Hey everyone! I’m on the hunt for some incredible story-driven games—ones that pull us into their world with gripping narratives, deep characters, and immersive gameplay. Some examples of what I’m looking for include the Homeworld series, the Horizon series, The Last of Us, some Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider games, etc. So I’m not too picky about the genre.
If you’ve played any unforgettable games with amazing storytelling, do tell! What games had you hooked from start to finish?
Someone else said Hades, and I’m going to second that. Hades is a roguelike and I do not like [email protected] (the genre, got nothing against the community), but I saw some of its story and writing and picked it up based on that. I had a fun time with the gameplay anyways, as well as enjoying the story and character interactions. Big fan of the gameplay and story integration. The dying and replaying a randomized level is narratively justified! Characters react to gameplay choices like what weapon you choose if it’s relevant! Its sequel Hades II seems to be just as good story-wise.
Undertale if you haven’t yet. Super Paper Mario for Nintendo Wii (not sure if it got ported to other platforms?) impressed my child self with its story and gameplay.
[email protected] are chock full of story-driven games, because that’s all their gameplay: read and make choices. And no, they are not all dating sims for horny dudes, though some are and that’s okay (and they also exist for women at [email protected]): the Ace Attorney series are visual novels and you spend all your time being a defense attorney for your clients and zero looking for romance. I highly recommend them.
The undisputed GOAT if all you care about is story and writing and world building is Disco Elysium. It’s probably a little old hat to throw around at this point, but that’s just because it’s true. No other game is even close to the same level of writing. It’s on par with a really good novel. However, as an isometric 2D game perhaps it falters on the immersion front.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 just came out, and I have only played a couple of hours. However it is extremely good so far and has been getting rave reviews. It’s a much more modern presentation than Disco, if that’s an important consideration.
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CrossCode - My favorite RPG of all time, and that’s a very high bar. This is a game that is perfect in every way and adds up to more than the sum of its parts. Fantastic combat, tons of side content, endearing characters, emotionally powerful story, beautiful visuals, amazing soundtrack. I could gush for hours about Lea as a protagonist, but it’s surely better to experience this one for yourself than let me get into spoilers.
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Chrono Trigger - I am hesitant to recommend most JRPGs from this era if you did not grow up on them, because many of them haven’t aged so gracefully. Chrono Trigger is the exception, this game is a fine wine. You may want to check out one of the rereleases though, or at least a retranslation patch, because the original translation was made on a rushed deadline and bound by heavy technical limitations.
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Earthbound/Mother 3 - Compared to Chrono Trigger, I do feel Earthbound is somewhat dated, but still does hold up better than many of its contemporaries. It’s a bit of a slow burn, especially at the start, but the writing carries it. Just know that this is required reading before going into Mother 3, which is absolutely peak. Skip Mother 1 though.
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OneShot - If you liked Undertale, you will like this. It’s a game that’s best experienced blind, I will say nothing other than trust me. Short and sweet, you can play through it in a single afternoon.
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Tales of Symponia/Vesperia - Story-wise, Symphonia is my favorite in the series, but if you’ve played any later entry you might get very frustrated by the lack of Free Run and certain QoL features. If you haven’t played a Tales game before, I recommend starting with Symphonia since it will be harder to go back to later. Then play Vesperia for the most mechanically polished combat.
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The World Ends With You/NEO - Square Enix at their most creative, this game has such a striking style and aesthetic. The first game is built around the DS hardware and I highly highly highly recommend playing that version if possible. The Switch port had to make some unfortunate sacrifices to convert it to a single screen. If you really can’t play DS, Switch is okay, but the DS version is so much more special.
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VA-11 HALL-A - Visual novel with a unique bartending framing device: instead of directly choosing dialogue options, the story unfolds based on the drinks you serve customers. Sounds bizarre but it somehow works. Great atmosphere, charming characters, hilarious writing.
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999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors - Excellent pair of Visual Novel/Escape Room Point-and-Clicks. Do note that the first game is best experienced on the original DS version if possible, but you can’t the remaster is fine. There’s a third game in the trilogy that I haven’t played and can’t vouch for, I’ve heard it was not as good.
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Its presentation might seem dated now (especially compared to the ones you listed), but Morrowind was the first game that really sucked me into its world. It was also the first open-world RPG that I had played, so I was extra blown away by how new that was. Even without that novelty, though, I think it does a great job of presenting an interesting world with multiple stories playing out in it.
It also isn’t voice acted…you’ll be reading a lot of dialog. I almost like it more that way, though. Some of the characters have a lot more to say than they do in Oblivion or Skyrim, probably because they didn’t have to record anything with voice actors.
The Batman: Arkham series also has a great story going for it. It really makes you feel like you are reading a DC comic book.
I loved Morrowind at the time. The atmosphere felt alien and there was something new and surprising around each corner. That said, I suspect it would be nearly unplayable if your sensibilities are shaped by modern game design. The controls - especially for combat - were considered clunky even at the time, so I imagine they’ve aged poorly. There is also almost no quest tracking system. You had to use hints in character dialogue or environment design to figure out where to go next to follow a plot thread.
I’m not a fan of the big budget game remake trend, but if someone were to remake Morrowind with QoL improvements and not just updated visuals, I’d consider checking it out.
The Yakuza (now Like a Dragon) series is fucking incredible. It somehow is able to be completely serious, and quickly spin into something outrageously silly without either feeling out of place.
I like to describe it as an anime soap opera, but in video game format. It ranges from serious to goofy with stories and situations like an anime, and like a soap opera you can pick up any game in the series and still have fun even if you don’t know the previous story that it very much will reference and continue from.
They are both cliché to recommend at this point for video game stories, but my personal favorite video game stories are Planescape: Torment and Disco Elysium.
If you’re up for Japanese-style games, I also love Xenogears and Final Fantasy X.
If you need something newer (other than Disco), Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop, Citizen Sleeper, and Death Stranding are all recent highlights.
The Outer Wilds
In a similar vein, blue prince has recently sunk its claws into me. It’s a very calming game, with lots of intricate puzzles and lore.
Blue Prince has driven me insane in the best way. I’m about ready for a padded cell at this point.
Seconded about the lore and the story though, that really took me by surprise but it’s been so interesting. You keep scratching at the surface and peeling back the corners and the game just keeps opening up underneath, it’s great.
Spec Ops: the Line. The story is simply unforgettable.
Warcraft 3 and the Frozen Throne expansion, while very old by now, have amazing storytelling. Arthas’ fall, the orcs’ second round of corruption and attempt at redemption, the night elves getting their shit wrecked by everyone and fighting back. It’s easy to see why so many people got hyped for World of Warcraft back then.
Another old game that is totally worth it for the story is Soul Reaver, which received a remaster last year. The voice acting alone carries the game, it’s a tale of hate fueled revenge with Shakespearean dialogue. The downside is that you can’t skip cutscenes (this used to be a real bother back when you had specific places to save, dunno how it is on the remaster)
Lastly, Elder Scrolls 3 Morrowind. If you can get past the jank, or mod some of it away, and follow the main story, you’ll be surprised at how much thought went into the world building of the game. You can use OpenMW to also get rid of some bugs and have an overall better technical experience with the game (better resolution and graphics options, almost zero chance of crashes, better support for current systems)
I haven’t played it yet but apparently this 'Clair Obscur: Expedition 33" is fantastic. I’ll quote a friend who just finished it: “Just finished Clair Obscur. Probably not 100%, but I’ve beaten the superboss and completed the story. It has the exact same feeling as finishing a really good book that makes you feel bad in all the good ways, the kind that has you stare off into the distance after putting it down for the last time.”
Personally I feel like I haven’t played a great story driven game in a long time. Maybe Baldur’s gate 3 could appeal to you. Still not sure it sucked me in as much as Horizon did though.
On a deep sale, the Jedi Fallen order and Survivor are good story games.
The Plague Tale duology, both Innocence and Requiem, is probably my favourite story-driven game series.
It resembles TLOU in some ways, but with a smaller scope, and the storyline resonated more with me (as in siblings vs parent/child in TLOU).Other than some of the stuff others already said: (descending order of recommendation) cyberpunk 2077, Witcher 3, AC black flag, undertale, dishonored series, titanfall 2(short but good).
To not copy paste what others have already said, I’ll add to the list: Batman Arkham City - left me sitting in the dark listening to the end credits to completion…which is rare for me with a game. Firewatch - Short and sweet, can be beaten in a day but well worth it. Death Stranding - If you like Hideo Kojima games, not sure why you haven’t played this yet. Slow, but incredibly intriguing and leaves you rather satisfied in the end.
The elephant in the room is going to Baldur’s Gate 3, which is phenomenal in story, presentation, and gameplay. Indika might be a bit more of a sleeper pick; it’s a shorter game that understands cinematography better than most of the medium.
Borderlands 2 and Tales from the Borderlands were really great stories. Tales is a classic Telltale game, so really any of those should be on a story driven list, but Borderlands 2 deserves far more credit than it gets. Sure, they don’t take themselves too seriously, and have no problem relying on sophomoric fart jokes, but the character development and Plot twists are fantastic. There were points that I honestly started to tear up. (Sorry, Bloodwing) and 2 minutes later I’m laughing my ass off because Jack can’t find his violin. (He had this whole thing planned out, it would have been great.)
Sorry, I got deeper into that than I expected.
Of the less mainstream, What Remains of Edith Finch. The less I say about this one, the better. Very dark, very morbid. Only takes a few hours, but it tells some disturbing stories.
Also Inscryption. I thought I was just getting into a card game, but there is SOOO much more to the game than that. Trust me, if you do play this game DO NOT GIVE UP ON IT until the WTF moment happens. If you don’t know what that means, keep going, you haven’t seen anything yet.
God of War and God of War Ragnarok probably satisfy this prompt, though I personally bounced off both.
For me personally, the games I was motivated to continue playing for the story specifically, would probably be: Hades, CrossCode, Prey (2017), Portal 1+2, and Bioshock Infinite.
