The Greatest Story told by a Videogame

[Super Toast]

[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]

I'm a story writer, and a novice comic book artist/illustrator. Story telling is my strongest art form, and favorite aspect of video gaming (or entertainment, for that matter). "A game without a story is pointless," I've often said. A great story will let me forgive other parts of a game I maybe don't like. Or even let me play a game I wouldn't normally try. There's been a lot of greats out there, too. Great-greats! So many, we're bound to skip over more than a few of them in this thread.

If you could, lets discuss some of your choice video game told stories. But I want to hear more than the game name. Talk about what it is about the games story that appeals to you. And game arcs are more than fine. If a game takes three installments to tell the whole thing, that's okay.

I've just gotten done watching all the cut scenes for FF7 Crisis Core on Youtube. I don't own a psp, and finally accepted the fact that it may never be ported to the ps2/psn like I had hoped. So in place of getting to play the game, I banked on what I knew of JRPGs and Square-Enix in paticular, and hoped that the entirety of the story would be communicated through animated-movie-like cut scenes-- and I was mostly right.

I felt like the creators did the (FF7) franchise a great service by weaving the story the way they did. In contrast to Cloud, Zach was such a warm character, and instantly likeable. (Perhaps that contrast is why I liked him, since most characters like in in jrpgs I find irritating. Still love Cloud too.) Knowing the end of the game made liking the character that much harder. And watching the familiar cut scenes from flash back moments in the original FF7 made me squee. :3

Final Fantasy 7, and the arcing story that is connected to the game often lingers in my head when I think of great stories in games. Maybe not the greatest story telling elements were used (even people playing the game find things hard to follow at times), but the story shone through anyway as something really unique.

So how about your fave?

Psychonauts had everything; love, mystery, comedy, horror and of course batshit insane characters! All wrapped up in an incredibly well written story. I strongly suggest you check it out.

Basic plot summary
You play as Raz, a ten year old child who runs away from home to join Whispering Rock, a summer camp where children are taught to use and control their psychic powers. After being caught trying to spy on an assembly, his father is called to pick him up, giving Raz just one day to earn all his merit badges and defeat an evil conspiracy. It may not sound like much, but trust me when I say that it is quite possibly the greatest game ever made. And like I said, it's a very basic plot summary.

Ways to get it.

The X-Box original version (which is probably the best one) can also be bought on X-Box 360 marketplace. It's also available on the PS2 and on PC.

 

[Guitar Gamer]

I bet others have said "

Bioshock

" but I'll say it again...........with bold and stuff.
And I bet

The Darkness

" was said as well but oh well I really enjoyed that game

 

[Jesusthewizard]

ICO and Shadow of Colusses nuff said

 

[Fallen-Angel Risen-Demon]

ME series and FFX... Shut up! I like it.

 

[Anti Nudist Cupcake]

assassin's creed has some great moments.

 

[CobraX]

Silent Hill 2 was amazing! I have tryed other Silent Hill games, but the olny one I found for slae anywhere is Homecoming, which sucks.

Bioshock is also amazing and Bioshock 2 is a very well made and well written continuation of it.

The Modern Warfare games (Call Of Duty 4 and 6) where very entertaining story wise in the "Let's blow everything up and then blow it up some more" kind of entertaining. plus they both have really amazing endings and the last 2 levels of MW2 are just a glorious mission for vengeance! The russian levels in COD5:World at War where also really cool, they had great settings.

Red Dead Redemption had a great story with great characters and Alan Wake is inventive and very much like Silent Hill 2's story, which is a good thing! Custom Robo (gamecube) and No More Heroes are both basically Animes that at the last minute where turned into great games. Batman Arkham Asylum and Transformers:War For Cybertron are great examples of a pre existing franchise being used to make great games and great storys. Portal and Left 4 Dead are also great, although they don't give you much info on the stories, what little tid bits of story they give you is great.

EDIT:I forgot Assassin's Creed - That's got a great story too!

 

[KindOfnElf]

Mass Effect all the way, no flaw in the story. And I must say Jade Empire. I was completely thrilled when I played it.

 

[weker]

Dragon age origins

 

[Axolotl]

Both said before, but worth repeating: Planescape: Torment, naturally.

It has been said before, but it was said by someone being a mild Troll, so I basically disreguarded him. However a few others and yourself have said it was story telling gold, but I haven't yet seen anyone explain why. I'm hoping you'll step up to the plate on that one.

Pointing out your thread was done 2 days ago isn't trolling.

As to why Planescape is the best, it's hard to say. At least, it's hard to say without going on at length. I'll try to explain, for a start it's not epic. I t isn't about wars or monsters trying to destroy the world, you don't set out to save kingdoms or rescue princesses. It's a personal story about The Namless One trying to find out who he is, despite the fact that it's very obviously a bad idea. Part of what makes it so great is the depth and complexities of the support characters, each not only has a fully developed personality but also a unique connection to the main character for why they follow him.

The story uis told mainly through exploring dialogue with other characters and regaining memories about the various people you've been. Many games now and then have aimed for a cinematic experience but bonly Planescape has ever tried for a litererary experience. The dialog is not onloy very well written but depends heavily on the character stats making them affect non-combat gameplay more than any other game I've seen.

Another factor that helps elevate the games story is the setting, they took the Planescape setting and represented it perfectly showing just how bizarre and fantastical the setting is. It strays as far as possible from the generic high fantasy espoused in games like Baldur's Gate and Dragon Age to bring us something truly different. Every area, every location every person is something new, sometimes utterly different, sometimes an old idea with an extraplanar twist. It feels like a game that takes place beyond the walls of even a fantasy settings reality.

The main plot is also, brillant. You're motivation isn't gold or power or saving the world but merely to understand who you are. And thanks to the level of writing in the game that was what motivated me to play. It's actualy rare in a game for the player's motivation and the character's motivation to coincide but they do here. The storymainly benefits from beng told well, information is given slowly at best and sometimes from unexpected sources and it works well. I've never felt revulsion in a game as strongly as when I've read just how evil your character has been in Torment, this too is helped by stellar writing.

So in short it's great because it has great writting, deep characters, a truely different setting and one of the most engaing plots I've seen in any work of fiction.

Combine this with gorgeous visuals and you'll see why people love the game so much.

You should play it now, if you truly want too see how good games can be at telling stories then you'll buy it as soon as possible.

 

[daubie]

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?

Warcraft 3 was an excelent game. Maybe not the best ever, but still. It's just sad that WOW has overshadowed the old series to the extent it has. I played the beta of WOW, so I'm sure it's gotten better since then. I just sort of got turned off by the hype.

The .hack// series was pretty good, but you had to put up with so much crappy grind to get to the story. Suikoden II is another one of the best games ever. I agree with the selections for Wind Waker, SotC, Silent Hill 2, Fallout 3, FF7, Mass Effect, Metroid Prime, Bioshock, Psychonauts, and many more.

 

[Yoshemo]

For me, Its a toss up between the Silent hill series, or the Mother (earthbound in america) series.

 

[Firia]

Both said before, but worth repeating: Planescape: Torment, naturally.

It has been said before, but it was said by someone being a mild Troll, so I basically disreguarded him. However a few others and yourself have said it was story telling gold, but I haven't yet seen anyone explain why. I'm hoping you'll step up to the plate on that one.

Pointing out your thread was done 2 days ago isn't trolling.

ignoring my having pointed out efforts to find those posts failing, and then being generally difficult about it all is, as I said, mild trolling. So shhhhh, let us never speak of it again.

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]

 

[Withall]

Mass Effect, ME2 in particular. They spent alot of time making the "wibbly-wobbly" parts of the game feel realistic.

 

[DenSomKastade]

warcraft 3 has a kinda good story, but you dont get attached to any of the characters. It's not the best story but still it is epic.

I love the story in Age of Empires 1 & 2. Half the things I learned in history in high school had i already learned from the series =D. Also AOE3 story is very good also.

 

[Axolotl]

So shhhhh, let us never speak of it again.

All right. I'll drop it. If you go out and play Planescape Torment.

 

[Squilookle]

Do you see what everyone else has put above me? Good, now ignore them because they're all wrong.

Mafia has the best game story ever.

He's right, you know, nothing comes close- for immersion, empathy for characters, moral dilemmas and a story so gripping it will be on your mind constantly even when not playing, until you bring it to it's thrilling conclusion. The same goes for Deus Ex.

I used to think the story was the most important part of a game but I now realise that's utter tosh. Gameplay is the most important part, and 'a game without story is pointless' is just not so.

If you can't enjoy games without a story then you'll never understand the joys of... (clears throat)

*Mario Kart- actually just about any mario game
*sports games. Every one of them
*just about every multiplayer game ever
*tetris
*other puzzle games
*half the DS library
*Endless Ocean, Animal Crossing, Pilotwings
*Res
*Any sandbox game activity outside the storyline
*Left 4 Dead
*Lemmings

And hundreds of other games. Gameplay>Story>Graphics.

 

[Firia]

So shhhhh, let us never speak of it again.

All right. I'll drop it. If you go out and play Planescape Torment.

I will consider it, strongly. Enough people here in this thread seem jazzed about the story for me to give it a go.

 

[SideburnsPuppy]

MGS 4 and FFXII. I find this ff game to have the most immersive storyline and seems more.....realistic for the setting of the game.

On FFXII, whenever a friend has asked me about the story, I've replied, "It's about an elected official who is only in office because the senate rigged the election invading a small, peaceful desert country, promising to bring democracy, but in actuality only hoping to drain it of its massive fuel supply. Gee, I wonder what that reminds me of?"

In all seriousness, FFXII's is probably my favourite story in a game, although I occasionally had trouble remembering character's names.

 

[Spineyguy]

I'd be tempted to say Bioshock, but Half Life's story has been pretty impressive so far, it might get even better if it's ever finished.

The Legend of Zelda games have always prided themselves on exceptional storytelling, as they rightly should.

 

[Firia]

Do you see what everyone else has put above me? Good, now ignore them because they're all wrong.

Mafia has the best game story ever.

He's right, you know, nothing comes close- for immersion, empathy for characters, moral dilemmas and a story so gripping it will be on your mind constantly even when not playing, until you bring it to it's thrilling conclusion. The same goes for Deus Ex.

I used to think the story was the most important part of a game but I now realise that's utter tosh. Gameplay is the most important part, and 'a game without story is pointless' is just not so.

If you can't enjoy games without a story then you'll never understand the joys of... (clears throat)

Spoiler: list of games

*Mario Kart- actually just about any mario game
*sports games. Every one of them
*just about every multiplayer game ever
*tetris
*other puzzle games
*half the DS library
*Endless Ocean, Animal Crossing, Pilotwings
*Res
*Any sandbox game activity outside the storyline
*Left 4 Dead
*Lemmings

And hundreds of other games. Gameplay>Story>Graphics.

Well, you're right about one thing. I don't enjoy a single one of those games beyond the span of 5 minutes. Not a single one. No story! No point.
For me; Story>Gameplay>>Graphics.
(I cannot speak for a DS, since I don't own one. I have my own scruples about portable gaming devices, as much as I want one. Which is why I don't own a psp, and why I had to watch Crisis Core cut scenes on youtube. )