What is your Favourite Game that Thrives off of Story?

robertmac43

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Mar 31, 2015
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been struggling to find a game that is amazing when it comes to story as of recent. Have played some great games but they have been great for other reasons for story. Need some suggestions on games that have top notch stories in them!
 

AKL

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Dec 10, 2012
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I find that some of the "choose your own adventure" games on PS4 have been the most intriguing games for me. Until Dawn, Beyond: Two Souls, etc.

I also personally like the stories in the AC series, but they're all kind of...derivative I guess. The best individual story is probably AC Rogue, but it requires a pretty good background knowledge of the AC lore.

Like mentioned above, BioShock and Witcher are also good stories.
 

Trap Jesus

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Feb 13, 2012
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I consider BioShock to have one of the best stories I've ever seen, not just among video games.
 

JaegerDice

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Bioshock's story is great because of how it comments on the nature of game design and player involvement on a meta level, but also provides a completely immersive and weird world to wrap around that meta-narrative.

I'm not sure it's a great straight-up story in of itself though, without the nature of the medium to capitalize on.... which is why I hope a Bioshock movie is never made, because I think it would lose so much of what made that story special.

Bioshock Infinite was kinda trash story-wise IMO. The ending was fun in a trippy way, though.
 

Trap Jesus

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Feb 13, 2012
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Bioshock's story is great because of how it comments on the nature of game design and player involvement on a meta level, but also provides a completely immersive and weird world to wrap around that meta-narrative.

I'm not sure it's a great straight-up story in of itself though, without the nature of the medium to capitalize on.... which is why I hope a Bioshock movie is never made, because I think it would lose so much of what made that story special.
That's what makes it so great though. It's a story that works so nicely because it's a video game, and it would be impossible to replicate in any other medium. Think it should be commended for that.
 

Shareefruck

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Apr 2, 2005
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Slim pickings, IMO. Games that are too plot-heavy tend to feel too on-the-nose, but games that aren't can feel too abstract or built on lore/background details to call great stories.

Yasumi Matsuno is probably my favorite storyteller in the medium, so Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions would probably be my pick.
 
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SniperHF

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Mar 9, 2007
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I don't anticipate these would be the types of games the OP is all that interested in, but Neverwinter Nights 2 : Mask of the Betrayer is the best story in a game ever and turns kind of a mediocre pile of a game in NWN2 into something greater.

Most of the other games I like the story in generally have other merits though.

KOTOR 2 is potentially another example.

Planescape has a very good story but the game doesn't really thrive on it. It's the quality of the writing that drives PS:T which is sort of different from strictly story. For as much as 20 hours at a time you can sort of lose the plot so I don't really think you could say it thrives off story.

Bioshock Infinite was kinda trash story-wise IMO

This is one of the most true statements ever posted on HF.
 
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syz

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Most of what Yoko Taro has done. Until Automata story was about all those games had the budget for.

Bioshock's okay though massively overrated and dampened by being a third too long. Levine's centrist bullshit starts to wear thin once you notice it.
 

McDNicks17

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Outside more obvious games like Mass Effect or Fallout, I'd recommend Firewatch.

It's not overly long or action-packed, but the story is really well done.
 
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542365

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I liked Life is Strange’s story quite a bit, and I generally don’t care about stories in games. The Last of Us was quite good too.

EDIT:Her Story had an awesome story too. It’s barely a game but I enjoyed it a lot. I made my wife play it too because I thought it was so cool.
 
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Trap Jesus

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The Last Of Us
I think the story of this is pretty basic, but the thing that makes it work so well is how well written the characters are. Joel and Ellie steal the show obviously, but even the side characters are great. I do think the ending is very good, but otherwise it's a pretty basic plot.
 

Matias Maccete

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Kind of depends on your perspective. I like games that tell the story in a more immersive way. Less cut scenes, more world building through exploration and finding audio logs/diaries. Prey does that really well IMO. I really like how the dishonored games tell their stories as well.
 

Shareefruck

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If we're using the term story more broadly, I might actually go with Inside. I was floored by that type of ambiguous storytelling, more-so than other games with the "videogames as art" reputation.

Last of Us' storytelling is barely above the level of the Walking Dead TV show or that Logan Marvel movie, it just gets overpraised because videogame storytelling has a lower bar than television/movies, and simply matching that level of production value/believability is considered an achievement.
 

blue425

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Apr 14, 2007
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Bad Dudes.

I hope this isn't a joke, I am right there with you. I prefer to play arcade style games for 20 - 30 minutes at a time. I don't have the interest to sink 50+ into story based games anymore.

Press start and play game >>>>>>>>>>>>>>Press start and watch 20 minute cut scene.
 
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No Fun Shogun

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May 1, 2011
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My favorite videogame story is probably Spec Ops: The Line, albeit that I found a certain major turn to be a bit forced.
 

Frankie Blueberries

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KOTOR is probably my favourite.
MGS 3 was good albeit cheesy.
The Witcher 3 was the best overall in terms of high budget graphics, cinematics, dialogue, etc.
Red Dead Redemption was good.
Inside hit me pretty hard.
Braid had a damn good twist.
Gone Home was interesting but I expected more of a shock factor, when really it was just a very normal family dynamic.
Batman Arkham Asylum was very enjoyable.
 
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