What are your top 5 Best Story in gaming?

@poe13: I understand exactly how you feel. Sometimes I feel like I have a problem when it comes to buying games too. Like if I buy one game in a series I have to have them all. I have a thing for collections lol. And when you beat a great game like The Witcher 3 or Horizon Zero Dawn you end up scrambling trying to find something that can compare to it

@valgaav_219: Yeah, I never had vices like drugs, alcohol, gambling, etc. But gaming, well, I've poured thousands of dollars into this silly hobby for over a decade. So this is my vice. Thing is, I'm really lacking interest in playing games now. I don't really have a good-paying job and I have a degree that I'm pumping lots of money into the student loans for to shrink the debt. So there's the anger at myself for putting playing these amazing games as first priority over actually trying to move forward with my life and then there's all the shit that's been going on in gaming since, I don't know, late 2000s with the DLC, season passes, political correctness, microtransactions, and for the most part, overblown games that have you just complete a laundry list of stuff and throw in a run-of-the-mill story to boot.

I'm trying to make Red Dead Redemption 2 be the last game I get for a long time. I know I'll never be able to break from this hobby because for as much as it sucks in my personal case, it's still something that's fun to do to pass the time (what else am I gonna do? Watch netflix all day?). But I really do need to go on a long break from this. That emptiness feeling is all too true. And not worth $60+ a game for.

@poe13: I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe you might need a break. I've never been happier with gaming, though. I've been making it a habit to buy a lot less games and actually start clearing my backlog and it's a wonderful feeling. Once I have Dragon Quest XI, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Kingdom Hearts 3 I probably won't be buying anything else for a while. I probably won't be thinking about any other games until we get an Anthem release date tbh

@valgaav_219: ah it is what it is. Like Led Zeppelin sang, “nobody’s fault but mine” lol.

As far as writing, my top pick is and probably always will be Planescape: Torment. But while the story is excellent, Planescape kind of fails as a game. The gameplay is weak and is constantly coming to a stop to dump prose on you.

Super Metroid and Shadow of the Colossus are some of the best examples of how to tell a story in a video game. A simple story with minimal exposition here and there, then have other clues and details shown visually.

Then somewhere in between would be System Shock and the first Metroid Prime. The story is there for the player to find organically through old e-mails, scans, or computer readouts. This allows the writers to tell a story while still giving the player some agency in the matter.

1. Silent Hill 2

2. Metal Gear Solid 2

3. The Last of Us

4. Metal Gear Solid 4

5. Final Fantasy 7 & 8

Mother 3

The Legend of Zelda the Wind Waker

The Last of Us

1. Xenogears (Ps1) (most meaningful story gets the top spot)

2. Final Fantasy 4 (SNES) (my overall favorite cast in a game ever)

3. Lunar II Eternal Blue (Sega CD) (so fun and so weeb I just love it)

4. Final Fantasy Tactics (Ps1) (oh that ending is unforgettable)

5. Disgaea 1 (Ps2) (cause sometimes a fun story is a great one)

1) Silent Hill

2) Rule of Rose

3) Super Mario Bros. 2 (you just don't understand)

4) Haunting Ground

5) FF8

.....some of these change time to time, but at the moment this is my list.