Games with awesome plots.

[Captain Maxx Power]

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. (SPOILER)That whole "would you kindly" thing really caught me off guard and both enthralled and freaked me out in equal measure.

[edczxcvbnm]

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

But seriously now, Katamari Damacy :D

[Araciel]

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

I wholeheartedly agree.

[Discord]

I asume this excludes all FF games.

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]

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

[escobert]

Saga Frontier 2!

[Skyblade]

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]

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.

[Rostum]

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]

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

[o_O]

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

Listen to the man, Daniel.

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.

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

[Loony BoB]

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]

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.(SPOILER)Snipe + Silencer = Victory

[Heath]

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]

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.