Your favourite story told in a video game!

[Caped_Plumber]

For me, FF7 tells the greatest and most epic tale through a video game.

And also ocarina of time… but that’s more like the greatest adventure. It’s not as much of a narrative as ff7 but it’s more like the greatest adventure experienced through a video game…

Those are my personal greatest stories/ adventures…

What is your favourite story told through a video game?

 

[DanVzare]

Honestly, one of my favourite stories told in a video game, has to be in Dragon Quest Builders.

I'm going to include my reasoning for liking it in spoilers, because I think everyone should play the game without even a hint as to why I like it as much as I do, as I don't want to spoil it.

Spoiler

Essentially the game is the complete opposite of "The Chosen One" trope. And literally has you trying your absolute best at the end of the game, just to give the middle finger to fate. I won't say anymore than that. Go play it!

It's not the best game in the world. The sequel plays much better.
But in terms of story, the original Dragon Quest Builders is hands down the best.

 

[Kremiso]

probably Blood Omen Legacy of Kain, damn i would like to see a 1:1 movie of that first chapter;

very close Morrowind, i remember spending a couple of months staying in the first village to better understand main and many of the background stories;

then yes a good bunch of jrpg are almost there in my personal list, atm i have Parasite Eve in mind

 

[ciro64]

Portal 2. I can't describe how much of a presence the talking characters have.

And also ocarina of time… but that’s more like the greatest adventure. It’s not as much of a narrative as ff7 but it’s more like the greatest adventure experienced through a video game…

Also this

 

[AncientBehemoth]

Probably Knight scenario in Live a Live. Shit was tragic.

 

[fake-kun]

Mega Man Star Force 1 and Disco Elysium.

 

[_oBSOLEte_]

Soma is the GOAT for me. Story perfectly fits the videogame medium.

 

[nobitakun]

It's not my favourite of all times, because for me deciding the best of something is almost impossible, but one of my favourite stories of videogames that surprised me greatly is Life is Strange.

 

[Terrastar]

Katana Zero

 

[valosagutas]

Metal Gear Solid 3

My own past made me relate to Naked Snake so I did see myself in him. Metal Gear games are cringe because it suffers from a Japanese aspect I really dislike. Even the logic of "Snake, Liquid and Solidus" and whatever bad anime logic drags down the whole series. But they managed to do something different in this game. Finally a video game made me relate myself to digital people who are made of 0 and 1.

I won't spoil but only say, this is that kind of story I care in a story because it's mature and it touches the untold realistic aspect of humanity. On top of it Metal Gear humor peaks in this game.

So imagine a soldier used as an experiment and threw into the jungle without even a significant weapon a soldier has to has. Naked Snake suffered from the army life but he had no idea how it damaged him yet. In his own way to rebel he still tried to keep a sense of "I'm me" sense in everything he does.

In the army you are not a person, you are a tool as much as a weapon or a shovel. You shouldn't be a person. You should only aware of your superiors and only think to how to complete your orders for your own sake. This is the context Naked Snake finds himself in and try to complete his crazy mission despite how nonsense it's. You can see his internal sense of how BS his life is by trying to focus on facts that "it's his mission and he was ordered so".

However things are beyond military here. Naked Snake had a mentor who taught him more than being a soldier but Naked Snake was too naive to see it. His mentor taught him to be a person so he can be himself. This added somewhat a dream perhaps every soldier wished but had no idea of. Being in the army but treated as a person. Your commanders may care about you, for your own sake they don't act like you are a person so you can repress your humanity to keep accepting dying. For it you find your own justification. "For my people. For my orders. For this is how it's."

Then game explore this aspect in the context of humanity and how politics are via the Boss character. We learn the Boss is legendary just because of how politicians stealing the thunder of soldiers as if they did the thing. Politicians send you to war just for their own fame and when soldiers win the war which means when your soldiers lose their humanity but their lives that politicians calls it "winning a war" in a way politicians advertize this BS as "we won". The Boss is aware of this but like any soldiers ignore how childish politicians are. When you love your people you fight for your people. You fight for the kid who spent his life masturbating to anime girls. You fight for the thief feel entitled to murder people for their gold. You even fight for them because they are your people. But when you lose the war, your will to live, your comrade and even your limbs and then you return home citizens hate you. Yes. Even when politicians sent you to war in a country that's no threat to your people's lives and then "you lost the war" because of it they hate you.

What is war? War is protecting my people. When I don't fight to protect my people then I'm not fighting, I'm killing. The Boss became aware of many things through the life she lived as a political pawn. For soldiers being political pawn is okay as long as they protect their country. But what it means to be a soldier when we had to kill the person we loved? The point I see to be a soldier is protecting my country from its childish and ignorant self. It feels like fighting with the parent of the kid your kid fought with. Naturally your kid matters to you despite you yourself think how wrong your kid is. How wrong your country doesn't matter. When your country starts a war it's your duty to protect it and afterwards wishing the peace will last forever but wishes never happens just because you wished so despite how many starry skies you saw in many night guard duties when you were freezing to death to ensure your people won't be killed in their sleep as because of it you sacrificed your own peaceful sleep.

MGS 3 has no happy ending. The real ending is stop playing that game in that particular moment. Because it turns out what The Boss tried to teach Naked Snake was null. He misunderstood all of it. It turned out he wasn't a soldier, he was just a murderer.

Because of why society and therefore companies use army and therefore soldiers like it's a cool thing in a very ignorant way but then MGS 3 treated the whole situation realistically is why I hold MGS 3 in great heights. Being a soldier is not cool, it's not about power, it's not about winning. You are no soldier if you don't care about other soldier who had to kill you to protect their own country same as you. But it was how it's. MGS 3 explores and tells an untold story that cannot be put into a way a human language can convey, but I tried.

However it could have been better without Hideo Kojima's naive sense of how much he seeks for an happy peaceful world. For this goal he trying to brainwash lol. The game hits home hard when I could have been Naked Snake but I dodged it. I just stopped being a soldier.

 

[Stingy Perry]

This Duology has an intriguing story, fan service galore and the most wackiest and wittiest dialogues I’ve ever seen besides the Disgaea series.

 

[stoicvampirepig]

Soma is the GOAT for me. Story perfectly fits the videogame medium.

Well I was going to say Soma, it's the best videogame plot of all time, truly mindexpanding concepts in that game, pathos in spades.

Plus the main character is called Simon and there's not enough of that in gaming. :)

 

[beefbowl]

I'm really torn between two games.
Metal Gear Solid 2 isn’t just about stealth, it’s a psychological maze disguised as an action game. What begins as a standard sequel quickly morphs into a mind-bending story about identity, control, and the lies we tell ourselves. The infamous switch from Snake to Raiden isn’t just a twist, it’s a way to make you question everything, including your role as the player. As the plot unravels and an AI starts talking directly to you, the game turns into a warning about information manipulation, digital control, and free will. It’s weird, confusing, and way ahead of its time, and that’s exactly why it’s brilliant.

Spec Ops: The Line looks like a typical military shooter, but it’s actually a slow descent into guilt, madness, and moral collapse. You start out thinking you're the hero on a rescue mission, but the game steadily strips that illusion away until you're left with the consequences of your own violence. It doesn’t glorify war, it confronts you with it. The infamous white phosphorus scene hits like a brick, and the ending doesn’t offer comfort, just reflection. Spec Ops doesn’t want you to feel powerful, it wants you to feel responsible, and that’s what makes its story unforgettable.

 

[Caped_Plumber]

Honestly, one of my favourite stories told in a video game, has to be in Dragon Quest Builders.

I'm going to include my reasoning for liking it in spoilers, because I think everyone should play the game without even a hint as to why I like it as much as I do, as I don't want to spoil it.

Spoiler

Essentially the game is the complete opposite of "The Chosen One" trope. And literally has you trying your absolute best at the end of the game, just to give the middle finger to fate. I won't say anymore than that. Go play it!

It's not the best game in the world. The sequel plays much better.
But in terms of story, the original Dragon Quest Builders is hands down the best.

I’ll check it out!

Post automatically merged: Today at 2:15 PM

probably Blood Omen Legacy of Kain, damn i would like to see a 1:1 movie of that first chapter;

very close Morrowind, i remember spending a couple of months staying in the first village to better understand main and many of the background stories;

then yes a good bunch of jrpg are almost there in my personal list, atm i have Parasite Eve in mind

Thanks for sharing!! Blood omen is on my list and I’ve got a physical ps1version and the remaster on GoG!! The GoG release is great and I can’t wait to play it!

 

[Sumea]

To me, best ones Include Danganronpa Series, and 999 & VLR from the zero escape trilogy. There is not many games that can hold intrigue of mystery quite the same like these games, even later ones where I cannot list AI duo or Rain code onto same grouping. Zero Escape games also include unique narrative element with the multiple paths of the game that as far as I know, is quite unique. Though, especially Kazutaka's titles are... "Very anime" for lack of better term. Uchikoski's titles are only slightly less anime in comparison but enjoyment of these stories would be impossible to people with distaste to overly Japanese tropes. This also brings me to their co-op work with Hundred Line, game that launched few weeks ago and is already on it's way to be my favorite games, and uses also it's game elements as indirect story telling elements that I love. So, excellent, intrigue kept high mystery stories from these two guys, but extra anime, and I am sensible enough to say that and let people skip them according to their taste.

Hotel Dusk and it's sequel Cape West. These games are... Just a vibe. A combination of utterly down to earth setting, characters and story that are just... So endearing, and deeply compelling. Presented with such a unique art style that underlines it all with smooth, midi jazz. The games are so much more about writing of all the characters. Most memorable thing to me about cape west is not it's ending but the Christmas eve night in the story.

Nier Automata. Anyone who has played can tell there is utter "only in a video game" thing going for nier's story that no other medium would do justice for. The less I say to uninitiated about the ride the better.

 

[Merlin Yggdrasill]

Oh man, the absolute best? Let's see...

Metal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid 3, Final Fantasy XIV (A Realm Reborn to Endwalker), Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (the original), Tales of Symphonia, Snatcher, and Sonic Adventure 2 are pretty much the freaking top of the top for me.

If Adol talked and every cutscene was voiced, I'd easily say Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana.

 

[stoicvampirepig]

Spec-ops the Line is brutal.

 

[Clippy]

I'd have to say either Diablo or early Mortal Kombat entries even if a lot of the lore isn't in the games themselves.

 

[Plumpodrome]

Honestly, one of my favourite stories told in a video game, has to be in Dragon Quest Builders.

I'm going to include my reasoning for liking it in spoilers, because I think everyone should play the game without even a hint as to why I like it as much as I do, as I don't want to spoil it.

Spoiler

Essentially the game is the complete opposite of "The Chosen One" trope. And literally has you trying your absolute best at the end of the game, just to give the middle finger to fate. I won't say anymore than that. Go play it!

It's not the best game in the world. The sequel plays much better.
But in terms of story, the original Dragon Quest Builders is hands down the best.

very curious answer. would you rec 1 over 2 then?

 

[χKai]

Tales of Symphonia and Chrono Cross.

My mind was just blown over and over again, could not recommend them enough.

You want another good one?
Final Fantasy Tactics. The story alone makes it good enough to play through the game, but then you've got the battle mechanics and skill tree which make it even more worth it.

 

[Spyrone]

My favorite stories in gaming are probably the Red Dead Redemption and BioShock games. RDR I & II are some of my favorite westerns out of any media form (it's up there with Big Jake, the Tarantino version of Django Unchained and A Fistful of Dollars) and Arthur Morgan is my favorite Rockstar protagonist, while the BioShock series has some of the best villains in gaming in the form of Andrew Ryan, Sander Cohen, Frank Fontaine/Atlas, Sofia Lamb and Booker DeWitt/Zachary Hale Comstock. It's a shame both of them are owned by Take-Two, who recently beat out EA and Activision for the title of shittiest gaming publisher IMO.

 

[Sumea]

Tales of Symphonia and Chrono Cross.

My mind was just blown over and over again, could not recommend them enough.

You want another good one?
Final Fantasy Tactics. The story alone makes it good enough to play through the game, but then you've got the battle mechanics and skill tree which make it even more worth it.

I should likely play symphonia, but it is the game I have not played, instead, played Abyss first, followed by Vesperia and almost every game since. Those two are my favorites with story, both very introspective into their own topics of life philosophy.

 

[χKai]

I should likely play symphonia, but it is the game I have not played, instead, played Abyss first, followed by Vesperia and almost every game since. Those two are my favorites with story, both very introspective into their own topics of life philosophy.

You'll likely enjoy Symphonia if you give it a fair and unbiased chance, one thing Namco likes to do is reuse plot elements and character development between different games, with some characters and story elements being relatively similar to each other and makes it seem as if they ran out of ideas.
If you play Tales of Symphonia and then Tales of Legendia, it will become easy to recognize.

 

[Cardboardtubeknight]

I'm surprised no one has kindly mentioned Bioshock

 

[Yousef]

• GTA IV
• Max Payne
• Bully
• Manhunt 2
• Black Ops II