i read the first 3 pages and im surprised nobody mentioned final fantasy tactics

Legacy of Kain through and throughout...... The ending of Soul Reaver 2 was the jaw dropper of a lifetime

Half life series has one of the best stories I've have ever come across.

Final Fantasy X is touching

Final Fantasy VII is deep yet sometimes confusing

Metal Gear Solid (series) is very deep (and interesting at that)

Silent Hill is atmospheric and contains some very interesting ideas

Persona 3's main idea - save the world before it is destroyed - isn't anything new, but the characters and setting make it so enjoyable

Uncharted: Drakes Fortune is an adventurous and one of the better stories that takes place in the real/modern day world (haha)

"Final Fantasy 9-- This game's story touched me in ways that I haven't been touched since I was a lad. "

I hope you realize how wrong that looks ;)

No particular order

Metal Gear Solid (all)
Max payne 2
Half life 1&2
Second sight

There is more.

Uncharted! that was it.

The God Of War series, for certain.

Silent Hill 2. A deeply disturbing story that really adds to the unsettling atmosphere of the game.

Bioshock for the twist the plot takes.

F.E.A.R. Average game, average overall plot, but the back story concerning Alma was what got to me.

The Metal Gear Solid series has always had good stories. The storytelling on the other hand is sloppy and long-winded. If you hate unnecessary dialog you're sure to eat a gun before the opening cinematic is even half over.

Legacy Of Kain hands down

Broken Sword: Knights Templer
Discworld Noir
Silent Hill 2 & 3
Sanitarium
Still Life
Post Mortem
Metal Gear Solid
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (what! A 2D platformer with a story?!)
Grim Fandango
Psychonauts
Full Throttle
Max Payne 1 & 2
Final Fantasy 7
Myst III: Exile
Myst IV: Revelation
Shenmue
Grandia
Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (although I could spit on the sequel - what a pile of crap)
Resident Evil Original (cheesy, yes, but I love it for that)
Panzer Dragoon Saga

All Metal Gear Solid games- They tend to have a very gripping story which unfolds to be more than meets the eye.

Max Payne- The metaphores and vidual feasts given are more than enough to add to the already heart wrenching and deep story and atmosphere.

Half-Life all- Need I explain?

Portal- Constant stream of semen adding to the already existant puddle I sit in. That game was refined orgasm. Very cleverly desinged levels and funny but powerful story.

Second Sight- A very deep and distorted past of a one John Vattic whoes life has been changed due to genetic engineering. He was a test experiment gone wrong. Very good indeed.

More wil be posted if I can find them while digging around in my brain with a stick.

Postal 2: I'm pissed off and forced to do everyday chores

Better writing than silent hill 2 any day! :P

I concur with most of the games that appear frequently here, and I also have to include Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando. Great Characters, and a plot where a monopoliacal supercompany creates a household pet that starts taking over the galaxy. You just can't argue with that.

Three words: "Would you kindly?"

Gaz-L:
Fairly simple title I know, but it seems fitting to discuss this given the theme of the issue this week plus the recent trend towards talking about it anyway.

OK, in no particular order, I'll give a few of my faves and a brief explanation of why, but this isn't a full list. I may add more as they come up.

Sam & Max S1 Ep4: Oh come on, Max as president? What's not to love?

KotOR: Slightly different as it's licensed, but that's kinda why. It feels like Star Wars, but with all the stuff you knew was in the background made clear. Plus a very in-universe late twist.

Tales Of Symphonia: Gonna get some flack for this, but it's not that it's original. It's that it's about 4 RPG plots smushed together and well executed. Good voice work helped, as it made the character's come to life even when they weren't speaking aloud.

Perfect Dark: Yes, cheesy, but it's basically a Bond story.

The Longest Journey/Dreamfall: Beautiful, lyrical, deep and touching stories with excellent characters, great dialogue and makes you genuinely mad at the ending of the 2nd, because there's no more for now.

FFX/X-2: i'm a sucker for sap and kistch.

Psychonauts: Haven't finished it, but it's so good and quirky and fun, and just perfectly integrated with the level design that I have to.

Yes I also loved Tales of Symphonia. It had a long, entertainig, funny, decietful,ironic, and all around awsome story line.

Here we go. And for those wondering at the lack of Bioshock and HL2, my computer updates when I have disposable income. Which leaves me about 5 years behind current computers...

1.Beyond Good & Evil
2.Persona 3
3.Tales of Phantasia
4.Psychonauts
5.GoldenSun(yeah it was unoriginal but I liked it)

maxjae:
I'm not generalizing. The story in the Half-Life series really is cliched. It's about aliens invading earth. That's it. There's no character development. There's no twists. There's very little story at all, actually.

agree. to be fair, half life 2 started off promising, i like the bit when you're in the city and getting chased by the soldiers. but then it's just like "err, yeah... just drive half way accross the country to meet some scientist. he might have something for you to do when you get there" like you say, there's hasrldy any story at all.

Gr360ry07:
Call Of Duty 4. I loved the ending. The way it shows that war isn't clean. People do die. When your team mate is shot in the "flucking" face he "flucking" doesnt come back to life because someone stabed him with a "flucking" syringe.

the way cod4 tells it's story is a shining example that all story-based games should follow in the future. it's seamlessly integrated into the gameplay, but it never get's in the way of it. it feels like your playing a film more than a game. and the story itself is just brutal. *SPOILERS!!!* watching the medics trying to revive captain price at the end as you're being lifted into the helcopter on a stretcher and wishing you could do sometihng to help him is one of the most powerful moments of any game/film/book/tv show/bedtime story ever imo. and it's full of bits like that.

the metal gear solid series allways has a great story, simply because of the amount of effort that goes into it. people complain about how long you spend watching it rather than playing it. but i don't mind because the story, characters, dialogue and choreography of the cutscenes is of a higher quality than the majority of things you would see at the cinema (most of time). so really it's just like watching a great film that you get to play bits of yourself.

max payne 1 + 2 stories are just awesome and i can't be bothered explaining why because this post is getting a bit epic.

i'm looking forward to playing condemned 2 when it comes out. haven't played the first one because i don't have a 360, but it looks like my type of thing.

I just liked the whole of Sam and Max Season One. That last chapter was brilliant.

And I'm going to agree with FFX and MGS, especially Snake Eater. That game was near perfect, I must have beaten it seven times now, at least once on every difficulty.

I think many people replying to this are extremely young and don't remember the heyday of gaming when story was everything and graphics weren't.

How about anything 'point n click'; DoTT, Beneath a Steel Sky, Flight of the Amazon Queen, Monkey Island, The Dig, Orion Conspiracy etc

Then theres things like Deus Ex, Conflict Freespace, Tie Fighter

If people think that FF-X and Portal are the epitome of storytelling then gaming is in trouble.

I'd have to agree with fallout, deus ex, and most of the other items listed. But you're forgetting about the first 2 odd world games.
they were both funny satire about the evil company taking over the world.

Every Half-Life has an amazing story only if you know the story from before. I think all of the God of Wars have abosalutly amazing story, and watching someone play is just as fun as playing if you don't know the story. Bio Shock was an amazing story, and it was told in an amazing way. I absolutly have to say that I never played the real Deadraising, I have played the DEMO, but I was reading the story on Wikipedia, and I wanted to buy the game if it wasn't for the fact that I get nightmares, I would buy the game. (I do watch my freind play the game and my bro BEGGES me to get it for him to play, but I wish I could play without the whole stay up in the night thing) Please don't rank on me about my fear.

EDIT: Just played Fallout 2, and has a story line parralel to Deadraising. Also remembered Call of Duty 4, amazing game in every way, even story.

Sorry folks, but I'm going retro here...

DOOM series takes it for me. What other game do you fight the forces of hell on another planets moon... that teleports to hell itslef! Where you have to fight your way off hell... to end up on earth, that has ALSO been invaded. Just to end up killing the final boss, who is the games creator... i did not see that coming when i played it.

Oh... and FF12

Probably going to get some flak due to the hate and bile this series has produced but I personally liked the Halo story, not necessarily because of the story itself, because to be fair to it its a bit pants, but I liked the hollywood blockbuster style in which it was told.

Half-Life series: My favorite story. The whole thing is deeper than people give it credit for. The setting progresses well and the storytelling is very well done.
Max Payne series: A little cliched but what isn't these days? It's a very good story told in such and epic way. I wish there was a third game, with multiplay haha.
GTA series: It's a funny series without being very intelligent. I like the small connections between all of the games.
Arcanum: I haven't played the Fallout games yet but this game is amazing for its massive world with hundreds of stories of the past and present (in-game I mean). The non linearity is incredible and it's my favorite RPG so far. It's unfortunate that there won't be any sequels any time in the next century.
FEAR: Good game with a good story, but I haven't finished it due to an outdated computer.
FFX/FFX2: I really liked the story, setting and characters in this game, FFX is the only game that ever made me cry. FFX2 was cheesy but I still like the full ending very much.
Command and Conquer Tiberium Universe: The first RTS I ever played was Tiberian Dawn, and I fell in love with it. I don't really like how EA is changing the franchise but what can you do. BTW I liked the first Red Alert story but it all went down hill from there (it was supposed to be a sequel, damn it!), although the gameplay of RA2 is epic.
Last but not least; Mafia: Great FlAckin' game with a great Flackin' story, can't wait for the sequel.
OH YEAH, I forgot about stalker, great game, although the ending felt very rushed

I am seeing a sad lack of Mass Effect.

My favourite stories are the ones that have the element of mystery. In Half-Life, "Who's the Gman?" In STALKER, "Who's Strelok?" In Baldur's Gate II, "What does Irenicus want with me?" A good story has questions that the protagonist needs answers to.

-Gabriel Knight Series(I can't believe no one has mentioned these yet).
-Half Life Series.
-Chrono Trigger(and Chrono Cross to a lesser extent).
-Xenogears(in fact, the game has so much plot that It can't even fit it all in towards the end).
-Planescape: Torment.
-Max Payne 1 and 2(Both good games, but I prefer the plot of 1 slightly more then 2).
-Starcraft.
-Final Fantasy Tactics. The story is very deep and complex for most of the game, then it gets somewhat less so towards the end.

I'm going to duck and cover and agree with you. Somehow I never think of it as a rip-off, it's alway homage to me. Aliens! Starship Troopers! and the building design always looked a bit Star Trekky to me, which is not a problem, since I grew up watching Star Trek (original) every afternoon after school.

Same with Jade Empire. The Water Margin! Dragon Inn! Is that the tomb from Moon Warriors? Warriors From The Magic Mountain! Hee! I'm kind of dorky that way.

thebobmaster:
I am seeing a sad lack of Mass Effect.

I've GOT a sad lack of Mass Effect. I don't have a console or computer capable of running it. *cries*

Has to be Dragon Quest VIII. Very classic, very nice characters, and amazing world.

Baldurs Gate, start to Throne of Bhaal, has the best story in a game I've ever experienced, mainly due to the characters and how they all act and react differently to the story. KOTOR II is beautifully written, the cryptic messages hidden in dialogue make the game bloody astounding once you understand it and can see pasted the thin veil of manipulated truth and lie.

What can I say? I love finding out I've been used as a puppet in games, and/or betrayed. Adds a whole new level to getting even with the basteds. Worked in Deus Ex for sure.

I've GOT a sad lack of Mass Effect. I don't have a console or computer capable of running it. *cries*[/quote]

Same here , my poor..poor...computer...

1.Fire Emblem
2.Viewtiful Joe
3.RA2/Yuri's revenge(Yuri is my hero)