Games with the best stories?

Litrydow said:
Xenosaga series has the best plot ever (it did go through production problems, but game III completely saved it), followed by Xenogears, then Metal Gear Solid series.

The Elder Scrolls has great lore and storytelling, but usually the raw main plots aren't exactly exceptional, they just make good use of the lore. And games 1 and 2 are absolutely not worth playing.

Assassin's Creed series is also worth mentioning, although the first game is VERY dull. The series overall makes fantastic use of history and conspiracy theories.

Final Fantasies VII (and Crisis Core), VI and IV After Years (but you have to play the original IV before this one) are also great.

Deus Ex series is a must for fans of conspiracy theries. It has aliens, Illuminatti and sci-fi all merged together into pure awesomeness. People usually dislike game 2, but it's not bad at all.

Fallout has an awesome setting, but game 1 is cliché as fuck, while 2 actually has a great plot but the gameplay is frustrating. 3 is regarded as a trainwreck, but I really don't see why. New Vegas is the best in the series.

Chrono Trigger is actually simple, but makes great use of time travel and the characters are very memorable. Its kind of a sequel, Chrono Cross, has a much more complex plot, but it did leave some important points hanging without explanation.

Kingdom Hearts begins way too simple on game 1, but with the addition of games 2 and Birth by Sleep it became great.

The Witcher series has a very great lore, and it's actually a sequel to the Witcher book series. Game 1 will take part mostly showing a dumb plot of a secret guild of thieves, but the ending reveals nothing was actually that simple. Game 2 is better than 1 in absolutely everything.

The World Ends With You is absolutely unique regarding both plot and gameplay. Some stuff may still be confusing untill the end, but after the main game you can collect pages throughout the stages written by a character that will explain what was missing.

Neverwinter Nights series is actually made of 6 games, as each expansion can be seen as a game on itself. It's based on the Forgotten Realms lore and uses Dungeons & Dragons system. Game 1 falls a bit on the dumb side on some aspects, but it's awesome anyways. Shadows of Undrentide is very average, while Hordes of the Underdark is great, although its gameplay can be very frustrating. Game 2 has a weaker plot than 1, but its expansion Mask of the Betrayer is the best in the series. The other expansion, which I even forgot the name, is garbage.

Tales of Symphonia actually surprised me. Although it uses a lot of the old cliché talk of prejudice, the plot gets much better than one would expect at first. Its sequel is not as good.

Arc Rise Fantasia is a very underrated game. It's packed-full of twists and mysteries from beginning to end.

The Super Mario's franchise has good RPGs that are more focused on plot and mini-arcs. They include: Super Mario RPG: the Legend of the Seven Stars, Paper Mario (weakest one by far), Paper Mario: the Thousand Year Door, and Super Paper Mario.

Kangaxx said:

Dragon age Origins(skip 2,it is an abomination)

Xybirk said:

I remember being really surprised by how good the story is in that game, at least for a Mario game.

DateYutaka said:

daggerfal is by far the biggest most indepth rpg world ever made bihgger world = more lore to absorb

Litrydow said:


Yes, I consider it the best Mario game along with Paper Mario: the Thousand Year Door. Both great games.



Not that simple. It's true it was a great evolution from the first almost plotless game, and it began building the good lore of the Elder Scrolls franchise, but that's it. The world is randomly generated, every city looks the same, there is nothing at all on the fields outside the cities, all the dungeons are randomly generated labyrinths, the quests are the same repeated endlessly.

All the presented lore can be absorbed in the following games through reading books and dialogues, I seriously consider playing the second game completely unnecessary.

CondemneDio said:
Metal Gear Solid series wins by a thousand miles.

DateYutaka said:

way to cut out two games there chum

insan3soldiern said:


I think when most people say Metal Gear Solid they mean the series as a whole. Now, I know the entire franchise falls under "Metal Gear" but, you know, most people probably haven't played the first two games.

RazielZero said:

Assassin's Creed (both the past and the present, until 3 which kind of ruined both)

Amadyeus said:
Planescape: Torment (By far the best game ever made in my opinion, ''What can change the nature of a man?'' this fucking game.)
Gabriel Knight (Really outstanding storytelling)
Silent Hill 2 (Best in the series)
Final Fantasy VI (aka III in the US, not a huge fan of JRPGs since I tend to find them quite shallow and linear, but this title really had personality.)
System Shock 2 (One of the greatest. There is a reason why it's included in almost every ''top games ever made'' lists.)


There are maaany more, but these will have to suffice for now.

insan3soldiern said:


I think when most people say Metal Gear Solid they mean the series as a whole. Now, I know the entire franchise falls under "Metal Gear" but, you know, most people probably haven't played the first two games.

TehBlindSamurai said:


No they ruin the assassin's creed story once they introduced that ancient civillaztion bullshit

TehBlindSamurai said:


No they ruin the assassin's creed story once they introduced that ancient civillaztion bullshit

Litrydow said:


It's funny you say that because it's the best part of the series.

Num1dad_Asura said:

I agree.
While I llike Desmond's side of the story,the ancient civillaztion part was the only reason I even game this game a try.

TehBlindSamurai said:

Too each their own I guess. I thought the minute they added that ancient civilization stuff to the story was the exact momment when the story side of Assassin creed games died. It just added to much confusion to a plot for the most part should have been semi simple

Litrydow said:


But why exactly would you prefer a simple plot?

SlothNamakemono said:
Grand Theft Auto : San Andreas, 'nough said.

Amadyeus said:
Of course I haven't played every JRPG that is why I said I tend to find them shallow and linear instead of saying that every JRPG actually is shallow and linear. And I haven't found a single JRPG up to date that can match the same depth of choice when it comes to dialogues (which is what I enjoy the most in RPGs), even FFVI which I considered the best out of the bunch didn't have any specific choices of dialogues except the very few YES or NO events on very rare occasions. This is why I consdier them being much more linear since in this way you are unable to create and craft your character in the way you want since they are so pre-scripted in what they're suppose to say and do rather than letting you as a player choose.

Burna said:
Tetris and Fifa

IndependentSK said:
Mafia
Assassin's Creed (the first 4)
Max Payne (not 3)
Alan Wake
Psychonauts
Silent Hill 2