I’m in Planescape: Torment withdrawal (I should dash this and add a synonym, but I can’t think of one as appro- fitting. Dammit). I picked up BG and BG2 at a bargain price, started playing, and got pissed that the plot so far is not yet evident. Plus, being used to playing the Nameless One kind of spoils one for dungeon crawls.
So, can someone recommend me other computer games with plots? I’ve got Fallout, Fallout 2, Deus Ex, and the Thief games. And they must be PC, or old console, as I have only my computer.
You could try “System Shock 2”. I wasn’t crazy about it, personally, but if you liked “Deus Ex” and the “Thief” series it might be your thing.
“No One Lives Forever” was surprisingly entertaining. It’s definitely a FPS and not an RPG, but it’s very story-driven and has better characterization than you usually see in an FPS.
Depending on how far you want to go back, you could try an adventure game – “Curse of Monkey Island” or “Grim Fandango” for instance.
You could also try some of the PC ports of the “Final Fantasy” games. Final Fantasy IX was my favorite, but it never got a PC port.
Sacrifice has a decent basic plot, and you can mix-and-match the levels you play to get a lot of different single-player experiences and sub-plots.
I’ll give a vote for the Gabriel Knight series. I’ve seen the third (Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned) still in stores, but finding the other two may be a bit tricky.
No One Lives Forever 2 is out!!! …in America. It sounds like I’m gonna have to wait a while to play it here. Anyway, if the demo and reviews are anything to go by that’s your ticket. Really deeply integrated story, very much fun to be had.
Oh, and it runs better than the first one on my computer (oddly enough). New engine and all.
If you liked the Fallout games you really should try Arcanum. It has it’s flaws, but it’s a big open-ended RPG like Fallout 2, it has a storyline that can go different directions depending on whether you are good or evil. It has a really interesting and well thought-out setting, as well (a fantasy world that is experiencing an industrial revolution).
I like how you can make the storyline progress with very different playstyles. The first time I played I made a human character with the ‘Son of a Shopkeeper’ background, with high personality-related skills, excellent firearms skills, and decent mechanical skills (I ended up wishing I had put those points into something else as I ended up spread too thin to make the really good guns until I had already had access to them through other means). I ended up assembling a large party of various types (the higher your Personality, the more followers you can have) and managed to talk my way through a lot of situations, but depended on my followers when things went nasty because my character wasn’t terribly strong in a fight. The game played completely differently when I was an evil Elven necromancer with the ‘Sold your Soul’ background (which makes you more powerful magically but makes good characters suspicious of or downright hate you, and keeps your alignment from rising above neutral). In the first one I took my time, slowly building up my wealth and equipment by doing various good subquests, and not able to advance past some points in the plot until I had gathered lots of strength and followers, when I was the evil necromancer it was a lot easier in some ways and I got rich very fast (killing and robbing storekeepers), but I only had one follower, the good priest who thinks that you are the reincarnation of his god, and he slowly became evil himself from my influence. There were whole new avenues of play opened up for me because of my character’s differences, while other options were not available to me.
There was an adventure game that came out a couple years ago called “The Longest Journey” that had a fairly good storyline, as well as some very good atmosphere.
It was also pretty long, as in 13 chapters(plus prolouge and epilouge) spread over 4 CD-ROMs.
Interesting blend of Sci-Fi and fantasy.
The Metal Gear Solid series of games has a long-running and highly confusing plot.
While you can’t have any huge impact on the plot in these two platformers, I have to say I love the backstory! You can impact the outcome slightly with your game style, but its not what you would call an interactive plot. Abes Oddysee and Abes Exoddus (sic). The premise behind the games is hysterical.
I’ll second that. These may well be the only computer games with novel-quality plots and characters.
The first two games can be tracked down on eBay and half.com…that’s how I got 'em.
BG2 is ok storywise but of course nowhere comparable to Planescape Torment (I do not believe in ever finding another game like this one) Final Fantasy might make the pain bearable thought, I liked VI, and VIII for PC, VII never caught my breath but people swear its a great game…
Apart from that Revenant makes a nice placebo, a crossbreed from RPG and beat em up genre.
I think the best story in a computer game ever was Grim Fandango.
About halfway though Mafia here. It gets really cliched in parts but the designers have really approached the game from the side of story first, game second.
I’d recommend Xenogears,for the simple fact that i’ve never seen a game include the oedipus complex before so you know the game is deep. (watch the opening cinema and you’ll understand about 40 hours in)
Amazing game overall,and yes the religious symbolism gets a bit heavy handed at times,and one scene is so absurd it has become infamous(Chu-Chu died for your sins…)but you should play it at least once if you love RPGs.
I’m going to counter this. The first 20 hours are good. Thereafter it bites the big one. This game is so silly it makes me sick. I like Squaresoft, and I like this game, but it (a) was done really, really, badly, and (b) moves WAY too slowly.
This game isn’t deep, its pretentious.
Pretentious? yes…
But even you admit you lke the game despite its many flaws.
For a video game it was a great plot,would i be as forgiving to a book? No.
And Krelian was one of my favorite villians ever in a game.
Well, to suggest a possible non-obvious game, you might try Alias Underground from abc.com. Can’t beat the price. (free)
Now, I know this game doesn’t necessarily include much of a story, but if you are a fan of the show, you’ll possibly appreciate the atmosphere and nuances.
More of a PSX game, but lately I’ve been playing a game called Final Fantasy Tactics and so far the Plot has been pretty twisty. A bit hard to follow at times, but interesting.
Final Fantasy 7 has the best story of them all.
If you have the chance to play Chrono Trigger (originally for Super Nintendo, but I think that it got a remake for PSX) you won’t be dissapointed. I think this game has the best story, and the gameplay is excellent.
FF7 definately. Although you probably are’t going to be able to find it, Terranigma for the SNES has about the best plot I’ve ever seen. FF3 for the SNES is also great.
Half-life is a first person shooter with a plot.
I’ll think up some more later.