• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Games with genuinely great writing (SPOILERS WARNING)

Mr Hyde

Mr Hyde

Member
Bloodborne uses the medium to great effect when it comes to presenting the writing in an interesting and unique way. Crafting the story in such unusual manners, for me, it elevates it beyond standard storytelling because not only does it highlight the strength of the medium, it also serves to further enhance the thought provoking themes by letting the audience figure out most of it by themselves in order to connect the dots. It also features great characters and very well written dialogue, a rarity in this particular genre.
 
brian0057

brian0057

Banned
Thief_II_-_The_Metal_Age_Coverart.png
 
Phase

Phase

Member
I know some of you savants on here consider Halo to be beneath you, but I consider Halo 2's campaign to be a great example of an intriguing story told perfectly for gaming.
 
S

SLoWMoTIoN

Unconfirmed Member
Phase said:
I know some of you savants on here consider Halo to be beneath you, but I consider Halo 2's campaign to be a great example of an intriguing story told perfectly for gaming.
Click to expand...
zerg rush
 
Hobbygaming

Hobbygaming

has been asked to post in 'Grounded' mode.
Ogbert said:
Perhaps.

What frustrates me with this conversation is that the like a of Naughty Dog are making people think that the pinnacle of video game design is to be found in the writing. This, in my opinion, is utterly, utterly incorrect.

Mechanics, then visual design, then soundtrack, then, in clear last place, the written element.

Anyway, Bioshock floated some interesting ideas and had a good Agatha Christie turn.
Click to expand...
Naughty Dog are great at telling stories and the gameplay in their games is very underrated
 
Shift!

Shift!

Member
Phase said:
I know some of you savants on here consider Halo to be beneath you, but I consider Halo 2's campaign to be a great example of an intriguing story told perfectly for gaming.
Click to expand...

Halo 2's storytelling is okay. it's campy and gaudy. Cortana sometimes is a spritely image of honesty and shrewdness, but she blows it occasionally to seem more daring and vigorous. The writing itself is a little robust and definitely breaks ground in sci-fi formula, but I wouldn't consider it the finest example of video game storytelling available.
 
Vampire On Titus

Vampire On Titus

Member
_Ex_ said:
The best writing I've experienced in video gaming were via these two adventure titles:

76262_front.jpg
133690_front.jpg


Highly recommended to fans of the genre.
Click to expand...

Fantastic games. If you liked those (and haven't already) you should play Another Code: Two Memories (Trace Memory in America) and Another Code R: A Journey Into Lost Memories. Same studio and the same game designer and scenario writer, Rika Suzuki. You'll be able to tell from her writing style right away. It's that penchant for the smaller scale personal stories within the framework of a larger mystery and genuinely well rounded, believably deep characters.

CiNG closing down is one of gaming's biggest losses. I really miss Rika's writing and her presence in games.
 
royox

royox

Member
FFXIV SHADOWBRINGERS. Or a perfect example of "how to make the player feel like he's the bad guy while he's doing what he has to do". Emet Selch is one of the characters with best lines I've ever seen after Kreia.
 
_Ex_

_Ex_

Member
Vampire On Titus said:
If you liked those (and haven't already) you should play Another Code: Two Memories (Trace Memory in America) and Another Code R: A Journey Into Lost Memories.
Click to expand...
I have indeed played through those, as well as every other CiNG adventure game, including Again and Glass Rose. I very much enjoyed Ashley Mizuki Robbins' tales.

I agree that Rika Suzuki is an exceptional writer, far beyond the norm. She especially excels at creating believable characters, which do not come across as shallow information dispensers.
 
-Arcadia-

-Arcadia-

Banned
Tesseract said:
planescape sits at the top of my list
Click to expand...

Off-topic, and I’ve never played it, but for 15 years, I read this as Planetscape. I see that it’s on Switch one day, go to search for more info, and the shocking, horrible revelation hits me.

I refuse to believe it’s real. I genuinely believe someone, maybe a troll from 2080 4chan, went throughout history deleting all the Ts, and I still remember the collapsed timeline. I mean? Planescape? That doesn’t even make fucking sense.

Time travel is real, and it’s fallen into the hands of shitposters.
 
Kumomeme

Kumomeme

Member
recent one is Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers

and worth looking for Heavensward too..that single player quality storyline there..not to mention among the best alongside others single player rpg

Definitely one of the best Final Fantasy
 
Bonfires Down

Bonfires Down

Member
-Arcadia- said:
Off-topic, and I’ve never played it, but for 15 years, I read this as Planetscape. I see that it’s on Switch one day, go to search for more info, and the shocking, horrible revelation hits me.

I refuse to believe it’s real. I genuinely believe someone, maybe a troll from 2080 4chan, went throughout history deleting all the Ts, and I still remember the collapsed timeline. I mean? Planescape? That doesn’t even make fucking sense.

Time travel is real, and it’s fallen into the hands of shitposters.
Click to expand...
The Mandela effect is real 😱
 
Eiknarf

Eiknarf

Banned
Shmunter said:
Yep, Soma was genuinely masterful in its story telling, atmosphere and execution.
Click to expand...
Hey
I’m just hearing about SOMA today. I think

I just finished Days Gone and Control in the PS4 and was searching for a title to try?

What’s SOMA most similar to, and is it digital only? I can’t seem to find a physical disk version.

thanks in advance
 
Sub_Level

Sub_Level

wants to fuck an Asian grill.
No Japanese games, I can tell you that much. They can be compelling in an emotional or goofy way but fall short of great.

I'm willing to say this might be due to translation. Something made explicitly for English will sound more slick than something translated. A lot of anime games probably sound like Shakespeare in Japanese, how would I know.
 
S

SLoWMoTIoN

Unconfirmed Member
Sub_Level said:
No Japanese games, I can tell you that much. They can be compelling in an emotional or goofy way but fall short of great.

I'm willing to say this might be due to translation. Something made explicitly for English will sound more slick than something translated. A lot of anime games probably sound like Shakespeare in Japanese, how would I know.
Click to expand...
FF Tactics doesn't exist.
 
Shmunter

Shmunter

Member
Eiknarf said:
Hey
I’m just hearing about SOMA today. I think

I just finished Days Gone and Control in the PS4 and was searching for a title to try?

What’s SOMA most similar to, and is it digital only? I can’t seem to find a physical disk version.

thanks in advance
Click to expand...
I would say if System Shock/Bioshock were a walking simulator = Soma. There is no combat or rpg elements.

It has hide and seek encounters, similar to Alien Isolation but it’s not the main focus. The world building and the tale it tells is it’s triumph.

Only digital to my knowledge.
 
Last edited:
alabtrosMyster

alabtrosMyster

Banned
protonion said:
My answer in these topics is always Discworld Noir.

I have the original discs but I cannot get it to run. I gave up on GOG and decided to load it on my psclassic.

It is a sin this game is so overlooked. One of the best point and click adventures ever.

Here are some quotes I googled:

Lewton: With my brains and your looks, we could go places.
Carlotta: What about with my brains and your looks?
Lewton: We could still go places; they just wouldn't be as nice.


Lewton: The troll stepped out of the shadows like light was too intimidated to illuminate him. He seemed like the quiet sort, but you got the feeling that if you stepped out of line you'd get your teeth kicked down your throat. For that matter, he could kick your throat down your chest and your chest through your legs, but I was hoping it wouldn't come to that because none of my clothes would fit.


Butler: If sir is not too busy, the master of the house wishes a word with you.
Lewton: And if I am too busy?
Butler: The master of the house still wishes a word with you, and I shall be forced to beg.
Lewton: That sounds like it could be fun.
Butler: Did I say "beg," sir? I meant, "resort to violence".
Lewton: In which case, lead the way.
Click to expand...
I bet whoever wrote this has kids, because he does the best dad jokes!

(It could be a woman for all I know)
 
MisterBrimstone

MisterBrimstone

Member
Grim Fandango is on another level. Watching from above.

There's also the Monkey Island series, Fallout 1, Fallout 2, New Vegas and the newly arrived Outer Worlds.

There's lots, Deus Ex, Dark Souls.

OK I must stop now, I'm missing tons.
 
flacopol

flacopol

Member
SOMA , my biggest dafaq when
you think you are on board the last ship... and yes you are... but a copy of yo... mind blow
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Studio responsible for The Witcher remake says it will remove some 'bad' parts of the game
News 2
90
6K
ShadyAcshuns replied
LTTP: Star Wars Jedi Survivor (PS5)
26
847
RPS37 replied
RDR2 is almost a perfect game for me. (SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!)
2 3
112
4K
danklord replied
[Insider Gaming] Inside Ubisoft – From Low Morale To Internal Tensions
Game Dev
26
2K
BacklashWave534 replied
ChatGPT was used to write Gollum game apology, it’s claimed
News Drama
29
2K
CYRU5_DA_GR34T replied
Top Bottom