Best Story in a Video Game

[Hawktalon]

I searched and didn't find a topic like this.

I've been looking to get a new game, and since I play mostly for storylines, I was wondering what other DCers thought were the best plots they've seen in video games.

 

Personally, I think the story in Portal was awesome. It was entertaining, unique, and fun whether you knew all that background information or not. And the ending was very satisfying for me. But you have to play both games to get the full story. I also liked the first Kingdom Hearts game's storyline, though I never got to finish it or play any games beyond that. Drawn to Life had a cute story, too. Edit: And the pokemon Mystery Dungeon games. I sure hope they make more, because they were really great stories, fun, adventurous, creative, and even sad at times.

Edited July 24, 2012 by Hawktalon

[PollyCockatrice]

Get Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. Anyone who has a DS and wants a story game needs that one. There's also the Ace Attorney series, the Professor Layton series, Hotel Dusk: Room 215, 999, The World Ends With You...

 

Also I think you would quite enjoy Earthbound and Mother 3.

 

And the Portal games are of course amazing, but I can't very well say you should get those if you have them already.

Edited July 24, 2012 by PollyCockatrice

[lulubelle00]

Professor Layton series.

The third & four one had me bawling. Along with the movie.

 

Get it. Its so, perfect.

[angelicdragonpuppy]

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones. Actually and honestly all the FEs are good... at least the ones I've played, fufufu. ;w;

 

The Golden Sun games are wonderful too!

 

Tales of Symphonia... Baten Kaitos... .Hack... so many good games, ah! I've got lots of favorites, but these few are the ones with the best stories, I think. There are probably others but it's nearly 3 AM and my brain is turning off.

 

ALSO SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS OH MY GOODNESS YES IMAGINATION CANDY RIGHT THERE. ICO (the 'sequel' to the aforementioned game) has a really nice story too, but the gameplay isn't as fun.

Edited July 24, 2012 by angelicdragonpuppy

[TheDarkCynder]

Mass Effect series

Dragon Age series

Divinity II

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Elder Scrolls series

Guild Wars series

 

All of these are great RPGs with a dynamic story full of lore and character development.

[7Deadly$ins]

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones. Actually and honestly all the FEs are good... at least the ones I've played, fufufu. ;w;

 

The Golden Sun games are wonderful too!

 

Tales of Symphonia... Baten Kaitos... .Hack... so many good games, ah! I've got lots of favorites, but these few are the ones with the best stories, I think. There are probably others but it's nearly 3 AM and my brain is turning off.

 

ALSO SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS OH MY GOODNESS YES IMAGINATION CANDY RIGHT THERE. ICO (the 'sequel' to the aforementioned game) has a really nice story too, but the gameplay isn't as fun.

Oh my god Baten Kaitos yes. All four people that ever played that game seem to love it.

[Emeraldmay]

I cried at the end of Dragon Quest 9...I think. The new one with awesome graphics. Not the real end, but when they role the credits, I was sobbing my little heart out. Same with pokemon Explorers of Darkness actually...

 

The World Ends With You has the most epic storyline ever

 

 

[lulubelle00]

Same with pokemon Explorers of Darkness actually...

I wasn't the only one?

 

Try playing the Red Rescue Team I think its called. ;-;

[rainpeltstar]

The Mystery Dungeon series, especially the sequels are really good.

 

Trying not to speak with bias, the Portal series is the best set of games ever. Personally I've never played Portal 1, but Portal 2 is the one with the best story.

[SoiledLove]

I cried in PKMMD, all of the games, especially sky. The side story was so sad...

KH made me cry, too, games with promises that seem impossible to fulfill are always sad for me...

I cried for Roxas and Ventus!

I love the world ends with you, too! It was awesome!

Zenonia is sad as well... They try to change the course of history over and over again and yet every time it has the same outcome... It made me so sad...

[AzanaiChibiZ]

I've recently fallen in love with the game HetaOni. You don't even have to be a fan of Hetalia to enjoy it! The plot messes with your mind and then ends up making you cry because of what the characters go through!

[Syaoransbear]

FF7 hands down. This made me cry and actually care about the characters. Normally I hate all the characters in most video games.

Edited July 25, 2012 by Syaoransbear

[Pixxelation]

The Sonic Adventure games and Proffesor Layton. Perfect stories.

[SoiledLove]

Oh ya, and there's this Sonic game that I love, too. I watched the walkthrough for the story.

[glass_kisses]

FFX. The ending was...slightly unexpected, all the characters were awesome and their story arcs were all really well done.

 

 

[Lullakai]

Nier. It's absolutely heartbreaking and the only game I've ever cried to. Multiple times. You think the first playthrough was bad? Play the new game+ and watch them pile the extra tragedy on. Amazing cast of characters too, with first rate voice acting, especially Grimoire Weiss (Liam O'Brien).

 

I've played most of the games that people say have 'good' or 'tragic' stories and IMHO they don't even come close to Nier. A shame a lot of people haven't played it.

 

Silent Hill 2 comes a close second.

[Lythiaren]

I will always recommend Chrono Trigger. I cry every time; all the characters are very well done and very easy to attach to, the story is top notch and it explores some very abstract concepts. It's a very well-rounded game in terms of gameplay as well, plus it has multiple endings and the standard Squaresoft New Game+ option after you beat it the first time, as well as a few silly easter egg endings depending on how much of the game you skip during New Game+.

 

FF7 hands down. This made me cry and actually care about the characters. Normally I hate all the characters in most video games.

^ Also that.

Edited July 25, 2012 by Lythiaren

[Stromboli]

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is one of my favorite video game plots.

The Portal games had a really good one, too.

[Nine]

Max Payne was the first game that made me realize that shooters could be fun AND have an interesting storyline. The plot was involving enough that you paid attention to why you were killing these guys-- not always easy in shooters-- in addition to important details such as "why hasn't my character eaten in like four days" and "why am I in a pizzeria that is on fire".

 

Groundbreaking, imo. Dead Space gets an honorable mention too, because I am an infatuated fanboy, and Braid which is a game you've probably never heard of. --hipster glasses--

[HawktalonOfRiverClan]

I love the story in Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter for DS. It's so deep and moving, not to mention the cutscene at the end. The gameplay is classic hack'n'slash, sorta like Mario, and the graphics are kinda cartoonish, but the story more than makes up for it. I've played it three times through for the story alone. And the end song makes me cry every time.

[KageSora]

Generally speaking, I really enjoy the stories in the Tales games. (games for various systems)

 

But I gotta say, for best story, I'm gonna have to go with The World Ends With You. (DS). Just... Holy crap the story was amazing and had me glued to the game from the second I picked it up. I mean, it had a crapload of other stuff going for it too, but the story just... ;_; Holy crud it really just.. I love it.

 

Tales of the Abyss (PS2, 3DS) also has a very good storyline, as does Tales of Vesperia (360, PS3--Japan only for PS3).

[SoiledLove]

Yes, the best is The World Ends With You. I played it over and over again just for the story.

[Fortune86]

Digital Devil Story 1 & 2.

 

Spoilers: First Game

 

You find out that everyone are actually virtual characters in a fantasy world created by a young girl in attempt to mentally escape from the experiments being done on her by her own mother/father (it's the same person), because she has the ability to communicate with God. When her mother and her employers found out about this fantasy world they hi-jacked it and turned it into a military research/training program. Unwilling to part with her virtual friends the girl sneaks them into the adapted world. None of them remember their previous lives.

 

Oh, and the new military program involves infecting all the virtual characters with a virus that turns them into demons with super new magic powers, including the main cast. Oh, and to keep their sanity in check they have to eat human flesh. Nothing else can do the trick.

 

Spoilers: Second Game

 

The cast manage to escape into the real world, only to find that it is dying because the bad guys peed off God. In attempt to save the human race the bad guys have started infecting people with a real version of the demon virus, which means they now have to eat real people for real. One level involves a trip to the meat factory.

 

The cast also learns that their virtual selves were based on real people that their creator knew. The originals are all dead because of God's wrath, but that doesn't stop one of them (the main character's 'real' self) from causing problems by the bucket load. He was also the baddie that kicked the whole thing off.

 

So yeah, a whole lot of horror and sad moments, but put together beautifully. There are a lot of side storys that wrap the whole thing up nicely.

[TCA]

All the ones I would choose have already been mentioned! Earthbound (lighthearted and amusing story, though not without its dark moments), Mother 3 (deep and touching story), Chrono Trigger (wonderfully epic), Tales of Symphonia (deconstructs cliches and has an amazing set of characters), and Tales of the Abyss (oh gods this game. my heart).

[Stromboli]

The Last of Us is my new favorite video game plot. Oh my gosh. All the feels.