Game Franchise(s) with the richest lore?

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thesilentman

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Jun 14, 2012
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bullet_sandw1ch said:
thesilentman said:
Dark Souls, but you have to look for it as it won't throw you in directly.
one question i have: was the dark souls world always messed up, or was it normal at one point?
Normal until the intro to Dark Souls, which details some deities throwing the world out of whack. I'm also on my first playthrough so far, so that's what I got. :)
 

BathorysGraveland

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From what I've played, I'd have to say Elder Scrolls and Mass Effect (generic answers, sure) have the most well-written lore and fleshed-out universes. The Witcher has a pretty good one as well, though it was originally a book franchise so I don't think it counts.
 

Soviet Heavy

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Jan 22, 2010
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Teh Star Wars. While the movies can pick and choose what they want to acknowledge, the EU generally tends to stay consistent with each other. Hence, KOTOR and KOTOR 2 are involved in the entire EU, acknowledging the likes of Exar Kun, Freedon Nadd, and having connections to Darth Bane.
 

perkl

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Mar 15, 2011
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War in the Pacific. World War 2 has to have more written about it than anything else in human history. This game is the most detailed, most mechanically perfect attempt at recreating the Pacific war from 1941 to the bitter end. Thus it must have the most lore.
 

Terminate421

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Warped_Ghost said:
-Halo (except Halo Reach where everyone who read the books wants to forget)
s
The journal I got with that legendary edition completely filled any gaps. Also I fucking loved the books.
 

RoonMian

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Mar 5, 2011
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If were counting in games that are based on lore published in other ways then I am sorry, you are all wrong because:

http://www.perry-rhodan-game.de/index.php?lang=en

Based on the longest continuously running science-fiction franchise of the world started in 1961 and currently being at issue number 2760. :D
 

skywolfblue

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Jul 17, 2011
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DustlessDragoon said:
World of Warcraft has a crazy amount of lore...
/seconded

You could probably put 10 of the biggest singleplayer RPGS end to end and still not have the quests, books and history that WoW has. It it a massive game.
 

poxyrom

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May 6, 2012
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The Elder Scrolls. Definitely.
Anyone who doesn't think so should go have a read of some of the in-game books.
Did anyone know that the Bosmer are carnivores? And that any animal they kill, they must eat, including other elves? How about the tale about the Dwarf who hid in a mech suit and tricked the nords into thinking he was on their side before defeating them? How about the fact that Breton are avid partyers or that Aragonians have no concept of time?
There's just so many little details of Nirn that have been established over the years, the lore is so deep.
 

DoPo

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Jan 30, 2012
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skywolfblue said:
DustlessDragoon said:
World of Warcraft has a crazy amount of lore...
/seconded

You could probably put 10 of the biggest singleplayer RPGS end to end and still not have the quests, books and history that WoW has. It it a massive game.
Well, OK, I'll take you up for it - if you're talking books, I really should mention Bloodlines and WoD again. I'm looking at this page [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book:Warcraft] which tells me there are about 30 instalments over various media for WC (videogames, books, comics, and other games). I'm looking at my VtM book collection and I see around 100 of them, give or take. That's only VtM, though - no Dark or Victorian Age and no novels. I believe the novels alone outnumber the WC instalments, then we have the the two singleplayer RPGs and the TV series.

Need I bring up Planescape: Torment or Shadowrun?
 

RaikuFA

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Jun 12, 2009
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Shin Megami Tensei has to be mentioned. The demons span from Roman/Greek Mythology to Hinduism.

Plus, it's got a bunch of spinoffs that expand on the universe.
 

ImperialSunlight

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hazabaza1 said:
Not a franchise, but a game: Dark Souls. Check out ENB's videos on it, shit goes fucking DEEP.
Absolutely this. The amount of information you can find in the game is amazing if you really try, and it isn't just rich in volume. There are so many strategically placed holes in the lore, so many unanswered questions, that it leaves room for some of the best speculation I've seen in a community.

[link]http://www.youtube.com/user/epicnamebro?feature=results_main[/link] http://www.youtube.com/user/quelaag?feature=results_main

Otherwise, The Elder Scrolls, Dragon Age, Runescape (Laugh all you like, the lore stands up), Demon's Souls (of course) and Dishonored are all great contenders.

Oh, and Pokemon, too.
 

Imperioratorex Caprae

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May 15, 2010
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Evil Smurf said:
distortedreality said:
Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect and Fallout come immediately to mind. Deus Ex as well (although not on the level of the previous three).

The KoToR series has a ton of lore which wasn't part of Star Ware lore previously I think.
the extended universe is not cannon :/

Sid Meier's Alpha Centuri has a decent amount of lore
Since every EU novel/game lore has to be approved by Lucas, I'm pretty sure its canonical. There's strict guidelines for writing in that universe, so I'd say its definitely canon. Although the SWOTOR lore irks me a lot since there are Chiss present in that time period yet they claim in the current timeline to have never had contact with humans until Thrawn/Car'Das met. Of course that could just be racial obfuscation...
Anyway, if it weren't canon then Lucas wouldn't care what people wrote.
 

Soulsarse

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Oct 5, 2010
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nice to see I'm not alone in thinking GW(40K and WHFB) especially since Warcraft was initially a clone of WHFB :D ....yeah I do expect some vociferous denials but, it is what it is so suck it up WoW fans and respect the origins of your game (I do admit it's come a long way but to me it'll always be a clone)
 

phreakdb

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May 1, 2009
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Alas. Poor ignored Mechwarrior/Mechcommander and the Battletech Universe. Someday, people will understand that you are much more than giant rockem sockem robots
 

Vausch

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GSP66 said:
Vausch said:
The Ultima series... pre IX.
Same here.

Oh Ultima IX please go die in a hole far away.
You see Spoony's review of it? I think he got up to 90 some odd "BETRAYAL!"s with the continuity and lore errors in the first half hour he played.
 

RedDeadFred

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May 13, 2009
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This has already been said many times but I'm gonna go with the Elder Scrolls. There is a baffling amount of lore and it's all very interesting.
 

Mycroft Holmes

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Sep 26, 2011
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Richest is an interesting word because it's so subjective. It does not necessarily mean most detailed\complete(which would probably go to one of the Warhammer franchises) it does not even necessarily mean most expansive lore(Which would probably again go to a Warhammer franchise or perhaps D&D)

I would have to say that for me the 'richest' would be from Fallout. There's a lot of lore to it, and it's very interesting and unique. I feel that with a few more games(not likely) Arcanum could be number one for me in that regard. It just feels like it had so much room to expand upon. Would have been highly interesting to see the Arcanum 2 that troika never completed. Was originally supposed to have a Journey to the Center of the Earth type theme.

DJjaffacake said:
Dragon Age. A few hours into DA:O I became convinced that there must have been several previous games, because I just couldn't comprehend that much lore being dreamt up for one game.
Most of it is just European History with fantasy tropes injected into it and a dash of Tolkien. So it's not so much 'dreamt up' as copy pasted and then someone went through it with a thesaurus of fantasy words.

Orlais is France, Ferelden is England, Antiva is Spain\Italy, Rivain is Morocco, the Free Marches are the German states. Anderfels is the Western Roman Empire(Holy Roman), and the Tevinter Imperium is the Eastern Roman Empire(Byzantine.) They barely even change the allegory of the Catholic Church and Jesus' death. The Elves function as gypsies and Jews. The story of the destruction of the Elven homeland is essentially the diaspora of the Jews when the Romans(Tevinters) expelled them from Israel. The Qunari are the Ottoman empire and the original expansive Muslim Caliphates.

Even most of the buzz words they use are taken directly from history: Apostate simply means someone who has left behind a religion, and was a term used to brand people as heretics from the Catholic Church. Maleficar is just a very slight derivation of the Latin word for 'witch.' And a Chantry chapel is literally already something that exists, where a priest or group of priests would sing songs for a worthy cause such as for the soul of a church donor.

The allegory of the Golden City is basically the Tower of Babel with Mages and pseudo-orcs. They took the inquisition and the Knights Templar almost without change. The spirits and demons are angels and devils. And blood magic is hardly a new concept, the Jews smeared blood above their doors to ward off the Angel of Death in Egypt. The Mayans routinely performed blood letting(usually by cutting either the ear lobes or the penis/vagina with a knife. They very rarely actually did human sacrifices) in order to renew the world tree with their blood and to keep the 3 tiers of the world from collapsing in on themselves(which is actually what is supposed to happen in 2012.)

Which isn't to say it's bad. Most fantasy lore is assembled from mythology and history. I would just personally give more credit to game lores that combine things in unique ways and do a better job of disguising their sources.