Game Franchise(s) with the richest lore?

[Lt._nefarious]

Silent Hill has quite great storyline all in all but it's relatively simple and not incredibly deep. Halo has quite a rich lore as does Gears and Resident Evil (yes, really) but you've really got to go through the novels (graphic or otherwise) to get it. The amount of Lore in WoW is about on par with the amount of hentai there is of it (lots.). Tomb Raider has lots of Lore, although it's mostly all horse shit in my opinion.

I'm gonna say the series with the richest lore is probably Warhammer 40K, for obvious reasons...

 

[Pink Gregory]

For a setting created specifically for games, I think the Warcraft universe takes the prize. Its only issue is WoW's necessary "gameplay first" mentality, which results in some retconning of older games and inconsistencies. Despite this, I think it's one of the most fleshed-out and flavoured high fantasy setting out there.

Is is Warcraft in which Orcs somehow come from the moon?

 

[thesilentman]

Dark Souls, but you have to look for it as it won't throw you in directly.

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

I really, really like the depth of the lore that the Darksiders series possesses.

 

[Nikolaz72]

I'd say World of Warcraft for the richest lore in any videogame.

 

[PPB]

For a setting created specifically for games, I think the Warcraft universe takes the prize. Its only issue is WoW's necessary "gameplay first" mentality, which results in some retconning of older games and inconsistencies. Despite this, I think it's one of the most fleshed-out and flavoured high fantasy setting out there.

Is is Warcraft in which Orcs somehow come from the moon?

More or less. Orcs came from a planet called Draenor [http://www.wowpedia.org/Draenor]. It's not "the moon" though.

 

[DJjaffacake]

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.

 

[mitchomegranate]

The Elder Scrolls Series. Now, I've played mostly Oblivion, a good bit of Skyrim and touched on Morrowind. The amount of lore contained in these three games is crazy. With the main story lines (political wars, demon invasions etc.) along with the minor quests with Daedra Princes or the numerous guilds. I've also read one of the books, The Infernal City (highly recommended) and in that book alone, there were so many references to Morrowind and Oblivion's lore and then had a whole new story line of it's own. This franchise definitely has the richest lore.

 

[Warped_Ghost]

-Dragon Age
-Mass Effect
-Fallout
-Elder Scrolls
-Deus Ex
-Warcraft
-Halo (except Halo Reach where everyone who read the books wants to forget)
-Starcraft
-What Bioware did with the KOTOR era of Star Wars

 

[lRookiel]

The forgotten realms games (Baldurs gate, Icewind dale).

 

[Esotera]

It's probably got to be Elder Scrolls or World of Warcraft. But I'd also say that Halo has a lot of lore, more than most people realise.

 

[Cannibal Johnson]

Warhammer 40k. It started in 1987 and the universe has been growing since. There is too much to even name, the different factions (Necrons,Tyranids,Orks,Eldar,Tau,Imperium) have enough back story to fill entire novels and maybe even more.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Some MMO. Don't know which one but thee fact that they have continually write and rewrite lore to keep it going makes me inclined to think they do more.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

Legacy of Kain series has a tonne of lore, I cast that as my bit to add.

 

[Snowblindblitz]

Dark Souls for me, followed by WoW, Elder Scrolls, and Dragon Age.

Also, I love flavor text for items in game, like Velkas Rapier from Dark Souls, the rings that belong to the Four Knights of Gwyn, etc. Just, make my weapons and armor mean a little more. Even if it is just saying that chainmail is common armor in the human world.

Cannot have enough flavor text, love it in M:TG too.

 

[Vausch]

The Ultima series... pre IX.

 

[Mordekaien]

Legacy of Kain series has a tonne of lore, I cast that as my bit to add.

+1 this. That series needs another game!


I'll go with Kingdoms of Amalur too. The story is dumb as hell, but boy is the world fleshed out. Especially those lorestones that give you informations about myths and legends. I like this exploration aspect of the game. Also, it gets bonus points for using irish mythology as inspiration.