What's the Greatest Video Game Story Ever Told?

We asked our community what their favorite video game stories are. The results won't shock you.

[user7402931]

strictly story...metal gear solid series

@below, to each his own :)

[ArchangelMike]

naa... MGS story is too convoluted, even with a wiki you still can't make sense of it!

For me it's to be Mass Effect and Commander Shepherd's story.

[-Foxtrot]

Agreed.

I'm more ticked off by the fact Kojima said something along the lines of "Expect inconsistencies" with MGSV

I mean come on man, you've crafted this complicated story why do another prequel if you can't keep it in line with your other stories. Kind of bad story telling in my opinion

[BiggCMan]

It's not convoluted as long as you play the games and pay attention. If you jump into the series at a random point it will seem convoluted, but that's your own fault.

Metal Gear is unfortunately one of those franchises that needs to be played from start to finish, and sometimes that works against it for new players.

But as a single video game with no other games tied to it, I would have to say Heavy Rain is my favorite.

But as an entire game series, Metal Gear blows everything out of the water, nothing compares.

[Kavorklestein]

Mass Effect. The most amazing and inspiring game series ever. Shepherd's story itself is kind weird how he got killed then lived and such, but the lore and story and scope from the Mass Effect games remains untouched in how moving and incredible and involved it all is. Even with the 3 colors for the ending in Mass Effect 3, I feel like the options didn't make the story die, they may have killed some characters, but the story lives on because outer space is infinite.
Such a big and mind opening adventure that adeptly captures the intricacies of being humans in space among all kind of aliens and the unknown.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

MGS's story is not convoluted and it makes sense. I've replayed the games from MGS1 to 4 back to back and understood everything. With that said I don't think it's the best video game story ever told, but it is very very good. It's just not the best in my opinion. I'm having trouble singling out a game that has the "best story ever" at the moment.

[christian hour]

@BIggCMan

My foot... my foot is stuck :P

JAAASOON!

Great game but some of the voice acting killed it unfortunately :(

I cant single out my chocie for greatest VG story but I'd have to mention, at least... (and in no particular order)

Infamous 1 (Just from the kessler revelation alone at the end)
MGS Series
FFIX/FFVI
Chrono Trigger
Ico/Colossus
CaveStory
Psychonauts
Full Throttle (You know what would look better on your nose? A bar!)
Grim Fandango
Spec Ops The Line
Farenheit/IndigoProphecy
Portal 1/2
Half Life 2/ep1/ep2
The Stanley Parable
Bioshock 1 (Greater than bioshock:infinite in every way IMO)
Red Dead Redemption
Walking Dead season 1 (waiting until i finish season 2 before I give a verdict on that)
Transistor
Silent Hill 2
Valiant Hearts
The Last Of Us
Braid
Hotline Miami
To THe Moon
The Longest Journey
Planescape: Torment
Mass Effect
*added after edit because I saw someone mention these and my brain exploded with joy*
LEGACY OF KAIN/SOUL REAVER SERIES
Kingdom Hearts
KOTOR

And of course SteamPowered fortunately reminded us of this great classic game below...
Duck Tales : Remastered

I could go on, and I'm defintiely forgetting a bunch, but if I had to single out one, I'd probably pick The Last Of Us simply because it did not miss a beat, pacing tone atmospher audio cues you name it, all spot on and perfect in delivery and it also helps that it's still very fresh in my mind compared to a lot of the much older titles I listed above.

[pedrof93]

@C hour

I mostly agree with your list, maybe saying that Kotor is the best one along with Infamous ending, I think we both agree that their similar in a way.

But why include Ico/Shadow of Colossus story ? Where pretty much no narrative exists whatsoever?

[mixolydian_id]

Christian Hour ^^^ Never owned another brand of console.

Surely gamers these days played the retro classics?

Anyone remember

Zelda : Link to the past?

[Variant]

pedrof93

For ICO and Shadow of the Colossus, the story is being played through rather than being told through text and/or cutscenes.

That is, however, only the way I understand those two games as playing them reminds me of a lesson a Creative Writing teacher taught me: "Don't tell me, but SHOW me."

[iamtehpwn]

Final Fantasy 6-10 have my vote.

[christian hour]

Agreed, anything after 10 is just an invasion from an alternate reality where final fantasy has always been terrible :P At least that's how I justify it in my head without weeping for what has become of a once beloved game series XD

[mixolydian_id]

7 - 10 :P

[ATi_Elite]

Dear Ester. Heavy Rain. Grim Fandango. Fallout 2. TLOU. STALKER SOC. Baldurs Gate 2. Kingdom Hearts. Mass Effect Series. Knights of the Old Republic. Starcraft Series. Zelda Ocarina of time. RDR. Half life Series

My personal favorite Warhammer 40k Dawn of War. The dialogue is just so mature with a tense sense of biblical porportions as to question the emperor is blasphemous but each bit of speach ever so smartly reveals each characters wit and own ambitions.

[christian hour]

Can't believe I forgot Kingdom Hearts and KOTOR in my own haphazard list! D:

[Chrischi1988]

Hmm... a lot to choose from... I take Warcraft3 I guess. Brilliant story, but almost completely destroyed by the likes of World of Warcraft...

[N4g_null]

The last star fighter.

[Spooney323]

Greatest video game story ever told would have to none other than TRON !!!
#2. Would be Wreck it Ralph. :P

[mixolydian_id]

The first "X-Wing"?

[maniacmayhem]

The first Bioshock remains one of the best stories I've played as a video game.

[christian hour]

YES! First Bioshock has been unrivaled by any Ken Levine title since, dont understand all the acclaim Infinite got for being a far inferior story, let alone a far inferior game. I know I'm disagree baiting with this comment but feck it, I'm already too far down the rabbit hole to care now.

[JWiLL552]

I don't think you're baiting...it's just an odd thing to say. Infinite did have a great story, but that doesn't mean it was the best Bioshock story.

I think most people agree that the first game is the definitive game in the series, from both a gameplay and storytelling perspective.

Just as the original did, Infinite's story stood out from the pack of all other releases around it (until TLOU dropped, at least).

[Wni0]

God even the best you throw out there are still rubbish compared to film or novels, we are too far now to blame it on being a new medium.

[BX81]

I disagree strongly.

[Yetter]

If you compare it to film, then videogames as a storytelling medium are still pretty young. If you compare them to novels, videogames are like infants. I'd say some pretty big strides have been taking in the last 2 or 3 years though, with games like gone home and the tell a tale games

[Jvaughn661]

If I was to think of a game that could be compared to a novel, then it'd be Allen Wake. Mainly because of his first person narration, and he's also a writer in game.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

I actually agree with you(the first part of your comment at least), but so what? It doesn't change the fact that they're enjoyable or in fact good stories in their own right.

[Sharingan_no_Kakashi]

Hmm best story? Dunno. But tlou has best story telling.

I'd prolly say Resistance. Say what you want about the gameplay (even though it's still my fav fps). Alternate, history is always interesting. And if you count the novels in this it's pretty much unbeatable.

[creatchee]

@Sharingan

I never could put my finger on it until I read your post -the storytelling in TLOU is what makes it so special as opposed to the actual story (which is great itself, but not the absolute best). The pacing is brilliant, the depth of character development is at an unmatched level, and everything has its purpose.

[souldestroyer14]

kotor

[MasterChief84]

There are so many... The Mass Effect Trilogy was brilliant, but a stupid ending... Halos story is epic especially when you have read all the books and comics, Gears of War isn't too bad, the novels definitely added to the lore.... The Last of Us was Awesome (my favourite game)..... Assassins Creed was also very good, I would say those 5 games franchises are my favourite in no particular order.... hard to pick the best story line though.....

[christian hour]

As someone who read the Fall Of Reach back in 2001, I have to agree with you about Halo universe been made a lot more epic if you've read some of the novels (I think ghosts of onyx was last one I got to read, that was a LONG time ago).

One of the things that put me off a lil in halo 2/3 was how it just ignored anything that was in the novels, but without directly dismissing it either. To see all of this come in to the franchise lately with halsey in Halo:Reach and even more so with Halo 4, is one of the main reasons I'm really looking forward to Halo 5. Now hopefully microsoft can sort their policies and arrogant conduct by then so I don't feel so bad for paying a ridiculous amount for a halo machine in 2015.

[MasterChief84]

There is currently 13 novels out, they are seriously good! There are some inconsistencies, and Halo 2 and 3 seem to forget the books, but it really enhanced the story for me when I played the games. I recommend that people read the kilo 5 trilogy, set after Halo 3 and leads into Halo 4. It might help give some context to Halo 5.

[SteamPowered]

Duck tales remastered, hands down. I just got so invested in the story.

[-Foxtrot]

I can't name the "greatest" but I kind of like the fact inFAMOUS managed to create this superhero universe and story which could rival the likes of Marvel and DC. The twist was brilliant...up there with Bioshock, Silent Hill 2, Braid, MGS3

[christian hour]

Yay, someone else who fully appreciates and loves the original infamous for its storytelling and epic twist. It's twist is up there with "would you kindly?" for me, although I loved infamous 2 and second son as well, the stories have never come close to what was done in the original.

[Imalwaysright]

Planescape torment and Silent Hill 2.

[URtheWalrus]

Mine would be Knights Of The Old Republic and the Legacy of Kain series.

[marioJP87]

Nothing beats the metal gear series.

[jjb1981]

Metal gear solid 3

[Scrivlar]

Knights Of The Old Republic completely blew me away when I first played it.

[ybadr]

Metal gear solid by far.

[Klonoa-dreamtraveler]

metal gear solid series definitely

[MadLad]

Planescape: Torment

[MadLad]

Hey look, disagrees from those who have a weak taste in writing or simply never played the game.

[Locknuts]

System Shock 2 and Half Life.

[turdburgler1080]

Tards would say MGS or TLOU and they would be wrong. We all know it's....final fantasy 7.

[bacrec1]

Red Dead Redemption.

[pootymcpoockle]

It's a toss up between MGS and Final Fantasy 7/9 for me. The last of Us isn't even on my radar.

[bamillington]

Xenoblade chronicles nuff said

[R00bot]

Man, I hope they rerelease that game for the Wii U, even if there was no graphical upgrade, I'd buy it. It's so hard to come by these days and I need it.

[SaveFerris]

Pac-man

[jcnba28]

Come on man Tetris had the best story ever. Seeing all those shapes come together at the end was just epic.

[ritsuka666]

1-Shenmue

2-Grandia

3-Silent Hill 2

4- The King Of Fighters

5- Perfect Dark of N64

6-Resident Evil

So many games...

[ThePsychoGamer]

Yakuza 2

[Picnic]

The first Max Payne.

[superherox7]

What's up with the disagrees? Just because we didn't pick Tlou you get whiny and disagree? Lol

[fonger08]

Lol I noticed the same thing.

[oIITSBIIo]

The witcher series.

and about TLOU the story was average and so predictable nothing special about it at all I can't even put it in the top storys of 2013 .
Bishock inf story was way better than any other game in 2013 and in the second place there was Metro LL .

[fonger08]

Final Fantasy VII, and the Walking Dead Season 1 for me. Bioshock is up there too, however, I go back and forth whether it's the story or the enivorment that makes the game so special.

[Skankinruby]

So glad no one is putting gta in this. This is probably a three way tie for FF 7, bioshock, and TLOU

[Dante81]

The Legacy of Kain saga(especially the original Blood Omen). If you play the 1996 Blood Omen, you'll be in shock at how excellent the voice acting is -- same year as Resident Evil.

[souldestroyer14]

Of course there's so many disagrees for kotor it wasn't on ps2

[linkenski]

Not The Last of Us IMO, but that game is one of them ;-)

Probably one of the Zelda games. I think a lot of people overlook how good the stories are in them. Limited amount of talking and dialogue but lots of thematic stuff going on and great subtext (at least in the games before TP).

I think particularly Wind Waker and MM are amazing when you think about it, especially when you consider how subdued they are.

[DualWielding]

999

[DeusEx-Machina]

Deus Ex?
Metal Gear Solid 3?
Xenogears?
Xenoblade?
Planescape Torment?

That are just my favorites. It's like asking: What is the greatest color?

[kris9512]

Bioshock Infinite, without a shadow of a doubt.

[DarkKaine]

Nier for me.

[lefty]

Ok well i was trying to figure out why is there a pic of last of us on this article, guess they trying to sway votes...but lets be real, FF6, Chrono trigger, Zelda ocarina of time, eternal darkness, metal gear(twin snakes the only one which had the perfect balance of story and game play), silent hill, Bio Shock, and war hammer 3000, and I'm sure there are those that slip my mind come on anyone who says tlou need to play more games...

[lefty]

Oh i forgot half life that was a great story, and lets not forget dead space

[nevin1]

MGS1 is the only story driven game that was good when I 1st played it.

Too bad that didn't carry over to MGS2/3/4.

[aLiEnViSiToR]

wow there are so many but i have to name few great ones that i think are amazing... i look game series/sequels as a whole game franchise even if some sequel does not meet expectation.

- Half-Life (come on give us HL3 or Ep3 already :[)
- BioShock (B1 and Infinite had awesome story)
- Mass Effect (that ending tho :[)
- The Witcher (second was great)
- Front Mission 3 (played only FM3 my 1st game ever and the best one for me)
- Resident Evil (RE4)
- Deus Ex (played HR only)
- W40K Dawn of War (DoW II was expecting for much better)
- Dragon Age (Origins for now)
- Assassin's Creed (Ezio story stands out the most)
- TES V: Skyrim (still did not finish it :D)
- Spec Ops: The Line (just wow)
- Max Payne
- StarCraft (surprisingly good story)
- The Walking Dead (s1,s2...s3 incoming :D)
- WarCraft (3 was just fantastic)
- Alen Wake
- Metro (LL was very good)
- Batman: Arkham (series)
- Fallout 3 (and New Vegas)

oh there are just to many great games with amazing story that i have played im sure i missed some... i think that story is the primary and gameplay secondary (this does not apply for all genres) if you want for gamers to truly love and remember the game the rest is just bonus.

[headblackman]

the halo story is the greatest story in a video game that's ever been told.

[TheRedButterfly]

Maybe not the greatest story, but definitely the greatest expanded universe. Story is also pretty great though. IMO, only beaten by Mass Effect. :)

[Father Murder X]

If any of you have played Chrono Trigger you wouldn't even put TLOU in the same breath. Chrono has the most epic story ever conceived for a video game.

TLOU stole alot from Walking Dead and The Road. You guys wont admit though.

[DankSinatra]

What no love for the max payne series???

[CuddlyREDRUM]

Uncharted Zombies.

At the end you realize you are the zombie.

[TheRedButterfly]

Greatest Story: Mass Effect
Greatest Universe: Halo
Greatest Environment: Elder Scrolls
Greatest Gameplay: Dark Souls
Greatest Soundtrack: Halo/Zelda/Elder Scrolls

[danny818]

i enjoyed the last of us story and the walking dead telltale game. Season one, season 2 i havent played

[Mroc13]

The first God of War had an excellent story