The Greatest Story told by a Videogame

[V161]

Mass Effect is incredibly immersive with the depth, and science they provide in the codex entries. It truly fleshes out the world. Also a big nod to Bioshock 1. Completely distrubing and engrossing; which adds to the running scared silly though the game. P.S. Portal!

 

[Jake the Snake]

Mass Effect (particularly number 2) has a story so well written and immersive I died a little on the inside when they didn't show anything ME3 related at E3.

 

[tomtom94]

Let's Meow Meow. It affected me on an emotional level and gave me great pleasure to be a part of it
I'd say the storyline in Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker was pretty good, certainly the first time through.

 

[are.you.the.god.its.me.vader]

I liked the story in Dragon Age: Origins. Was pretty epic.

Except it was 'Lord of the Rings' without the ring.

Don't fix what isn't broken!

 

[L4hlborg]

I would hav Mass Effect or perhaps Oblivion. Yeah, the sidequests suck but the story is epic and surprising. That goes for both of em.

Am I the only one who likes Mass Effect 1's sidequests? I mean sure the mako needed lots of improvement but the only one that was really bad was the one involving monkies. Otherwise they were pretty fun. Couldn't keep up with the main story ofcource, but I still liked doing them. Same goes for Oblivion actually.

 

[Jaranja]

I liked the story in Dragon Age: Origins. Was pretty epic.

Except it was 'Lord of the Rings' without the ring.

Don't fix what isn't broken!

Don't copy other peoples' stories.

 

[Debatra]

In no particular order:

Bioshock, Shadow of the Colossus, The Darkness, The Chzo Mythos.

Now that I think about it, they're alphabetical(allowing "The"). I swear that was unintentional.

 

[Albino Boo]

System Shock 2, not just because of the main story that you play through but the audio logs telling the npcs stories. There are some stories that had no effect in terms of gameplay , but were just added to flesh out the world in which you played.

 

[Sephychu]

Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Portal, Baldur's Gate, FF VII, and Shadow of the Colossus.

There are plenty of others, but I tire to name them.

 

[Firia]

Chrono Trigger was just epic. You really cared about all the characters. All the things that really didn't make sense were given reasons that were entirely believable and fit perfectly by the end. There were also times when you would be incredibly sad and times when you had a "HALL FUCKING YEAH!!" feeling as well. It is the complete package.

The entire time I was writing my post, I was thinking about Chrono Trigger in the back of my mind! That is definitely a strong contender. But seeing as how I was (and am) still mesmerized by the string of Crisis Core - FF7 - Dirge story themes, I had to go with that. Excellent pick though.

I'm going with The Darkness. The game really made you feel a lot of different emotions, and made you want to keep playing no matter how horrible the WW1 sections were, just so you could get revenge. And there were certain moments in the game where you could watch whole movies. Yes, you can sit down with your girlfriend and watch the entirety of To Kill a Mockingbird right in your video game.

It just executed its idea so well.

Another strong pick! The Darkness won my heart with Jenny. If a game can make me care as strongly about a character as I do a real person, and work that into the story as powerfully as it did, the game wins metals in my book. I'm constantly saddened that the game didn't get the reconition that it so rightly deserved. (Though I was happy to see someone on the Escapists article writing side of things write about it serveral years after it was over and done with.)

Really this again? Didn't we have a thread on this 2 days ago?

Shame we may never know.

[sub](I ran a search, but the forum search wouldn't process it. So, I'm starting a new topic, reguardless of there probably have been one some time in the past. Don't blame me. Blame a search function that, for whatever reason, wouldn't work when I wanted to investigate this topic. ^_^)[/sub]

 

[dorkette1990]

I personally found the world of Borderlands both immersive and hilarious - I know it has kind of a grind, but if you go looking for the plot, that world is alive. They tell you incredible stories, and I love to listen to Tanus's descent into madness before you meet her.

 

[JEBWrench]

I liked the story in Dragon Age: Origins. Was pretty epic.

Except it was 'Lord of the Rings' without the ring.

Don't fix what isn't broken!

Don't copy other peoples' stories.

Not that BioWare needs defending, but you do know that Lord of the Rings "borrowed" its story from Germanic beer hall epics, right? The Nibelungleid, to be specific.

So, yeah, that story? It's older than dirt.

 

[Firia]

Where are all the people screaming "warcraft 3!"?

Guess I'll have to be alone in this.

Warcraft 3, bitches!

Now scream why. Why is Warcraft 3 the greatest story told in a video game?

 

[Grey_Focks]

Mass Effect series, if the third one does a good job, will get my vote.

Since that trilogy isn't completed yet, I will go with Knights of the Old Republic, a.k.a, the real star wars prequel.

 

[Galimor]

Like people here have said, Mass effect and Dragon Age: Origins, but my favorite game, story wise and gameplay wise, has to be The Longest Journey (The original one, not Dreamfall). That game really did it for me. Excellent story, masterfully told, with puzzles hard enough to make you want to just quit playing (ok, only really one that I had to look up in a walkthrough, but hey, still good) and relatable characters. really, REALLY love that game.

 

[Brandon237]

I liked the story aspect of Bioshock quite a lot. Good game...
The thriller aspect of dead space had me intrigued, but the story was overused and crappy all in all.

 

[Axolotl]

Really this again? Didn't we have a thread on this 2 days ago?

Shame we may never know.

No, it was 2 days ago, I've even got a link right here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.207053-Whats-the-best-story-youve-ever-experienced-from-a-game].

And for the record, Planescape Torment is still the best.

 

[etherlance]

My favorite game story was the one to the greatly under-appreciated "Advent Rising".


I love that game.

 

[jez29]

This might seem a bit odd to some, but I love the story in Mask of the Betrayer, the first expansion pack to Neverwinter Nights 2. Regarding stories in D&D games, Planescape: Torment stands out, but for all its dodgy game mechanics and the inherent bugs in the game, MOTB is atmospheric, very well written, and deals with some big issues, in this case the nature of faith and belief.