Comments on: What are some video games with strong backstories?

Question: What are some video games with strong backstories?

film — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:06:50 -0800

I really like video games that have a good storyline behind them. What are some titles that have a good narrative and/or backstory? Examples of games I've like in the past are inside.

I've enjoyed the following games because the story lines were so engrossing, and that made me want to help the character reach the goal! It was a great motivator to finish the game and feel accomplished at the end. Can you recommend others that are like them?

-Abe's Oddyssey
-Futurama
-Legend of Zelda
-Katamari Damacy (story is zany, but I also liked the aesthetics, especially the music and scenery)
*bonus:Parappa the Rapper (gameplay is not that great, but story is cool and again with the zany)

The visual don't necessarily have to reflect the cartoonish looks mentioned above. At the time, I really thought Abe's Oddyssey was beautiful, so complex graphics are good as well.

Thank you!

By: ellF

ellF — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:08:00 -0800

Mass Effect is a pretty solid series, and its strength is the narrative. Its weakness is the repetitive combat. Skyrim has a good storyline. LA Noire is a great example of narrative, play, too.

By: solipsism

solipsism — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:09:41 -0800

My boyfriend has commandeered the keyboard to recommend Chrono Trigger, for the SNES.

By: Garm

Garm — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:15:32 -0800

Planescape: Torment has a pretty intricate and sprawling story.

By: specialagentwebb

specialagentwebb — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:15:40 -0800

Okami, Red Dead Redemption, and Saints Row the Third.

By: spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints

spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:19:30 -0800

ZOMG GO DOWNLOAD HALF LIFE

then half life 2

then half life 2 episode 1

best. narrative. ever.

By: chloe.gelsomino

chloe.gelsomino — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:24:48 -0800

As far as RPGs go:
Final Fantasy VII, VIII, X

Other games that come to mind: Assassin's Creed and Bioshock (first one).

By: radiosilents

radiosilents — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:25:34 -0800

Shadow of the Colossus has almost no narrative whatsoever, and yet is one of the best examples of storytelling in videogaming.

By: CrystalDave

CrystalDave — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:27:00 -0800

To The Moon. Its story is absolutely amazing and heartrending.

By: corb

corb — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:27:50 -0800

American McGee's Alice. Agreeing on Assasin's Creed and the Final Fantasy games, though Assassin's Creed is kind of a nightmare for those who have to get the Last Lousy Point.

By: lovecrafty

lovecrafty — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:33:24 -0800

The Mass Effect series has a very engrossing sci-fi/space opera story. Dragon Age: Origins is probably my favorite game ever and it's all for the story, which is fantasy fairly heavily inspired by George RR Martin's gritty/bloody style.

Skyrim is the latest in a loooong series of Elder Scrolls games, going back to the mid 90s. TONS of lore and backstory. Check out UESP.net for a glimpse of the rich lore.

The Fallout world is full of cool backstory--the first two games are isometric, while FO3 and New Vegas are more first person/open world. You don't have to play all of them, though they're all fun in their own way.

I pretty much only play the Assassin's Creed games for the story--and I really like the story.

By: Mad_Carew

Mad_Carew — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:40:07 -0800

Everything by Spiderweb Software. I particularly like Nethergate, because of the dual-storylines and the ability to play either the Romans or the Celts.

By: Aquaman

Aquaman — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:44:33 -0800

Beyond Good & Evil is all about the story. And there's an HD reissue!

By: Decani

Decani — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:47:29 -0800

The Half Life series, for goddamned sure. Half Life II especially. Still the best.

By: PhoBWanKenobi

PhoBWanKenobi — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:54:50 -0800

Ahem. The story in FFVIII is terrible. But if you don't mind classic games, the story in VI is absolutely masterful (IV is pretty good, too).

I'd also suggest Shenmue, and seconding Chrono Trigger.

By: PhoBWanKenobi

PhoBWanKenobi — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:57:39 -0800

Oh, and you can get the entire Oddworld Saga on Steam for pretty cheap.

By: restless_nomad

restless_nomad — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 17:19:00 -0800

All of the Ultima games starting with Ultima IV are really rich - they're available on GoG.com. (They are, alas, quite old and the UI can be a pain in the ass. But the Underworlds and both parts of U7 are some of my favorite RPGs ever.)

By: Zephyrial

Zephyrial — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 17:19:08 -0800

I just finished playing Bioshock and, even though the protagonist is a bit of a cipher at first, the world/environment and story line I found very compelling. (There are tape players spread out all over the map where you can listen to bits of different characters' stories, like a radio drama. Only a few are necessary to actually beat the game, but listening to all of them makes the experience of the narrative much richer.)

By: ignignokt

ignignokt — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 17:21:40 -0800

Baldur's Gate II is an incredible game on many levels, one of them being a decent overarching story, but it also has the best NPCs of any game I've played. Their stories were compelling to unravel, and their dialogue was fantastic. I was as thrilled to see them break into conversation with each other as I was to finish a difficult battle.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic had NPCs that were almost as good, but I never completed it personally because the tactical side of it got too breezy after the conversion to a Jedi.

By: Angharad

Angharad — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 17:47:19 -0800

The Witcher and The Witcher 2 are fantastic - I actually found the rec somewhere on AskMe. Vivid dialogue, incredible voice acting, mysterious main story, compelling backstory. You can only play as the main character, if that matters to you, but I was completely engrossed within I'd say half an hour of gameplay.

By: jbickers

jbickers — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 17:54:45 -0800

Don't do Half-Life, because the story is incomplete, and the jerks who made it have been putting it off for five years. Avoid Half-Life.

Instead, play: Braid, Bastion, Fallout: New Vegas, Okami, Valkyria Chronicles, Bioshock 1 and 2.

By the time you've exhausted those, there's a snowball's chance that Half-Life Episode 3 might be out and you can start playing it.

By: subject_verb_remainder

subject_verb_remainder — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 18:06:59 -0800

I've played all the games you liked (and liked them too) and I recommend...

Psychonauts - zany story, good gameplay. I wish I beat it because I think about it a lot and how I regret not discovering what happens. You play a telepath kid at summer camp, learning to invade people's minds and hijinks ensue. It's available on Steam/PC and 360 (downloadable).

de Blob also has a fun story: Evil fascist police come in and instill order in your world, and you're an anarchist graffiti artist fighting for individualism... told in the form of paint blobs and lots of bouncing (also, a great soundtrack). It's on the Wii. Story is light but ties into some great overall aesthetics, kind of the way Katamari does (albeit not as weird). You may also like World of Goo for the weird story + great aesthetics.

Legend of Zelda story-telling is really a hero-saves-the-world adventure - Final Fantasy games all have this. Personally, of the modern Final Fantasy games I thought Final Fantasy X (PS2) was the best story if you like tearjerkers/dramas/romance, and Final Fantasy 12 (PS2) if you like political dramas. (Most Final Fantasy fans will argue over what is best - see above posts - but generally agree to stay away from 13).

Instead of Final Fantasy, you might be more interested in Kingdom Hearts - don't let Disney branding scare you off, they are excellent games. They are on a few different platforms, but not on PC iirc.

Ico and Shadow of the Colossus and Okami are great stories and great games, but very different from the above styles. Not zany. More like a folk tale or a myth from long, long ago. All beautiful games, both visually and in setting the mood.

And if you want something that's weird and very story-oriented and you have a Nintendo DS, I recommend any of the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney games, where you play a defense lawyer-detective hybrid. It's pretty weird and lovable.

Mass Effect, Skyrim, Half Life 2, Bioshock, Red Dead Redemption... are all great games with excellent stories but do not in the slightest bit resemble any of the examples you listed.

By: The demon that lives in the air

The demon that lives in the air — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 18:07:10 -0800

Earthbound on the SNES is my gold standard answer for this sort of question.

By: Muu

Muu — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 18:21:42 -0800

It would help greatly if you tell us what systems you own.

If you have a Wii, Xenoblade Chronicles. Plus, you get to play the newer Zeldas.

By: Verdandi

Verdandi — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 18:25:54 -0800

Both my recommendations and the hubby's are listed below:
--Seconding Earthbound, and also recommending Earthbound 2 (Mother 3) if you're not opposed to downloading an emulator and ROM and patching said ROM--it was never released in the US.
--Hubby strongly seconds Red Dead Redemption
--Heavy Rain
--Tales of Vesperia
--Metal Gear
--Chrono Cross
--Suikoden series
--Liked Last Story so far, about ~12 or so hours in
--Xenoblade Chronicles
--Xenogears (not Xenosaga)
--L.A. Noire

By: yaymukund

yaymukund — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 18:39:52 -0800

The Longest Journey.

Seconding Suikoden, Shadow of the Colossus, Psychonauts.

By: brieche

brieche — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 19:09:38 -0800

DEADLY PREMONITION*!!

Deadly Premonition is a magnificently bizarre/bizarrely magnificent beast of a game, with gameplay controls that manage to be both grueling and somehow boring, and a story that dazzles as much as it bewilders. While I can't in good faith recommend the game itself thanks to the aforementioned mechanics, I will 110% recommend supergreatfriend's Let's Play of it, which is fantastic. (Seriously, deciding to watch this LP is one of the best choices I've made all year, entertainment-wise.)

* proud holder of the Guinness World Record for ~"Most Critically Polarizing Survival Horror Game"~

Other than that, I think you'd really like Journey! It's short but so, so gorgeous (avoid spoilers as much as possible!).

By: zombieApoc

zombieApoc — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 19:19:36 -0800

Everything ignignokt said about Baldur's Gate II * 1000. You won't find a better RPG out there, and it will continue to be the best, that is until they re-release it. The interactions between the characters is what always brings me back to replay it.

By: spaltavian

spaltavian — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 19:46:14 -0800

Fallout; especially the original and New Vegas.

By: ThatFuzzyBastard

ThatFuzzyBastard — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 19:52:08 -0800

Bioshock definitely definitely! Other excellent story/exploration games include Psychonauts, Mass Effect trilogy, Little King's Story (Wii), System Shock 2 (oldie but goodie), Oblivion, and Dust: An Elysian Tale (Xbox Live Arcade).

By: Occula

Occula — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 20:46:35 -0800

Silent Hill 2
Resistance: Fall of Man
Eternal Sonata. The whole game is a dream composer Frederic Chopin has on a sickbed - or is it!?

By: justkevin

justkevin — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 21:19:35 -0800

Kind of surprised Grim Fandango hasn't appeared yet. While old, it is still widely regarded as one of the best narratives in a video game.

By: Helleaven

Helleaven — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 22:09:35 -0800

In the vein of Legend of Zelda, check out Dink Smallwood. It's an old school RPG with a quirky storyline and a few side missions. Hope you like it!

By: Earl the Polliwog

Earl the Polliwog — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 23:27:03 -0800

9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors (for DS) and the sequel Virtue's Last Reward.

The games consist of room escape puzzles connected by novel sections, where you read and watch the story unfold as well as make some decisions that affect the path the story takes.

They do some really creative exploration of a branched storyline in a way that isn't often seen elsewhere.

n.b. the sequel's 3DS version has a save-crippling bug in the PEC room - don't save there and you'll be OK

By: starzero

starzero — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 03:08:46 -0800

Seconding The Witcher and The Witcher 2 as well as Dragon Age: Origins incl. the extensions/DLC. I also really, really enjoyed Alan Wake, it has a somewhat unique (for the gaming world) episodic structure similar to a mystery TV show. Also check out The Longest Journey (point & click adventure) and Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (action adventure).

I'd also recommend Dragon Age 2, a lot of people dislike it because of the arcady combat and repetitive level design, but the story and characters were still very engaging in my opinion.

You haven't mentioned specific platforms, but in my books the 3 Uncharted Games are reason enough to pick up a PlayStation 3. Heavy Rain is also a engaging PS3 exclusive from a storyline perspective, even though the actual gameplay isn't that strong.

By: Happy Dave

Happy Dave — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 03:33:43 -0800

Very newly released, but Dishonored is fantastic. The world is stunning (it's been described with good reason as painterley) and it has a cracking steampunk/Victorian world which is very deep. There is a storytelling device that allows you to point at any character and hear whispered backstory, plus books to read everywhere and reams of subplots and intrigue. It rewards multiple playthroughs.

By: Inner Universe

Inner Universe — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 06:15:51 -0800

I can't nth Okami and Okamiden, the DS sequel, enough. Lovely graphics, beautiful music and a satisfying story in both. Continuing with the DS, obviously try out the LoZ titles as you've already stated a preference for them; The World Ends With You has a fantastic story, great music and unique gameplay; Ghost Trick is essentially a puzzle game set tangentially in the Ace Attorney universe with a plot that delivers humour, twists and some degree of melancholy; and finally Contact is a great little game with...an interesting story. The last half hour kinda makes up for any grinding you needed to do.

For consoles, everybody before me has mentioned the vast majority of my picks, but I'll throw out the entirety of the Silent Hill series for good measure. Story driven horror, and the only series to make me legitimately afraid to turn on my console the morning after a midnight session.

By: DynamiteToast

DynamiteToast — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 14:26:13 -0800

A few other people have mentioned Psychonauts briefly, but it seems perfect for what you want. The story is funny and well thought out, though very fictional. You play a psychic kid at a psychic summer camp where you learn to infiltrate peoples' minds. You then spend the rest of the game invading your friends (or enemies) brains to figure out why bad things are happening at the camp, and each of the 20 or so brain-levels is another reveal which makes it all the more engrossing, or at least it did to me.

By: yeahyeahyeahwhoo

yeahyeahyeahwhoo — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 16:14:39 -0800

I think Bastion had a good, well executed story and aesthetic

By: quiet

quiet — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 05:38:07 -0800

I've gone back to replay these because of the engaging stories: Psychonauts, Ultima IV (originally on an Apple IIc), Deus Ex (get the updated textures), Little Big Adventure, Grim Fandango, SWKOTOR

By: His thoughts were red thoughts

His thoughts were red thoughts — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 18:23:57 -0800

Bioshock and Bioshock 2 are both awesome from a storytelling perspective.

By: Durn Bronzefist

Durn Bronzefist — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 08:32:34 -0800

Nthing: Psychonauts, Fallout 3/New Vegas, Bastion, and The Witcher. Special shout outs to Mass Effect 2 (satisfied my "I want to watch a great sci-fi movie" desire, which I didn't think was possible), and Skyrim for the beautiful scenery and spontaneous interaction of game elements, as well as engaging atmospherics (I will admit recently hanging around an Imperial camp at night for no other reason than it was utterly charming and had the camping vibe I've been missing lately IRL). Odd, odd suggestion given your criteria: Minecraft, given that it lacks any story whatsoever. Call it a hunch.