Games with a Good Cast AND Story

We did the other ones, so what games do you feel hits you with a great one-two punch of great story and characters?

Honestly from me this question would probably get similar results as "Name some of your favorite games" since story/characters is a giant part of why a game would be my favorite in the first place :D

Anyway, that said, some games that come to mind:

Xenogears, Ar Tonelico games, Ar nosurge, Trails games, Yakuza games, Xenoblade 2, Final Fantasy IX/7R/XIV, Shadow Hearts: Covenant, Suikoden V, Lost Odyssey, Wild Arms 5

I can see how this works. Instead of favorite games I would list games I want to like but can't. Generally because of gameplay reasons. Like Trails in the Sky. Or the first Uncharted game. Likable characters and fascinating story with questionable gameplay. And if anyone is unfamiliar, the first Uncharted game hadn't quite gotten it as far as gunplay was concerned, especially when considering actual hordes of enemies

Lost Odyssey, possibly Heavenly Sword, and most Fire Emblem games since I hate just having battles and cut scenes without down time

Well, Suikoden II (and really most of the series) and Witcher 3 seem like obvious answers.

I'll limit this to RPGs since this is in the RPG forums. :D And will weigh in side quests along w/ the main storyline. *checking my list of games good enough to make my top 100* Ok, in no particular order:

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Dragon Age
Dragon Age: Origins
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Deus Ex
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Fallout: New Vegas
The Outer Worlds
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Assassin's Creed: Origins
Xenogears
Chrono Trigger
Chrono Cross
Final Fantasy 4
Final Fantasy 6
Final Fantasy 7
Final Fantasy 8
Final Fantasy 10
Final Fantasy 12
Final Fantasy 14
Final Fantasy Tactics
Nier: Automata
I am Setsuna

note - no hate on other FFs (particularly 9 and 15, which have good stories and characters), just didn't feel their story + characters combined were up w/ the others. Also, have not played any Witcher or Persona games yet! I'd love to list some cRPGs like Divinity Original Sin 2, Pillars of Eternity, Baldurs Gate 1+2, Icewind Dale, etc... but I never played them long enough to see just how good their stories were. Great characters tho! I have also never played any Torment games.

Honestly, it's typically unlikely that I will consider a game to have either a good story or a good cast if it's lacking one of those things, because they generally go hand in hand. The one caveat I can give to that is sometimes you can have a good story with one or two well developed characters and the rest are kind of meh. Some might say that's the case with FF8, but I actually think most of the characters are pretty decent and not really more poorly developed than most non-main characters in previous entries. It's just that Squall is such a strong focus in FF8 that their development looks weak by comparison. Anyway, I think this topic applies to most FFs (at least of the SNES to PS2 era, maybe not so much the later and earlier games), Suikoden (not 4 though and definitely not Tactics) if you focus on the main cast, but almost the exact opposite of this topic if you're expecting much from the tons of filler characters, Xenogears, Chrono Trigger, Persona 3-5 definitely.

When it comes to games that have a good cast and story, I feel these ones fill the list:
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II The Sith Lords
Mass Effect
Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 3
Mass Effect Andromeda
Chrono Trigger
Fallout 3
Fallout New Vegas
Fallout 4
Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga
The Outer Worlds
Castlevania Order of Ecclesia
Castlevania Portrait of Ruin
Castlevania Aria of Sorrow
Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow
Assassin's Creed II
Assassin's Creed III
Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag
Assassin's Creed Rogue
Assassin's Creed Unity
Assassin's Creed Syndicate
Assassin's Creed Origins
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy XV
The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion
The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim

Here's my list (keeping it to RPGs):

Dragon Age: Origins
Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy XIII
Mass Effect
Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 3
Nier: Automata
RuneScape
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords
Star Wars: The Old Republic
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt