Gaming storylines that have stayed with you

[dan-likes-trees]

Been playing The Witcher 2 and Banner Saga (which is a great mix of FFTactics and the Oregon trail) recently, and realised that, increasingly in my old age, I play games for the story above anything else.

 

I also feel like that's part of why I've moved away from Nintendo games recently - and why to many they all seem quite similar to many people - lack of engaging, well written narrative. So I'd be keen on suggestions on Ninty games with good plots (I've heard good things about the Fire Emblem stories).

 

So - what are the gaming stories that have stayed with you over the years?

[Sméagol]

I'll come up with some more later (probably), but first thing that springs to mind is Silent Hill shattered memories. Oh and Eternal Darkness.

[Happenstance]

Mass Effect Trilogy

Persona 4

To the Moon

[Sméagol]

He's specifically asking for Nintendo games (I'm assuming "Ninty" is short for Nintendo, and he's using Fire Emblem as an example).

 

Looking through my collection, on Wii I also like Fragile Dreams and Another Code (never played the DS game, but I assume that's good too). I also loved Tales of Symphonia, though not everyone seems to like the game for its story. Regarding Fire Emblem though, I liked the story for path of radiance / radiant dawn, but it never was the main selling point for me.

[Happenstance]

Then he shouldn't be asking the question in the Other Consoles section :P

[bob]

I liked it in Luigis Mansion, where you're fighting ghosts, and you get to the end of the game and it turns out that Luigi has been dead the whole time!

 

I also enjoyed Mario Sunshine, where you fight these alien creatures all around (they look all weird), but it turns out their weakness is water, and so you go around spraying water on them!

 

Also good was Animal Crossing, where you start in a village, but as time goes on, you realise something is up, and it turns out that Tom Nook has kept everyone trapped in the village using scare stories about a monster, and actually the village is set in modern times, but you don't realise!

 

Nintendo make some great stories really.

[Rummy]

I don't think I've ever particularly been a Narrative in games kind of guy - so I can't really think of ones that have 'stuck' with me. Journey's one of my most memorable gaming experiences - but it can be argued that the 'narrative' in that is somewhat bare, and my memories aren't even related to that so much anyhow.

 

God it feels really weird trying to think of Narratives that have stuck with me from games! I can certainly remember games but can't think of anything blowing my mind with its story - maybe the quirkyness of some of the Mario RPG/M&L titles?

[Hero-of-Time]

Off the top of my head...

 

The Walking Dead series by Telltale Games

Halo 1-3

Gears of War series

Metal Gear Solid series

The Last of Us

Resident Evil 1-3 & CV.

Kingdom Hearts series

Final Fantasy VII, VIII, X, XIII

Beyond Two Souls

Heavy Rain

[Goafer]

Then he shouldn't be asking the question in the Other Consoles section :P

 

He could also have asked a question that's possible to answer. Nintendo's stories can be summed up by describing what you see on screen and adding "for reasons" on the end.

[Happenstance]

Yeah I do struggle to think of any Nintendo games I've played with good stories. Good games themselves sure but nothing springs to mind storywise. Always a shame as most of the time thats what I look for in games these days.

[Daft]

The Last of Us

Spec Ops: The Line

Majora's Mask

Brothers

Halo 1-3

 

Just off the top of my head.

[dan-likes-trees]

He could also have asked a question that's possible to answer. Nintendo's stories can be summed up by describing what you see on screen and adding "for reasons" on the end.

 

Haha, yeah that was kind of my thought. Thread wasn't meant to be specifically about Nintendo games but I'd encourage suggestions... if there are any.

 

On a related note, does anyone know what happened to Advance Wars? Is that a Nintendo IP? Quite enjoyed Days of Ruin's story, along with the older ones. get it on iOS!

[Goafer]

Firewatch

Witcher 3

Persona 4

Virginia

[Sméagol]

If not restricted to Nintendo games, than you can add at the very least:

Life is strange

Her story

Soma

Oxenfree

 

King's story is actually pretty good story & dialogue-wise.

[Shorty]

Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite

Mass Effect

Persona 4

For Nintendo, there was Metroid Prime. It wasn't a narrative that was forced upon you, but one you could explore by scanning and reading. It was awesome to discover the lore, instead of just observing it.

[Eenuh]

For Nintendo, there was Metroid Prime. It wasn't a narrative that was forced upon you, but one you could explore by scanning and reading. It was awesome to discover the lore, instead of just observing it.

 

I felt the same when playing through Bloodborne. There is a lot of story in that game, but none of it is told through cutscenes or stuff like that, it is all in the descriptions of items etc. Found it quite interesting to discover the backstory of the world like that.

 

As for story based games, Last of Us is up there (even though I didn't play it but watched Jim play through it twice), Life is Strange was great and of course The Witcher 3. Loved that game so much, all the little side stories with different characters added so much to that game for me.

[Fierce_LiNk]

Thinking about Nintendo consoles, the stories which stuck with me were Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Killer 7 and Eternal Darkness. I'd count Ocarina of Time in there, too. And Majora's Mask.

 

Outside of Nintendo, The Witcher 3 and its DLCs were just fucking incredible all round. Great character development, plot progression and tons of memorable moments. There's a reason that it's my favourite game ever and a large part of that is down to the story line/s.

 

Recently, I've been thinking about the stories from the BioShock games, particularly BioShock Infinite. It blew me away and I've been thinking about the implications of that ending for weeks now. It'll stay with me forever!

 

I'm a big fan of The Last of Us and the writing and dialogue within that game was immense. Definitely in my top 10 ever. Again, the ending will stay with me forever!

 

There are others, too. Life is Strange and The Walking Dead games to name a few.

[Retro_Link]

Shenmue

Ocarina of Time

RE: Code Veronica

[Goafer]

Just playing the Witcher 3 DLC now and falling in love with the game all over again. All the characters feel fully fleshed out and the writing is superb. Just enough humour to add charm, but not so much that it becomes silly or distracts from the mature storytelling. Such a great game. I'd even go as far as to call it the best AAA game in terms of storytelling.

 

Shenmue

Ocarina of Time

RE: Code Veronica

 

If we're going down the retro route, Skies of Arcadia. Sublime game. A true adventure.

[Jonnas]

I also think this thread belongs more in the General Gaming board.

 

Mother 3 is the first one that pops to mind. For such a quirky silly game, the emotional punch is immense. Brilliant ending. Part of the reason has to do with the fact that it writes story scenes into its battle system (and other segments you'd expect to be pure gameplay).

 

Bastion is one I played recently. Using a narrator for the entirety of its dialogue works surprisingly well on a videogame. The final segment where you need to make vital choices regarding the story's main themes (war, forgiveness, loss, acceptance) is definitely the kind of thing only a videogame could do.

 

Tales of Symphonia. Might be because I played it as a teenager, but I still think it tackles the racism themes pretty well. The fact that Genis - a well-meaning, kind, intelligent kid - is the most prejudiced person in your party is the kind of nuance that's surprisingly rare.

 

The Fire Emblem series. While the writing quality varies from game to game, the support system really does wonders for world-building and character development. From simple conversations, we can learn of a man's turbulent past (or present), the intricacies of a country's economy, match developed characters into pairings of our choosing, or even finish sub-plots introduced early in the story. It's a simple, but ingenious way to add depth to the plot without sacrificing its pace for the sake of an infodump (a trap that many games fall into).

 

Honestly, there's a lot of memorable stories in videogames, more than I can post here. Even good twists in an otherwise simple story (like in Mark of the Ninja) stay with you.

[drahkon]

BioShock Infinite - The storyline that got me into Quantum Mechanics. Not the physics and maths behind it but rather a really simple approach to it. Love it.

 

Life is Strange - Incredibly emotional story with great characters.

 

And the following...this is no joke:

 

Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Jesus Christ, this game has a mind fuck story. And it's actually incredibly well written.

[Glen-i]

I really like the story in Mother 3. One of the best RPG stories I've experienced.

 

I'm also gonna give a shout to all 4 Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games. They hammer home the power of friendship a bit too much, but they have some great twists and some surprisingly dark turns to them, seeing as they're Pokemon games.

One of those literally involves a Suicide Cult.

[Hero-of-Time]

Bastion is one I played recently. Using a narrator for the entirety of its dialogue works surprisingly well on a videogame. The final segment where you need to make vital choices regarding the story's main themes (war, forgiveness, loss, acceptance) is definitely the kind of thing only a videogame could do.

 

This is a good one. I think Bastion is a fantastic game and the narration used throughout was such a good idea.

 

I finally got around to playing Transistor a few weeks back and, while a great game, it didn't have the same impact on me that Bastion did.

 

Another story that stuck with me is the one from the first Infamous game. The ending has to be one of my favourites in a game. I just didn't see it coming. It really brought the whole story together.