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[OutrageousFacts]

Basically, the idea of this thread is *not* to spam your favorite games and be done. Pls try to name the games (maximum 3) you believe have the best writing in the industry.

THEN also name the movies/anime/tvshows and books that have the best stories in your opinion. That's the core of this thread idea, so we can compare if the standard for what one claims is a great story is similar between different media or if one is noticeably weaker/stronger. This comparison can be done by you yourselves, too.

I'll start.

Best stories in games:
- Eternal Darkness
- Xenoblade 2
- Mass Effect 1

Best stories in books:
- Perry Rhodan-series
- The Demon Wars Saga by R. A. Salvatore
- Hunter X Hunter

Best stories in movies/anime/tvshows:
- Steins;Gate
- Fantastic Children
- ... really tough to single out any live-action movie, phew

What I love about Eternal Darkness' story is how it is a bonafide Lovecraft-story, masterfully executed and competently mixed into an actual video game. I always liked Lovecraft, but only recently read a compilation of his stories and it made me appreciate Eternal Darkness' story even more. This isn't the attempt of mimicking something, it *is* Lovecraft at its peak.

For Xenoblade 2, it's just the best anime-game I've ever played and I played many. Xenoblade 2 has such great cutscene direction and voice acting, it *feels* like you're playing a high-quality shounen-anime. Which might not be to everyone's liking, but Takahashi Tetsuya said when he announced the game that it's gonna be shounen this time and damn did he succeed! I often wish we'd get an anime adaptation already, but frankly, the cutscenes are already on the level of a good anime.

Lastly, Mass Effect 1 basically satisfied my Perry Rhodan-urges. You probably don't know this long-running German scifi-book series, even though it is the longest-running series of all time, started some time 196x. Anyway, Mass Effect 1 so perfectly captured the dry, realistic, yet sympathetic tone of the aforementioned book-series. I prefer grounded, thoroughly explained stories and ME1 gave me exactly that. No fancy, flashy bs, just believable scifi stuff that made sense within context. It's this game's writing that made the first talk between Shepherd and a Reaper so memorable, or made Saren an interesting villain, even though he was just one random guy. Unfortunately, ME2 and ME3 deviated from the oldschool-scifi tone and thus couldn't match the quality of the first game's story. Although I will always defend the human reaper. That gave me chills and had Bioware not aborted that plotline due to fan outcry, it would have been Neon Genesis Evangelion-level of mindfuckery. Bummer.

That's it for game stories and me. Tell us about your favorite stories in games and other media!

 

[Scopa]

Witcher 3, Mass Effect and Baldur’s Gate.

For tv I’d say The Sopranos is head and shoulders above anything else.

 

[OutrageousFacts]

Witcher 3, Mass Effect and Baldur’s Gate.

For tv I’d say The Sopranos is head and shoulders above anything else.

What do you like about these games' stories? What about the Sopranos? Did you enjoy the story of these games as much as the Sopranos or other movies/tvshows/anime/books you watched/read?

 

[John Day]

I feel some can be. Final Fantasy Tactics, to mention just a random ass game, had an intriguing story, not necesarily a happy ending too.

Edit: What i mean is, at the time i played it it felt just like real history, where heroes and villains where far from the same people written in books.

 

[Grand Theft Scratchy]

Games:

• Final Fantasy IX
• Deus Ex
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic I & II
• Alan Wake
• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

TV Shows and Movies:

• The X-Files (Seasons 1 through 9)
• Fear the Walking Dead (Seasons 1 through 3)
• Interstellar
• Pulp Fiction
• Gladiator
• Independence Day

I mostly like a good thriller and obviously good characters are always important for games with a story to tell. I only really don't like it when stories in games have really basic, childish dialogue (e.g. Kingdom Hearts) or repetitive dialogue (e.g. MGS4).

 

[Krappadizzle]

Witcher 3 has the best story I've ever played in a game. It ties into all the previous games, tells it's own story and has some of the best written side quests in an RPG ever. While I think Witcher 3's is the best to do it, I'd give a strong nod to The Last of Us. Just really well realized characters that you can understand and relate with, told in a concise story that has really great pacing.

 

[Strife In a Teacup]

Best story in games:
Deus Ex (original)
Baldur's Gate series (1 & 2 together, it's part of the same story, can disregard Dragonspear since it's a newer addition)
Final Fantasy 6


Best story in books:
Norse Eddas (Poetic and Prose)
Lord of the Rings trilogy
R.E. Howard's Conan short stories (they really all go together to make a complete saga, since most all of them except for Hour of the Dragon are short stories that tie into the whole story of Conan)
Neuromancer (and the others in the series such as Mona Lisa Overdrive, Count Zero, Virtual Light)

Best story in movies/TV shows/anime:
They Live
X-Files
Conan The Barbarian/Destroyer
Akira

As to why on each:

For games:
Well, Deus Ex is due to my love of the cyberpunk genre due to reading William Gibson before playing it. It did a great job of visualizing the themes within a cyberpunk/near-future setting.

Baldur's Gate is due to my love of high fantasy and the Forgotten Realms, and it did a fantastic job of showing a large portion of Abeir-Toril that was previously limited to things like the Gold Box series (which were great in their own right), and associated MUDs that I played (such as Toril/Sojourn itself). So it was a dream come true really.

Final Fantasy 6 (3 in the US when I played it) is what launched me into my more console love of RPGs and JRPGs in specific. It had an epic story that lasted a very long time and succeeded in telling a story for each character you could recruit, as well as those you could not. It's a toss up honestly between FF6 and Chrono Trigger, but I think FF6 for me is more epic and deserves it's place, in my own mind at least.

For books:
The Norse Eddas are the basis for a lot of books/games/movies/comics, Lord of the Rings and The Witcher 3 are no exception to this rule. They're also just pure awesome. They give a sense of wonder and imagination that is just amazing given the time frame in which they were told, and later written down.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is magnificent. I re-read it every so many years and it always stands the test of time. It has a lot of depth without becoming overburdening to something like the Wheel of Time series, which I also love very much but it does get unwieldy as it goes on.

R.E. Howard's Conan stories are just awesome. Much like the movies how it says "Now let me tell you the tales of high adventure" that is really what they feel like. Conan's brash approach to things is welcome, and his courage knows no bounds. They are absolutely great stories.

Neuromancer, and others in the series, is not unlike it says on the cover itself, mind-bending. It definitely makes you think of things in a new (virtual) light. It gave the inspiration for movies like The Matrix, and game settings like Shadowrun and Deus Ex.

For Movies:

They Live is probably one of my favorite so-called "horror" movies. While I understand what John Carpenter's intent was, I think the movie can be taken in a variety of ways that make it easy to relate to for a segment of the population. It shows how fake, hollow and plastic this world can be, along with how obedient and unquestioning society can be towards authority. The theme song is great, and the alley fight scene is epic.

The X-Files needs probably no introduction or explanation for most, but it provides a good insight into various paranormal events/activities in a tightly wrapped package. Plus, this episode is just awesome:


Conan the Barbarian/Destroyer did an excellent job of bringing Conan's story to the modern era, and the musical score is second to none. Whether playing the Conan MMO or survival game, that musical style inspires when you hear it. It's just fucking awesome, absolutely awesome. The movies also felt like a live action Dungeons & Dragons game which was just badass, not unlike the original stories by Howard himself.

Akira needs probably no introduction to most people, but the themes it was going for were very ahead of its time, not unlike William Gibson or Philip K. Dick's novels. To hardcore anime buffs it may seem like a cliche movie to say, but it really is one of the defining anime stories that I've seen.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Gravity rush has a very beautiful story and Fantastic narrative form.

Because of the enigmas, the emotion and the human values it gives.

I think it never ceases to amaze me this fantastic masterpiece.

 

[TacosNSalsa]

Best game story wise for me was the Legacy of Kain games. Time traveling vamp- I SAID TIME TRAVELING VAMPIRES!!
Movies and books are a LOT harder for me to choose ..

 

[Northeastmonk]

I watched Twin Peaks seasons 1-3. Before ever watching it I played Silent Hill. Silent Hill 2 had a very engaging atmosphere. I got the game on launch day and I’ve always remembered the plot. I’ve only ever compared the two due to the setting. A small town or lodge somewhere where something psychological happens. In terms of books I do not know what I would compare it to. I’ve sought books out with similar plots.

I feel like games can have a lasting appeal to their plot. Parasite Eve, Resident Evil (Biohazard), Assassin’s Creed (original trilogy), BioShock, Final Fantasy VI(VII), and many more. It’s hard to find a LOTR that isn’t LOTR. The IP defines itself in a lot of ways. The Witcher is one that greatly benefitted from being a video game. More than say Elric (book) did, which is still a book.

I have an easier time enjoying the respectable IP as the way it was meant to be. Game designers have to work hard to make movie games work and vice versa. The cream crafting the work must convey their message. Which is why I will never discredit either medium for creating their own work.

There’s video game plots like BioShock where I’d rather read a BioShock book than watch a TV series.

 

[brian0057]

Video game stories have a long way to go.
Some of the best games I've ever played also have some of the worst stories ever written.
Gaming is at its finest when story and gameplay are interwoven with each other.

Thief II: The Metal Age and Silent Hill are the best examples of storytelling in video games.
Other than that, I just stick to movies, TV, and books if I want a good story.

 

[keraj37]

KCD.

 

[Zenaku]

Xenoblade 2, easily one of my favourite games of all time. I like the story, and the animation, facial expressions and camera work take it a step above even the best AAA games imo; the cut-scenes are just exciting to watch. I'll either boot up the game or head to youtube every month or so just to rewatch some of my favourite cut-scenes, and Xenoblade 1 is the only other game to make me do that.

Here's hoping their next game can live up to the hype in my heart.

 

[ROMhack]

I'll be one of the dissenting voices and say games tend to suck at telling stories. At best they create an intriguing world with an endearing cast of characters, and maybe explore certain themes/ideas in a non-straightforward way as with Soma and Nier: Automata. Mostly I think games do better when they go for basic, minimalist environmental storytelling like Inside, Limbo and The Witness.

 

[Stiflers Mom]

I think the game with the best story should be crowned as king of Westeros.

 

[Northeastmonk]

Bloodborne has a series of graphic novels and I for one do not wish to read them. My main issue is that Bloodborne has a story that’s not told outright to the player (or at least explained easily). It’s hard to imagine some writer picking it up and adding lines of dialogue. It doesn’t feel original. It feels too concocted.

I could read Lovecraft, but at times his writing is difficult to interpret. It’s just an older way of writing. In terms of movies/books, I like “The Shining” by Stephen King and that feeling of being isolated inside a hotel. Logan’s Run for its depiction of a dystopian world. Soylent Green is also a good film for the same reasons.

 

[OutrageousFacts]

I'll be one of the dissenting voices and say games tend to suck at telling stories.

Nah, I fully agree with you. I won't name specific games for peace sake, but I *always* laugh when I see people put sooo much importancy on games' stories only to praise games that really, really don't have good, well-presented stories. Ok, I'll actually mention a big one: Witcher 3.

Now, the writing itself is good, fine, maybe great. That's not the issue. The issue I had when I played it was how utterly boring the story was presented! There were like 3-4 cutscenes in the entire game that actually felt like they had a proper director doing his work. The rest of the time it was people standing next to each other and talk in dull voices. I mean, you could write the best story ever, but without proper presentation it goes to waste. That's where I can say for myself I'd always prefer watching a medieval movie or read a medieval book over playing Witcher 3 solely for its story's value.

Now, ofc W3 has more than just a story and that makes it a great game, still. But this thread is about story only, so in that context it is imo a prime example of other media being superior to video games.

 

[kingpotato]

Bloodborne - PS4
TES 4 Oblivion - PC
God of War/The Last of Us - PS4

Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula Le Guin
Sandman series - Neil Gaiman

Mad Men
Interstellar/Memento/Inception
Alien
Rushmore/Life Aquatic/Royal Tenumbaums

This thread is really odd since you ask for people to call out their favorite storytelling across mediums that excel in different ways.

Games, being interactive, allow a user to dig as deep as they want which is why two of my picks have stories you could ignore for the most part. By making them more of a choice than a requirement, I feel more invested when I do start to learn more. As to my last choice, it is a typical spoon fed format, but with characters who have realistic emotions and motivations.

Books beat every other format for storytelling. They are even better than verbal stories because you process them independently of anyone else. That unique perspective and individual experience brings them the closest to art of all the storytelling formats in my opinion. I would highly recommend the books I posted and the last is a comic series that will be made into a big budget Netflix series soon.

The movies/shows selection was a little tougher because there is so much out there and it is so easy to access and consume that we all have a ton of different amazing stories to point out.
Mad Men contains realistic flawed characters dealing with their changing world. They grow throughout the series but never feel inconsistent. The Nolan movies all have amazing layers that often take several viewings to appreciate. Scott's Alien is a masterpiece and I also really enjoyed Aliens and Prometheus. Wes Anderson is on this list for being able to portray the more earnest, subtle emotions in a very hand crafted way that makes the stories more heartfelt.

I look forward to learning about some great stories (and adding to my backlog) from everyone else's posts!

 

[VertigoOA]

I can’t take the opinion that movies have good narratives when modern cinema is dominated by marvel. So by that metric, gaming is the clear winner.

 

[Doom85]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down..........you mean someone besides me actually watched Fantastic Children?!

No seriously, it's a great show, interesting mystery and such. Been a long time since I saw it but probably would have missed if it wasn't for this anime magazine (think it was Anime Insider) putting in their Top 50 anime list. Probably wouldn't make my top 50 personally, but still had a great time with it.

 

[OutrageousFacts]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down..........you mean someone besides me actually watched Fantastic Children?!

No seriously, it's a great show, interesting mystery and such. Been a long time since I saw it but probably would have missed if it wasn't for this anime magazine (think it was Anime Insider) putting in their Top 50 anime list. Probably wouldn't make my top 50 personally, but still had a great time with it.

It's actually my #1 favorite anime of all time. :] Simply the best adventure story I've ever had the privilege to enjoy. Most people will dismiss it for its 'childish' artstyle unfortunately.

 

[molasar]

IMO it is all about a method of delivery. You can have a great story but it is a failure if you choose a wrong medium for it.
If I had to choose only one product for its stories, it is Miami Vice the TV show.

 

[molasar]

The X-Files needs probably no introduction or explanation for most, but it provides a good insight into various paranormal events/activities in a tightly wrapped package. Plus, this episode is just awesome:

Jesse - one of my favorites.

 

[Fbh]

I really like the Story in Nier Automata. I think it's a great and unique look at the fairly standard concept of sentient machines and Yoko Taro is great at taking advantage of gaming as a medium to tell his stories in unique ways as opposed to just trying to imitate TV and movies as many other games do.
For example right at the end you can decide to erase your save file to help a random stranger go through this same part. It's a nice touch that goes hand in hand with the themes of the story and which neither movies nor books can replicate.

Then you have stuff like the Witcher 3 where I think that the main plot is nothing special but the story shines in other ways which are also unique to gaming. While there's plenty of books that might give me a better fantasy plot, non allow me to really explore the world and interact with it in the same way as the Witcher 3 does. What make the game shine isn't the whole deal with Ciri but rather that I can go to some small town in the mountains and engage with the characters that live there and the (often monster related) struggle they are going through. It's all the small stories and characters that make the world and "story" of the game feel memorable.

And more on the traditional side I like the Yakuza franchise. It's mostly just cutscenes but I think they strike a fun balance between engaging crime drama, martial arts action and japanese style over the top silliness. And like the Witcher 3 (though on a much lower scale), the sidestories are fun.

 

[CatLady]

Games
Bioshock - Original
Deus Ex - Human Revolution & Mankind Divided (I've never played the originals - but I've heard they're even better)
Halo - Mainline All
Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice
Prey 2017
Quantum Break
Horizon Zero Dawn
Rime

Movies
LOTR - All by Peter Jackson
Sid & Nancy
V for Vendetta
Melancholia
The Usual Suspects
The Matrix
The Lion King (Maybe not the best story ever, but I love it anyway)
Twilight - kidding

TV
3%
Millennium
Law & Order - Original Series
The 4400
Mind Hunter
The Walking Dead
The 100
Falling Water
Lost - before it turned stupid

Can you tell I like SciFi?

 

[OutrageousFacts]

Can you tell I like SciFi?

I can't tell if you think the stories in these games are as good as in the other media you list. That's the point of this thread and I'd be interested to hear your opinion.

 

[CatLady]

I can't tell if you think the stories in these games are as good as in the other media you list. That's the point of this thread and I'd be interested to hear your opinion.

Oh sorry, yes, I do think they are as good. They are conveyed differently but in my opinion they stand up to the other media, and for the most part are better than most movies currently being released.

 

[Ravix]

Some of my favorites are

Games:
BioShock 1 and 2
Witcher Series
Persona Series

Anime:
Steins;Gate
Code Geass
Madoka Magica

 

[Handel]

Game storytelling is at it's best when story and gameplay are interwoven, when done right it's near the best of other mediums. Games like TLOU just have high production values, and ape TV/movie storytelling to the best of their ability which is at best mid tier within those other mediums.

For me the most impactful stories in games I have played would be:

Majora's Mask
Ueda's works : Ico, SotC, TLG
Brothers : A Tale of Two Sons
Silent Hill 2
KOTOR II


There are quite a number of touted narrative games I have yet to play like Planescape : Torment, so with those in mind plus a lot more fringe choices for strong stories in games I can think of, games as a storytelling medium are already quite proven and haven't even reached their ceiling yet. Not in terms of what we can accomplish now, let alone with new tech in the future. The indie scenes growth has especially been important in producing unique new ways of telling stories in games this last decade.

 

[Cattlyst]

I think this topic is interesting but it really depends on what you like. I love sci-fi but I don't think I've played a game in the sci-fi genre that matches anything written by Clarke, Asimov or Bester (to name a few). Likewise, big fan of horror but haven't really played anything that gives a sense of dread like a Lovecraft story (except maybe PT - but that's a demo ;p)

 

[OutrageousFacts]

I think this topic is interesting but it really depends on what you like. I love sci-fi but I don't think I've played a game in the sci-fi genre that matches anything written by Clarke, Asimov or Bester (to name a few). Likewise, big fan of horror but haven't really played anything that gives a sense of dread like a Lovecraft story (except maybe PT - but that's a demo ;p)

Have you played Eternal Darkness?

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Not going into the topic of other things but for games:

KOTOR II
Bloodborne
Xenogears
Anything Matsuno has put out
Anything that Fumito Ueda has put out
Klonoa
Alpha Protocol (Considering your choices do matter)
Planescape: Torment
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines

I wanna say Sekiro, Max Payne 3 and Majora's Mask but that would be a bit more of a questionable and personal choice.

 

[Cattlyst]

Have you played Eternal Darkness?

I have but I didn't really enjoy it for some reason

 

[OutrageousFacts]

Not going into the topic of other things

Alpha Protocol (Considering your choices do matter)

Ok, but that's the connection that matters. And since I LOVE Alpha Protocol, let me explain why it matters. This is my opinion, ofc:
Yes, AP offers the best, most meaningful choices in all of games. It's super fun to see everything come together, especially on repeat playthroughs, because that's when you realize just how different the game develops. It's phenomenonal.
But: Is the story really good? It's been a couple years since my last run, but afair it's the most bog-standard espionage story, aping Mission Impossible, James Bond, etc.. if it were just for the story, I think i'd always watch a Tom Cruise-movie over playing AP. But as a game, AP is fantastic, ofc. Its story isn't up to task with other media though. IMO.

See, that's why just posting games you liked isn't enough. It's the comparison to other media. Nobody can force you to do that, ofc. But it'd be more interesting to read :]

 

[Bonfires Down]

1. Soma - Absolutely the most profound narrative I've experienced in a video game. Some of it is probably the fact that I never expected a game to go this deep into the philosophical aspects of being human. I'm sure similar plots have been done as well or better in books but I don't read much

2. The Walking Dead Season 1 - Some hard punches to the gut here, it did have quite an impact on me. Unfortunately it drags a bit in the middle.

3. Human Revolution - I don't remember that much of the plot, but it did feel like it was clearly on a level above most games, and it made me think about the impact that cybernetic modifications can have. The dialogue "duels" were excellent too.

4. Bioshock Infinite - An emotional and complex story that felt like it had a lot of effort put into it. I easily prefer it to Bioshock 1, even though I never completed that game.

A game that I have not yet played but have high hopes for is What Remains of Edith Finch. And I hope to be able to play Sony's major story based games at some point. I've played a bit of Horizon and I found the dialogue to be superbly done.

I think the games I've listed do mostly stack up to many great movies or shows. But comparing movies with games on average? It's not close.

Have you played Eternal Darkness?

Yes, but I remember almost nothing of it at this point. But at the time it was the best story I had experienced in a game.

The issue I had when I played it was how utterly boring the story was presented! There were like 3-4 cutscenes in the entire game that actually felt like they had a proper director doing his work. The rest of the time it was people standing next to each other and talk in dull voices. I mean, you could write the best story ever, but without proper presentation it goes to waste. That's where I can say for myself I'd always prefer watching a medieval movie or read a medieval book over playing Witcher 3 solely for its story's value.

Agreed 100%.

 

[TheContact]

I’m biased but I love Xenogears story. I know they were heavily inspired by Evangelion, but they put their own twist on it and expanded a lot of themes and incorporated different psychologists’ theories into a coherent, yet complex and expansive story that spans episodes worth of content, similar to Star Wars.

number 2 is for sure Final Fantasy Tactics. Their take on the War of the Roses was incredible. Especially the re-translation from the PSP+ version.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

I’m biased but I love Xenogears story. I know they were heavily inspired by Evangelion, but they put their own twist on it and expanded a lot of themes and incorporated different psychologists’ theories into a coherent, yet complex and expansive story that spans episodes worth of content, similar to Star Wars.

It was inspired by multiple series in general and it had five games worth of content in one single title. It was rushed and partially unfinished and even so the quality still shines so bright 20 years on it's not forgotten.

 

[TheContact]

It was inspired by multiple series in general and it had five games worth of content in one single title. It was rushed and partially unfinished and even so the quality still shines so bright 20 years on it's not forgotten.

I’ve written so much about Xenogears I could compile a thesis on it.

xenogears was primarily inspired by eva; it’s virtually identical in plot. Xenogears does differentiate by also being inspired by Soylent Green, 2001 a space odyssey, Childhood’s End (krelian is a mistranslation of Karellen) the catholic church, Gnosticism, religion in general, and psychologists like Freud, Carl Jung, and Karen Horney. The game spans multiple episodes which can be explored by reading Perfect Works. Xenosaga attempted to explain parts 1 through 3, but given that Squaresoft owned the IP of Xenogears it had to be a spiritual retelling rather than an actual one. The localization of the game was literal hell. 8-4 play had a great interview with Richard honeywood who said that not only did he have an experienced team but a lot of them quit due to the nature of the content and he ended up doing most of the game by himself, and given that the game uses a lot of complex terminology it was even more difficult to translate. Disc 2 almost never happened. Squaresoft wanted to end it after disc 1 but the developers pushed them to let them finish it so that’s why disc 2 is almost entirely narrated and dungeons and content were cut.

 

[pantanovera]

Antman and Wasp is the best movie story for me.

 

[EightBit Man]

 

[its_Ditz]

.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

Best stories in games:

999 Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors
Ar Tonelico Trilogy
Ar NoSurge Plus
Chrono Trigger
Chrono Cross
Eternal Darkness
Final Fantasy 9
Final Fantasy Tactics
Lost Odyssey
Mass Effect trilogy
Night In The Woods
Nier Automata
Odin Sphere
Persona 4
Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology
Suikoden 3
Suikoden 5
Tales of the Abyss
Tales of Vesperia
The Last of Us
The Witcher Trilogy
The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine
The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone
The Wolf Among Us
The Walking Dead Season 1 and 2
Trails In The Sky Trilogy
What Remains of Edith Finch
Xenogears
Xenosaga Trilogy
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Torna The Golden Country
Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward






Best stories in books:

1Q84
Addicted to Curry
A Song of Ice and Fire
Bone
Berserk
Battle Royale
Bamboo Blade
Nine Stories by J D Salinger
The New Jedi Order
Middlesex
To Kill a Mockingbird
Different Seasons
Harry Potter Series
New X-Men by Grant Morrison
The Stand
IT
The Interpreter of Maladies
Kurasagi Corpe Delivery
Otherland Series
Neverwhere
The Stormlight Archive
Mistborn series
The Dark Elf Trilogy
Icewind Dale Trilogy
Myst Trilogy
I Am Legend
Ender's Game
Speaker For The Dead
Han Solo Trilogy
His Dark Materials Trilogy
Doctor Sleep
Outbound Flight
Welcome To The NHK
The Scar
All You Need Is Kill
Legacy of the Force series
Fate of the Jedi Series
The Hand of Thrawn Duology
Gantz
Claymore
Welcome To The Ballroom
Pet Semantary
Rhythm of War
Arcunam Unbounded The Cosmere Collection:
Dawnshard
Made In Abyss
Batman Creature of the Night
Middlewest
Batman Curse of The White Knight
The Witcher Sword of Destiny
Thor The God of Thunder



Best stories in movies/anime/tvshows:

Trick R Treat
Sleepy Hollow
Lincoln
Before Midnight
Before Sunset
Rosemary Baby
Raging Bull
Hellraiser
Books of Blood
Southbound
Before Sunrise
Weathering with you
Taxi Driver
Casino
The Half Of It
My Friend Dahmer
12 Angry Men
12 Years A Slave
12 Monkeys
1922
A Monster Calls
Aladdin
Annihilation
Avengers Infinity War
Avenger Endgame
Aliens
Apocalypse Now
Amelie
Blackkklansman
Batman Begins
Back to the Future Trilogy
Beauty and the Beast
Bourne Trilogy
Bridge to Terabithia
Creed
Coco
Captain America The Winter Solder
Captain America Civil War
Children of Men
Cool Hand Luke
Collateral
Donnie Darko
Die Hard With A Vengeance
District 9
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes
Dumbo (live-action remake)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Ex Machina
El Camino A Breaking Bad Movie
First Reformed
Fight Club
Goodfellas
Gone Girl
Garden State
Gladiator
Ghost In The Shell
How To Train Your Dragon
How To Train Your Dragon 2
How To Train Your Dragon 3
Her
Hellboy
Hellboy The Golden Army
Heat
Into The Wild
Inglorious Bastards
It’s A Wonderful Day In The Neighborhood
Jurassic Park
Klaus
Kill Bill Volume 1
Kill Bill Volume 2
Life of Pi
Logan
Lord of War
Mulan
Mad Max Fury Road
Magnolia
Midsommer
Moon
Minority Report
Million Dollar Baby
Munich
Moonlight
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
Perks of Being a Wallflower
Princess Mononoke
Pleasantville
Pan's Labyrinth
Pacific Rim
Phantom Thread
Ratatouille
Road to Perdition
Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man Far From Home
Spiderman Into The Spiderverse
Summer Wars
Seven
School of Rock
Stranger Than Fiction
Saving Private Ryan
Schindler's List
Sin City
Star Wars Episode 1
Star Wars Episode 2
Star Wars Episode 3
Star Wars Episode 4
Star Wars Episode 5
Star Wars Episode 6
Star Wars Rogue One
Spirited Away
Silver Lining Playbook
Seeking A Friend For The End Of World
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Three Kings
True Grit
The Big Sick
The Boy and The Beast
This is the End
The Godfather
The Godfather II
The Dark Knight
The Farewell
The Irishman
The Lion King
The Rock
The Matrix
The Little Prince
The Revenant
There Will Be Blood
The Prestige
The Truman Show
The Hurricane
The Emperor’s New Groove
The Terminator 2
The Land Before Time
The King’s Speech
The Green Mile
The Jungle Book
The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
The Shawshank Redemption
The Sixth Sense
The Iron Giant
Toy Story
Toy Story 2
The Lego Movie
Up
Up In The Air
V For Vendetta
Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust
Wolf Children
Whiplash
Wreck-It Ralph
Wall-e
X-Men 2
X-Men Days Of Future Past
Your Name
Dark
Chernobyl
Dororo
Tales From The Loop
Sweet Tooth
Superman and Lois Season 1
Servant Season 1 + 2
Modern Love
Loki
The Clone Wars
Fire Force
Dr Stone
A Teacher
Kaguya-Sama Love Is War
The Mandolorian
My Teen Romance Is Not What I Expected
Arrow Season 2
Bamboo Blade
Black Sails
Black Mirror
Breaking Bad
Castle Rock
Cowboy Bebop
Community
Channel Zero
Daredevil
Ergo Proxy
Fargo Season 1
Full Metal Panic!
Fringe
FMA Brotherhood
FMA
Ghost In the Shell SAC
Gundam 00
How I Met Your Mother
Hannibal
Kino's Journey
Master of None
Mindhunters
Monster
Person of Interest
Stein;gate
Samarai Champloo
The X-Files
The Flash Season 1
The Expanse
The Americans
True Detective Season 1
The Newsroom
Trigun
The Man In The High Castle
The 100 Season 2
Violet Evergarden
WELCOME TO THE N.H.K.
Welcome To The Ballroom


Yeah long list but these come to mind when it comes to favorite stories

 

[Cryio]

For best story in a video game, I'd say there is no point of contention: "Legacy of Kain". It's not a single game however, it's a franchise.

Otherwise, AMAZING stories PER GAME: Thief 1/2/3, Prince of Persia Sands of TIme / Warrior Within / Two Thrones / Metro games? / Assassin's Creed I / II / III / Cryostasis / Bioshock / II / Infinite / The Witcher trilogy.

Mass Effect ... the story in each of these games isn't all that, but it's the overall journey and stories along the way that make them what they are.