Game With the Best Story? (For school assignment)

[DestinyDriven]

Assassin's Creed, and anything by BioWare (Jade Empire, Mass Effect, like you said and Dragon Age: Origins) I think are good examples. I hear Heavy Rain is good, I haven't had the chance to play it yet though so I can't confirm if it has a really good story. I hear Alan Wake has a good story too.

 

[zHellas]

Mass Effect is a really silly story told very well. Are you intending to use it as an example of a strong modern story, or a weak one? It's not a terribly comfortable fit for either, really.

A weak one. And I mean without the narrative, 'cause the way you tell it can change EVERYTHING you thought about it before.

Without the narrative, Mass Effect's story is, to me, a bit silly & stupid but with the narrative it's just awesome!

And I'll address narrative in one of the paragraphs... I think the 3rd one, if you count the introduction.

 

[OddOzZy666]

I'm gonna say Bioshock, Metal Gear Solid and Shadow Of The Colossus.

I know, I sound like everybody else here, choosing these three games in particular, but the undertones and ideologies that are presented within them are incredible. Metal Gear Solid talks of the futility of war, and how the future will change it, Bioshock talks of the banishment of common political ideals, and how the crumble of civilisation can soon be imminent within any form of government, SOTC simply asks "How far will you go for someone you love?"

However...if you want one game that's not there, and rarely touched upon?

Mother 3.

Mother 3 packs in so many themes that most developers are afraid to even think about touching upon. The themes of suicide, familial separation, death, the breaking of a home. These are all thrown at a 10 YEAR OLD BOY! The game has been known to tear up its audience by way that these themes are presented, in what seems like a child friendly game due to it's cutesy stylised art. It is far from that...the underlying themes are hard hitting, for any age. If that isn't regarded as art, for the way it's presented, and how it addresses it's macabre themes. I don't know what is.

 

[Jamese054]

'm going with Legacy of Kain on this one. The story begins quite simple - vengeance and murder but evolves over the course of the series and becomes an epic about sacrifice and fatalism... my favourite series ever.

 

[mateushac]

i have pretty arguable opinions on this one. My opinions are all based on the style of storytelling rather than the story itself =/

Half life (for silent storytelling without any breaks of immersion)
Bastion (for awesome concept regarding the narrator)
Portal (for including a bit of storytelling and continuity into a puzzle game VERY WELL)
The witcher 2(for making it possible for the player to have substantially different story plots on different playthroughs)

 

[Purplecoyote]

Shadow Of The Colossus, Fatal Frame 4, THE LEGACY OF KAIN GAMES (seriously). And yes, Mass Effect and Bioshock obviously.

 

[Fasckira]

Suikoden; you start off the son of a famous general living a secluded life but by the end of the game you're the leader of the liberation army leading a revolt against the corrupt emperor and freeing the country. Pretty epic stuff

 

[Scarim Coral]

In my opinion Hotel Dusk and Last Window stories were great (although it can be far-fetch) although they were detective games so the story got to be good.

I also view the stories to Okami, Infinite Space, Golden Sun 1 and 2 (not Dark Dawn), KOTOR and maybe Xenoblade Chronicles (yes it's a JRPG but it's somewhat different although I don't play that many JRPG) to be great aswell.

 

[the7ofswords]

Portal & Portal 2 ... not least because the story is revealed through gameplay, in the background, without getting all in your face & cut-sceney about it. Pure Brilliance!

Also: http://avoidingtherapy.blogspot.com/2010/05/are-video-games-art-form.html

~Cheers!

 

[FireSpore]

Final Fantasy Tactics has the most incredible story of any game I've played... I don't know why it's not a movie yet...

 

[LordZ]

I'd have to say the Wizardry series holds the crown for best story. I, personally, favor Wizardry 7.

How many games out there have multiple beginnings, multiple endings, allow you to actually talk to NPCs instead of just picking between a handful of choices and even do quests or start events in whatever order you want? The Wizardry series was the closest thing I've seen to a sandbox game that actually lets you build your own story as you play. You could even import save games from the previous game to have your starting point based on actions from the previous game. Unlike certain games that let you make conversation choices, the Wizardry games let you make real choices that had real and even sweeping impacts on the overall story. As for the story itself, it's rather crazy. It can be rather cliche at times but so many parts of it are just way out there. For a game, the story was rather amazing even if it had been completely linear. I'd try to summarize it but since it has several variations it's difficult to summarize and I'd probably have to spoil it a lot to even try. If you've never played it, give it a try. Though, I'll warn you that even the most recent (Wizardry 8) is rather dated now. Also, I'm not sure I can call Wizardry 8 a true example of what made the Wizardry series great since a lot of it was simplified and made more linear.

I can't name a single game in the past 10 years that allows anywhere near that much flexibility with the story and I've played pretty much every game in the past 10 years that's worthy of the tag RPG. I'd have to say the only modern games that even come remotely close are the Elder Scrolls games but even those games don't allow any real flexibility with the main plot.

Most sandbox games have really no story at all (I suppose you could argue you're building your own story in those games but you've got no pre-existing story events to really build on). Most (new) games with a decently written story are about as linear as you can get. Some allow a small amount of flexibility and some even create the illusion of being flexible but they're all very obviously on rails. It's very much an all roads lead to Rome situation in nearly every game made in the past decade. No matter which path you take, you're petty much getting the exact same story.

The Wizardry series has remained the bar by which I measure games even today. At least, when it comes to story and freedom of choice within a story. Though, the Wizardry series also had a certain level of detail that most newer games lack.

 

[AnarchistFish]

Bioshock

Mass Effect has a crap story, it's the setting that makes the game

 

[esperandote]

Silent Hill 2 is great

Guy recieves letter from his wife, who's been dead for two years, and tells him to meet her in their special place, a resort in wich they spent vacations. The guy knowing it can't be real can't help the urge to find out what's going on.

How the story unwraps might not be very shocking now but it can be easy for an outsider to understand and like. You also get a couple of worthy side stories. You cant use its soundtrack too.

Metal Gear Solid 3 is also good though it would appeal a more narrow range of people and Metal Gear Solid 2 is good too if you want' to be complicated.

 

[Babitz]

snippety snip

I've heard lots of good stuff about Wizardry and it's importance over its 20 year cycle. I want to get into it so do you have any advice where should I start? I've read 6, 7 and 8 follow the same story so should I go from there? I thought it was pretty awesome to have five different beginning areas in 8 depending on your wiz7 save file when I read about it.

 

[Febel]

Shadow of the Colossus.

Your character is killing these creatures to save the soul of a girl, these creatures are not a threat, they only defend themselves, for you seek them out, and with every one you kill, you can see the toll it's taking on your character.

So much is told without words.

The best stories always are.

Yeah but the problem with telling a story without words is that he's writing an essay...words. Which would make describing the game kind of hard.

OT: Bioshock could work, if you put a fair amount of emphasis on how it deconstructs player roles. You could even note how it has a shitty sequel like so many great stories these days.

 

[TheRookie8]

Good ones:

Half Life 2 (and episodes)
Mass Effect series
Shadow of the Colossus
Uncharted (more cinematic)
Metal Gear Solid 3 & 4
Final Fantasy 12
Dragon Age series (both, too)
Bastion (newcomer)
Fallout series

The trick is that there are two kinds of stories. There are stories with engaging plot, and then stories that evoke certain emotional reactions. If you have one or the other, you have a decent game. If you have both...well, then you get a legacy.

 

[bootz]

Myst series - making worlds with words.
The longest journey/dreamfall series. Magic and Technology sent to parrellel words
The freespace series Survivng the shivans
The wing commander series
the half life series
the witcher series the choices are very good. Its not a bad/good choice.

 

[Vibhor]

- The Last Express

I am not sure that I am following you. This game had pretty good story I agree but the ending was just crazy. If this is on the list then Indigo Prophecy should be on it too.

- Deus Ex & arguably Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Human Revolution had a great premise, it could be so much more than a shitty action flick but the ending was horrendous.Still it was fucking brilliant.

EDIT:
Completely forgot mine.
I suggest morrowind.
Starts off fairly generically, the guy is supposed to be a chosen one and must save the world yata yata yata. The real deal is that when you learn that you are not the chosen one at all but just another pawn in the big game. Also, the ending boss is fucking genius. More RPGs should do shit like that.