Games with awesome plots. [Archive] - Eyes on Final Fantasy Forums

Loony BoB

11-16-2007, 03:53 PM

Old Manus

11-16-2007, 05:12 PM

MGS1, unless you've already played it. Twice as interesting as MGS2 and ten times as interesting as MGS3, imho.

Bunny

11-16-2007, 05:17 PM

I am very fond of the story behind Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate: Shadows of Amn. That could just be me though.

JKTrix

11-16-2007, 06:03 PM

Ace Attorney 3 on the DS's story is great. If you've played Ace Attorney 1 & 2. It takes a lot of the backstory of the previous two games and brings them into the present, so while it's great on its own you have to be familiar with the history for maximum fanservice.

Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigo_prophecy) had some really great moments as well, and that's on the PC. When it came out in the 'States it was rated M, but they rereleased it online as a 'Director's cut' with an AO rating. I haven't played that one, but apparently the things they cut out of the M game weren't very important to the plot.

Markus. D

11-16-2007, 07:27 PM

Devil, May, Cry, 3,~~

It will take you about half the game (if your not into quick learning) to actually learn how to play.

But the story develops PERFECTly and also ends that way too... Unless you pick up Special Edition and play Vergil... you get an intro and that's it :(

Roto13

11-16-2007, 07:32 PM

The whole Metal Gear Solid series, with 3 being the super-awesomest. I believe there are PC versions of 1 and 2. It's one of the few games I play for the story alone, because it's one of the few games where the story is actually interesting. I actually played through MGS 1, 2, and 3 again recently so my husband could watch them. :P He really wants me to play Metal Gear Solid 4 for him. He'll probably end up getting me a PS3 for my birthday next year just for that. xD

Shoeberto

11-16-2007, 07:40 PM

Half-life 1, 2, and the following episodes.

Though the story isn't terribly engaging the first time you play them (though the gameplay makes up for it), I would highly recommend playing through the first game, then the second, then finding the excellent story guide online - it's like playing through this kinda confusing jumble, then having it all put together and making perfect sense, then being all "ohh, that's what all that was!" I thought it was really satisfying, anyhow.

If you get the Orange Box, you get HL2, plus the first two episodes. HL1 is available on Steam for about $10USD.

Spatvark

11-16-2007, 07:47 PM

Vagrant Story.

Like anyone's surprised by me suggesting that.

Nominus Experse

11-16-2007, 07:51 PM

Blaster Master for the NES was pretty deep.

Chase the frog boy! Save the world!

Kossage

11-16-2007, 07:59 PM

Well, I really enjoyed the plots of X-Wing: Tie Fighter and especially X-Wing: Alliance. They had a surprisingly deep stories which slowly unfolded and really pulled you into the universe. There are some thrilling sequences which are cleverly foreshadowed in earlier missions, and it's great that particularly in XWA there are times when you think the mission is over only to realize that there are yet things to be done as the stakes get higher. Character development in XWA was well done, and the characters matured and changed as the story progressed instead of staying the same, which was a nice touch. :p

Fallout 1 & 2 had great stories as well. Although the games themselves are partly open-ended with the way that you can decide the fate of several organizations and people, the main storylines were thrilling with quite a few plot twists (there are some that you'd never expect to happen, which is a great plus) and well-written characters. The subject matter is appropriately dark and mature, and the story helps pull you into the world the games take place in. :)

Zeldy

11-16-2007, 08:11 PM

Vagrant Story.
I've played a tiny bit of that! I can't remember why I stopped or whether I liked it or not.

I absoloutly loved Final Fantasy 7s Story Line, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Zelda: Majora's Mask, Zelda: Ocarina of time (yeah, obviously) and Phantasy Star Online episode 1 & 2.

I <3 phantasy star, best game and storyline ever imho.

CloudDragon

11-16-2007, 10:14 PM

Blaster Master for the NES was pretty deep.

Chase the frog boy! Save the world!

Amen.

If you're going for story Xenogears and the Xenosaga series won't do you wrong.

El Bandito

11-16-2007, 11:15 PM

Psychonauts had the most engaging story and characters for a platformer I've ever encountered.

Araciel

11-16-2007, 11:25 PM

Tetris.:p

Levian

11-16-2007, 11:41 PM

I was a bit disappointed in the turn Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy took during the game. For me it went from being a great plot to a pretty boring one. :/ Had to mix in that supernatural crap.

Well, there's obviously Silent Hill. They're all for PC too, except from the 1st one. The only one linked to SH 1 is SH3, so you can easily play the other 2 without confusion.

And then there's Sanitarium, also a PC game. One of my favourites, and I think you're gonna like that one too. ;o Look it up.

Captain Maxx Power

11-16-2007, 11:44 PM

The whole Metal Gear Solid series, with 3 being the super-awesomest.

I was waiting for someone to be insane enough to even suggest that the MGS storylines were anything more than sub-par, Steven Seagal-esque trash. Quite frankly I think the plotlines are sub-par, Steven Seagal-esque trash, and the continued devotion to the series baffles me.

In terms of a storyline I'm quite keen on the ones found in both System Shock 2 and Bioshock, both told in the same drip feed, piece-it-together manner that I really enjoy. Finding out what happened is half the fun, you're not just shown it all. Plus they both have neat plot twists that creep up on you quite subtly, though you can spot the patterns...sometimes. That whole "would you kindly" thing really caught me off guard and both enthralled and freaked me out in equal measure.

edczxcvbnm

11-16-2007, 11:46 PM

Bad Dudes! You can't get much better than that!

But seriously now, Katamari Damacy :D

Araciel

11-17-2007, 12:21 AM

Bad Dudes! You can't get much better than that!

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb156/Araciel82/baddudes.jpg

I wholeheartedly agree.

Discord

11-17-2007, 01:22 AM

I asume this excludes all FF games.:p

Hehe, you could go for Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines if you're in for a weird ending and a bunch of witty jokes, otherways, yes, MGS all the way.

OR HEY! Gothic 1!

Rostum

11-17-2007, 04:34 AM

The Myst series! Even the novels are extremely well written and are very interesting.

escobert

11-17-2007, 04:38 AM

Saga Frontier 2!

Skyblade

11-17-2007, 04:56 AM

Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age. Quite a nice plot there, but you have to get both games to get the most out of it. Well worth it though, as they are excellent games.

XxSephirothxX

11-17-2007, 05:02 AM

Rostum

11-17-2007, 08:26 AM

Grim Fandango, definitely. It's one of my favourite games. It has that whole 'Film Noir' and 'Art Deco' art direction mixed with the Aztec Mexican 'Day of the Dead' theme.

It's absolutely great stuff.

Markus. D

11-17-2007, 12:01 PM

omfg, Grim Fandango is up there with the gaming gems <3

o_O

11-17-2007, 01:34 PM

Sam and Max, Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, etc. Look 'em up.

Listen to the man, Daniel. :p

Monkey Island 1 and 2 are two of my favourite games ever. The storyline is head and shoulders above pretty much anything. A lot of games are touted as being hilarious, but until you play Monkey Island, you will not know true hilarity. :p

Xenosaga and the MGS series have radical storylines. If graphics really isn't a barrier, play Excelsior, that's rad too.

Loony BoB

11-17-2007, 01:39 PM

If graphics really isn't a barrier, play Excelsior, that's rad too.
SOMEONE ELSE AT EOFF KNOWS ABOUT EXCELSIOR!?!?!? I love you so hard right now.

Discord

11-17-2007, 03:16 PM

PC Games?

Bioshock, for the love of god, BoB!
I've heard good things about Deus Ex, but never played it myself.
Find a place to download some old point-and-click adventures--should be easy to find for free, and some of LucasArts games have fantastic writing. Sam and Max, Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, etc. Look 'em up.

Seconding Deus Ex. The first one is amazing, the second one is okayish, but a bit too easy when it comes to gameplay.Snipe + Silencer = Victory

Heath

11-17-2007, 03:57 PM

I've always liked the plots of the Shadow Hearts games, what with them linking in history, mythology and its own plot quite nicely. But I'm a bit of a history nut so it appeals to me.

Otherwise Banjo-Kazooie had an awesome plot. A bear kidnapped by a witch so she can put the bear into an evil machine that will suck all her beauty and put it into the witch, making her look like Victoria Beckham circa 1998? Fantastic.

Shoeberto

11-17-2007, 07:04 PM

Psychonauts had the most engaging story and characters for a platformer I've ever encountered.
Psychonauts gets props from me as well.

I was a bit disappointed in the turn Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy took during the game. For me it went from being a great plot to a pretty boring one. :/ Had to mix in that supernatural crap.

Well, there's obviously Silent Hill. They're all for PC too, except from the 1st one. The only one linked to SH 1 is SH3, so you can easily play the other 2 without confusion.

And then there's Sanitarium, also a PC game. One of my favourites, and I think you're gonna like that one too. ;o Look it up.
Note that the PC ports of the SH games have been super sloppy rush jobs with little to no support from Konami (much like their other PC ports). SH2 ran fine for me on my computer, but 3 and 4 would crash before anything would even happen. Reading their support forums basically shows that this is the case almost universally.

Also, the old Lucas Arts point-and-click games are great, as has been suggested.

demondude

11-17-2007, 08:14 PM

I am very fond of the story behind Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate: Shadows of Amn. That could just be me though.

I completely agree baldur's gate had an amazing storyline.

Plus suikoden V's story was brilliant as well.

o_O

11-17-2007, 11:44 PM

If graphics really isn't a barrier, play Excelsior, that's rad too.
SOMEONE ELSE AT EOFF KNOWS ABOUT EXCELSIOR!?!?!? I love you so hard right now.

Whoa, I didn't realise anyone else in the world knew about Excelsior. :p It was my first computer game, man. I think I picked it up from the Warehouse on a floppy for about $2. Phase one is awesome, phase two is still pretty cool, but nowhere near as good. :p

Monol

11-18-2007, 12:17 AM

Okami...the sun god has spoken

I second banjo kazooie and most of the suikoden games.

Shadow of the colossus also has one of the deepest most compelling stories in the history of fabricated reality (;) ) but I suppose that was a given...

Zora

11-18-2007, 03:24 AM

I know I will be flamed for saying this, but Fire Emblem 10. A good storyline, but doesn't start to get exciting until halfway through the game, during part III.

Although, I imagine better storylines exist out there....

Oh, and the Phoenix Wright series. Especially case 3-5.

Mr Cactuar

11-18-2007, 04:30 AM

FFVII, FFX and KH.

But excluding Square games, Knights of the Old Republic is awesome. F.E.A.R has the best AI and the story is incredibly interesting. Jedi Knight: Dark Forces and their sequels are pretty good.

Vermachtnis

11-18-2007, 04:40 AM

I gotta say Skies of Arcadia cause they took practically every cliche in the book and made them work.

KoShiatar

11-18-2007, 04:48 AM

My significant other has been so caught by the storyline in Bioshock he actually beat the game, something he hardly ever does even with RPGs.
Some of the endings can be short and kinda disappointing tough.

Madame Adequate

11-18-2007, 05:03 AM

Bioshock. Fallout 1 & 2. Morrowind. KOTOR.

One of my faves is Shadow of the Colossus though. Best use of minimalistic storytelling ever.

The Suikoden series has an awesome story, both individually and overall.

Mr Cactuar

11-18-2007, 10:08 AM

[-Lady Hitokiri-]

11-19-2007, 11:35 PM

I really liked the plot in "Okami" for the PS2. One of my all time favorites outside of Square.

I Took the Red Pill

11-19-2007, 11:44 PM

Fallout

Evastio

11-19-2007, 11:48 PM

I'd have to say it's Bahamut Lagoon. The storyline of the dragons is so deep no one (not even Square) could completely understand it since it's so confusing. The storyline with the characters is really touching though. Some of the characters have really strong friendships and relationships with each other. What's also really awesome about it is that Sauzer (the main villain) eventually commands Palpaleos (his most trusted general) to side with the resistance (the good guys) because of his strong love for the Princess who's allied with the resistance. It's full of so many twists.

theundeadhero

11-20-2007, 12:09 AM

Also, the old Lucas Arts point-and-click games are great, as has been suggested.
I playedFull Throttle so many times growing up :p I wouldn't recommend it for you though, BoB.

Madame Adequate

11-20-2007, 12:28 AM

Bioshock. Fallout 1 & 2. Morrowind. KOTOR.

One of my faves is Shadow of the Colossus though. Best use of minimalistic storytelling ever.

Roger Ebert obviously has not played that beautiful game. Or Ico.

No sir, he has not. Which is a crying shame. I can understand someone not actually into gaming culture not getting how it can be artistic from a broad perspective - but when you actually start playing some of games less well-known to the general public, you can see there is real art in some of them.

escobert

11-20-2007, 03:32 AM

Also, the old Lucas Arts point-and-click games are great, as has been suggested.
I playedFull Throttle so many times growing up :p I wouldn't recommend it for you though, BoB.

Oh god I played that liek 4 months ago. I love full throttle. So glad my old imac works and I have all my old Mac games still. *goes to play Marathon and Pathways to Darkness*

Anyways, F.E.A.R. as been said is a great game. i also enjoyed S.T.A.L.K.E.R. a lot. guess people say it's buggy but I ran it with no problems.

Madame Adequate

11-20-2007, 03:34 AM

I hear Mass Effect belongs on this list. Haven't played it yet so can't confirm, but I have seen absolutely universal acclaim for it.

Roto13

11-20-2007, 03:41 AM

I feel like I should also mention Hotel Dusk, even though you probably don't have a DS.

Also, sagnesgysdfsdf doesn't know what he's talking about. xP

Mr Cactuar

11-20-2007, 03:54 AM

I feel like I should also mention Hotel Dusk, even though you probably don't have a DS.

Also, sagnesgysdfsdf doesn't know what he's talking about. xP

That's basically a book. It's good though.

Realm25

11-20-2007, 12:01 PM

Barbies Playhouse has the best plot and story of any game I've ever played. Do you believe me?

Loony BoB

11-20-2007, 01:05 PM

I hear Mass Effect belongs on this list. Haven't played it yet so can't confirm, but I have seen absolutely universal acclaim for it.
XBox 360 only. :(

theundeadhero

11-20-2007, 06:33 PM

Oh god I played that liek 4 months ago. I love full throttle.*Rocks to the intro song by The Jackals*

Vincent, Thunder God

11-20-2007, 07:08 PM

I recently finished playing Dreamfall and - despite the agitation at finding out that it ends with so much unresolved and the sequels have no approximate release date as yet - really enjoyed it. There was crap all to do in the game, to be fair. But the plot! The plot was awesome. So, tell me, what other games out there have incredible stories? Preferrably PC games, if you can, so I can play them myself. :D

Bob, if you liked Dreamfall, you'll love the Longest Journey (Dreamfall is it's sequel). TLJ had an even better plot, and the adventure gameplay was the best I'd ever played, because it was designed to be the perfect vehicle FOR the plot. In Dreamfall, that was really lacking.

I'm still getting the episodic Dreamfall Chapters though, which will resolve Dreamfall's loose ends.

In fact, there are very few games that pull off gameplay that facilitates the story, though many strive to. Here are a few more that succeed.

# Loom (1990)
# The Secret of Monkey Island (1990)
# Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (1991)
# Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (1992)
# Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle (1993)
# Sam & Max Hit the Road (1993)
# Beneath a Steel Sky (1994)
# Full Throttle (1995)
# The Dig (1995)
# Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars (1996)
# Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror (1997)
# The Curse of Monkey Island (1997)
# Grim Fandango (1998)
# Escape from Monkey Island (2000)
# Psychonauts (2005)
# Fahrenheit (aka Indigo Prophecy) (2005)
# Sam and Max Season 1 (2006)
# Sam and Max Season 2 (Present)

Vivisteiner

11-20-2007, 07:55 PM

Most Final Fantasys.

Hmmm...I cant think of anything else...I dont play that much.

escobert

11-21-2007, 04:02 AM

Oh god I played that liek 4 months ago. I love full throttle.*Rocks to the intro song by The Jackals*

Dude, it was kinda cool when both my PCs were dead. I had to pull out the old mac and all the old mac games. Ahhh the times.

Vincent, Thunder God

11-21-2007, 06:10 AM

Oh god I played that liek 4 months ago. I love full throttle.*Rocks to the intro song by The Jackals*

I actually have the Gone Jackals' Bone to Pick, which has all their songs from Full Throttle! That's how much of an Lucasarts adventure fan I am.

NeoCracker

11-21-2007, 08:09 AM

Well, BoB, if you don't mind Emulating old SNES games of your PC, then I've got tons of awesome plot for you.

Actual PC Games
Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator (Rather old PC game, so not that easy to find, at least not here anyway)
Starcraft

NES
Legend of the Ghost Lion (Thats all I got for that early)

SNES
Breath of Fire II
Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals
Chrono Trigger
Earthbound
FF IV-VI
Bahamut Lagoon (Translation Patch Only)
Treasures of Rudra (Translation Patch Only)
Lagoon
Illusions of Gaia

And there is some old school love for you BoB.