Plot Complexity)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (S) (Directing-Characters)
Suikoden 2 (S) (Characters-Plot Complexity)
Metal Gear Solid (A+) (Directing-Plot Complexity - Characters)
Silent Hill 2 (S) (Characters - Symbolism - Plot Complexity)
Outer Wilds (S) (Mystery)
Bioshock (A+) (Characters-Worldbuilding)
The Last of Us 1 (A+) (Characters-Directing)
Nier Automata (A+) (Directing-Plot Complexity)
Portal 2 (A) (Writing)
Mass Effect (A) (Worldbuilding- Characters)
Mafia (A+) (Characters-Writing)
VTMB (A) (Writing)
FFIX (A) (Characters)
Witcher 1 (A+) (Worldbuilding-Writing-Characters)
Fallout (A) (Worldbuilding-Writing)
Mask of the Betrayer (S) (Plot Complexity-Writing-Characters)
Max Payne 2 (A) (Characters-Directing)
Disco Elysium (S) (Writing-Worldbuilding)
Dishonored (A) (Worldbuilding)
Bloodborne (A) (Worldbuilding)


And there's few more, but the problem with deciding is that its hard to compare games in this matter when different games tell their stories differently, but i had put a tier near each title if you want my biased opinion, and i have attached what makes it stand out.

Acclaimed titles i Haven't Played:
Final Fantasy VI
Legacy of Kain
Xenogears

 

[swaffles23]

FFXIV (could argue it has the best story of any FF game)
FFX
Enslaved Odyssey to the West
Deus Ex Human Revolution

Those are probably some of my favorites

 

[Marchizmo]

I think Starcraft->Brood War is up there.

 

[Arachnid]

Two decades+ later, and it's still not even close.

 

[MasterDerico]

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

*name drops list of favorite now considered niche games that even if I bothered to type them out nobody will check them out so why bother*

 

[Drizzlehell]

Silent Hill 2
Homeworld
Max Payne
Deus Ex
Knights of the Old Republic
Mass Effect
Spec Ops The Line
Metal Gear Solid
Planescape Torment
Bioshock Infinite

These are just some of my favorite ones that I can think of now.

 

[GigaBowser]

Bioshock Infinite

These are just some of my favorite ones that I can think of now.

Playing this right now.

It took me until late 2022 to realize it's a dream game.

 

[Naked Lunch]

Vagrant Story
Silent Hill 1-3
Halo series

 

[brettski2024]

5 that come to mind:

1. Valkyria Chronicles 1
2. Final Fantasy 3(6)
3. Lunar Silver Star Story
4. Chrono Trigger
5. Persona 4 Golden

 

[Happosai]

- MGS 1-3
- Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time, The Windwaker, BotW
- Suikoden: 1-4 (5 didn't move me)
- Tales of the Abyss
- RE: 1,2,3,4...and 0
- Chrono Trigger

and recently enjoyed Trials of Mana

 

[F31 Leopard]

My personal favorites:
NIER (Papa)
Xenoblade Chronicles X (main & side)
Xenoblade 1
Xenogears
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy 6
Mass Effect 1
Silent Hill 2
Shenmue 1 and 2
999
AI the Somnium Files
Witcher 3

 

[Bankai]

Bioshock
The Last of Us
DEUS Ex
What Remains of Edith Finch
Spec OPS the line
Oxenfree
Hellblade

Tell some great stories, all in there own way.

 

[vodka-bull]

Golden Sun. First you play as the „good“ guys. Then you play as the „bad“ guys. Then you play as both because good and bad were both wrong.

 

[Ziglax]

Planescape : Torment and NwN2 : Mask of the betrayer both stand out for me when it comes to writing, characters, plot.


In a very different way, the environmental storytelling of Dark Souls/Bloodborne did really hit the right note for me.

 

[Fess]

I really liked the story and character development in God of War Ragnarök, there were some twists and turns I didn’t expect.

 

[Dis]

Here’s the full scene



I edited my post. But MGS2 had the best codec speech of all time!

 

[rofif]

Soma
Tlou2

 

[GymWolf]

Yakuza games have usually great stories with great characters and some bombastic\unreapistic mkments, but it is part of the charm.

 

[Dis]

Yakuza games have usually great stories with great characters and some bombastic\unreapistic mkments, but it is part of the charm.

I recently played Like a Dragon. 10/10 great characters and story and charm.

 

[Orta]

Hellblade rather incredibly is literally the only story I have ever taken an interest in over the 35-odd years I've been playing games so I guess that wins by default.

 

[Rudius]

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Perfect story: simple, conected to the gameplay and overall theme, well executed, good duration.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Yakuza games have usually great stories with great characters and some bombastic\unreapistic mkments, but it is part of the charm.

Yep. The Judgment games also have great stories, maybe even better than the Yakuza ones since they are more grounded and got rid of all the bullshit (no rubber bullets).

 

[Dr. Suchong]

Bioshock

 

[waquzy]

 

[GymWolf]

Yep. The Judgment games also have great stories, maybe even better than the Yakuza ones since they are more grounded and got rid of all the bullshit (no rubber bullets).

Not for me, yakuza is still the best, i don't care about judgement characters as much as i care about yakuza characters, like not even close.

And the villain are just better in yakuza, but i still have to play judg2.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Not for me, yakuza is still the best, i don't care about judgement characters as much as i care about yakuza characters, like not even close.

Give them more time (games) and I'm sure you'll end up liking them.

But come on, not even Kaito? Dude's a total bro.

And the villain are just better in yakuza,

For me they were hit and miss. Yakuza 0 and 2 had great villains. The others were quite forgettable for me, specially the one in 5 (which otherwise is probably my fav Yakuza game).

but i still have to play judg2.

Do it! Some say it's better than the first one in everything but the story. I disagree, both game's stories are great imo.

 

[GymWolf]

Give them more time (games) and I'm sure you'll end up liking them.

But come on, not even Kaito? Dude's a total bro.


For me they were hit and miss. Yakuza 0 and 2 had great villains. The others were quite forgettable for me, specially the one in 5 (which otherwise is probably my fav Yakuza game).


Do it! Some say it's better than the first one in everything but the story. I disagree, both game's stories are great imo.

I like kaito, but when the sidecharacter is more likeable than the protagonist, something went wrong in the process.

I still have to play yakuza 3-4-5, only played 0-1-2-6-7.

I fear for the other 3 to be TOO OLD on a gameplay level\mechanics to really enjoy them, especially when the latest yakuza i player were all in the new dragon engine.

 

[TintoConCasera]

I like kaito, but when the sidecharacter is more likeable than the protagonist, something went wrong in the process.

Tak is a cool dude too, but I think I liked him better in the sequel. There's also a new sidecharacter which has a great chemistry with him.

I still have to play yakuza 3-4-5, only played 0-1-2-6-7.

I fear for the other 3 to be TOO OLD on a gameplay level\mechanics to really enjoy them, especially when the latest yakuza i player were all in the new dragon engine.

My man wtf, wasn't 6 a bit weird without having played 5?

4 and 5 play great imo, but 3's combat (at least in the remaster) is a bit busted, since enemies guard too much and battles can be a bit of a chore. 4 and specially 5 tho, great games, with 5 being at the same level as 0 when it comes to story, side content and minigames.

 

[GymWolf]

Tak is a cool dude too, but I think I liked him better in the sequel. There's also a new sidecharacter which has a great chemistry with him.


My man wtf, wasn't 6 a bit weird without having played 5?

4 and 5 play great imo, but 3's combat (at least in the remaster) is a bit busted, since enemies guard too much and battles can be a bit of a chore. 4 and specially 5 tho, great games, with 5 being at the same level as 0 when it comes to story, side content and minigames.

No, i loved 6 and the plot is kinda separated from the old games since you are in a new town searching for aruka that i already knew from y1-2.

 

[TintoConCasera]

No, i loved 6 and the plot is kinda separated from the old games since you are in a new town searching for aruka that i already knew from y1-2.

It's quite connected to 5 to the point of starting right were that game ends.

Guess it didn't matter too much tho since you were able to enjoy it. Anyway, don't skip on 5, great game specially if you enjoy the sidecontent in the Yakuza games.