Top 10 Stories/Writing in games

[x Tame Impala]

I love good writing, especially in video games. What are 10 of your favorite/best stories in games you've played?

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[KingBran]

Mass Effect (The original)
Knights of the Old Republic
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Gears Of War (The original)
Uncharted 4
Assassins Creed: Black Flag


Theres 6 of my favorites.

 

[Pay Carl]

the Metal Gear saga is really good although a bit ham-fisted at times

 

[tacogeoff]

Uncharted 4
The Witcher 3
The Last of Us
Red Dead Redemption
GTA3

 

[Ceremony]

BioShock
Red Dead Redemption
Journey
Spec Ops: The Line
Heavy Rain
BioShock Infinite
Ico
LA Noire
The Swapper
GTA San Andreas
Shadow of the Colossus

 

[WarriorOfGandhi]

The Last of Us
Knights of the Old Republic 2
Alpha Centauri
Planescape: Torment
Starcraft
Portal
Diablo II
Prince of Persia
South Park: The Stick of Truth
Halo

 

[Saturated Fats]

Final Fantasy IV, VI & VII
Spec Ops: The Line
To the Moon
The Last of Us
This War of Mine
Grim Fandango
BioShock
Metal Gear Solid 3
Star Wars: KotOR
Chrono Trigger
Silent Hill 2

Some that I've played that have stuck with me.

 

[SniperHF]

Hmmm, a stab in order:

1. Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer

2. Planescape: Torment

3. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

4. Fallout 1

5. Knights of the Old Republic 2

6. Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn

7. Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

8. Deus Ex: Human Revolution

9. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

10. Shadowrun: Dragonfall

Off the top of my head so I reserve the right to revise

 

[542365]

I'm almost never interested in the story of a video game(I'm really not sure why as I absolutely love reading), but one story that stuck with me was The Last of Us. One of the few games I can remember where I really gave a damn about what happened to the characters.

EDIT: Oh someone else mentioned Red Dead Redemption. That story, especially the ending, was very interesting to me also.

 

[NyQuil]

Some great suggestions in here - I've played a lot of them.

One that isn't mentioned is that I liked the Ultima series though it was limited by the technology of the time.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

Mass Effect (The original)
Knights of the Old Republic
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Gears Of War (The original)
Uncharted 4
Assassins Creed: Black Flag


Theres 6 of my favorites.

Gears 2 had a better story then the original. But other then that I'd probably agree. Except codename never played it

I'll throw out a random game. Not sure it's up there but shadow of the colossus story was good. As was sands of time

 

[Aladyyn]

Mass Effect (The original)
Knights of the Old Republic
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Gears Of War (The original)
Uncharted 4
Assassins Creed: Black Flag


Theres 6 of my favorites.

KotOR2>>>>KotOR1 when it comes to writing. KotOR 1 is VERY cookie cutter.

I'll throw in Half-Life 2 as one that hasn't been mentioned yet. These 2 stories/experiences stand above everything else I've played.

 

[SniperHF]

KotOR2>>>>KotOR1 when it comes to writing. KotOR 1 is VERY cookie cutter.

To an extent I think KOTOR 1 gets a little downplayed due to how well done 2 is. KOTOR 1 has some problems, the plot is nothing to write home about and it has some serious logic problems both there and in some characters especially NPCs. But I think the actual prose is well done and that counts for a lot in the gaming world where it's usually pretty horrible. Karpyshyn is a hack and his retcons post KOTOR 2 are basically unforgivable in my eyes. But he can write dialog well enough that KOTOR 1 has solidly upper tier writing despite some of the other flaws.

 

[Aladyyn]

To an extent I think KOTOR 1 gets a little downplayed due to how well done 2 is. KOTOR 1 has some problems, the plot is nothing to write home about and it has some serious logic problems both there and in some characters especially NPCs. But I think the actual prose is well done and that counts for a lot in the gaming world where it's usually pretty horrible. Karpyshyn is a hack and his retcons post KOTOR 2 are basically unforgivable in my eyes. But he can write dialog well enough that KOTOR 1 has solidly upper tier writing despite some of the other flaws.

KotOR1 does what it does very well, but what it does is just at its core not as good as what KotOR2 does. It's just a vanilla Star Wars story, even if it's very well done.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Red Dead Redemption
GTA3
Bully

 

[SpookyTsuki]

To an extent I think KOTOR 1 gets a little downplayed due to how well done 2 is. KOTOR 1 has some problems, the plot is nothing to write home about and it has some serious logic problems both there and in some characters especially NPCs. But I think the actual prose is well done and that counts for a lot in the gaming world where it's usually pretty horrible. Karpyshyn is a hack and his retcons post KOTOR 2 are basically unforgivable in my eyes. But he can write dialog well enough that KOTOR 1 has solidly upper tier writing despite some of the other flaws.

He wrote mass effect 1 and 2. I don't think he's a hack at all

 

[Leafs at Knight]

Recently The Witcher 3 and The Last of Us have been at the top for me.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

He wrote mass effect 1 and 2. I don't think he's a hack at all

Proof is in the pudding: all those game's plots are offensively generic considering how good the games were.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

Proof is in the pudding: all those game's plots are offensively generic considering how good the games were.

Can you explain further? I'm too tired and don't understand what your saying

 

[KingBran]

Hmmm, a stab in order:

1. Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer

2. Planescape: Torment

3. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

4. Fallout 1

5. Knights of the Old Republic 2

6. Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn

7. Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

8. Deus Ex: Human Revolution

9. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

10. Shadowrun: Dragonfall

Off the top of my head so I reserve the right to revise

GREAT game!

Also, I forgot to add the Halo series. Well, almost all of them but ODST. Which is a shame being the first one with Nathan Fillion. But he was redeemed.

Anyways, VTM:B was great!

 

[KingBran]

Gears 2 had a better story then the original. But other then that I'd probably agree. Except codename never played it

I'll throw out a random game. Not sure it's up there but shadow of the colossus story was good. As was sands of time

2 was OK. I got sick of Dom whining about his wife. Just seemed very forced to me. I didn't find it better. GoW was just more captivating to me. Not saying 2 was bad but I don't think it makes my top 10. I would possibly put 4 in my top 10 though. Game is fantastic.

Sands of Time I completely agree with! Add that one to my list too. Easily one of my favorites of all time.

KotOR2>>>>KotOR1 when it comes to writing. KotOR 1 is VERY cookie cutter.

I'll throw in Half-Life 2 as one that hasn't been mentioned yet. These 2 stories/experiences stand above everything else I've played.

Eh, we each have our own opinions. I loved KOTOR so much more than KOTOR2. Phenomenal game beginning to end. I never finished 2 so not sure I can criticize it too much but I wasn't too excited about Obsidian and already had a bad taste in my mouth before I started playing it. So I am sure that contributed to my lack of drive to keep playing it. Just wasn't as interesting to me.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

Uncharted 4
Persona 5
Persona 4
The Last of Us
Spec Ops
Portal
Firewatch

No particular order, just some really good ones.

 

[aleshemsky83]

I think an underrated one is Furi. Its a boss rush game with an interesting story going on in the background. That said, its a short story. I beat it in 2 hours on my second playthrough (8 on my first)

Bastion and Transistor are two others, though Bastion is kind of light on real good gameplay.

Great voice acting and music in all 3 of these to compliment the writing. They also do visual story telling real well, where the story is revealed you start paying more and more attention to the environment and the people you meet.

Could mention some others but those are the 3 that come to mind.

 

[Trap Jesus]

BioShock for me. That twist was Hollywood-level stuff, while still being a commentary about how we play video games.

It's tough for me to think of a truly great story, but what I can think of is well-written characters in The Last of Us and The Witcher 3. Fairly generic stories, but the characters in those games really elevates the game overall.

 

[Frankie Spankie]

BioShock
Red Dead Redemption
Journey
Spec Ops: The Line
Heavy Rain
BioShock Infinite
Ico
LA Noire
The Swapper
GTA San Andreas
Shadow of the Colossus

I don't recall that much of a story but the ending really stuck with me. I'm glad to see it mentioned here.

A lot of what I want to say is already listed several times so the only one I want to mention is Talos Principle. Such a beautiful world and beautiful story.