What's the best story game you've ever played?

I know there are some games which stories just changed all. Stories that got us involved in for a very long time. Those stories became a really important part of your favorite video games library.

I'm just thinking about video games I really enjoy because their stories are simply amazing. This is my Top3.

- Last of us.

This story of a surrogate father and daughter fighting for personal survival, forging bonds, and looking toward the survival of the entire human race is at times triumphant and others painful.

- The Witcher.

The kind of story you will enjoy playing for 200 hours. No doubt. It's a complex but classic story of knights, witches, magic, gods, betrayals, transformations, and love. Put everything together and let the story both hits and subverts fantasy and adventure. You can't blink your eyes or you'll loose something important.

- Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Probably the best game I've played in my whole life. Not only for the story (it's not another Link story more), but also for what it means to me (my early times playing video games).

Obviously, there are much more games to talk about (Bioshock, for example). What are these games you love playing because of their stories?

Probs RDR 2. It’s set the bar in terms of narrative.

Love all of the examples you gave though. Some truly excellent storytelling. Particular Wild Hunt.

Are any of them as compelling as the TV series Hell on Wheels?

Top five for me would be:

1. Chrono Trigger

2. Chrono Cross

3. Mass Effect

4. Final Fantasy VIII

5. Final Fantasy VII

Yakuza, Yakuza, and again, Yakuza...

Yeah! RDR2 is another awesome choice.

Well, actually they are. Indeed, these examples are a really good narrative constructions, each every one on its way.

I've always been more FFVII than FFVIII. BUt I have to admit both stories are pretty cool.

Am I wrong if I say that Yakuza reminds me of Shenmue?

@steve5xg

have you seen Hell on Wheels or are you just saying its just as good because it feels good to say that?

@tryit: yo asked me if the games I listed were compelling, didn't you? I did not see that TV serie, but I truly believe these games are compelling. It's not about telling you something just because it would sound cool. I just played these games and that's what I think about them.

no..that is not what I asked you

@tryit: OK, so I repeat it: I never saw that serie, but I think these games are compelling.

I will repeat it only one more time because I dont want to get pinged for spamming. I would rather you read it correctly the first time

Are any of them as compelling as the TV series Hell on Wheels?

that is a comparative statement, the first part as compared to the second part

@tryit: OK.

Xenogears and Silent Hill 2.

Storytelling is one thing, story itself is another. They may not have had the best storytelling, but they had a unique story that really wasn't done before or since. So many games these days rely on extremely high production values to amazingly tell a dull, boring story. I can appreciate them for different reasons, but I wouldn't consider most modern games to have an amazing storyline.

not done before as stories or not done before in games. because outside of games there is a lot of stories.

I assume you mean never before in games

Yeah, RDR2's story & character development is pretty epic.

But I think I'd still give the edge to Witcher 3. But there are plenty of games that come close such as Mass Effect trilogy, Half-Life 2 & Bioshock etc.

in your view of character development being 'epic' as you say, how does it compare in your mind to non video game stories?

It'd probably have to be TLoU. Not the most original story for certain, but extremely well-executed, paced, and acted. It's the only game I've ever shed a tear over. Second to that would be Ori and the Blind Forest (simple but sweet), then RDR 2. The story in and of itself isn't all that remarkable (outlaws on the run attempting to survive as the law and civilization closes in around them), but R* did a outstanding job of creating unique and relatable characters and allowing the player to bond with all of them, for better and for worse, through camp and mission dynamics. It lent the ending more potency.

Yakuza 0. I don't think I've ever been so emotionally invested in a game's story.

Resident Evil and Silent Hill 2. They're both genuine video game stories in the sense that their narrative implementation is designed to non intrusively reflect a player's sensibilities to a satisfactory degree. And while the former is less sophisticated, I find the modular narrative, reliant on exposition delivery through multiple playthroughs, to be masterful. I wish these development sensibilities wouldn't have faded in favor of the more contrived approach prominently exemplified by the titles showcased within the OP.

Silent Hill Shattered Memories always sticks with me I love the psychological horror of the game and the ending twist.

@tryit: Hard to say... I just think the interactive and immersive nature of games sucks you into the world more than other forms of media.

I just don't get the same emotional response from other media. But that's just me.

hmmm odd, myself and everyone I know its the opposite when it comes to story telling. They feel story telling in other media is much better than story telling in video games. To be clear, we love video games...but for reasons not realted to the story

Can’t say I’ve ever followed a story in a videogame as I spam the A button to skip the cutscenes.

@hrt_rulz01:

Wild Hunt’s setting definitely gives it a lot of advantage in terms of the stories that can be told.

I think part of RDRs strength is the VA performances. The acting in RDR is also some of the best I’ve seen in a video game, definitely better than Wild Hunt (in general terms, both are great) IMO but the bump in visuals and facial rendering particularly, helps RDR with that.

I guess Wild Hunt is the sort of story I want to be told if I have the choice. RDR is the story I didn’t know I wanted and then impresses the Hell out of me.

@tryit: Hmm fair enough... each to their own I guess.

@mistervulpes: Yeah I generally agree.

Planescape: Torment has the best story of any game I've played, with maybe Soul Reaver in second place. But I say Super Metroid has the best video game storytelling. It's a simple story told mostly through visual cues, which I think is the perfect way to do this in the medium. Planescape tells a better story, but most of it is conveyed through written prose. Soul Reaver's is also better, but it's told through cut-scenes.

But you specifically asked about story games, so I guess my answer is Planescape :)

Not in any order:

The Legend of Zelda OoT.

Final Fantasy X

Popolocrois

The Last of Us

Psychonaughts

Kanon (Visual Novel)

There’d be more but those are the ones that come to mind.

I generally don't care about story in games. If I can skip the cut scenes I will. I grew up on games with little to no story. Atari games didn't have stories neither did nes games. Games that are overly cinematic bore me to death. I'm an older gamer so most video game stories seem immature and aimed at younger people. I like Dark Souls because they don't shove a story down my throat. I like Metal Gear because the story makes no sense to me. If the gameplay is fun and the game has cool art that's all that matters to me. Art is the most important thing to me in video games. I like to see creativity. I'm not a fan of realism in games either.

The Bloody Baron side quest (yes, side quest) in The Witcher 3 was the most compelling bit of game story I've ever experienced in my life of gaming. I felt so much sympathy for so many of the characters involved, but also disgust. It was emotionally ambiguous, felt weird, and was scripted and acted well.

I've had some emotional moments in games before, but that took the cake and then some. And when you pile the rest of the game on top of it, well, it's easily the best story in gaming period.

Mass effect 2

Wing Commander 4

Final Fantasy 7

A Night im the Woods

Silent Hill and This War of Mine

I ever considered Ocarina of Time a story focused game, but to each his or her own.

The Last of Us cannot be beaten not when it comes to story. Apart from this I feel Uncharted 4 had a great story as well.

GTA:SA just cause all I had to do was follow the damn train.

BioShock Infinite

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Star Wars: The Old Republic

Yeeeaah!!

So many people just recommend me to play Yakuza 0. Maybe I should give it a try, right?

@danielpacheco: “crimes?”

@vaidream45: Crimes???

Halo 3

Definitely intrigued me the series still does.

Last of us is a game that I try and play every year. It's atmosphere suits the game so well and the character development between Joel and Ellie is brilliantly done

I think the story in GTAV was pretty good. Michael living a "care-free" life when his criminal past finally caught up to him. Small-time crook Franklin getting a chance for bigger scores while struggling with he idea of leaving his friend behind. I replay GTA5 mostly for the story. It's very compelling with various plot-points starting out separately and convering.

Last of Us has a very good story. And Detroit:Become Human had a good story and interesting philosophical dilemmas.

Psychonauts

Her Story

Undertale

The Uncharted Series have a really good narrative and send the blockbuster vibes with interesting stories. I also liked Horizon Zero Dawn action rpg as the story has quite a few twists and the plot changes once or twice which really gets you thinking. I think that story driven games are very important along with a mixture of challenge involved in them.

I loved the stories in the Professor Layton Games. They are puzzle games and yet seem to blend a detective mystery and that element of surprise.

Yeah I agree. I was pretty shocked the first time I played it.