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Game stories that blew you away?


Dreakon13

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I'll admit, this is a little selfish.  I'm in a rut and looking for some ideas of overlooked gems to play... so I'm making a general thread about great game stories to help. ;)

 

What're some games where the story in it absolutely blew you away?  Games where you finished it and laid awake for days not able to sleep because a story and/or its ending was just so fascinating/interesting/terrifying/unexpected.  Can be any genre, any setting past/present/future/zombie apocalypse/high fantasy, any platform, any gaming era/generation old or new, etc.  Preferably games with an actual narrative and not just great atmosphere/lore (ie. Souls games)... but heck, just say whatever you want.  Don't let me stop you.

 

The first game that comes to my mind is SOMA.  For probably a week or two after finishing it, it was all I could think about.  The gameplay itself was pretty hum-drum hide and seek first person horror... but the atmosphere was great and the story... well, it "absolutely blew me away".  Right up to the end.  It has not only a top notch sci-fi horror premise... but it all unravels/unveils so perfectly.

 

To be honest, I may just end up re-playing SOMA now that it's on my mind.  But by all means, offer up your own great game story games... storied games... stories... games?

 

 

EDIT: Oh, and try to avoid posting spoilers please.  Just in case our recommendations encourage others to try some of these amazing games for the first time.

Edited by Dreakon13
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Steins;Gate, easily. Very well written, with a great cast of characters.

 

Other than that, I can think of more games with great stories, like Soul Sacrifice, Phoenix Wright and Danganronpa, but I can't say I can think of any that "blew me away" in the way Steins;Gate did.

Edited by madbuk
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Final Fantasy XIII. As confusing as it may be the first time, when you replay it you realise how clever it actually was and how much you understand a second time. Its a great story and once I'll always enjoy. 

 

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. What can I say, the whole game is done so well. Every little detail, every question all gets answered while leaving some unanswered for the sequels. It honestly makes you think and feel about things to a crazy extent.

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Story really isn't my cup of tea but I don't think I've ever enjoyed a story quite as much as RDR2's. Every mission felt an episode of a great TV show that built to some truly great moments.

 

Other than that I can really only think of a few small ones like Journey or Thomas Was Alone. Possibly Bastion but that's more the story telling as opposed to the actual story. Hmmm, like I said, story in video games isn't my bag lol.

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Mass Effect trilogy. Probably the franchise i've been most invested in. Great overarching story with a ton of memorable side content. Also a great cast of characters. It's definitely a must play for anyone. Even though there was a big drama about the ending of the trilogy, it's still worth to play through it all for the journey. It's a one of a kind experience.

 

Drakengard 3. While the story is quite good, it's really the characters in this one that make it shine. Gameplay is kinda janky though. It's on of those stories that'll leave you empty when you finish it.

 

Zero Escape Series. Visual Novel/puzzle games. Don't look anything up, it's best experienced going in blind. When i played through the games i could not put it down. The collection of the first two games are on sale now on the EU store. You will not regret it. (Also, if you enjoyed this check out Danganronpa as mentioned before in this thread)

 

Sleeping Dogs. While it's not as underrated anymore as it was when it came out, i still think a lot of people skipped this title. I really enjoyed this game, it's a prefect mix of open world, brawler combat and a story that keeps you wanting for more. I'd recommend this if you enjoy crime dramas. (Think, The Departed set in Hong Kong)

 

Dragon Quest XI. Probably the best JRPG you can find right now. It's your typical young hero needs to save the world from a big bad guy, but damn it does it so so well.

 

Honorable mentions: Last of Us, Red Dead Redemption, Catherine, L.A. Noire, Asura's Wrath, Valiant Hearts, 

 

Also since this topic is listed in off-topic, i'll list one non playstation game that's on PC. It's coming to the switch as well soon. To the moon is a beautifull game. It has a sad but also hearthwarming story. 

Edited by xZoneHunter
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at the time it was released, metal gear solid 2...played it on ps2 and was so addicted...must've played through it a dozen times completing everything possible...top scores in vr missions, dog tags, all difficulties, etc...

 

also, despite finding the game sort of cheesy on a cutscene-to-cutscene basis, the overall story of the max payne 3 was pretty epic...

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10 minutes ago, BlazikieronUS said:

My name is Mayo

Truly gripping story.

For me it's the Uncharted series - I've only just gotten into these games having only just played them for the first time last week. I'll admit, each story does follow a similar theme, but honestly I can't help but watch all the cut-scenes and love the story in all of them.

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My first thought was "SOMA"!  Other than that one, I'd say

  • Silent Hill - games 1-4.  Akira Yamaoka's sound work and soundtracks made them especially haunting.  The fourth installment couldn't have been converted into a true crawl-inside-your-mind-and-stay-there Silent Hill game without his genius.
  • Inside - not a damn thing was explained, and I'll probably never know what that ending meant, but I still think about every scene... How it could explain who the character is that you play, and what could possibly make the others' reactions to them acceptable in that world.
  • Journey - not story-heavy, true, but an overwhelmingly joyous experience every time.
  • The Sexy Brutale - awkward clunky title, but morbid, funny, and very pretty game.  Alternate ending made me cry.
  • BioShock - from the opening sequence and introduction to Rapture, to the twist at the end, it was a completely enthralling game.  I still love playing the soundtrack and thinking about what was going on in the game the first time I heard each song.
  • Dead Space.  The whole franchise of Dead Space, including the novels... it had so much potential for a continued story.
Edited by DaisyVilla102
Had to add the most mind-blowing series of all. Obviously it's been too long since I've played them and I should remedy that ASAP.
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Life is Strange and Gone Home both sat with me for weeks. The first is episodic and about 12 hours, the second an early walking simulator that's only about 3 hours, and that's if you look everywhere. Both mainly shine in their storytelling and character arcs. 

 

I second Pyre and add the studio's previous work, Transistor

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I can't honestly say I've been blown away by an entire story when it comes to games. :hmm: Mostly because some have ok stories that have better endings, and most because I find it hard to be blown away by much of anything. (I can say that I find most stories in the games I play fun though.)

 

Metro 2033 Redux. The first game gave me a very nice lonely feeling despite having companions and traversing through crowded areas. Gameplay is nothing to write home about and the story is ok, but the setting and overall atmosphere is what sets this apart from others for me. 

 

Games that key off the ending for me:

Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen (for gameplay your best bet is to use a ranged class. Close quarters combat in this is not good at all, and is actually made more difficult through certain actions.) The game itself is kinda boring and unnecessarily long due to lack of sped up traveling. but I can't recall any game where the ending was set up the way it is.

inFamous. 

Spec Ops: The Line (gameplay is similar to Uncharted) 

 

These entries are kinda cheats lol. 2 series in particular have interested for a long time me because I like the historical aspects behind them. Dynasty Warriors (not 1, 6, or 9 lol), and Samurai Warriors. I know they are loosely based off history, but ever since DW3 I just found the stories of the characters interesting. (DW takes place in China while SW takes place in Japan) 

 

This one is a semi weird one. F.E.A.R 2. I could not help but make this face -> ? <- for a while after finishing it lol. (anyone who plays it understands why I'm sure) The entire series is a good horror shooter, better than Dead Space imo, but the horror aspect is lowered in each game. Actually, much like the Dead Space games it gets more action based than horror based with each entry. (first game also doesn't have trophies.)

 

Wild ARMs for the PS1. The first game was just really great to play through. It has its challenges, secrets, missables, and one area in particular that had me lost for so long I actually just ended up needing to look up the solution. 

 

Rogue Galaxy for the PS2, and also the PS4. This game keeps me up at night because it never got a sequel lol.

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What Remains of Edith Finch tells a beautiful and tragic story. Especially Lewis’ story at the fishery, which literally had my jaw dropping.

 

im really glad it’s coming out as this month’s free PS+ game so more people can experience it.

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Final Fantasy XIII, XIII-2 and Lightning Returns: I got so into the story that I read the novels Episode zero promise, FFXIII-2 Fragments Before, Fragments After, all the Ultimania Omegas for the three games and Final Fantasy XIII Reminiscence: tracer of memories (in Japanese). I found the whole concept of L'Cie and Fal Cie, Pulse, Cocoon and the 13 days in LR to be really fun and intriguing. I invested a lot into these games

 

Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD: I liked FFX for story but X-2 for gameplay and also read the book FFX-2.5 which was a disaster and ruined the story. But FFX had a really moving story with a tragic ending, but I liked the perfect ending in FFX-2.

 

Tales of Xillia 2: I liked the dark side of this game and all the character events. I found all the endings to be tragic, and the game to be quite emotional overall with the relationships between Ludgar, Elle, Victor and julius. 

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Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

 

This was the first time I really got into an adventure game per se. Before I was mostly into the gameplay without really caring about the story. 

 

The presentation and story got got me hooked for weeks and months. Used to have a friend who did sleepovers and we played this game trying to find every secret we could get, back in 1999 - 2000. 

 

I want to see a glimpse of those days.

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Final Fantasy X/X-2: Best love story ever, but a true love story not a twilight crap. You will see a father and son relatioship, brotherhood, friendship and a couple story that will blow you away at the end. 

Bioshock: Because ¿Would you kindly?

Shadow Of The Colosus: Because the feels and the end of the game.

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen: Because even playing a NG+ has a meaning into the game context and script.

Metal Gear Series: Because Hideo Kojima is a mastermind when creating complex plots.

Mass Effect trilogy: The plot and characters are pure gold, also the second game is a must play, I can say it has one of the best final missions I ever played.

The first Assassin's Creed games: Because the started as very interesting games, it was mpt just gameplays but the plot.

 

Those are some of the ebst I can think without spil anything :D

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NieR : The first game that appeared on PS3 , it's an indirect sequel to Drakengard series and it's followed by Nier Automata. While the combat is really simple, the story is a straight 10/10 in my opinion. While Nier Automata is good also , I strongly recommend to play the first game and after that see Automata . Imo the story in the original Nier is one of the best I have ever encountered.

Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice : The whole game is one mad experience. It's one of the games that you should never miss no matter what. Even now I occasionally rewatch playthroughs and listen to the beautiful OST.

And for a bigger recommendation that it's harder to accomplish tbh :

WITCHER series . No I do not mean Witcher 3, I mean ALL of them if you also own a decent PC. Witcher 3 is the best no doubt but it gets so ,so , SO MUCH BETTER if you played Witcher 1 and 2 before. I mean ok , the combat from Witcher 1 is bad even for the year it was released and Witcher 2 is an unforgiving game but the story in those games...oh god . On par with Witcher 3. They are just limited by the budget at that time.

Bonus points if you are familiar with Eastern European / Slavic mythos and stories. Boy you'd get some crazy folklore references xD 

EDIT: Thought of another game - Dark Souls. If you are looking for the story only, play the first one (although if it catches your interest you won't help but play the whole soulsborne franchise) . It's one of the more interesting take  : You discover the story through item description and cryptic dialogue with the NPCs . The story really hooked me up (in later games although they have better gameplay value the story quality dropped drastically. Just let Miyazaki do his things already! ) .

Of course I did not mention the combat though :> 

Edited by Copanele
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  • 2 weeks later...

Final Fantasy 6 -  I mean this and FF4 got me into Japanese RPGs. Give me a old school SquareSoft game any day of the week.

Xenogears - The closest to an Evangelion RPG we will ever get. The Proto-sequels while also good isn't even near the awesomeness of XG.

Chrono Trigger - Twists and Turns and DEATH! While being fun.

Metal Gear - The original NES version was the first game that felt like a film to me. Minus the final Metal Gear that was removed in the US game.

Elemental Gearbolt - If you are not crying at the end, you have no soul. And this is a light gun game!

Final Fantasy Tactics - If Shakespeare wrote a Tactics game. And included fallen angels.

Final Fantasy VII - The RPG that changed EVERYTHING.

Silent Hill - If David Lynch and Stephen King made a video game.

Metal Gear Solid - Like the original, but better.

Suikoden II - Yeah this gets dark.

Shadow of Memories - The game where you die over and over and over again trying to make history right.

Silent Hill 2\3 - Yeah this is dark too. Really dark.\Yeah she's "her".

And a bunch of newer games- - -

L.A. Noire, Until Dawn, Life is Strange, Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Everybody's Gone To The Rapture, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, What Remains of Edith Finch,  Oxenfree, Horizon Zero Dawn, The Invisible Hours, NieR: Automata, Remember Me, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, SOMA, Marvel's Spider-Man, Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition, Assassin's Creed II

 

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Spec-Ops the line had a really cool plot twist towards the end that made you question everything.

Silent Hill 2 was terrifying the first go around but the missing fragments of James's memory made you want to pursue what was lost.

Metal Gear Solid 2 was genius for instituting the whole idea of the AI system, what it meant to be truly human and whether we actually had free will or if we were just cogs of an even greater machine. 

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