Best Storyline

Retr0gamer

So which game do you think had the best storyline. You know, the games with storylines that could even rival the hollywood masterpiece XXX. Heres my top ten:

1. Xenogears (first game with a evangelion rivaling story and felt like being part of an anime, if you could stick 20 minute long cutscenes)
2. Final Fantasy VII (Great characters and story but losses points for being unfinished and a woeful translation)
3. Metal Gear Solid (Love the 'it could really happen' storyline)
4. Final Fantasy VI (one of the first games with a more mature story and believable characters)
5. Grandia ( not so much a good story but excellent characters that you will fall in love with before the end)
6. Metal Gear 2:Solid Snake (despite being ancient it has a MGS rivalling story)
7. Chrono Trigger (even Ted Woolseys dire translation and retarded jokes couldn't ruin this fantastic story with multiple endings)
8. Tie Fighter (The best star wars storyline since empire strikes back. And darth vader is your wingman in some missions)
9. Sam n Max (Piss yourself funny)
10. Vice City (vicious stylish and funny like all good gangster flicks)

Sorry for nott including classics like System Shock, Vagrant story and Chrono Cross. I've too many games and haven't been able to play them.

Lemming

Half-Life
Deus Ex
Baldur's Gate 1 and/or 2
Fallout (1)
Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

Retr0gamer

Jedi Knight 2 Thats a good one.

Rnger

Originally posted by Retr0gamer


2. Final Fantasy VII (Great characters and story but losses points for being unfinished and a woeful translation)

Woeful translation? You havent seen a woeful translation until you'veplayed breath of fire 2

Asuka

You know what im gonna say...

Dont make me say it again.

A

Retr0gamer

You havent seen a woeful translation until you'veplayed

I have played it and you are right. Maybe I should do a thread for woeful translations.

Praetorian

JK2's story was only ok. The original JK had a good story. However, X-wing Alliance had a great story.

Here's a short list (I'm supposed to be working) :rolleyes:

5 - Starcraft (including Broodwar)
4 - MGS 1 & 2 (more 1)
3 - X-Wing Alliance (or Tie fighter)
2 - Vice City / Mafia
1 - Homeworld - Gripping, compelling, fantastic and enthralling

I'll kick myself later when I think of all the better stories in games. Well theres no beating Homeworld in the #1 spot come to think of it

L8rz

Matt Simis

Id go with Praetorians list, bar MGS (never played) and ditch Vice City (it had a story?) and just leave Mafia at number 2.



Matt

Epitaph

Eternal Darkness

Very mature storyline, with some very dark elements (at least 1 allusion to suicide). The only game that I've completed in order to see what happens at the end (versus just finishing the moo-foo for completist's sake).

Half-Life had a fairly cool way of telling a story too, even if you were only drip-fed bits and pieces.

koneko

Vice City's "story" was all over the place. I'd vote Mafia over it any day (like watching a slightly cheaper version of Goodfellas, but taking part in it too )

Liked the story in Undying but I am a bit of a horror-freak. Loved Grim Fandango. Very funny.

Matt Simis

Originally posted by Epitaph
Eternal Darkness

Very mature storyline, with some very dark elements (at least 1 allusion to suicide). The only game that I've completed in order to see what happens at the end (versus just finishing the moo-foo for completist's sake).

Half-Life had a fairly cool way of telling a story too, even if you were only drip-fed bits and pieces.

Yeah, it was very good. I must admit, I didnt finish it tho. I played it thru quite quick, got to the end, was disappointed to see the ending resorted to typical console hand to hand fighting with the "boss", got distracted and never took it up again to play.


Matt

super_furry

My vote would go to Final Fantasy VII - yes, I'm a total FFVII fanboy, but the story was brilliant and contain one of the few genuinely emotive moments in a videogame.

Honourable mentions go to Terranigma, Icewind Dale, Chrono Trigger and Lunar 1/2.

super_furry

Ohhhh and Shadow Hearts on the PS2 has a great, dark storyline.

Sarky

Nobody mentioned Planescape: Torment. Probably the best story I can ever remember. Go play it now, and see for yourself.

Retr0gamer

Counterstrike

Or maybe the story of how Shinji managed to do so well at Megalan.

monument

It would have to be Monkey Island, what other game includes becoming a pirate and then finding a hidden island with monkeys and ghost pirates on it?

MiCr0

sam and max?
day of the tentacle?
monkey island 2?

BLITZ_Molloy

Ico has the most involving characterisation and story I've experienced yet.

Bangai-O gets the runner up spot. It makes me laugh every time.

Epitaph

Sonic 2
God, the pathos!!

j/k

shinzon

the best story i ever remember was an old commodore 64 cd rom game (yes the c64 did have a cdrom drive the 1541 2 is what i had).

anyhoo the name of the game was space rogue by a company called origin, it gripped me from start to finish ah they dont make em like they used to

regards

shin

amp

I agree with the Monkey Island votes. Funniest by far. I remember in the first or second where Guybrush falls off the cliff and this dialog box comes up saying you died which freaked me out seeing as he didn't die ever.

So when he bounces back up off a branch I laughed myself silly.

Deus Ex's was gripping and tense.

And lastly my current fave: Freelancer. It's pretty much the standard guy gets stranded, signs up with the good guys who turn out to be bad etc etc. but you tend to be slightly surprised by some of the plot twists.

Raz

- Warcraft Series
- Starcraft (+ Broodwar of course)
- Diablo I
- Planescape: Torment
- Zelda : A link to the past (pretty simple but brilliant all the same!)

I'd put Red Alert in there too but I think I've enough

Swifty

Weh FF7 as usual it always gets it for 'best anything'.
MGS was cool. The second one was gibberish.
Silent Hill 2 was mad - had a couple of different meanings I think, one of them was the whole thing was a descent into hell.. wooo!
I liked the Broken Sword story too.

Weebo

The ultima series. It's evolved since Akalabeth in 1979 and closed with Ascension in about 98. My favourite was Ultima 6/7. Awesome.

Lemming

Originally posted by shinzon
the best story i ever remember was an old commodore 64 cd rom game (yes the c64 did have a cdrom drive the 1541 2 is what i had).

umm .. you mean the very same 1541 mk.1/2 that is a 5.25" floppy disk drive

DiscoStu

Xenogears, Final Fantasy 7, Metal Gear Solid 1, Deus Ex adn Fallout 1+2(the main storylines were very cliche, but the side quests which were so well written made up for it).

althoug i aint finished it yet or played it in months chrono cross seemed to be very good as you dont quite know what is going on and what motives each character has, especially serge.

lordsippa

Chronotrigger was wonderful...
Toonstruck was also brilliant
As was BG1/2/TOB
Ultima 7 was fantastic
Cruise For A Corpse
Broken Sword was also truly wonderful
Flashback was ace storywise too
and, of course Planescape Torment was just FANTASTIC in the story department.

But my #1 storyline would be... Quake. no messing just plain ol' "kill em ALL". Works for me everytime.

de5p0i1er

FF 7 was the best game I ever played and I kept getting sucked deeper into it as I went on, got my vote in this one.
Did like FF 9 & 10 aswell, along with Jedi Knight and the Red Alert series.

shinzon

Originally posted by Lemming
umm .. you mean the very same 1541 mk.1/2 that is a 5.25" floppy disk drive

yep that be the one lemming, god i can still remember the noise out of the dear old chuffer, anyone remember universal wrestling on that format, sigh nostalgia


regards

shin

hamster

shinzon,

I remember getting that... easter/pre-summer 1990 if I remember correctly. The sub-game arcade machine game plot was good. I played it recently again. Forgot how slow the floppy version was. Was there really a cdrom version??? I remember I had the 1541 5.25" floppy drive.


Fave story: Ultima VII The Black Gate (my 1st rpg on the PC - 1993)... oh sigh... bring those days back (minus the hardware...)

shinzon

Originally posted by hamster
shinzon,

I remember getting that... easter/pre-summer 1990 if I remember correctly. The sub-game arcade machine game plot was good. I played it recently again. Forgot how slow the floppy version was. Was there really a cdrom version??? I remember I had the 1541 5.25" floppy drive.


Fave story: Ultima VII The Black Gate (my 1st rpg on the PC - 1993)... oh sigh... bring those days back (minus the hardware...)

oh dear i did say cd rom didnt I LOL, gets confused in my old age , it was indeed a floppy drive

Regards

Shin

Karl Hungus

Planescape: Torment
Final Fantasy VII
Deus Ex

Quick little top three there...

trigg

- Half life, Half life, Half life....

- Grim fandango

- Zelda (on the snes)

Deadwing

Vagrant story (the religious theme was one of the best, most mature stories ever IMO)
FF7 (it just had to be there didnt it?)
Silent hill trilogy (i still think the "you were dead all along" ending from SH1 was a stroke of genius)
Monkey island (funniest games ever)
Metal gear 1 (2 was a bit mad. come on....the internet being full of junk? We all knew that!!)
Doom (scared the hell out of me, that movie event horizon ripped doom off bigtime)
Ico (simple but effective)
Britneys dance beat (simple premise perfectly executed: Watch britney jiggle)

Rnger

Originally posted by Deadwing

Doom (scared the hell out of me, that movie event horizon ripped doom off bigtime)

I never thought doom had much of a story let alone one which ripped off a pretty decent movie. Please explain!

Sloth

Aliens Versus Predator 2 because it was so damned complex yet fitted into the world so well. Shame about the game though.
Zelda: OOC. A classic.

BoobeR

1) Half-life
2) Mafia
3) Final Fantasy 7

tman

Originally posted by Deadwing
Silent hill trilogy (i still think the "you were dead all along" ending from SH1 was a stroke of genius)

well thanks a ****ing bunch:mad:
my original copy of sh was too scratched to watch any of the cutscenes (damn pre owned games)
i got a new copy of it last week so i could play through it again with the cutscenes, not much point now:(

half-life prolly has the most involving storyline of any game that i've played, some nice twists along the way.
max payne was aight.

oh yeah, stfu retr0, jkII had a sweet story

Retr0gamer

Oh look who it is. It's captain cliche aka the bloke from jk2. And here comes uninteresting love story that was only put in to give bearded geeks a hard on. And then theres the cliched baddy. And what is he doing. He's going to destroy the world of course. I thought we got over those childish stories since after Final Fantasy 1.

Wolf

Max Payne
FF 7

And someone said Doom wtf it had no story line

DiscoStu

Originally posted by Retr0gamer
Oh look who it is. It's captain cliche aka the bloke from jk2. And here comes uninteresting love story that was only put in to give bearded geeks a hard on. And then theres the cliched baddy. And what is he doing. He's going to destroy the world of course. I thought we got over those childish stories since after Final Fantasy 1.

maybe so, but a few light sabers and tossing stormtroopers around like ragdolls using the power of the force can raise any game from mediocrity.

Wolf

Were talking story lines tho not game play.........

Which reminds me shenmu it basically an interactive comic and as such should get a mention

Retr0gamer

but a few light sabers and tossing stormtroopers around like ragdolls using the power of the force can raise any game from mediocrity.

Maybe, but the play mechanics aren't exactly Bushido Blade and was more a test in tedium endurance wrapped up in a star wars license for me.

Weebo

Beneath a Steel Sky.
Lure of the Temptress.

Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy.

Grim Fandango
The Dig

Retr0gamer

I loved beneath a steel sky and Broken Sword. I hate it when you're reminded of things that you left out of your list.

John2002

Would have to be Monkey Island 1 and 2 for me, classics!

glimmerman

Deffo Mafia: possibly the most cinematic and atmospheric games ever, with an awesome story. Kept expecting a Pesci character to spring out of the screen with a baseball bat

Deus Ex a close second: no one has done cyberpunk and conspiracy as good, although System Shock was pretty good.

HalfLife had a big impact, but that was mostly cos it was the first FPS with a real story...

WC 2-4, excluding 1 and prophecy, were probably amongst the greatest space operas ever told: WC4 is my fave.

Raz

Of course Doom had a storyline.
You were trapped in this demonic place and you were trying to get home. Of course you had to blast your way through a few thousand monsters but you really wanted to get home!
And then you finally manage to beat the end boss and get outta there back to lovely earth.
Everything is fine and dandy ....... until you see the rabbit heads on stakes!! Classic!

Sarky

I spent the weekend engrossed in X-Com: Terror From The Deep. A fantastic game. Not exatly the traditional story, but the way it progresses and the way you find out about what's going on works very well.

Sometimes the oldies are the best.:)

Deadwing

Originally posted by tman
well thanks a ****ing bunch:mad:
my original copy of sh was too scratched to watch any of the cutscenes (damn pre owned games)
i got a new copy of it last week so i could play through it again with the cutscenes, not much point now:(

dont worry, thats only ONE ending (if i remember there are 4 or 5 endings) and its the one you get when you **** up and get all the set pieces wrong, all the other endings are the ones that further the storyline into SH3 (youll know when you play SH3)

And doom!! hell yeah it had a storyline, the marines were experimenting with inter-dimensinal gate thing, but all hell started coming out of the gates and people who went through got sliced n diced yadda yadda..just like the ship in event horizon, it goes through a dimensional gate and comes out covered in hell!!

public_enemy

does anyone else remember day of the tentacle?

that was more than just a storyline...