I was just interested in what game people thought had the best storyline of all time. Games under this category must excel in character design and dialogue as well.

Mine would definately be the Kingdom Hearts as the storyline, character interactions, and voice acting were the best i've ever seen

Kingdom Hearts was ok.

But in KH2, it seems like they had to pull together a bunch of nonsense and make a story out of it.

It was a good game, but the whole travleing to a new world and locking the keyhole got repititive and boring.


As for as the subject for this thread, I love the Metal Gear Solid series.
But that doesn't need any explanation.

Planescape: Torment

This game has one of the deeper and more original storylines, out of the electronic RPGs I've encountered, backed by a large amount of meaningful player interaction. The wide variety of characters you run into are also quite well done.

']As for as the subject for this thread, I love the Metal Gear Solid series.
But that doesn't need any explanation.
And you don't need a brain, because it could be used for someone who would actually put it to use. An yes, and explanation is needed.

Its tough for me to think what game has the best storyline. No, I don't believe a Final Fantasy game holds that honor, although there is one or two which I would argue <B>if</B> I had to choose. But just off the top of my head, I'll have to think about it some more :(

Well Smokey you clearly haven't played the MGS series.
That's ok because you don't deserve to.

If you insist, the reason I love MGS is because it is consistent with characters, and storyline.
The music is always great, and the concept of the game hasn't changed since the 80's but it is still enjoyable.

']Well Smokey you clearly haven't played the MGS series.
That's ok because you don't deserve to.
How in the world do you know what games I have/haven't played? Are you stalking me from the corner of my room? Do you have a secret camera that turns on when I turn on my video game consoles? I think not.


If you insist, the reason I love MGS is because it is consistent with characters, and storyline.
The music is always great, and the concept of the game hasn't changed since the 80's but it is still enjoyable.
I didn't ask why you love MGS, I said that you need to explain why the storyline is the greatest ever. So you should really think about this one, because I have just a small hunch that you're another retarded fanboy who will come up with nothing other than OMG ITZ SO CULE. Please confirm this hunch of mine.

I was just saying this because if you NEED an explanation of storyline then either YOU are the fanboy or you just haven't played it.

The storyline is intresting because throughout all the the Metal Gears the main character comes into the mission with basic knowledge.
As the game continues you start to learn about lies, and the untold truths of not only the U.S. government, but other characters you interact with.
At the end of the games you basiclly think you have the whole MGS plaotline figured out but after the credits they always leave you with a cliffhanger that totally makes you re-think the game.

Like in MGS on playstation in the end you hear a conversation between Ocelot and the President.
This makes you wonder why a traitorous mercenary is making deals with the U.S president.

In MGS2 you discover the exisitence of the Patriots and their role in deciding the U.S history. And how GW will help them get rid off any information that won't benefit America as they see fit.
At the end, you discover that the Patriots are already dead and have been dead for at least 100 years.
Creepy huh?

I don't feel like typing the WHOLE MGS plot so this will have to do.

The Longest Journey. ;)
http://www.longestjourney.com/
(although the sequel Dreamfall is quite dissapointing :( )

tho its really minimalistic and barely has any dialogue i'd have to say ICO
ending just blew me away and it basicly managed to tell a tale only possible in the form of a game

Super Mario RPG!! :D The storlyline is short, sweet and fun. It's not grossly overdone like most of the later FF games, yet it managed to stay poignant.

I totally have to agree with Django that game was so fun, and yeah the ending, no the whole game was incredible.

Legacy of Kain series ftw.

Metal Gear Solid 2, Xenosaga/Xenogears, Legacy of Kain are probably the games that i played with the best storyline so far, i also have a personal favourite that is .hack//.

Not the greatest ever, but my favourites

Grandia.

Legacy of Kain series ftw.

Quoted for fucking truth.

Evidence: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_of_Kain


The series features an extensive storyline and history that is told and expanded upon during each game. One of the most compelling aspects of the games is the dialogue and the length to which the story is told within each game. Most of the individual games primarily deal with a subset of the storyline; although since the general timeline is non-linear, some of the later games include pieces of the story from the past, present and future. (See time travel.) The exact history and timeline of the series is still under much debate but there is a general timeline that is accepted by most fans.

The series is mainly dedicated to chronicling the afterlife of the vampire Kain, but during the story the player is introduced to many other characters and sub-plots.

The series is set in the fictitious realm of Nosgoth. The realm of Nosgoth is an ancient battleground for which two god-like species have been at war since before history. Firstly the Vampires (not to be confused with their blood-sucking descendants), and secondly the Hylden, with a third faction in the form of the Elder God. The Hylden in earlier times waged an all out war, but in modern times, fight through surrogates and pawns. The level of sophistication their warfare has developed is staggering, and much more realistic for such a protracted battle than the wasteful, exhaustive and ultimately short-term warfare style originally endorsed by both species. Each species moves in some way from behind the scenes, manipulating events slowly and deliberately, molding and preparing the lesser peoples of the world (humanity) to act eventually in their favour, with individual moves often taking centuries or millennia to completely unfold.

In ancient times, the Hylden had attempted to put a decisive end to the war by developing a super-weapon which would extinguish the life of the world. This weapon, apparently, violated a number of the fundamental laws governing the nature of the world and reality, severely upsetting the balance of life and death, which the Ancient Vampires held to be sacred. The Pillars of Nosgoth were erected in order to restore balance and order to the land, and ensure that these governing dynamics (which the Ancients accordingly divided into nine spheres) were never bent or broken again. Each pillar of the nine pillars represents one of the nine orders which the Ancient Vampires divined were the governing forces of the world, and each pillar had a Guardian whose task was to protect and uphold his respective laws. The nine spheres of law were:

Death, being the cycle of life, death and rebirth which the Ancients held sacred.

Conflict, being the interactions of things with other things and the new things arising thereof.

States, being the nature of the physical world and the ordering of the concrete, including chemicals and all the laws governing the physical world, such as electromagnetism and gravity.

Energy, being the vital force which animates creation and allows for the changing of all things.

Time, being the cyclical flow of time and the fated events to take place in order of their happening. (note that in LoK, time is neither dimensional nor directional, but it can be altered, with great difficulty, by one possessing sufficient comprehension of the nature of such a thing)

Dimension, being the dual directionality of the fabric of existence, allowing things which exist to exist and preventing things which do not exist from existing.

Nature, being the growth and evolution of living things, and everything which is animated or can be said to have a soul.

The Mind, being the soul itself, or the soul as it perceives itself, including all psychology, the study of the mind in relation to itself. (note that, logically, neurology would be a combination of the Mind and of States, dealing with the functions of physical cellular structures in relation to the soul; furthermore, sociology and politics would be a combination of the Mind and Conflict, dealing with the interactions between living souls)

And finally: Balance, being the interactions of all the spheres of law, and all things which fall under the auspices of more than one set of laws. It allows for the existence of things such as the aforementioned neurology, sociology, and politics. Balance governs all of existence through its governship of the laws themselves.

However, by the time of the games, their power is waning and some (most notably the Hylden) seek to destroy the pillars entirely. It is unknown whether there was ever a time of peace in Nosgoth or whether one will ever come to pass. It is also revealed later on that the Pillars served a dual purpose: along with preserving the balance of the land, the Pillars acted as a gateway, banishing the Hylden into a desolate dimension, inhabited by numerous monsters which are known as "Demons" in the games. The Pillars also act as the lock to this gate, and as long as they stand the Hylden are trapped; this is the reason behind the Hylden's use of numerous pawns and surrogates during the games (for as the Pillars weaken they are able to manifest using the bodies of the dead).

Another interesting game mechanic in this series is that the player takes the role of two different characters during the course of the games. For example in the Blood Omen games the player controls Kain, but during the Soul Reaver games Raziel is controllable and the story is resumed from his point of view. Finally in Legacy of Kain: Defiance the player assumes the roles of both Kain and Raziel at regular intervals.

One of the true innovations of the Legacy of Kain series is the greatly involved storyline, with believable characters, and shifting alliances and betrayals. Nosgoth is a dark fantasy land with an elaborate and involved history, and that history is often revealed in reverse; new information often shows that what is believed to be true is a lie. Furthermore, nearly every major character, or groups of characters, have both aspects of heroism and villainy, even when some aspects seem to shine through more often than others.

Kain himself, for instances, is a notorious anti-hero in that he is, in fact, not very like-able: he is an unashamedly selfish and a brutal megalomaniac, with an obvious relish for bloodshed; though he is not stupid, and while his quite undiplomatic actions might often seem to be the rash products of his rather short and violent temper, it more often turns out that his rage is merely a tool carefully cultivated, revealing his true cunning and subtlety only to those perceptive enough to be his intellectual equals. With his vampirism, coupled with his learnedness, cultured palate and his extremely aristocratic tastes, he could best be described as a cross-over between Hannibal Lecter and Vlad the Impaler; however, his justification is often thrust upon him in that he usually finds himself, usually by his own designs, in such a position that he becomes the lesser of two evils, and one often feels a sense of justice to see the true enemy get what they so richly deserve by falling to the mercy of his better graces.

Raziel, on the other hand, is an anti-hero only in the opposite sense. He is a very upstanding and noble man, with a strong inherent sense of morality; however, the conditions and situations he finds himself in (almost never of his own making, unlike Kain who, though sometimes momentarily taken by surprise, often makes his own destiny for good or evil through defiance of those around him) rarely lend themselves to unambiguous ethical judgments and he often ends up doing the wrong thing for the right reason (unlike Kain who generally does the right thing for diabolic and selfish reasons). As a mortal man, he engaged in the systematic extermination of countless "innocent" Vampires in his fanatical quest to rid the world of evil. As a Vampire he helped Kain establish his empire, under the misguided belief that Vampires deserved (as a higher form of life and thus knowing better) to rule the world; and as The Soul Reaver, he stalked Kain and slaughtered his former brethren, under the belief that he was not only exacting vengeance, but also setting the balance of existence. Ultimately, all his actions turn out to be in some way flawed and generally immoral in the logic or lack thereof in their formulation, as he often finds himself the willing or unwilling pawn of those around him, for good or evil. His systemic redemption is found only in his final act, one of self-sacrifice, his only action dually motivated by good intentions and with arguably good consequences. This puts him in harmonic opposition to the character of Kain, whose actions are always selfish, but generally turn out to be right, because he betrays and defies those around him, most of whom turn out to be directly or indirectly in league with evil.

Suikoden.

I`ve never really played a game that amazes me with it plot to be honest. I`m sick of games trying to be movies or dish out some emotion in any way. Games, i feel, can`t do this so far.

The only game that has come close to stiring any sense of real emotion from me has to be Half Life 2.

Some games should just stick to being games and not try and pull a shakespeare on me.

Planescape: Torment

This game has one of the deeper and more original storylines, out of the electronic RPGs I've encountered, backed by a large amount of meaningful player interaction. The wide variety of characters you run into are also quite well done.

Loooooveee youuuuu....

PS:T was excellent. 10 Years On and the best CRPG ever made, and voted 8th best PC game.

The best storyline was from Tekken. :)

Tetris. I loved the cliffhanger in the middle of that game.

I`ve never really played a game that amazes me with it plot to be honest. I`m sick of games trying to be movies or dish out some emotion in any way. Games, i feel, can`t do this so far.

The only game that has come close to stiring any sense of real emotion from me has to be Half Life 2.

Some games should just stick to being games and not try and pull a shakespeare on me.

Well what movie/book would you consider to have a plot that would give you emotion or amaze you.

Well what movie/book would you consider to have a plot that would give you emotion or amaze you.

Wayne's World and Wayne's World 2

I'm a sucker for comedy.

Well what movie/book would you consider to have a plot that would give you emotion or amaze you.

Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas.

i've gotta say that FFX has the greatest story line. it deals with religion and corruption and cover-ups and is so great.

The Wayne's World's were great. The only comedy i'd rank above Wayne's World was the Austin Power's movies.

I'd have to say fight club would be my favorite of all time though

Well what movie/book would you consider to have a plot that would give you emotion or amaze you.

To kill a mockingbird, The Shawshank Redemption, Shine, The Godfather 1 & 2, Schindler's List, Memento, Hotel Rwanda. Of course, that`s just a short (and very random) few that spring to mind.....

To kill a mockingbird, The Shawshank Redemption, Shine, The Godfather 1 & 2, Schindler's List, Memento, Hotel Rwanda. Of course, that`s just a short (and very random) few that spring to mind.....

Not a big fan of To Kill a Mocking Bird, what the godfather movies were great

Man Bites Dog.

i've gotta say that FFX has the greatest story line. it deals with religion and corruption and cover-ups and is so great.

Puh-lease! FFT did the whole religion thing far better than FFX. Actually, it did just about everything important better than FFX.

Edit for Mr. Denny: Have you seen Man On Fire? Absolutely brilliant, IMO.

FFT storyline was shitloads better than FF X's

i've never played FFT, so i don't really know...

movie/book? i'd have to say Sybil

EDIT: Right, so now that I think about it my previous two statements contradicted each other. Xenosaga then.

I`ve never really played a game that amazes me with it plot to be honest. I`m sick of games trying to be movies or dish out some emotion in any way. Games, i feel, can`t do this so far.

I disagree that these games are "trying to be movies".

Movies, novels, CRPGs...all try to tell a story. They do this in different ways, but I've really liked the plot, and the delivery, in a few choice examples of each category. For me, any media can work, provided it's done right and the story fits.

. . . . Legacy of Kain does actually have great plot
. . . . so great . . . . it could be made into a movie
. . . . . . . but that is not my choice . . . . . . I personally would choose the MGS series .

chrono cross...

final fantasy ix...

resident evil...

king of fighters...

I disagree that these games are "trying to be movies".

Movies, novels, CRPGs...all try to tell a story. They do this in different ways, but I've really liked the plot, and the delivery, in a few choice examples of each category. For me, any media can work, provided it's done right and the story fits.

I completely agree with you there.

However, i`d hate to say it but at the current stage in the evolution of gaming in terms of writing, it`s still quite in its infancy. Any media can work and gaming can work also like you say. But for the media to succed it needs good writers and what the majority of games come off with is a writing standard that could be compared to a brain dead hollywood blockbuster.

Resi evil and tomb raider oh and not forgetting MGS SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!!!

Legacy of Kain series ftw.

Chrono Cross
Final Fantasy IX
Resident Evil
King of Fighters
Huh? King of Fighters has great story?! Puhleez... :(

Huh? King of Fighters has great story?! Puhleez... :(

haha...

if you play all kof franchise from kof 94 to maximum impact 2, then you'll find that the story is quite interesting...

i love how each characters connect to the others...

haha...
if you play all kof franchise from kof 94 to maximum impact 2, then you'll find that the story is quite interesting...
i love how each characters connect to the others...

The story is just an excuse for the next big fight. The connection between characters is just like any other fighting games. They hardly make any sense because there's not enough story to start with. :(

The story is just an excuse for the next big fight. The connection between characters is just like any other fighting games. They hardly make any sense because there's not enough story to start with. :(

well, that's just my opinion...

i really love kof story compared to other fighting games...

Silent Hill series has got to be my favourite. It's story is different in each episode, yet still relates to its predecessors and doesn't get boring.

Since KOF is a fighting game,
plot doesnt play the most crucial part,
but KOF manages to interest the player
into wanting to be in the next big fight.

yeah, that's true...

it just that i think kof story is quite better than tekken or street fighter...

however that's just my opinion...

Legacy of Kain? Is that on the PS2 or PS1

Silent Hill series has got to be my favourite. It's story is different in each episode, yet still relates to its predecessors and doesn't get boring.

Totally agree

damn. this is kinda hard. i'll just say ff7. too lazy to think any harder. i choose this cause it totally made me cry. ;_;

yeah, that's true...

it just that i think kof story is quite better than tekken or street fighter...

however that's just my opinion...
all fighting games have such shitty stories. it's all basically recycled for every game in the series.

oh, and btw, Tekken is better. NINA FTW!!!!!!!

No one really buys fighting games for plot,
and if they do, they should stick to RPG for plot .

damn. this is kinda hard. i'll just say ff7. too lazy to think any harder. i choose this cause it totally made me cry. ;_;


Please don't tell me you cried when Aeris dies...

Actually I change mine. Shadow of the Colossus. Ending was by far the best i've ever seen

No one really buys fighting games for plot,
and if they do, they should stick to RPG for plot .

yeah, you're true...

but i really love kof story, but not the best in my list...

i think not all rpg has a good story...

yeah, you're true...

but i really love kof story, but not the best in my list...

i think not all rpg has a good story...



Yeah I hate an Rpg that has a long drawn out story that isn't even that good in the first place

Yeah I hate an Rpg that has a long drawn out story that isn't even that good in the first place

Namely...FF7

Yeah I hate an Rpg that has a long drawn out story that isn't even that good in the first place

magna carta...

Namely...FF7

I was thinking of games like FF 6, Super Mario RPG, and a good portion of Star Ocean 3 but i guess you can have yr opinion

Star Ocean 3

yeah, star ocean 3 is really bad...

I was thinking of games like FF 6, Super Mario RPG

Once again, you prove that you're a moron.

Once again, you prove that you're a moron.

lmao. Your stupidity is amusing.

The i's in that post were made of irony dripping from the dots at the top.

T.W.A.T.
cunt: obscene terms for female genitals.

I rest my case

PompousPilate the Retarded strikes again!

T.W.A.T.
cunt: obscene terms for female genitals.

PompousPilate the Retarded strikes again!

The story of SM RPG is actually short JFTR

T.W.A.T.
cunt: obscene terms for female genitals.
what have you against female genitals?

what have you against female genitals?

He'll never have a chance to get close to one.

Already have

Alright this argueing is getting repetetive. Lets just end it and actually discuss the topics instead of bicker

PompousPilate the Retarded strikes again!

Viper, member of the vagina club(AKA TWAT) strikes again
I find this offensive. >:O

He, Prak, and Joan were the ones who made the "twat" club up.

Already have

Alright this argueing is getting repetetive. Lets just end it and actually discuss the topics instead of bicker

Will you then promise to be civil, even when under fire?

He, Prak, and Joan were the ones who made the "twat" club up.
I was referring to your use of words about female genitals. Also please try to stay in topic.

He, Prak, and Joan were the ones who made the "twat" club up.
Yes, and you're the one that said there are 4 of us, therefore making it seem like we are a band/club.

didn't think u were in it. Guess its only 3 now

Actually there were none, you called us twats and we simply played along.

Back to topic: I think most point n' click adventure games have good storylines although that genre is a dying breed of games. They are not dependant on gameplay so the focus is more towards the story and puzzle solving. Beneath A Steel Sky, Legend of Kyrandia series, Syberia series, The Longest Journey series and Broken Sword series are all very well written and better than most RPGs imo( except maybe Baldur's Gate II).

Actually there were none, you called us twats and we simply played along.


oh, w/e bye bye viper. anyway back to topic. I think actions RPG's or just regular action games have better storylines usually (ex. Onimusha series/maybe excluding 4, Devil May Cry 1 and 3, Kingdom Hearts. Guess the fact that I was more in control of the character made me more emotionally attached to the character. So when I fight a battle, say Virgil, final battle from Devil may Cry 3, I feel more inclined to beat him since the battle system isnt a click "attack" and watch dante attack virgil for you.

']Please don't tell me you cried when Aeris dies...


ok i wont. lol

ffvi
disgaea
ever 17