Games with great stories

jill_valentine

Silent Hill 2. Bonus points for how cleverly integrated the story's gradual reveal is to the gameplay. Incredible stuff.

Potential-Monke

Legacy of Kain Series. Haven't aged too well, but the narrative and voice acting is some of the best you will ever find!

Kiith

Baldurs Gate 2 and System Shock 2 for me stand out, as they have two of the best villians we've ever had in games. Irenicus and Shodan/Xerxes were brilliant, and having a proper enemy can really improve the story.

Penn

Portal 2 actually has a really great story underneath it all. So simple but kinda beautiful too.

The overall Assassin's Creed story is pretty good too, but especially Assassin's Creed 2.

And out of all the GTA games, The Lost and Damned DLC has a really great story. Great characters, a great theme, a very likeable protagonist. Just fantastic.

sin0city

Some of my favourite have already been mentioned but here's a few more:

Nier
Dragon Age
Red Dead Redemption
Sleeping Dogs
Fallout 3
Uncharted Series
Assasin's Creed (while Ezio was the protagonist)

Retr0gamer

More people need to play Nier.

More people also need to stop saying Heavy Rain had a good story. Same with Mass Effect, it was the same fantasy story of an ancient evil returning and nobody believing the protagonist until it's too late transposed into space. See Shining Force, Game of Thrones, Riftwar Saga, Final Fantasy IV etc.

MitchKoobski

Retr0gamer wrote: »

More people also need to stop saying Heavy Rain had a good story. Same with Mass Effect, it was the same fantasy story of an ancient evil returning and nobody believing the protagonist until it's too late transposed into space. See Shining Force, Game of Thrones, Riftwar Saga, Final Fantasy IV etc.

Sorry for enjoying them.

sweetie

The alan wake games and dlc had good story and the bundle is mega cheap on pc and xbox at the moment.

Retr0gamer

MitchKoobski wrote: »

Sorry for enjoying them.

Didn't say they weren't enjoyable, I enjoyed them, in particular Mass Effect but in no way was the story all that.

ConFurioso

keith16 wrote: »

Man, I'm not convinced about the PS Plus...basically when the sub runs out, I don't get to play the game anymore? That right?

If you have a playstation and 50 quid a year to spare, it's completely worth it. Especially if, like me, you like to play through a game and then shelve it.

I have a ridiculous backlog of games to play on it and couldn't be happier about it.

Sorry, off topic.

Prodigious

Halo?

Retr0gamer

Prodigious wrote: »

Halo?

sin0city

Retr0gamer wrote: »

More people need to play Nier.

More people also need to stop saying Heavy Rain had a good story. Same with Mass Effect, it was the same fantasy story of an ancient evil returning and nobody believing the protagonist until it's too late transposed into space. See Shining Force, Game of Thrones, Riftwar Saga, Final Fantasy IV etc.

Just because the overarching plot line has been done before doesn't make it any less great in my opinion. I know some / a lot of the plot can only be explained by space magic too but for me it's the quality of the characters, their interactions and the way the story's told that make it a great story. And as Mickeroo said, it's one of the most immersive games I've ever played.

The production values are ridiculously high too, I spent ages just watching the dancers in the citadel. And it's got Mordin Solus.

When he started singing it just blew me away.

Dacelonid

I would have to add another vote for Alan Wake. I started playing it, and treating it as just a generic run and gun type game and didn't really enjoy it but about half way through, I finally got it and understood that it wasn't a game as such, it was a novel. Started it from the start again and enjoyed it a lot more.
Haven't played the addon yet, want to go back and finish it on nightmare first

Mickeroo

sin0city wrote: »

Just because the overarching plot line has been done before doesn't make it any less great in my opinion. I know some / a lot of the plot can only be explained by space magic too but for me it's the quality of the characters, their interactions and the way the story's told that make it a great story. And as Mickeroo said, it's one of the most immersive games I've ever played.

The production values are ridiculously high too, I spent ages just watching the dancers in the citadel. And it's got Mordin Solus.

When he started singing it just blew me away.

Yeah lack of originality is irrelevant when the story is so well crafted imo. And it's the characters that really made the game for me.

Grimebox

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Homeworld

The first mission was spectacular, then nothing really happens after that to be honest

Burgo

Penn wrote: »

Portal 2 actually has a really great story underneath it all. So simple but kinda beautiful too.

The overall Assassin's Creed story is pretty good too, but especially Assassin's Creed 2.

And out of all the GTA games, The Lost and Damned DLC has a really great story. Great characters, a great theme, a very likeable protagonist. Just fantastic.

Assassins creed was ruined for by the

ALIENS!

and the terrible plot twist reveal.

While I enjoyed GTA 4 to an extent I didn't find any of the playable characters likeable at all they are all a bunch of psychotic murdering assholes!

Mickeroo wrote: »

Got both of those recently myself, looking forward to getting into them.

check out the mods, in particular the mods for kotor 2, a lot of cut content has been restored.

I'd throw metro 2033 in too.

NotorietyH

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Didn't say they weren't enjoyable, I enjoyed them, in particular Mass Effect but in no way was the story all that.

For me it was the side stories and individual character stories that made Mass Effect for me.

Same with Fallout 3. The main plot was no great shakes, but the side stories and some of the characters were great.

The worlds in both games were fascinating places to be and the back stories were very rich so I would classify them as having great stories.

sin0city

NotorietyH wrote: »

For me it was the side stories and individual character stories that made Mass Effect for me.

Same with Fallout 3. The main plot was no great shakes, but the side stories and some of the characters were great.

The worlds in both games were fascinating places to be and the back stories were very rich so I would classify them as having great stories.

Long time since I played Fallout 3 but I still remember Reilly's Rangers and that guy who was a tree. Think it had the best sense of exploring I've seen in a game too. Just didn't know what you were going to come across.

noodler

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Didn't say they weren't enjoyable, I enjoyed them, in particular Mass Effect but in no way was the story all that.

You can't really sum up Mass Effect's story like that.

They way the story was told was important. The history etc between the different races, the Prothean leagcy yada yada. Reducing the story to one sentence does not do it any justice.

NotorietyH

sin0city wrote: »

Long time since I played Fallout 3 but I still remember Reilly's Rangers and that guy who was a tree. Think it had the best sense of exploring I've seen in a game too. Just didn't know what you were going to come across.

I loved Mass Effect but no game has ever pulled me in as much as Fallout 3. Played through it twice to 100% completion. I hadn't played Oblivion or really any other open world RPG in years, nor the first two Fallouts, so the story, exploration, atmosphere everything just took me completely unawares and really got its hooks into me deep. I nearly didn't buy it because I'd played the first hour or so of Oblivion when I first got my PS3 and just couldn't get into it. Picked it up on a whim. Got into Oblivion since, after Fallout getting me familiar with Bethesda's RPGs. Not big on fantasy so never got too involved in the story whereas the world of Fallout was a huge appeal for me.

the incredible pudding

Alpha protocol is only worth playing for the story and the manner that you choose your responses through it. One of the few games where all your choices seem to genuinely matter. Pity the gameplay is a bit rubbish (especially the first couple of hours or so) but you then become overpowered pretty easily (tip: pick pistols and stealth) and can just breeze through it after a while.

Retr0gamer

noodler wrote: »

You can't really sum up Mass Effect's story like that.

They way the story was told was important. The history etc between the different races, the Prothean leagcy yada yada. Reducing the story to one sentence does not do it any justice.

There really isn't that much too it. An ancient evil is returning. They wiped out an ancient race. You've got an assortment of space orcs (varren), space elves (salarians), space dwarfs (krogan) and space harlots (asari). It also sees the return of all your favourite Bioware characters from previous games:

http://www.gamesradar.com/recycled-characters-you-see-in-every-bioware-game/

It's a fun story based on an old template that never rises above schlock sci-fi but if you are going to say it's thought provoking drama I won't be there backing you up.

ancapailldorcha

The same templates are bound to be reused but actually being able to affect the story is excellent incentive for multiple playthroughs.

Mickeroo

Retr0gamer wrote: »

There really isn't that much too it. An ancient evil is returning. They wiped out an ancient race. You've got an assortment of space orcs (varren), space elves (salarians), space dwarfs (krogan) and space harlots (asari). It also sees the return of all your favourite Bioware characters from previous games:

http://www.gamesradar.com/recycled-characters-you-see-in-every-bioware-game/

It's a fun story based on an old template that never rises above schlock sci-fi but if you are going to say it's thought provoking drama I won't be there backing you up.

Nobody said it's thought provoking to be fair, just that its really good.

johnny_ultimate

Here's to the visual novel - the genre that proudly blends literature and gaming with the emphasis on the former. I'd highly recommend Analogue: A Hate Story - an intriguing, well written psychological space drama in which all you do is read and talk to a pair of AIs. It's strange, compelling and often quite provocative in its themes and narrative.

It was kind of lost in all the hyperbole surrounding the Walking Dead (not a bad offering at all, I should stress) but for my money Virtue's Last Reward offered an altogether deeper story. It's the rare game that wants to intellectually engage you - it's mad, pulpy sci-fi narrative actually masks a very involved deconstruction of gaming form and theory. It takes the established rules and world of its predecessor and electrifies them, with the ideas reaching their true potential in the process. Let's hope part three's puzzles are a just a tad less infuriating.

riclad

I enjoyed the story of enslaved ,
it has 1 male character,a younger female character traveling thru a post Apocalyptic america.
ITS abit like bioshock infinite in the future,
she s by your side, but you do all the fighting.
ITS a very good scifi story with a great twist in the end.
I thought the 2 characters were better than bioshock,
in regard to emotional interaction,
and realistic facial expressions and conversation.
The actor who did gollum plays the main character.
Since theres mostly 2 human characters in it,
the voice ,acting is of a very high standard.

ITS a bit like the last of us , travelling thru a wasteland of destroyed buildings which are overgrown and collapsing.
The story is very original ,ie not an average video game cliched story
.
She talks alot, gives you ,advice help , which makes it more interesting.

ITS The best or most realistic, ai i,ve seen in a npc character ,
since half life 2.

FortuneChip

The overall plot in Tomb Raider is good (nothing too original) but Lara's character arc in it is really good. Some really scenes.

The Uncharted Series all have really fun stories. Nathan Drake is definitely one of my favourite game characters. Even as you're just doing routine things in the game like climbing or getting in to one of many shootouts, his little comments here and there really keep it fresh.

MGS3 is also great. It's almost like a cold war Bond movie, theme included!

Retr0gamer

Tactics Ogre on the PSP has an amazing story. It's a fantasy retelling of the Yugoslavian war. There's some really heavy issues in there especially when it deals with ethnic cleansing.

Lu Tze

Bladerunner was class,good story to it, was more of a movie tie in than a clone of the film