Let's Talk Story In Video Games

[Cosmos]

I remember sitting in my first college class, fresh out of high school. English 201. The professor gets up and starts introducing himself, talking about his hobbies. He says, "Oh, I'm a big movie buff. I've seen so many great movies of all kinds. They're not like video games where it's always always about violence and 'Call of Duty'."

It felt strange hearing that. As if I had never considered how other people viewed gamers and gamer culture before. Like gaming was some outlet media made for teen boys and destined to be "grow out of". Needless to say, I wrote him a very impassioned essay about the role of stories in video games later that semester. I'm sure that showed him!

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I'm always on the hunt for a good story, and I continue to hold the opinion that emotional, story-driven experiences are something that video games don't lean into enough. Video games are such a unique medium, and it pains me to see this area so often neglected in favor of underdeveloped characters and hackneyed dialogue.

So let's talk story in video games. What games have you played whose story left you wanting more? Left you loving the characters? Enthralled with the setting or theme? Maybe you cried? Laughed? Screamed?

Whether they it be an RPG, Visual Novel, Action-Adventure, Exploration, Puzzle, or Walking Simulator, don't hold back! List any titles you can think of. I'm gonna note all these down on my bucket list.

[AlbusDoumbledore]

For me I always find the story line in video games incomplete. I say this because most games start out great and turn into something completely different. Look at Wiz for example, the game is not what it used to be. I am not saying I hate it, however, the original concept and elation about the game has vanished. Just my opinion.

[BaronvonWolf]

well i'm more into platformer/collection spyro and LoS, crash, sonic they dont have much story to them as i've had more fun just running around roasting stuff, throwing boomerangs ect

[Ravino.]

Off the top of my game, great videogame storytelling makes me think of Star Wars: the Old Republic, that MMO had a huge emphasis on properly telling its stories and it does a phenomenal job considering the genre.

I can think of a few others with good stories but most feel like interactive stories more than traditional videogames, which is great in itself but I think there's a distinction to be made between a "game with a story" and a "game of story". Those in the former category are often just not good enough at creating a meaningful journey for its characters.

But there's also a bunch of game that may not succeed in having an amazing story but they absolutely deliver in some department of it, like laughing and crying... I'll have to give that to the Kingdom Hearts series, they've done me in WAY more than any other game franchise - I absolutely blame the piano for this!

The Stanley Parable also comes to mind but that one never made me cry, and while it's certainly not a traditional game, I HAVE to give it a trophy in the "laughing and introspection" category - that game is just too insightful, in fact its commentary on gaming and gaming communities hits a lot deeper for me than half of the so-called "deep" books used in philosophy class. (I guess environment plays a big role in that)

Now, "enthralled with the setting" instantly made me think of Elden Ring, the mystery in FromSoftware's settings makes them extremely captivating for me and the eventual understanding of lore mysteries more satisfying than the generic plot exposition and character development of more traditional story formats. I suppose this preference is pretty personal but I've always loved mysterious, puzzle-like stories that give you no straight answers but deliberately leaves clues for you to put together - Lost and 7 Soldiers of Victory were both some of my favorite media in their respective mediums - I enjoy puzzles and this kind of media is more stimulating than a straight up logic puzzle imo.

~R

[Flash33]

Obviously what's considered a good story will vary from person to person. Some I've enjoyed are as followed:

The Stanley Parable. A game with multiple endings that deconstructs the meaning of choice in video games in a way that doesn't feel forced or heavy-handed, but definitely funny. I also have to give props to the demo, which itself is a deconstruction of demos. Kevan Brighting does a great job of portraying the narrator as an ally, an enemy and everything in-between across the games 16+ endings, from mocking you for jumping to your death, to guiding you to freedom to having you briefly play other games after not wanting to play his.

Tales of Arise. This was the first Tales game I played and its story was one I quite enjoyed. Admittedly some of the characters (mostly the villains) aren't as fleshed out as they could be, and the playable ones do have tropes commonly seen in JRPGS but overall I feel the pros outweigh the cons throughout its multi-arc journey.

Stories: The Path of Destinies. Similar to STP it's a choose your own adventure game with the narrator voicing all characters. I first heard about this game many years ago through TotalBiscuit's video on it and then actually played it years later. While the combat and levels can get repetitive the endings are where it's at, even though most of them end in Reynardo's death (banking on the odds of a weapon not backfiring, listening to an evil stone and going on a power-mad rampage, making choices that make no sense to anyone else and nearly succeeding, etc.).

Omensight. Set in the same universe as Stories (and made by the same company too), the giant snake Voden has descended upon the land and plunged everything in world destroying darkness. Your role as the Harbinger is to go back in time to the start of the world's final day and figure out how to stop the world from being destroyed. Unlike in stories, all characters are voiced by separate people rather than a narrator. with the voiceless Harbinger being an exception. Without spoiling too much each of the 6 main characters feels like a real person, and while it does feature similar issues to Stories it also shares its strengths. If you decide to pick it up then get the Definitive Edition, as that includes features and bugfixes not seen in the original.

[Dylan Windwalker]

I teared up in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. Uhhhhhh that's about it?? Can't remember me reacting in the same way for other games I've played other than me feeling bad

[jlegendwielder]

The Dig, Timelapse, all the Gabriel Knight franchise, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream,

the Journeyman Project games, the Broken Sword games, Tex freakin' Murphy, The Lighthouse,

Sanitarium, Riven, Myst (yeah, I'm putting that one in), Grim Fandango, Bladerunner, the Thief

franchise, Splinter Cell, and, for a modern departure, Unforeseen Incidents, Return of the Obra Dinn, and so much more...

[Cosmos]

For me I always find the story line in video games incomplete. I say this because most games start out great and turn into something completely different. Look at Wiz for example, the game is not what it used to be. I am not saying I hate it, however, the original concept and elation about the game has vanished. Just my opinion.

Do you think that is a consequence of MMO or episodic video games, or just the medium in general?

---

Off the top of my game, great videogame storytelling makes me think of Star Wars: the Old Republic, that MMO had a huge emphasis on properly telling its stories and it does a phenomenal job considering the genre.

Haven't delved much into their Star Wars content, but games developed by Bioware—at least historically—were always known for their solid narrative emphasis.

I can think of a few others with good stories but most feel like interactive stories more than traditional videogames, which is great in itself but I think there's a distinction to be made between a "game with a story" and a "game of story". Those in the former category are often just not good enough at creating a meaningful journey for its characters.

I'm interested in where that line falls. Are the differences more to do with how the story is presented? Maybe with how well a story jives with its gameplay? Can both categories tell a compelling narrative despite their differences?

But there's also a bunch of game that may not succeed in having an amazing story but they absolutely deliver in some department of it, like laughing and crying... I'll have to give that to the Kingdom Hearts series, they've done me in WAY more than any other game franchise - I absolutely blame the piano for this!

The Stanley Parable also comes to mind but that one never made me cry, and while it's certainly not a traditional game, I HAVE to give it a trophy in the "laughing and introspection" category - that game is just too insightful, in fact its commentary on gaming and gaming communities hits a lot deeper for me than half of the so-called "deep" books used in philosophy class. (I guess environment plays a big role in that)

Now, "enthralled with the setting" instantly made me think of Elden Ring, the mystery in FromSoftware's settings makes them extremely captivating for me and the eventual understanding of lore mysteries more satisfying than the generic plot exposition and character development of more traditional story formats. I suppose this preference is pretty personal but I've always loved mysterious, puzzle-like stories that give you no straight answers but deliberately leaves clues for you to put together - Lost and 7 Soldiers of Victory were both some of my favorite media in their respective mediums - I enjoy puzzles and this kind of media is more stimulating than a straight up logic puzzle imo.

~R

That's fair. Mood and emotion are not necessarily story, but they do serve to add depth to any experience. And sometimes games like The Stanley Parable are interesting specifically because they are so tonally unique.

Dark Souls and Bloodborne by FromSoftware have been on my bucket list for a while. Need to get around to playing those...