Favorite video game stories!

[Bebpo]

So I just finished a replay of Silent Hill 2 for first time in a decade and despite the super cringy af Japanese -> English VA work and dialogue, man that is still a good fucking story. It's always satisfying to go through a really quality narrative that brings it.

I think for me some of the games that had really strong narratives were:

Silent Hill 2
Bloodborne
Tactics Ogre
The Last of Us
Metal Gear Solid 3
Read Dead Redemption 1

and in bloated and janky and pretty messy but the overall story underneath is quality:

Xenogears
Jane Jenson's Grey Matter (I like Gabriel Knight 1 better, but haven't played it in like 20 years and idk how the story holds up of if it's just fun pulp. Grey Matter actually had a pretty cool plot)

and in ANIME AF BUT AWESOME ANIME AF:

ZoE2

[paprikastaude]

I think Nier 1, Killer 7 and Virtue's Last Reward stuck with me the most (despite the animu in some of them). What really drives it home for me is that they do creative things beyond dialogue options that are only possible within the medium of games - unlike all these pretentious wannabe-movies like Uncharted, which don't work well as either games or stories. Also I like mystery and things that don't pull punches, so that helps for my titles.

[Bebpo]

Yeah, Nier 1 & Killer 7 are great stories (with great music too). I didn't like the VLR story though. Thought 999 was pretty great story, but didn't like the direction it went in VLR (And still haven't finished the 3rd one).

Demon's Souls (like it better than Bloodborne)
Baldur's Gate 2 (not 1) *with* Throne of Bhaal
(hated the story in Planescape so it gets no vote)
Sanitarium
System Shock
Deus Ex 1 (wacko 90's X-Files conspiracy level, tho)

Probably missing some great 90's adventure game but they are all a blur.

JRPGs by definition have garbage storytelling so not a single one gets my vote. None of FF, DQ etc.

Man I need to reply Demon Souls sometime, I don't remember the plot being all that memorable honestly. Mostly enjoyed it for the gameplay. It wasn't until Dark Souls that I really got into the plot with Souls.
I also really need to play most of the stuff on your list. Been in my backlog forever.

[Bebpo]

Uncharted's a fun game, you play for the Indiana Jones action adventure experience, not for the plot. I like Uncharted games and the goofy dialogue but wouldn't ever say they have a good story. Uncharted 4 taking the story more seriously was a bad decision.

Last of Us is their narrative game. Hopefully 2 turns out well.

[HardcoreRetro]

I have a soft spot for games that are critiques on the medium disguised as a game.

No More Heroes
Hotline Miami
Spec Ops: The Line
The Kane and Lynch games.

[Himu]

My top game stories are Silent Hill 2, Tactics Ogre: LUCT, Grim Fandango, Suikoden 2/3, and Killer 7.

In my personal opinion of course, Silent Hill 2 is the greatest video game story ever made. Lots of people might say Planescape but much of Planescape is text which could easily be done in print. Silent Hill 2 is unique in how it portrays its story via nothing but visuals, dialogue, and player choice. It’s a uniquely video game experience. Every enemy has a backstory and relevance to the plot and contain their own layer of symbolism and this goes beyond Pyramid Head. The fact that the ending changes depending on what you do in-game, such as going to the menu a lot or checking the letter a lot, the multiple endings, and the level of player interaction make Silent Hill 2 ascend to the greats of the medium that is presented in a way that only a video game could articulate. This is without touching the messages, subtext, symbolism, and themes contained within it.

[Great Rumbler]

NieR: Automata [one of my favorites from the past few years]
Planescape: Torment [A lot of CRPGs from this era had good stories/writing, but this one sticks with me the most]
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines [game's jank, but the stories and characters and world really nail it]
Divinity: Original Sin 2 [DOS1 was kinda meh in terms of story, DOS2 was far more interesting]
Mass Effect 1 [arguably the least good in terms of gameplay, the ambition of the story and world at the time has stuck with me over the years]
Sam & Max Hit the Road [every single line in this is imminently quotable and how can you go wrong with a story about a dog and a bunny hunting down an escaped bigfoot and his giraffe-necked girlfriend?]
The Dig [explore a strange new world with a reporter and a crazy German scientist!]
Space Quest 5 [4 is probably my favorite overall, due to being really good and having voice-acting, but 5's somewhat darker story gets the nod here]
Bioshock [I know it's basically a meme at this point, but I still really like what OG Bioshock did in terms of story and world-building]
Analogue: A Hate Story/Hate Plus [SJW propaganda, but it's good SJW propaganda!]

I could throw in another 10 that I like, but I'll leave it at this.

[Himu]

Also, I don’t consider them top of the top but I have a special place in my heart for FFVI, VII, VIII, IX, X. And MGS1 and 3.

As much shit people (probably rightly) give FFVIII I still can’t  think of an rpg, Japanese or otherwise, with better story pacing. The first disc alone puts you on an international military mission, a military mission helping terrorists steal a train cart, weird time travel shit involving Laguna, and an elaborate assassination plot. The second disc involves a war between the same organization, a prison escape, and coup. Disc three takes you to space.

FFVIII is always action-packed and pushes the story forward constantly. Whether you don’t like the story or not I think most can at least give it credit there. More games could and should learn from FFVIII’s pacing.

[Himu]

Other favorites that I could add are Fallout New Vegas and Shenmue 1/2. I am so invested in the story of Shenmue that III’s announcement made me cry tears of joy. Of course, in the end, I’ll probably cry tears of sadness because III will likely be shit. The only other game that could get me to do that is a Suikoden VI announcement.

Fallout New Vegas has some of if not the best balance of great writing and player choice I’ve seen in a game.

[paprikastaude]

Uncharted's a fun game, you play for the Indiana Jones action adventure experience, not for the plot. I like Uncharted games and the goofy dialogue but wouldn't ever say they have a good story. Uncharted 4 taking the story more seriously was a bad decision.

Last of Us is their narrative game. Hopefully 2 turns out well.

Indiana Jones is about Mr. Cool Adventureman who gets pulled into shady conspiracies and kills a few nazis along the way. Uncharted has a bunch of cringe hipsters who murder thousands, because they decide looting is neat and the developers didn't know how to make sensible gameplay for their trite story.

[paprikastaude]

As much shit people (probably rightly) give FFVIII I still can’t  think of an rpg, Japanese or otherwise, with better story pacing.

Chrono Trigger is 20 hours long and has complete satisfactory character arcs, plus a more diverse set of fullfledged scenarios and gameplay situations than most RPGs twice as long.

Forgot about CT.

 

[Himu]

Forgot about CT.

[Tasty]

SH Shattered Memories was pretty good.

[Rahxephon91]

I maybe a weeb and have bad taste, but..

Asura's Wrath-I actually think the story is rather well done for the mythological epic meets shounen anime thing it was going for. There's nothing amazingly deep here, but the troupes are all well presented. Yasha and Asura's friendship makes for some good emotional punches and Deus is a rather good villain.

Final Fantasy X-People can give me shit for this one, but its honestly a good story for a jrpg. Good leads with some relatable teen angst that approaches some depth. Great world building and a well paced and eventful plot.

Quantum Break-I just think the time travel twists and turns this game has are pretty fun with a plot and world so well thought out and expanded on.  It just kept me glued. Again an actual decent villain goes far.

Horizon-I mean it's nothing great, but I enjoyed unlocking what Zero Dawn was and so the entire mystery was worthwhile to me. Aloy is a fun character as well.

Metal Gear Solid 1/2/3-I mean I really don't think much needs to be said about these games.

Persona 5-I just loved this game ok.

Witcher 3-I don't know if the story is good so much as the characters and world being good. Though I do like the main story of Hearts of Stone a lot.

[toku]

Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer

[Nintex]

These spring to mind

Nier Automata - AW YISSS
Witcher 3
Metroid Prime - The logs about Tallon IV were a story in itself. Really detailed compared to 2 and 3
Half Life 2 + Ep 1/2 - The story telling in Half Life 2 and its Episodes was amazing
Deus Ex: Human Revolution / Mankind Divided - This is really just one great story
Fire Emblem Echoes - I was surprised at how much I like the story of a Famicom remake
Mass Effect 1 + 2 - Don't sleep on 2, the illusive man was such a great character my dream would be to have an office that has a view onto a burning star 
The Wind Waker - It was a weird sort of melancholic game in terms of story but I loved it

[The Sceneman]

I'd say Nier 1 and Killer7 are my all time faves.

Shout out to Spec Ops: the Line as no one else mentioned that. Was pretty impressive to play a military shooter which questioned ethics and made you think

[Human Snorenado]

Pac-Man

spoiler (click to show/hide)

All vg stories are trash, they can only either detract from the gameplay or get out of its way

[close]

[Mr Gilhaney]

Silent Hill 2 made me believe game stories could be cool and good. and then since then, almost everything failed to get close to it. The story itself isn't the most original, but it's told such a great way through the game, both with cutscenes, but also through notes, symbolism (especially the creatures and locations) and so on. Fantastic. Silent Hill 4 is also criminally underrated in this regard, although the gameplay itself can be frustrating, the whole story and concept is amazing.

Mother 3 is however also very cool and good. It is just so extremely well written and full of charm all the way through. I can not stress enough how everyone who hasnt played this, should fire it up with an emulator on their pc/phone/ipad/whatever.

Grim Fandango is another one with a lot of charm, that I just loved.

To the moon as well, although that barely qualifies as a game I admit.

[Mr Gilhaney]

So I just finished a replay of Silent Hill 2 for first time in a decade and despite the super cringy af Japanese -> English VA work and dialogue, man that is still a good fucking story. It's always satisfying to go through a really quality narrative that brings it.

While it certainly shows that barely any of them had their real work as actors, I absolutely love the voice acting in the game. The dreamy vibe and way of talking is quite unique to it and absolutely done on purpose. Playing the HD collection with the new voices really gives a huge change in tone to the game, and someone Troy Baker even if being a great voice actor, is fucking terrible as James. It destroys the atmosphere completely when they all do more traditional voice acting in the game. That the original cast worked with the actual devs making it, and straight up had a say in the story at times is a big reason why it ended up as it did I think. If you listen to any of the many podcasts or video interviews with Guy Cihi, he tells quite a bit about the creative process with it, and how especially he had long arguments with the devs about every single detail when it came to the voice acting and way of talking.

I've never heard of random fucking actors having that much of a say in the creative process. Their discussions is also why there for example is only a Japanese version of the dog ending. Guy Cihi refused to record it in English, and only agreed to do it in Japanese later, as he thought it was really dumb. The devs explained to him that the Japanese audience loved it, so his counter argument was that then they didnt need him to do anything but a Japanese voice for it.   

[tiesto]

I still think Xenogears is the most impressive story in any game.

Phantasy Star series, Nier, Mother 3, Dragon Quest 5 and 7, Suikoden 2, Silent Hill 2, 999, MGS2, Digital Devil Saga 1-2, Planescape and Ultima 4 are some of my other favorites.

[tiesto]

Demon's Souls (like it better than Bloodborne)
Baldur's Gate 2 (not 1) *with* Throne of Bhaal
(hated the story in Planescape so it gets no vote)
Sanitarium
System Shock
Deus Ex 1 (wacko 90's X-Files conspiracy level, tho)

Probably missing some great 90's adventure game but they are all a blur.

JRPGs by definition have garbage storytelling so not a single one gets my vote. None of FF, DQ etc.

Whaaaa? You didn't think DQ5 or 7 had good storylines? Man...

But then again you ripped on one of the few western game storylines I was into so I dunno

[Himu]

Demon's Souls (like it better than Bloodborne)
Baldur's Gate 2 (not 1) *with* Throne of Bhaal
(hated the story in Planescape so it gets no vote)
Sanitarium
System Shock
Deus Ex 1 (wacko 90's X-Files conspiracy level, tho)

Probably missing some great 90's adventure game but they are all a blur.

JRPGs by definition have garbage storytelling so not a single one gets my vote. None of FF, DQ etc.

Whaaaa? You didn't think DQ5 or 7 had good storylines? Man...

But then again you ripped on one of the few western game storylines I was into so I dunno

Borys refuses to play Suikoden II. So

It's his fault.

[bork]

[HardcoreRetro]

Since none of you has mentioned any walking sims yet, let me say: "SOMA is easily the best of the bunch."

Dealing with age old sci-fi trope of "What does it mean to be human?" but exploring it in a more interesting way through the interactivity of video games.

The Talos Principle also deals with similar themes and has the better writing of the two. Both can stand on their own though.

[MMaRsu]

Lol I was just about to say SOMA

[Nintex]

A few more

Resident Evil 4 - Had a really fun story with interesting characters for a horror game
Link's Awakening - Such a charming tale
Pikmin 3 - Again a charming light hearted story
Assassins Creed 2 - Ezio's arc is the best story in any Assassins Creed game and possibly why it is considered the best in the series

[HardcoreRetro]

The Stanley Parable fits that critique on games game mold as well. Fun game.

[Don Rumata]

Silent Hill 2 is the goat (also my favourite videogame in general so...) and i agree SH4 is underrated, but RDR2 recently had a really great story and, for once, a really good pace.
I think it's 10 times the game RDR1 was, on all accounts.

[Svejk]

Lunar: SSS always had a special story to me. (Sega CD version) Some would call it cliche and unoriginal, but I found it highly enjoyable and emotional in a classically, traditional sense. 

[Cryo]

since y’all love SH2 so much, what’s the best way these days to play it in terms of systems and/or emulation?

[Himu]

since y’all love SH2 so much, what’s the best way these days to play it in terms of systems and/or emulation?

Ps2 greatest hits or Xbox version.

[Rufus]

since y’all love SH2 so much, what’s the best way these days to play it in terms of systems and/or emulation?

PC, if you're willing to patch it up:
http://www.enhanced.townofsilenthill.com/SH2/

[Himu]

Holy shit. Does it have greatest hits ps2/Xbox content?

[Don Rumata]

Holy shit. Does it have greatest hits ps2/Xbox content?

Yeah.
It's currently the best way to play the game.

Also wanted to give a shout out to Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (and its direct sequels), really cool story, writing and world building in general.

[Himu]

Soul reaver hd when

[toku]

used to spend hours reading legacy of kain lore online. That Soul Reaver intro still stuck in my head.



"The descent had destroyed me, and yet, I lived."

 

fact that he did it because he's a petty asshole whew. That drum roll score too.

[Himu]

Wait, soul reaver is on Steam.  I looked at some gameplay footage and I forgot that 2/3 of the game is pushing blocks. Yuck. Good story tho

[benjipwns]

Blendo Games' Library

Especially Gravity Bone, even if the smash cut to the title in Thirty Flights of Loving is the best ever.

[HardcoreRetro]

The Oddworld games.

[Don Rumata]

Wait, soul reaver is on Steam.  I looked at some gameplay footage and I forgot that 2/3 of the game is pushing blocks. Yuck. Good story tho

Shit port tho.
Can't use a controller and it's based off of the ps1 version instead of the dreamcast one (which had massively improved assets).

[Himu]

So dc is still the superior the version. Got it.

[MMaRsu]

(Image removed from quote.)(Image removed from quote.)

But..Curse..