RPGs with good, enjoyable plots (for game writing)

[Bebpo]

Having some insomnia and just finished Sen no Kiseki II/Trails of Cold Steel II's main plot and am a bit bummed that I didn't like the overall story the Sen/CS games told whereas the past Kiseki/Trails stories were good.  So decided to put a list together of rpgs from the last couple of years that I played that's pretty simple and just "did this game have a good storyline"; not did it have oscar quality writing, not is it well written like a book, not was it a good game; because at the end of the day I play rpgs for the same reasons I read books, for a good story, and I'll put up with a lot of bad stuff in a game if the story is at least interesting, engaging and overall satisfying.  But also just because a game doesn't have a good story, doesn't mean it's a bad game or I didn't like the game overall.  Like loot games are great and tons of fun but their stories suck and I don't care.

Did this RPG have an enjoyable, non-disappointing story?

KH BBS = Yes
KH 3D = No
DQIV = Yes
DQV = Yes
DQVI = Ehhhhh
Zettai Hero Project = Yes
Resonance of Fate = Yes
Xenoblade = Yes
Xenoblade X = No
Alpha Protocol = Yes
Last Ranker = Eh
Tales of Graces = No
Tales of Zesteria = No
Valkyria Chronicles = Eh
Devil Survivor = Hell Yes
Devil Survivor 2 = Yes
Mass Effect = Yes
Mass Effect 2 = Yes
Ys Origin = Eh
Ys' IVr Celceta = No
YsVII = No
Fallout 3 = Eh
Fallout: New Vegas = Yes
Criminal Girls = Yes
The Third Birthday = Hell No
The Last Story = No
Catherine = Yes
Tactics Ogre Remake = Hell Yes
Disgaea 4 = Zzzz No
Super Robot Wars Lord of Elemental = No
SRW K = Yes
SRW Z2.1 = Yes
SRW Z2.2 = Yes
SRW Z3.1 = No
SRW Z3.2 = No
SRW 2nd OGs = Yes
SRW 2nd OGs: Dark Prison Expansion = No
SRW UX = Ehhhh
SRW BX = No
SRW Alpha 3 = Ehhhh
Trails of the Sky FC = Yes
Trails of the Sky SC = Yes
Trails of the Sky The 3rd = Yes
Trails of the Zero = Hell Yes
Trails of the Azure = Hell Yes
Trails of Cold Steel = No
Trails of Cold Steel 2 = Ehhhhh
Trails of Nayuta = Yes
FF Type 0 = Ehhhhhh
Diablo III = No
Barkley Shut up & Jam Gaiden Ep1 = Yes
SMTIV = Ehhh
Pokemon Y = No
FFXIII = No
FFXIII-2 = Ehhhh
Ryu Ga Gotoku Isshin = Yes
Shadowrun Returns: DMS = Yes
Bloodborne = Yes
Dark Souls 1 = Yes
Far Cry 4 = Ehhhh
The Banner Saga Ep1 = Hell Yes
The Witcher 1 = Ehhhh
Exist Archive = Yes
Grim Dawn = No

Feel free to list some games with enjoyable stories.  Always a bummer to put 50-60 hours into an rpg story and it ends up being disappointing in the end.  That's a lot of time!  Feel the same way about books and TV shows.  At least with movies you only wasted 2 hours if it ends up being disappointing story-wise.

[tiesto]

For pure plot (not characterization), these are my favorite:

Japan:
Xenogears, Phantasy Star 2, Phantasy Star 4, Suikoden 2, Mother 3, Digital Devil Saga 1/2, Trails in the Sky/SC, Chrono Trigger, Live A Live, Terranigma, Dragon Quest 5, Dragon Quest 7, Valkyrie Profile, Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume, Panzer Dragoon Saga

West:
Ultima 4, Witcher 1 (haven't played 3 yet), Planescape, Mass Effect 1

Also not RPGs but I liked the stories for 999/VLR

[Cerveza mas fina]

Witcher 3:  goat
Pillars of Eternity : so far so good
Fallout 4: No
Dragon Age Inquisition : lol no
Dragon Age 2: no
Dragon Age 1: ok
Oblivion: no
Skyrim: no

[Rufus]

Planescape: Torment: Yes, I still love it. All around great, though the content dries up after Sigil, what's left is high quality.
Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer: Yes, very esoteric though. No need to play any other Neverwinter game.
The Witcher 3: Yes, but more so for the telling and the world.
Dragon Age series: no, but the character interactions are genuinely great.
Grandia: Greatest sense of adventure in any RPG I've played.
Deus Ex: Corny, but fun. Lots of detail, much of which is not spelled out for you.
Persona 4: Yes, because murder mystery with demons. Not so hot on the high-school visual novel part. Or the pace.
Morrowind: Plot and characters, no. Lore, yes.
Star Wars: Knights of the old Republic 2: It's all about Kreya, really. Great Sith design, also.
Baldur's Gate 2: For Jon Irenicus, another stellar villain.
Mass Effect 2: Fun "assemble a team" romp, but to me also the beginning of the end for that franchise (analogous to Dragon Age, side-stepping things, rather than building on and improving the first game)
Fallout: New Vegas: For the wealth of options. (I need to go back some time and play a complete idiot with 2 INT.)

There are still a LOT of games on my backlog and in my list that I haven't touched. What a sad compilation. :C

[Great Rumbler]

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Some of the best writing, voice acting, and quests in any RPG. Big downside is that the combat is total garbage.

[D3RANG3D]

Oblivion - Main story is shite but, the Dark Brotherhood, Thieves Guild, and Shivering Isles. 

Morrowind - The Lore

Skyrim - The Daedric Quests

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I pretty much didn't like anything else about Skyrim. 

[close]

Nehrim: At Fates Edge - The story in this is actually pretty good, dat Kim Waifu/Husbando. 

The Witcher - It has one of the best RPG stories period.

VTMB - What the dog said.

Dark Souls - I like the minimalistic nature of the lore, I'm not sure if that's the right word for it, but fuck if it isn't satisfying.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Two Worlds - Any story that unironically talks about taint in an overly serious manner is awesome in my book.

[close]

[Positive Touch]

off the top of my head i can remember liking the mass effect trilogy, panzer dragoon saga, and final Fantasy x a lot. had good characters and well - built worlds

[Human Snorenado]

Please remove arpgs like Diablo and Grim Dawn from this list. Anyone who plays those for the story (or doesn't skip the story shit, actually) is a moron.

[Joe Molotov]

Criminal Girls = Yes

We're all just pretending like we didn't see this, right? 

[Human Snorenado]

Criminal Girls = Yes

We're all just pretending like we didn't see this, right? 

"Forget it, Joe. It's Bebpotown."

[Tasty]

Pokemon Black/White

[D3RANG3D]

Criminal Girls = Yes

We're all just pretending like we didn't see this, right? 

Criminal Girls = Yes

We're all just pretending like we didn't see this, right? 

"Forget it, Joe. It's Bebpotown."

(Image removed from quote.)

 

[mormapope]

Please remove arpgs like Diablo and Grim Dawn from this list. Anyone who plays those for the story (or doesn't skip the story shit, actually) is a moron.

I feel this way with 99.9% of RPGs. Japanese or Western/European.

Its easily arguable that a story can be entertaining/enjoyable but be shit. This is every Final Fantasy game ever, every Tales game, Dragon Age, Mass Effect. Even isometric RPGs that have decent writing amount to tons of info dumps about backstory or motivations.

Trying to write a story that spans 20 or 30+ hours aligned with gameplay, bosses, side quests, and there aren't huge swaths of the story that are shit is probably the one of the hardest creative undertakings possible. 

[Rufus]

Well, that's the basic assumption for every video game story discussion. I like to think so, anyway.

[mormapope]

In general though, most RPGs have never had combat that challenges what other genres have to offer. Main outliers for me would be Dark Souls, and Dragon's Dogma. Also, while an action or action adventure story will last for 14-16 hours max, most RPGs double or triple that amount.

Very rarely does a RPG hook me in with its story, and most of them need that hook for there to be any purpose in playing
 

[Fifstar]

For vidya: World building (and characterization to a lesser extent) > plot 

[TakingBackSunday]

I really liked Final Fantasy X's story 

[Bebpo]

Please remove arpgs like Diablo and Grim Dawn from this list. Anyone who plays those for the story (or doesn't skip the story shit, actually) is a moron.

I said as much in my OP!

That being said, I don't see any reason why a loot arpg can't have an enjoyable story as well.  Doesn't have to be A++ writing depth or lengthy, but why can't someone make an interesting plot concept?  I thought Grim Dawn could've been interesting, but the quests and story were zzzz

Criminal Girls = Yes

We're all just pretending like we didn't see this, right? 

Haha, was waiting for someone to point that out.  Game was pervy and embarassing for sure, but I remember surprisingly enjoying the somber storyline.  Plus the battle system was legit since it was by Etrian Odyssey Niinou.  Didn't play the sequel since Niinou didn't work on it.

[The Sceneman]

Barkley Shut up & Jam Gaiden Ep1 = best videogame story of all time

FTFY

[Rufus]

ARPG stories are there for flavour. Quests are purely a means to an end in those games, as you're 'meant' to play them forever, skipping anything you can.

[Joe Molotov]

Criminal Girls = Yes

We're all just pretending like we didn't see this, right? 

Haha, was waiting for someone to point that out.  Game was pervy and embarassing for sure, but I remember surprisingly enjoying the somber storyline.  Plus the battle system was legit since it was by Etrian Odyssey Niinou.  Didn't play the sequel since Niinou didn't work on it.

 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I've Platinum'd it.

[close]

[bluemax]

In general though, most RPGs have never had combat that challenges what other genres have to offer. Main outliers for me would be Dark Souls, and Dragon's Dogma. Also, while an action or action adventure story will last for 14-16 hours max, most RPGs double or triple that amount.

Very rarely does a RPG hook me in with its story, and most of them need that hook for there to be any purpose in playing
 

One of the reasons I love Breath of Fire Dragon quarter is because it is one of the few JRPGs where every encounter feels like it actually matters. I suppose when you constrain in game resources more so than an early Resident Evil game it forces players to actually think.

Of course then everyone shits on you and you end up making a mobile game 10 years later with your dead franchise.

[pilonv1]

Divinity: Original Sins - The main story no, everything else yes
Risen 1 - no but that's the point
Risen 2 - even worse, but that's the point
Risen 3 - there's a trend here

[tiesto]

In general though, most RPGs have never had combat that challenges what other genres have to offer. Main outliers for me would be Dark Souls, and Dragon's Dogma. Also, while an action or action adventure story will last for 14-16 hours max, most RPGs double or triple that amount.

Very rarely does a RPG hook me in with its story, and most of them need that hook for there to be any purpose in playing
 

One of the reasons I love Breath of Fire Dragon quarter is because it is one of the few JRPGs where every encounter feels like it actually matters. I suppose when you constrain in game resources more so than an early Resident Evil game it forces players to actually think.

Of course then everyone shits on you and you end up making a mobile game 10 years later with your dead franchise.

Dragon Quarter was 10 years too early, I think people would be much more appreciative if it was released (of course with more modern production values) today. Or even if there was a more traditional BOF released around the same time as it with Dragon Quarter becoming its own spinoff series.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Please remove arpgs like Diablo and Grim Dawn from this list. Anyone who plays those for the story (or doesn't skip the story shit, actually) is a moron.

hey