What is your Favourite Game that Thrives off of Story?

[Pilky01]

The Last Of Us is one of the very few times when a game’s story actually compelled me to finish it.

Usually I ignore story to the point where I choose games that won’t be too negatively affected by me completely ignoring it.

 

[mmalady]

lots of great options listed here but my since i just finished the mass effect trilogy i will go with it...

 

[The Macho King]

Probably something like Grim Fandango? I generally don't play games for their story. If it's good - fine, if not - that's what I have books and movies for.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

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.

Greatttt suggestions. I always wondered how the storyline of MGS3 would come across to someone who never played any of the MGS games.

The over-arching storylines of the Arkham games are pretty awesome, and Asylum is probably the best story, as you noted.

Also, I would suggest:

What Remains of Edith Finch, is a pretty fun quirky Story-driven game. Borderlines on telltale-ish type of game.

Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy 7 - Mostly everyone knows what you're getting when it comes to Final Fantasy, but Tactics is particularly interesting, I think. It's got more that classic turn-based system to it, and the story is great.

Metal Gear Solid series - Very story driven series overall. Every game adds a new element to the story and fleshes out another part of the story.

 

[Lost Horizons]

The Uncharted series

 

[Kcb12345]

Uncharted Series
The Last of Us
Red Dead Redemption
The Witcher 3 (my all-time favorite game)
Tomb Raider games are solid too

If you're into games where your decisions decide the ending:
Telltale's The Walking Dead
Beyond Two Souls
Detroit Become Human
Until Dawn

All story-mode only games

 

[The Crypto Guy]

The last of us

 

[Shareefruck]

The way that Inside unfolds, is presented, and is left to hang ambiguously is the closest thing to a legitimate artistic experience comparable to the way that films can be that I've gotten from a videogame, personally. Even more-so than the usual suspects that tend to get thrown that label like Shadow of the Colossus and Journey.

It's just so fully realized, minimalist, and tastefully considered.

 

[YNWA14]

I'll second Final Fantasy Tactics.

The game system is great, too. Probably my favourite game of all time; I still play it.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

I don't see Witcher 3 as having the best story. The world-building is among the best in a game, but the overall story is quite thin and really not all that great. Especially considering you are playing the game in the context of "I have to find my adopted daughter who is being chased by a super evil entity but I am going to spend weeks doing random errands and quests because reasons." Not to mention the end climax is really not very good.

What brings that game up is the world, the dialogue, and the way the gameplay interacts with everything. For a pure story there are way better options. Metal Gear Solid 3, for instance.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

I don't see Witcher 3 as having the best story. The world-building is among the best in a game, but the overall story is quite thin and really not all that great. Especially considering you are playing the game in the context of "I have to find my adopted daughter who is being chased by a super evil entity but I am going to spend weeks doing random errands and quests because reasons." Not to mention the end climax is really not very good.

What brings that game up is the world, the dialogue, and the way the gameplay interacts with everything. For a pure story there are way better options. Metal Gear Solid 3, for instance.

I agree. I think the Witcher 3 is largely a popular choice here because it is probably the closest to a movie in terms of storytelling. A lot of that has to do with the graphics, voice acting, and presentation, though - rather than the actual plot. It's the only game that my girlfriend will actively watch me play and takes an interest in (although I'm sure RDR2 will also fit the bill when it comes out).

 

[syz]

Witcher gets by via quantity moreso than anything else. There's a lot of side stuff and a good portion of it feels like it's given the same amount of attention as the main story, which is still pretty rare for open world games.

That being said the source material is derived from a C-tier fantasy novel series, so... only so much you can do.

 

[Voodoo Child]

Horizon Zero Dawn hasn't been mentioned yet somehow?

Sure it's gorgeous and combat is a lot of fun, and it's not a linear game, but story wise it's full of cliché characters with floppy animations, but it's gotta be one of the coolest and most original stories I've played in a while.

Witcher 3, the Uncharted games, The Last of Us and most JRPGs are more character driven than story driven.

 

[Spawn]

Sure it's gorgeous and combat is a lot of fun, and it's not a linear game, but story wise it's full of cliché characters with floppy animations, but it's gotta be one of the coolest and most original stories I've played in a while.

I agree that finding out what is going on in the world is very cool. But damn do I wish that they had a more engaging way of telling that story to us. I spent so much time in Horizon Zero Dawn just standing around waiting to listen to one of the datapoint recordings.

 

[Matias Maccete]

The Darkness had a pretty solid plot too. I saw KOTOR mentioned too, that's a great one.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Bioshock for me too

Bioshock infinite is no slouch either

potentially unpopular opinion, Infinite was easily my favorite of the trilogy. Best gameplay and for my money best story as well.

 

[PALE PWNR]

Heavy Rain

 

[WarriorOfGandhi]

one that hasn't been mentioned yet is Portal 2. OG Portal was a great game for a thousand reasons but the story is, shall we say, minimalistic. I really enjoyed going through all the old sections of the labs and hearing the story of Glados in the sequel.

 

[ColonialsHockey10]

Didn’t break any molds in terms of mechanics, but Lost Odyssey on the 360 has an incredible story. Your standard turn-based RPG, but the plot is very intense and sad. There are also excerpts you can unlock that are really great short stories that further flesh out the main character.

 

[robertmac43]

Didn’t break any molds in terms of mechanics, but Lost Odyssey on the 360 has an incredible story. Your standard turn-based RPG, but the plot is very intense and sad. There are also excerpts you can unlock that are really great short stories that further flesh out the main character.

I'm really into turn based games and just got an XBOX 1 so I may need to check this out. I'm guessing I could find it for real cheap at this point.

 

[John Price]

Yakuza 0 has one of the most compelling stories you will ever see in a video game.

 

[Shareefruck]

one that hasn't been mentioned yet is Portal 2. OG Portal was a great game for a thousand reasons but the story is, shall we say, minimalistic. I really enjoyed going through all the old sections of the labs and hearing the story of Glados in the sequel.

I love both, but minimalism should be viewed as a strength, not a limitation, IMO. Portal 2 is more polished, entertaining, and eventful-- I don't want to disparage it, but it feels more like a lighthearted cartoon with crowd-pleasing (albeit well conceived) conventional twists and turns, for the most part (the kind of direction you tend to get from most good movies and TV shows these days, except with a bit more personality).

In terms of narrative and story presentation, I don't think it's half as inspired, perfect, bold, and unforgettable as Portal 1, personally. That game completely nails all of the beats that it needs to (and no more than it needs to), and legitimately builds a simultaneously claustrophobic, atmospheric, spine-chilling, slightly disturbing, and twistedly funny experience (something which I don't think Portal 2 really even attempts to do, as you're really just occupied with having fun the whole time). And the way that it takes a throwaway joke (luring you back with a birthday party) and obsessively builds off it until it hilariously becomes the crux of the story is a stroke of genius, IMO (I don't know that there's anything in 2 that is comparable to that high).

That said, I think it was smart for the sequel to go in completely a different direction, not wanting to have to replicate the first one, and was about as good as you could expect a sequel to be.

To me, it's kind of like the difference between Alien and Aliens (both great, but the former I think is way better, despite being way more understated, and probably "boring" for a lot of people).

 

[HanSolo]

I'd agree that on its face, the overall plot of The Witcher 3 is pretty whatever. As in I wouldn't tell the story to anyone trying to sell them on the game for the story alone. But the way it tells the story is top notch in my opinion. It's been mentioned in the thread but the world building is tremendous. The reality of the political situation of the world seeps into the lives of just about every NPC with more than one line of dialogue. I never played Skyrim before TW3 and am now sporadically working my way through it. With Skyrim it feels like I either have to know what happened in other Elder Scrolls game, or it's a mishmash of disparate narratives. While there's a consistent tone to the present political situation in Skyrim, I found it harder to identify with.

In any case, I don't think The Witcher 3 should be discounted here. It may not be the best story in video game history, but it may be the best storytelling. Also, I thought Hearts of Stone was a great story for a DLC.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

Not necessarily the storyline (as I am still early in), but I will say that Red Dead Redemption 2 is arguably the most cinematic experience out there and the closest to a movie in how the story is told.

 

[Commander Clueless]

The way that Inside unfolds, is presented, and is left to hang ambiguously is the closest thing to a legitimate artistic experience comparable to the way that films can be that I've gotten from a videogame, personally. Even more-so than the usual suspects that tend to get thrown that label like Shadow of the Colossus and Journey.

It's just so fully realized, minimalist, and tastefully considered.

Inside is a masterpiece. A weird-ass, creepy masterpiece.