15 Great Stories and Plots in Video Games

Some games we play for the action and fighting mechanics. Some games we play for the characters and design elements.

By Wxaith

Published 4 years ago in Ftw

Some games we play for the action and fighting mechanics. Some games we play for the characters and design elements.

Well these are the games we play for the stories.

1
The Witcher 3

The Witcher 3 tells a story that's special because it's your story, your Geralt will be different than mine, even if we went through the same quests because you chose different dialogue options. Searching for his daughter Ciri, fighting for his love Yennifer and trying to save the world from The Wild Hunt has Geralt telling one hell of a story.

2
Mass Effect 2

Alien races, humanity on the brink of extinction, and politics don't sound like they'd mix very well, but they do. Mass Effect 2 tells a gripping story of a human race that's about to be snuffed-out, if one man and his crew can't save the galaxy.

3
Bioshock

When does freedom go too far? That's the question Bioshock asks. Rapture was supposed to be a utopia for free thinkers, but it ended up descending into madness and chaos. Charting the course of its downfall is what makes Bioshock so special.
4
Bloodborne

Bloodborne is unique in the way it handles its storytelling. Instead of dialogue-heavy cutscenes, you have to rely on environmental storytelling and item descriptions to piece the story together, but it's a hauntingly gripping tale once you do.

5
Bloodborne

Bloodborne is unique in the way it handles its storytelling. Instead of dialogue-heavy cutscenes, you have to rely on environmental storytelling and item descriptions to piece the story together, but it's a hauntingly gripping tale once you do.
6
The Wolf Among Us

Telltale's The Wolf Among Us is an instant classic of storytelling because it gives us all an olive branch, fairy tales. We all had them read to us as kids and now that we're older, Telltale gives them to us in a more adult, more realized form that allows us to re-experience the joys of our childhood but find ourselves in characters that are just as deeply flawed as we are.
7
What Remains of Edith Finch

Edith Finch plays like an X-Files anthology series. Instead of following one character, it follows an entire family, explaining who that family member is and what happened to them when they died. It might not sound like much at first but Edith Finch takes interactive storytelling to a new level by making you feel like you really are the characters you play.

8
Detroit Become Human

What makes you human? If you've watched Star Trek The Next Generation, you've heard that question asked before. Detroit Become Human is a game that you just can't put down because it digs into the fundamental nature of humanity and asks who among us really possesses it.
9
Danganronpa

Danganronpa makes you feel like you're a detective in Law and Order SVU. Stuck in Hope's Peak High School, you're forced to solve the murders of your classmates so you can try and stay alive. The game's narrative is powerful because over the 50+ hours you spend with your classmates, getting to know them, their deaths become painful to see.
10
Danganronpa

Danganronpa makes you feel like you're a detective in Law and Order SVU. Stuck in Hope's Peak High School, you're forced to solve the murders of your classmates so you can try and stay alive. The game's narrative is powerful because over the 50+ hours you spend with your classmates, getting to know them, their deaths become painful to see.

11
The Last of Us

Love is the only thing that keeps us together when the world falls apart. Watching Joel and Ellie run across the country, hoping and praying to be able to find a cure for the pandemic that crippled society is heartfelt enough, watching the losses they have to take and the sacrifices they have to make along the way makes the game even more meaningful.
12
The Last of Us

Love is the only thing that keeps us together when the world falls apart. Watching Joel and Ellie run across the country, hoping and praying to be able to find a cure for the pandemic that crippled society is heartfelt enough, watching the losses they have to take and the sacrifices they have to make along the way is what makes their journey even more meaningful.
13
Firewatch

Exploring the Wyoming wilderness, and uncovering its mysteries, while your companion Denise, is constantly in your ear, feeding you story beats, leads to a hell of a gripping experience. The story follows, Henry, a fireman in the Shoshone National Forest, set in 1989, a year after the great Yellowstone forest fires. And after his first month on that job, strange things start happening.

14
Red Dead Redemption 2

Always know when it's time to leave, that's the slow revelation that Red Dead Redemption 2's story leaves gamers with. Arthur Morgan is an outlaw in a world that's passed him by. He doesn't know how to do anything but be a criminal, and the world has no place for him anymore. Watching him try to build a life is a heartfelt and at times heartbreaking tale.
15
Red Dead Redemption 2

Always know when it's time to leave, that's the slow revelation that Red Dead Redemption 2's story leaves us with. Arthur Morgan is an outlaw in a world that's passed him by. He doesn't know how to do anything but be a criminal, and the world has no place for him anymore. Watching him try to build a life is a heartfelt and at times heartbreaking tale.
16
Horizon Zero Dawn

Question everything, challenge everything. That's the theme of Horizon Zero Dawn, a post-apocalyptic world filled with mechanical dinosaurs that tells a story of an outcast that tries to build a better world for everyone. The story follows Aloy, a young hunter in a world overrun with machines, on an adventure to uncover her past.

17
God of War

A tale of redemption for a father and a tale of discovery for a son. Kratos and Atreyus set off on an adventure to honor the woman they both loved and lost and through the course of their adventure they build a bond that can't be broken. Gods, giants, trolls, and everything in between can't stand between them.
18
Persona 5 Royal

You might not think that spiky-haired high school kids trying to save the world would be fun to play, but it is. Persona 5 Royal tells a coming of age story about a group of teenagers that are the only people capable of preventing demons from invading the earth and reshaping it in the image of their dark god.
19
Telltale's The Walking Dead

A little girl and a stranger meet by chance and they decide to survive the apocalypse together. Clementine and Lee have one of the most heartfelt and gut-wrenching stories we've ever played.