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[Benjamin_MFF]

I just finished Brutal Legend recently and it had me wondering about the stories in games. How many games really have great stories? True character development? Games that really say something that are worth a damn!

While I can already imagine that people are going to talk about MGS1,3,28,etc., Half Life, ETC. While name calling is expected, I'm curious WHY these stories are so good. I also expect there to be many *spoiler* tags.

I'll start

I submit Curse of Monkey Island and MGS for consideration

I believe that this game has a great story for a couple of reasons

-Good character development
I think that the characters were well developed and that there was a proper amount of time spent on each one, so that we were able to connect with them, but not too much time.

Spoiler

yes, I know the SSSSSSNNNNNNAAAAAAAKKKKKEEEEEEEEE comments are coming, but what else would one do when there is a death?

-Pacing
I enjoyed the pacing of the game, that it took its time when starting out, introducing the area and characters. Letting the player get use to the controls and surroundings, taking in everything,

Spoiler

then sending them on a wild ride.

The boss battles felt well paced and moved the story at a good rhythm.

-Themes
The story starts out

Spoiler

with snake being pulling from his home, where he was happy in isolation. Then telling him that he has a responsibility and he needs to help.

So, in the opening scenes, there are a couple of themes thrown out for the player to think about.

Spoiler

Isolation, responsibly to one's country

and things just build from there.

This is just a brief take on the game, but an idea of how we can cover why a game's story is so great.

Now, Curse of Monkey Island was a great game with a simple story,

Spoiler

it does come close to a portly plummer and his princess

. Yet it is the writing and characters that really help make this game feel like an adventure.

-Character
The best thing is that characters are so well rounded and funny that part of the joy is just listening to their conversations. Also, insult sword fighting is still the best!

-Dialogue
The characters speak so naturally and the voice work is amazing. Every voice fits the character perfectly. I do find it a treat when every character has unique spoken lines in a game.

-Sound
This game is a treat to the ears. The port towns, the chatter along the docks, this game knocks it out of the park. The music that accompanies it is even better, ambient, but not annoying. Digging from the past old pirate melodies and tunes that fit like a snug corset on a wench. A treat that helps immerse the players in such a world.

-Story
While I stated earlier that it is a simple story, let it not be said that it is shallow. There is a reason and cause behind every action in the game, every scene moving the story forward.

Spoiler

Even talking to Murray helps.

If one wonders what a swashbuckling story would be like, this would be the game I direct them to.

I want to know, what games do you think have great stories?

 

[distantmantra]

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

 

[BobsRevenge]

Yeah, MGS is a good one.

I think Mafia is the best example though.

 

[Scrow]

i like Metal Gear Solid as much as any Kojima fanboy, but the story and writing isn't good by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[BobFromPikeCreek]

None.

 

[AceBandage]

Xenogears

There's a lot of awesome symbolism and references that all come together spectacularly.

 

[Yoshichan]

MGS4.

Spoiler

Screen splitting drama and action in the Microwave room was awesome.

 

[Fewr]

I enjoyed Final Fantasy Tactics'.

 

[Talladega Knight]

Hotel Dusk

 

[mentalfloss]

Half Life 2

 

[Keyser Soze]

Uncharted 2 guys...


Also, Grim Fandango, BG&E, Bioshock, Knights of the Old Republic, and Silent Hill 2

 

[Chauncy Talon]

Chrono Trigger
inFAMOUS (had some twist but nothing major)
Snatcher
The World Ends With You

 

[Danne-Danger]

Hi.

I'm here to make sure that Grim Fandango is featured on the first page of this thread.

 

[UNDERSTAR]

Shenmue

Spoiler

FUCK YOU SEGA

 

[QuadCore]

In my opinion, has yet to be matched.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

We're gonna talk about this game, right?

EDIT:

Xenogears is a great game with a lot of focus on plot. Like someone else mentioned, you can't really go in to a game's plot like this without spoiling a lot, but you can talk about some general aspects that make it so good.

A lot of focus on character development in this story - a great primary and supporting cast of characters with a plot that's fairly deep as far as these sorts of stories go. Nice parallels to things you may be familiar with, as well as others invented (well, presumably) for the purpose of plot.

 

[Benjamin_MFF]

Ok, cool. Good to see some replies, but could any of you explain WHY?

 

[Guardian Bob]

Uncharted 2 guys

If you look at the story alone, its just average. Its the characters and the setting that completes the story.

 

[Gospel]

Tetris had a great story.

 

[Scrow]

None.

There are a few gems.

Half-Life 2 has already been mentioned for example.

 

[QuadCore]

Ok, cool. Good to see some replies, but could any of you explain WHY?

Simply put, Eternal Darkness has perhaps the best story line I've seen in a game. The writing, the top-notch voice acting, which I believe has yet to be surpassed, and the incredible score.

 

[Scuba Steve]

 

[rasberryjam]

Limbo of the Lost

Spoiler

In reality land, I'd say anything of the Tim Schafer variety.

 

[Square Triangle]

Uncharted 1 and

Spoiler

Uncharted 2

 

[Llyranor]

What the freak?

Planescape: Torment, geez.

 

[Esperado]

If you look at the story alone, its just average. Its the characters and the setting that completes the story.

It's a shame that characters and setting aren't components of a story. :/

 

[Gram Negative Cocci]

And that's it.

Ico and SOTC score points for their implied stories.

 

[kai3345]

Great Character development, interesting side stories, great voice acting,

oh yeah and greatest fucking plot twist in a game, ever

 

[Fewr]

Ok, cool. Good to see some replies, but could any of you explain WHY?

We'd be spoiling a very important part of the games we are mentioning.

 

[Snuggles]

I loved the story in Army of Two. At first, it seems like it's just about PMC's but really it's about friendship and finding your special place in the world.

 

[Crash Station]

I really like the stories in most of the Final Fantasy games, but most people here will bitch about how they're poorly written.

Also, I think Chrono Cross has an amazing story.

 

[rasberryjam]

Actually, I want to toss in ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. I enjoy that their stories let you take it however you like, mainly due to the lack thereof. Making assumptions of the character's motivations based solely on the actions and emotions of the characters has always struck me as fun.

 

[Archie]

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

 

[ZephyrFate]

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey and no one can argue otherwise. This is the quintessential perfect story in a videogame.

 

[Jive Turkey]

:lol MGS.

 

[Chauncy Talon]

Chrono Trigger

A group of people are trying to prevent the world from being destroyed in the distant future, while correcting things that went wrong during their time.

The World Ends With You

The game is about a game in which the players are all dead and only have seven days to win the game. The only way you can play the game if you give up your most precious possession and sometimes that can be somebody else life in the real world.

Snatcher

The video game version of Blade Runner in the eyes of Hideo Koijma mind. A very good story about a married couple that have amnesia. The Husband who cannot remember nothing decide to become a Junkie (a cop) that hunt down Snatchers (alien cyborgs that take human skin to blend into the public) because he believes that the Snatchers is a reason why the married couple have amnesia.

 

[K.Sabot]

The Witcher.
It goes without saying.

 

[brandonh83]

Silent Hill 2 is the only game I've played that has what I would call a great story. There are plenty of games though with stories that I enjoy a whole lot, like all the Metal Gear and Uncharted and so on. But SH2, IMO, takes the cake of the best story ever presented in a videogame.

 

[Cipherr]

i like Metal Gear Solid as much as any Kojima fanboy, but the story and writing isn't good by any stretch of the imagination.

Same, MGS had some of the best cinematic presentation. The setting, voice acting all of that was so unbelievably awesome and unrivaled. But the writing itself was average at best. Very average.

 

[MidnightScott]

THIS! Phoenix Wright is like the best, I want a new game starring Phoenix please?

 

[2 Minutes Turkish]

MGS? Just because a story is involved/convoluted, doesn't make it a good one.

I only have 3 that I really liked are:

Uncharted
Gears
Halo
Bioshock

All stories I was happy to watch the cut-scenes and became interested in the background, past and future of the stories involved. In other words, wanted a sequel to see what was going to happen.

That's how I base my idea of a 'great story' anyway.

Technically, NO videogame has a 'great story', but according to the way I judge a videogame story, those 4 fit the bill nicely.

After about cut scene 75 in any of the Metal Gear games, I just start skipping. cbf.

 

[LocoMrPollock]

It loved the story in Army of Two. At first, it seems like it's just about PMC's but really it's about friendship and finding your special place in the world.

:lol

I don't know. I submit Chrono Trigger, because it did time travel pretty decent. And it's awesome.

Also Star Control 2 had the best written and most fleshed out and intelligent sci-fi universe ever put into a game with an outstanding story to complement it. Good stuff.

 

[autobzooty]

Uncharted 2 is the best the industry has been able to produce yet. And by that I mean I'm not embarrassed to play the game with other people in the room.

job well done

 

[revolverjgw]

Thief 1-2-3
Uncharted 1-2, pure pulpy awesomeness

 

[Shai-Tan]

The Legacy of Kain series. It's written as if it's a play that could only be created for a game due to its subjects and setting. The story is the reward for playing, the gameplay wouldn't amount to much on its own.

 

[BiggNife]

Bioshock, excluding the ending. I'm sure this has been mentioned a thousand times, but the story is what drove me through that game. I kept playing because I wanted to know what happened next in the plot, which doesn't happen too often to me with games.

Infamous' plot was surprisingly good. The superhero origin story has been done so many times before but Sucker Punch managed to do it in a way that stayed engaging and kept me guessing until the final plot twist, which I must say impressed me.

Hotel Dusk plays out like a good noir-style mystery, and has some excellent dialogue that really fleshes out the characters.

Mass Effect's story starts out kinda dull at first but progressively gets more and more interesting until the very end. Another game where the dialogue is really crucial to character development and keeps the story going.

I'm sure there's more but thats all I can think of right now

 

[rollingstart]

None.

I would probably believe this if I was just reading this thread.

Though if I had to pick one game that has a great story and tells it well, I'd say The Last Express. Most of the games here are just "hey, interact with this not-so-good movie" while The Last Express has both an interesting narrative and way to experience it.

 

[RurouniZel]

Metal Gear Solid was not only a good story on its own, but it also had a deeper underlying message, one of the still very real threat of nuclear weapons. This deeper message was kind of lacking in the later games, but they all still had one (except 4, not sure about that one).

The Lunar series has great stories that by all rights should be thoroughly average. What sets them apart and puts the 2 games into the realm of greatness is the incredibly likable (and very human) cast, and the incredibly rich world the story takes place in.

For all of the flack it gets, Final Fantasy VII had some interesting underlying themes. It successfully showed how modern capitalism, when unchecked, can become an "empire" unto itself (Shinra), and warned of the dangers of exploiting the resources we have by sucking them dry (it doesn't take a writer to figure out that Lifestream = Oil)

Final Fantasy VI succeeded in creating a truly psychopathic villain, a rarity in video games even today. It also managed the curious feat of not having a "true" protagonist, as the story is constantly changing characters and perspectives. In most games (and stories for that matter), the protagonist is quite clear and is never in question. The fact that people have continued to debate who the protagonist of FFVI is only further proves how effectively Square pulled this off.

Half-Life, whiile not an amazing story in and of itself, revolutionized video game story telling by never shifting to a cut scene or detached story sequence of any sort. The game stayed in the same perspective from start to finish, and the story created more immersion for it.

 

[KevinCow]

Bad Dudes

 

[Zzoram]

Uncharted 2 is an example of great story telling, but throwaway story. A lot of other games have the opposite problem, developed story universes but terrible story telling.