Games with deep story lines.

[AppleQueso]

metal gear solid

They said "deep" not "over the top, convoluted, and completely insane"

it's also "awesome"

[MrEco]

I could probably fill this thread with countless games that I thought had good stories and even more "honorable mentions" of games I haven't played yet but know have good stories. And of course descriptions for each.

But for the sake of time, both on my and your ends, I'll just mention the absolute cream of the crop, along with a couple unexpected titles that may surprise some of you.


Metal Gear Solid 3 - Forget nano machine's and Fox Die, this is one MGS title that anyone can understand regardless of their ability to decode Kojima's mind. It's an epic war story which follow's the origin's of Big Boss (Naked Snake), and it's quite simply amazing. Even heart wrenching at time's.

Ico / Shadow of the Colossus - I hate to lump these together as so many often do. It's a disservice to how amazing each of them are on their own merit's. But since their stories are linked, and are amazing for so many of the same reason's, it doesn't really hurt in this case. Each of them are, more or less, love stories. But it goes beyond that in a way that you have to play to understand (And that my sleep deprived mind is unable to describe at least).

Fallout: New Vegas - A struggle between two power's, each degenerate in it's own way, vying for control over a single plot of land. And then with the mysterious Mr. House thrown into the mix it become's one of the very few politically intriguing stories which isn't a boring slog, but more like a wonderful roller coaster ride.

Limbo - To say exactly why this game's story is so good would be to give away massive spoiler's. Suffice to say it's quite abstract, but never full of itself.

Final Fantasy 6 - The best Final Fantasy in many people's opinion's. And for good reason. The maniac antagonist is reason enough to stay attached to every cutscene and dialogue sequence.

Persona 4 - On the surface, a colorful and wacky JRPG. Behind all that though you will find a psychological murder mystery surrounding a set of character's with deep set emotional problems. Each of them has their own very distinct personality and quirk's, which always tie's into the game's theme's and plot very well.

Demon's Souls / Dark Souls - The traditional story of these games is actually rather unoriginal. But the flavor text is where the real meat is. Read the descriptions of items, listen to every last sentence an NPC say's, and pour over it for hours. The lore of these games is unimaginably thick. And if you're up for a little digging then you'll love every second of it.

Star Wars Battlefront 2 - Nothing crazy here, but I always loved how the main campaign painted everything from the point of view of the Clone Trooper's/Storm Trooper's on the front lines. It made it seem like Vader was the good guy, and all those pesky Jedi were scum that deserved to be whiped out. An interesting twist on the long standing Star Wars canon.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 - Yes. Seriously. A CoD game with a good story does exist, and it's ironically the most recent one. Unfortunately there are some references to the events of the first Black Ops, which was a ten hour slog I don't want to be forced to remember, but past those moments it's a very solid experience that defies the reputation of modern day first person shooter's. Especially where the main antagonist Raul Menendez is concerned. A bad guy in a war game that isn't just a stereotype, AND has some shade's of grey to his reason's for doing bad things? Sounds good to me.

[Cronozilla]

Portal 1 and 2 as a whole package, there's actually a lot of narrative there, but it's entirely optional. It's a story told through environment, so it's actually very easy to find things and try to put pieces together.

[Webz]

Looking for some games I can get lost in while playing it. They are my favorite.

My favorite games of all time are Shenmue 1 and 2, and L.A. Noire. I just love games that tell a story instead of being all about action. I've been suggested Heavy Rain, anyone have any other ideas?

You absolutely have to play an RPG called Xenogears on the PS1 (its on the PSN for 10 bucks) by Square. If you want a story that you can get lost in and have it absolutely blow you mind then Xenogears is right up your alley. I urge you to play it even if your not a fan of RPGs.

Another game with a notable story is 9 Persons 9 Hours 9 Doors (999 for short) on the DS. It plays sort of like an old school point and click adventure game with a lot of puzzle solving. 999 starts off pretty simple but grows into an incredible story that is very well told.

If story is what you want then Xenogears and 999 are perfect for you! I guarantee it.

[Gamerforlife]

I mentioned The Darkness earlier. I want to mention The Darkness 2, not so much for its main storyline though. Not that it's bad or anything, but what I really loved the most from that game was the relic stories.

If you take the time to find them all in the game and then listen to Johhny Powel give you the backstory on them, it's fascinating stuff. Johhny is a good storyteller who adds a bit of humor to each story, but what really draws you in is how dark these stories are and the interesting way they mix together the occult, real life history, and religious lore. It might just make you want to start reading The Darkness comics

[Stark]

I mentioned The Darkness earlier. I want to mention The Darkness 2, not so much for its main storyline though. Not that it's bad or anything, but what I really loved the most from that game was the relic stories.

If you take the time to find them all in the game and then listen to Johhny Powel give you the backstory on them, it's fascinating stuff. Johhny is a good storyteller who adds a bit of humor to each story, but what really draws you in is how dark these stories are and the interesting way they mix together the occult, real life history, and religious lore. It might just make you want to start reading The Darkness comics

I really love stuff like lore, especially when it is narrated. The Darkness 2 did this really, really well. The thing that is great about it, is even if the main story is average, having this lore to flesh it out, makes the average story even better. I need to finish The Darkness 2, which is kind of a hilarious thing to say, considering the game is like 5 or 6 hours long.

[Gamerforlife]

I mentioned The Darkness earlier. I want to mention The Darkness 2, not so much for its main storyline though. Not that it's bad or anything, but what I really loved the most from that game was the relic stories.

If you take the time to find them all in the game and then listen to Johhny Powel give you the backstory on them, it's fascinating stuff. Johhny is a good storyteller who adds a bit of humor to each story, but what really draws you in is how dark these stories are and the interesting way they mix together the occult, real life history, and religious lore. It might just make you want to start reading The Darkness comics

I really love stuff like lore, especially when it is narrated. The Darkness 2 did this really, really well. The thing that is great about it, is even if the main story is average, having this lore to flesh it out, makes the average story even better. I need to finish The Darkness 2, which is kind of a hilarious thing to say, considering the game is like 5 or 6 hours long.

Yeah, I agree with you. The relic stories made me appreciate the main story line more than I originally did. I started listening to them on a whim, but got so absorbed I listened to them all in one sitting. The fact that they were given voiced narration by Johhny made me more motivated to listen to them all too. It's a small thing, but having someone TELL me a story rather than just giving me a bunch of stuff to read makes me more open to exploring the lore.

Little details like that really make a game better.

[Stark]

Hmm, this kinda makes me wonder about other games like that. That the story isn't necessarily deep unless you go looking for it. A game I recently played kind of like that is Space Marine. All throughout the world are scattered journal logs that you can collect that really enhance the experience and the background of the main story. This leads to truly understanding the motivations of the main characters and antagonists.

[MrPopo]

Hmm, this kinda makes me wonder about other games like that. That the story isn't necessarily deep unless you go looking for it. A game I recently played kind of like that is Space Marine. All throughout the world are scattered journal logs that you can collect that really enhance the experience and the background of the main story. This leads to truly understanding the motivations of the main characters and antagonists.

The Metroid Prime series is like this. The scans really build up on the world but are also completely optional. And some of them are downright hilarious (Space Pirate research of Samus's abilities anyone?)

[AppleQueso]

Hmm, this kinda makes me wonder about other games like that. That the story isn't necessarily deep unless you go looking for it. A game I recently played kind of like that is Space Marine. All throughout the world are scattered journal logs that you can collect that really enhance the experience and the background of the main story. This leads to truly understanding the motivations of the main characters and antagonists.

The Metroid Prime series is like this. The scans really build up on the world but are also completely optional. And some of them are downright hilarious (Space Pirate research of Samus's abilities anyone?)

Poor morph ball test subjects