Your favorite video game stories

I think Silent Hill 2’s story is great. It’s mysterious and keeps you thinking until the final reveal which is one of the best twists in gaming! I also like the original MGS. That one also had some great twists and turns and was interesting from beginning to end. MGS also has great pacing. How about you, SW? What are your favorite video game stories?

Some favourites of mine are:

- Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth

- Chrono Trigger and Cross

- Metal Gear Solid 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5

- Final Fantasy 6, 7, 8, 10

- Dragon Quest 8 and 11

- Xenoblade Chronicles 1, 2, and 3

- Xenogears

- Death Stranding

- Elden Ring

- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom

None whatsoever, I don't play games for their stories.

Planescape: Torment is the one and only game I've ever played with writing on par with a good book.

Journey really gets how to best tell a story in a video game. A simple narative told mostly through the environment and gameplay, that still manages to evoke a strong emotional reaction.

Action-adventure

• Alundra
• Silent Hill
• Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
• Soul Reaver 2
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Adventure

• Portopia Serial Murder Case
• Corpse Party
• The Curse of Monkey Island
• Shadow of Memories
• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

RPG

• Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride
• Lunar 2: Eternal Blue
• Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals
• Final Fantasy VII
• Drakengard

Visual novel

• Higurashi: When They Cry
• Clannad
• Fate/stay night
• Steins Gate
• Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

Certainly the Zero Escape games. Talk about a plot that’s very out there.

Liked Goldeneye. Saw the movie in theaters two years prior, and I thought the game takes on Bond were very cool.

Resident Evil series, especially my favorite, which is the first one.

Beneath a steal sky also had many good conversational dialogues, that tell a story.

Half-Life, if only for the way in which the story is told.

I do love a good space opera, so Mass Effect 1-3 is pretty great.

I enjoy the lore and story of the Warcraft games.

Elder Scrolls stories are pretty great, some good side stories and Oblivion and Skyrim had some epic main stories.

Thief series is pretty great. Love Geralt.

• Deus Ex
• Mafia 1
• Half life 2 (the way it told)
• Max Payne
• Bioshock
• Metro 2033 and last light
• Metal Gear Solid

Halflife 2.

Yeah Half Life 2 comes to mind, the way it tells it's story with no cutscenes. I wish more games did it this way...

Same as Bioshock.

FF4 - Cecil dark knight to paladin working for a demon whos corrupting an empire was fun

FF6 - Love the espers vs empire vs returners characters are great here I love hearing about Kefka and how crazy he is everytime

FF7 - Love, cloud vs sephiroth like barrett and tifa the environment is cool love saving the planet with red xiii

FFTactics - Dark, Fun reminds me of Game of thrones just really epic scenes

Skyrim - I like the world and the quests and I think it fun shoutout to the black claw great intro story

Halo - Still can't believe how cool and how much fun this is to replay and learn more about the halo universe

Megaman X4 - I like how the repliforce army rebelled against humans and megaman and zero stand with humans

StarCraft

WarCraft

Diablo

Earthbound

Everquest

Cyberpunk 2077 with expansion

Fallout 1-3

Fable

• Half-Life 2
• Final Fantasy VII
• Chrono Cross
• Metal Gear Solid IV: Guns of the Patriots
• Fallout 3

Talos Principle

Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture

Journey

Stanley Parable

The Last of Us

Final Fantasy IX, VII, and X

Dark Souls

Halo: CE

Bioshock Infinite

Gris

Control

Bioshock and Tales of Symphonia are the ones that stand out the most (to me). Tales of Symphonia had betrayals, plot twists and lots of unexpected things. Bioshock had a plot twist that nearly made me fall out of my chair (would you kindly?).

KOTOR

FFIV

Mass effect...

Were probably most impactful fir me at different stages of life...

What I'd give to play KOTOR again for the first time.... 😭

Xenogears

Final Fantasy X

Final fantasy 7 including crisis core

Parasite Eve

Tlou

God of War

Final Fantasy 14. One of the stories that still sticks with me is that wealthy guy and his wife. He wanted to please her, which included lying to her. The commission one of our friends to paint them, and he paints the truth. The truth being him running around trying to please while, while she sits around and gains weight. He immediately fires our friend, though later on she meets up with us. She wants to rehire us and she basically says something along the lines of: "when I first saw that picture, it was quite a shock for me. Most people painted me as thin and beautiful, and they portrayed my relationship with my husband as ideal. Looking at your picture was a big contrast and it initially made me angry, but I also appreciated how you were the only one that told me the truth."

She ends up becoming friends with the guy. It was a lesson on how the ugly truth is more valuable than a beautiful lie. So many people lied to her and her husband, just because they didn't want to make them angry or offend them. Yet she ultimately appreciated the truth.

Final Fantasy 14 has many great stories, and I highly recommend playing it. Stories of corrupt religious figures, toxic love stories, stan culture and obsession gone wrong, the wealth gap destroying countries, etc.

Oh damn how could I have forgotten the Mass Effect trilogy. Excellent story.

Best game story this year is 1000xResist so if you like stories in games give it a look. Also check out A Star Named Eos.