What games that you have played have genuinely great stories?

[captaincabbage]

Red Dead Redemption for sure. It's probably my favorite story in a game. I was literally crying like a baby during the end scenes.

 

[Kahunaburger]

snip

But you see that's the difference between a great story and great story-telling techniques. Like '127 Hours' (which I haven't seen but know the story of), as you say it's in the execution, not the story. That's a good director, a good scriptwriter etc. but the actual story itself is obviously extremely limited.

I think it's more correct to say the plot is limited. Folktales, myths, and fables are also examples of stories that are excellent as stories but extremely shallow plot-wise. That's okay - more plot =/= better plot.

 

[kalakashi]

But isn't the story telling method part of the story itself? I understand your viewpoint; they are different things, but they both contribute to the experience and it is therefore irrelevant. To me, a simple story well told is still a good story. I suppose this is a subjective matter.

Good point actually, I guess it depends on what you mean by a good story. I was arguing in terms of originality/twists etc. but like you say, a captivating story is a good one too, regardless of complexity =]

 

[floppylobster]

These are games with stories that have 'heart', and that to me makes them good -

Panzer Dragoon Saga
Lock's Quest
Chronotrigger
Shadow of the Colossus
Ico
Another World (Out of this World)
Zelda: Majora's Mask
Zelda: Wind Waker

Aha! Nice to see Ico in there, thank you. I have a bit of a problem with the stories of Nintendo's main franchises in terms of story - there's just something to formulaic about each game for the stories to ever seem anything but adaptations of the original. Freaking love the games though.

Yes but the bullying of the skull kid makes Majora's Mask stand out. The dark tone and a theme of rejection really makes it one of the better Zelda's in terms of storytelling. And some of the side quest stories, like the girl who waits for her lover as the moon descends to crush her are very touching. Wind Waker is there for the way they tell the opening story of Link losing his sister using only Link's eyes. Most of the game is told through his expressions (there was a reason they went with that big cartoon face). Also the descent into the underwater castle (in black and white) is very memorable. As is the final battle.

 

[Trivun]

I'm going to be one of the controversial people here and say that I believe the Halo games have one of the best stories in any game, of all time (aside from certain JRPGs such as Chrono Trigger, and games like Heavy Rain, of course). My reasoning is simple, they have a good plot backed up by good, well-written characters, but that's not all. At the end of the day, the Halo universe has one of the most in-depth, expansive, and well designed backstories and expanded universes I've seen outside the likes of Warhammer and Star Wars. The books, the anime, the comics, everything else that Halo has created, have lent brilliance to an already amazing story, written by people with a genuine talent. It may sound odd, but Halo is up there with the likes of the early FF games and Fahrenheit (aka Indigo Prophecy) for me when it comes to game stories.

 

[Buizel91]

I'm going to be one of the controversial people here and say that I believe the Halo games have one of the best stories in any game, of all time (aside from certain JRPGs such as Chrono Trigger, and games like Heavy Rain, of course). My reasoning is simple, they have a good plot backed up by good, well-written characters, but that's not all. At the end of the day, the Halo universe has one of the most in-depth, expansive, and well designed backstories and expanded universes I've seen outside the likes of Warhammer and Star Wars. The books, the anime, the comics, everything else that Halo has created, have lent brilliance to an already amazing story, written by people with a genuine talent. It may sound odd, but Halo is up there with the likes of the early FF games and Fahrenheit (aka Indigo Prophecy) for me when it comes to game stories.

*Wipes head* Wheeeew! Glad i'm not the only one! xD

First game with a proper story i played and loved it ever since that glorious day on my mates Crystal Xbox <3

Also...bit off topic...

What is this SeMant the Captcha speaks of? xD

 

[JustOrdinary]

Old school games need some more love in this thread:

Day of the tentacle
Full throttle
Grim Fandango
Blood Omen - Legacy of Kain
Deus Ex
Fallout 2
Planescape: Torment
Baldur's Gate
Eternal Darkness
Starcraft
System Shock 2

edit: I know Majora's Mask and Psychonauts aren't old school enough, but just thought they deserved special mentions.

 

[The_Echo]

Personally, a well-developed or in-depth universe counts as a good story (or at the very least story element) for me, as well as the actual story.

Spoiler

Portal/2
BioShock/2
Kingdom Hearts series
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Heavy Rain
inFAMOUS/2
Silent Hill/2/3/4
Sly/2/3
Cave Story
Spyro the Dragon/2/3
Jak and Daxter/II/3
Ratchet and Clank series
Phoenix Wright series
God of War series
Mother trilogy

I know there are more--probably a lot more--but I can't seem to remember them.

 

[Thamian]

The Mass Effects are obvious ones (esp. ME2) but, for my part, I'd add:
Half Life 2 and all it's runty children (inspite of the headaches they induced).
Tachyon:The Fringe (atleast, the Bora campaign, the GalSpan campaign always came off as forced and cold to me)
Starlancer (kinda cartoony, but still, it made you feel like you were genuinely fighting for something worthwhile)
Homeworld 1 and Cataclysm (HW2 kinda retconned most of the previous games out of existence).
Age of Wonders (felt like a genuinely Tolkein-esque narrative (the whole 'darkest just before the dawn' kinda thing)).
Total Annihilation (maybe because it was 50 missions per campaign, maybe because that many oh so subtly written briefings made an impact, eitherway, the feeling of righteousness when I triumphed over the Core was incredible).
Ground Control series (because... because Ground Control).

I know I've forgotten some. I just can't quite bring them to mind right now.

 

[Cuppa Tetleys]

These are games with stories that have 'heart', and that to me makes them good -

Panzer Dragoon Saga
Lock's Quest
Chronotrigger
Shadow of the Colossus
Ico
Another World (Out of this World)
Zelda: Majora's Mask
Zelda: Wind Waker

Aha! Nice to see Ico in there, thank you. I have a bit of a problem with the stories of Nintendo's main franchises in terms of story - there's just something to formulaic about each game for the stories to ever seem anything but adaptations of the original. Freaking love the games though.

Yes but the bullying of the skull kid makes Majora's Mask stand out. The dark tone and a theme of rejection really makes it one of the better Zelda's in terms of storytelling. And some of the side quest stories, like the girl who waits for her lover as the moon descends to crush her are very touching. Wind Waker is there for the way they tell the opening story of Link losing his sister using only Link's eyes. Most of the game is told through his expressions (there was a reason they went with that big cartoon face). Also the descent into the underwater castle (in black and white) is very memorable. As is the final battle.

I have heard that Majora's mask was darker then the rest and that intrigued me, but I've never actually played it, so you're the more informed one about that one. I've played Wind waker, A link to the past, Minish cap and twilight princess and I would say that none of those possess great stories, so I just made an assumption based on that.

 

[Zero_ctrl]

Jade Empire has probably one of the best set-up plot twists in the history of video-game stories. It's not that it hadn't been done before, but that it was so brilliantly executed.

Alpha Protocol had an entertaining story about a super-spy who's forced to go rogue. It's the main motivator to go through the shoddy gameplay.

Mass Effect is a given, but for a game that uses "EPIC STORY" as a marketing point, it's to be expected.

GTA IV has a good story as well, along with L.A. Noire and Red Dead Redemption, but they tend to drag on a little towards the end.

Shadow of the Colossus tells buckets by it's atmosphere.


That's all I can think of for now.

 

[Rockchimp69]

Bioshock
Chrono Trigger
Mass Effect (all of them)

I agree with Bioshock I was disappointed with Bioshock 2 but that was mainly because there wasn't a need for a sequel, I only got about half way through Chrono Trigger but it was engaging nonetheless I have to replay that at some point. Mass Effect was good but I prefer Mass Effect 2 just because it pulled a massive U-turn from the get go after you've gotten used to everything from the first game. My favourite however is Persona 4 a game I highly recommend. The story was fantastic and i was surprised throughout the entire game, especially at about the 3/4 mark of the game.

Yeah, I gave Bioshock 2 a miss, just because the first one was such a well made, self-contained story, I thought the effect could only be diluted with a sequel. I'll definitely take a look at Persona 4, I've heard it's really good, but I can't stress enough how much Chrono Trigger should be played. It's the kind of game where it get's better the more you play it; and by the point where you're performing side quests involving characters' back stories by travelling through time at will, it's undoubtedly the best JRPG you've ever played. Not to spoil anything but there's one particular sequence where you must try to save a character in game, but you don't have the means to do so, and thus you must watch things unravel while you furiously attempt everything to no avail. It gave me chills.

I agree also. Shallow and pendantic.

But seriously how are you guys feeling with Infinite?
It seems to have the same charm but with another fresh angle, and if the rest of the game holds up it could be amazing.

 

[Duskflamer]

Not sure if others have mentioned this but I felt that several Final Fantasy games had good plots, particularly the Tactics spin offs.

 

[Bleedingskye]

Mass Effect can be thought of to have a great story? That must have passed me by somewhere. The setting and character interactions are awesome but the main storyline is dull as ditchwater. Even Dragon AGE 2 (to use a 'contraversial' example, although I think it's pretty damn good) had a more interesting and impact up main story than Mass Effect.

Ya, really, I got so tired of the story, just boring to me. There were a couple of relationships and races that I liked hearing about, but I didn't care at all for anybody in the game. I also agree that DA2 was lame story wise.

OP: I'm gunna have to say, I know it's weird, but World of Goo totally rocked me. Aside from that craziness, Bioshock is the best experience all around I've gotten out of a game.

 

[Cuddly Knife]

Oddowlrd Strangers Wrath
Killer 7
Shenmue 1 and 2
Eternal Darkness
Metal Gear Solid 3 SNake Eater
Okami
Silent Hill 1-4

 

[Mortons4ck]

KOTOR II
Dragon Age (one of Bioware's best)
Chrono-Trigger
Last Scenario
Mass Effect (if only because Saren was such a compelling villian)

 

[Kryzantine]

I'm surprised Metro 2033 has not been mentioned yet. Despite its mediocre combat, the game's atmosphere is stunning. The plot is alright, but it's mostly the environment that tells the story. The abandoned tunnels with spirits and the library were two of my favourite moments in gaming last year. It might be a bit cheating to have this game, considering it's based off of a novel, but the execution is still phenomenal.

While I'm on the matter of based-off-ofs, I'm going to add The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay partly because of the voice acting (I was genuinely surprised by how much I liked Vin Diesel, and was never annoyed by him), partly because of the atmosphere. Especially as you moved on in the game, it felt more and more like a true prison that you were slowly breaking out of. You were immersed in the area the deeper you went. As a side bonus, you got to kill Xzibit. TWICE.

Lost Odyssey had a really good story for me. A Thousand Years of Dreams is simply too sad for words. The stories have a certain beauty to some of them and a certain sadness to all of them. Then there were more tearjerker moments throughout the game (including a bittersweet meeting near the end of Disc 1). I think the game did a phenomenal job of handling the immortality aspect story wise.

Jade Empire had a phenomenal plot and atmosphere. The characters were great and handled their roles quite well - the comedic characters were funny and quirky, the love interests... being love interests, the downer characters sufficiently jaded. But the game's plot twist is amazing - as someone mentioned before, the twist itself isn't that great, but it's set up perfectly and on future playthroughs, makes you realize how well-crafted everything is. And the atmosphere is enough to have fans of the game begging for sequels 7 years after the game came out. It was just that good and unique.

KOTOR 2 was unfinished, but with the power of the Restored Content Mod, people can enjoy the game meant to be. Kreia is the most amazing character in video gaming of the last decade. The philosophical machine, exploring all the ideas of the Star Wars series, of good versus evil, and of revolution. She made you continually question your actions and have you redefining yourself throughout the game. I would put KOTOR 2 on the list just for her. The rest of the game is amazing as well, but she sealed it.

Alpha Protocol is one of a very few games that handle the choice-leads-to-consequences aspect of RPGs like it should be handled. Not only do your choices affect your character, they really affect small things that can come back to bite you later on, and information is also extremely useful to obtain. On my first playthrough, I went to Taipei first, and the mission that involved G22 was really confusing. I had no idea who these guys in high-tech gear were, and in the end, their leader was a completely mysterious figure to me who only showed up on a computer screen with an ultimatum. I only found out who these guys were and who their leader was once I got to Moscow; my cooperation with Albatross in Taipei helped me considerably with getting his support in Moscow. Had I gone to Moscow first, I would have known all about G22 in Taipei. These things are apparent all over the game. It's this intricate web of intrigue that makes me put Alpha Protocol on the list.

Those are all I can really think of ATM.