Games with a truly compelling storyline

[Graustein]

Fire Emblem. The story and plot are nothing short of fantastic, to the point where I was playing more to see what happens next than for enjoyment of the gameplay (which in itself is nothing to be sneezed at by any means).

If you're a fan of games with good stories, Fire Emblem is the way to go. No other game has managed to suck me in as far.

Spoiler: Examples from FE10

When Elincia knelt in the middle of a battlefield to stop the fighting, I admired her bravery.
When Ranulf revealed the identity of The Black Knight, I was truly shocked. I stopped and re-read what I'd seen to make sure it was true.
When Pelleas asked Micaiah to kill him, it took me a long while to decide whether or not to do so. I decided against it, because I thought that's really what Micaiah would do.

Another excellent game story-wise is Mother 3. While the actual story is great, what's even better is the delivery. The final battle in particular ranks high among my favourite endings to a game, because of the emotional whammy that it deals.

 

[scnj]

Indigo Prophecy, The Darkness (except the final chapter)

So, you say The Darkness' final chapter was weak, yet you don't mention Fahrenheit's nosedive into nonsense in the second half?

 

[Eric the Orange]

Final Fantasy Tactics:War of the Lions.

I also like its visual style.

 

[letsnoobtehpwns]

i LOVE the grand theft auto 4 story line. it feels like i know nico bellic. and persona 4 story line is really something, high school kids trying to find out who is murdering people by pushing them into a t.v. world, just amazing!

 

[Higurashi]

Mass Effect has been so very compelling.
I need to get KotOR, as I have played both that and the sequel and enjoyed them greatly.
Bioshock had a satisfying story in a way, and the atmosphere did a lot, but the lack of structure ruined the experience, so I have not finished it out of boredom.
Skies of Arcadia obviously got me good; one of the best games ever.
The Tales series are so alike, but the story does it's job.
The story in FF2 is quite cool, and Fallout 2 has to get some points for compelling story as well.
Of course, the Curse of Monkey Island is too fun not to bring along. Man.. makes me think of how many good games there actually are.
Edit: Holy hell.. how did I forget Fire Emblem? Same thing here as with the Tales series, but Fire Emblem (the first one to come to Europe) for GBA was awesome, even story-wise. I enjoyed Path of Radiance immensely, even if the story is a bit cheesy to be honest, on reflection.

 

[Anniko]

Baldur's Gate 1&2, Fallout 1&2, Arcanum, Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines, Planescape: Torment, System Shock 2 (although that's more atmospheric than compelling), Deus Ex.

Fallout 3 has plot holes large enough to drive the Enterprise through, Mass Effect is the same as all Bioware stories, Bioshock is a direct ripoff of the SS2 storyline except without the RPG-lite gameplay.

 

[PersianLlama]

I thought Grim Fandango and Final Fantasy Tactics had pretty good stories. Oh and the HL series, but I don't quite know how to judge video game stories. It's not the focus so I'm a bit apathetic when it comes to them.

 

[y8c616]

MGS series, FF7, Resistance 2, and GTA Vice City are my personal faves

 

[Zetona]

Braid and Starcraft both have excellent stories, but they both require rather a lot of gameplay in order to advance the plot. The final level of Braid and the final cutscene of Brood War are both incredible and really touching.

I hear so much good stuff about Starcraft...I can get it for 20 bucks, I think I'm gonna do that. Also, a few of my friends(and also Yahtzee) said that the fact that the Braid story is in a different room than the levels just completely ruined it, although it IS a good game.

I did rather like Portal's story, though it was hard to follow until GLaDOS actually tries to kill you for the first time and starts to tie the loose edges together.

Even though it's not really tied into the gameplay (except for the final level), the Braid story is still deep, thought-provoking, and contextual enough to keep you interested.

 

[Powerhelix]

The whole Warcraft series, Before World of Warcraft.
WoW lacks a storyline.

 

[Sylocat]

Bioshock
Myst (especially IV)
Breath of Fire (especially II)
Deus Ex
Silent Hill 2, 3 and 4
Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Psychonauts
Kingdom Hearts 2
Mass Effect
I Wanna Be The Guy (kidding)
and of course Portal

 

[Vanilla Gorilla]

I appreciate unique story lines.
Tim Shafer Games (Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, Psychonauts), Beyond Good and Evil, .

Bioshock, Call Of Duty 4, Condemned, Deus Ex, Fallout (1, 2 and 3), Grand Theft Auto IV, Killer7, Max Payne (1 and 2), Metal Gear Solid (1-4), Myst (1-5), Project Zero (1, 2 and 3), Silent Hill (1-5, especially 2), Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic,

You guys both a cookie. Not the white chocolate ones though, those are for me

 

[SquirrelPants]

Kingdom Hearts 2

In fact, I enjoyed the first Kingdom Hearts much more than the second. I felt like it was more story oriented than the second one.

 

[vede]

I count one mention of Deus Ex so far... for shame, Escapist, for shame.

Deus Ex! (Both, honestly. The second one, despite the gameplay being destroyed, was a very good story, I thought.)

Half-Life 2 and episodes. Not HL1. HL1 was almost completely devoid of story. But the second one and the episodes are freakin' awesome. I just really like rebellion stories, though.

Um... ROGUE. Yeah, "You're a warrior who has to find the Amulet of Yendor at the bottom of the Dungeons of Doom to become part of the fighters' guild." It kept me guessing to the end and had a huge emotional impact throughout.

 

[Get Off My Lawn]

SPYRO THE DRAGON.
...I think. I was young when I played it, though.
So I'll say Haunting Ground, MGS 1-4, and God of War 1-2.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

Hmm well I don't get blown away by most video game stories (I'm picky) but I'd have to say Psychonauts, Shin Megami Tensei (Nocturn and Digital Devil Saga, didn't care for Persona... please don't hurt me, Shadow of the Colossus, Okami, and of course FF7.

 

[Lord_Of_Plum]

You know, even though FFTA's story wasn't very original and was pretty damn cliche, I liked it quite a bit. But my vote goes to Half Life. All of them.

 

[SquirrelPants]

You know what DIDN'T have an interesting story, but had tons of potential to have one?
Mirror's Edge.
Seriously.

 

[Bagaloo]

I know the ending practically undid the entire game, but I got really attatched to the characters in the new PoP.

I want to know where that story is going, especially as there are so many ways it could pan out.