Video game stories have come a long way since the “Defeat the villain and save the princess” days.
What games would you say have great stories? I just got all 5 main endings for NieR: Automata, and WOW, what a rollercoaster that game is.
Braid seems like it’s the classic “save the princess” story, but all is not what it seems…
I remember Wasteland had a pretty involved story. It literally came with a hundred page book, about a third to a half of which was false info designed to mislead you if you read through the book without playing in search of clues. It’s amazing they would even bother going to that length, but it’s so well written even the false narrative is compelling.
Undertale is good too.
Some that leap to mind (in no particular order and certainly not exhaustive):
- Disco Elysium
- BioShock
- Witcher 3
- Portal 2
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Grim Fandango
- Mass Effect 2
- The Last of Us
- Zork (?) …been ages since I played that so grain of salt
The original Halo had a pretty solid story, with lots of backstory it built on.
This gets into the question of what counts as a “great story”. Plotwise, it wasn’t much, but the performances by the various narrators (especially GLaDOS) just completely sold it.
Yeah…the whole game is a masterclass in game making. I agree the story is barely there but in a concise way and, as you suggested, delivered extremely well. It’s short but some of the best 10 hours of gaming out there.
But, the story is minimal so maybe not an answer for this thread which I suspect wants a story with more substance to it.
That said NieR: Automata is very different from all the games I listed. The OP may want something else (I dunno). And, IIRC, the story in NieR: Automata is kinda weird too (in a good way…but weird).
I really liked the way the story was revealed in Horizon: Zero Dawn. You spend your time among the ruins of the ancient past, which roughly corresponds to the near future of our present day. Every area you explore has its own small narrative, which you uncover through data files, video and voice recordings. So in this expansive anthropological adventure, you experience what the past crew went through in real-time. What you uncover, these simple stories of past humans coming to terms with the end of civilization, is haunting. Some of it is so well written I had to look up whether it was based on a book.
But these small narratives each give you more information about the larger narrative, and finally it all unfolds into a Big Reveal to understand what the hell is going on in the present day.
I’ve never seen this done before in any medium and I’m not sure it could be done in anything but a video game.
I found it masterful. While I appreciate the sequel, Horizon: Forbidden West, it doesn’t have the same feel. That narrative is much more focused on the present.
Fully agree with HZD as having a fascinating and compelling story, beautifully structured and revealed. A truly great narrative experience.
Also agree that the sequel is good but not as good.
My all-time favorite game story remains the Mass Effect trilogy.
Best game stories I’ve enjoyed are:
- Planescape: Torment
- Final Fantasy VI
- Disco Elysium
- Portal 2
- Persona 4
- The Walking Dead
- Mass Effect Trilogy
I’m playing Batman: Arkham Asylum.
We need more games like Arkham Asylum and NieR: Automata, and fewer games that are glorified interactive movies.
Final Fantasy IV. It uses a lot of the classic tropes, but they were done very well and in many cases for the first time for video games.
Two not mentioned yet that come to mind.
Half Life 2
Metal Gear Solid*
*The first one. It had a tight streamlined storyline. The first two Metal Gear games didn’t have much of a story over all, but were a nice set up for a world that really expanded in Metal Gear Solid.
Unfortunately, MGS 2 and even more so MGS 4 were just all over the place. Kojima really needed an editor for those.
MGS 3: Snake Eater had a good story as well. While not as tight as MGS 1, it felt more like MGS 1 than any of the others.
I thought the main plotline of Mass Effect 2 was probably the weakest part of the game. Some of the companion side stories were pretty good, though. And the final mission was cool.
I think all of the Batman: Arkham games fall into this category (with a caveat: I haven’t played the newest one, Gotham Knights).
They all have pretty deep stories, usually with compelling villains (Titan Joker notwithstanding), and some nice lore and Easter eggs for the fans.
My first and third favorites out of the entire Square Enix corpus. Final Fantasy XV is number 2, largely because of how much of a spiritual successor to FFVI it is.
I thought Cave Johnson was excellent. Not as much character development as GLaDOS, but some really brilliant dialog.
Final Fantasy was ok, but then it turned out to be the biggest lie since The Never-Ending Story.
I forgot that one. Definitely add it to the list.
And the story did chart the decline of Aperture Science. They start off using top men in their testing, test pilots, veterans, and the like, and eventually end up paying hobos $20 to work for them. A classic tale of corporate overreach and collapse, while still refusing to admit they’ve ever made a mistake.
Final Fantasy IX, Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2, and the Mass Effect Trilogy.