Games

A Plague Tale Requiem

Brigador has surprisingly excellent writing. And moreover, I mean it literally.
Between maps, you have a config interface where you pick a pilot, guns and a vehicle to put it all on. But you also have a window with Intel. You have to pay ingame money to unlock this Intel, in the same you have to pay to unlock pilots, guns, vehicles, maps. They prices are not negligible. I unlocked every single piece of Intel, many times before I unlocked other more useful things, because it was that good.
I wanted to read more. I wanted to know more. I should point out that most of the Intel was self sufficient : it wasn't a huge story cut up in parts. I could read one Intel and there was no incentive to buy the next more expensive one to know the end. But it was quality military sci-fi and so much lore building. And here and there, hints about cool equipment combos to try out in game (this pilot in that mech with those guns and gizmo).

It was a complete shock to find such quality in what is otherwise a shooter. Yes, many action RPGs have encyclopedias worth of lore, disseminated freely throughout the world, on items, etc. I think the presentation here helped. But I was genuinely surprised at how good and enjoyable it was to read. I literally sat down and few times spending like an hour reading through bits and pieces and going to play a map or two only so I'd have enough cash to unlock some more.

I hope I get to enjoy such surprisingly good writing in a game again in my gaming lifetime (and I've been playing for about 37 years, I should add).

Been replaying FFXII, and now I notice it is extremely rich in plot and worldbuilding, including a lot of non-verbal details.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the most recent example, but I also love the writing of Horizon. I wish it was more mature, but it's good writing overall. Excellent setup.

Disco Elysium is, without a doubt, the best written game I've ever played. That game had me experience the entire rainbow of emotions.

Outer Wilds. The game isn't very text-heavy, but what there is feels important and personal. With the way the story is told, it is quite possibly my favorite story overall. I don't want to say too much, since knowledge is key in that game, but I would highly recommend it.

A lot of games are written pretty 'middle of the road' to get as much of a broad base as possible. A few stand out though.

The Last of Us really hit hard when I played it. I came to the end of that game feeling a little bit like I had an adoptive daughter, and feeling guilty that I had, to my mind, let her down.

There wasn't much 'writing' in it but Shadow of the Colossus also hit me pretty squarely in the chest.

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice was another that had some real power to the writing. Go listen to this setup (stop at 2:47)and tell me that isn't made to give goosebumps.

• Life is Strange
• Telltale walking dead
• Final Fantasy X (or VII, or basically insert most any)
• Gone Home
• Mass Effect 1&2 (never finished 3 lol)
• Outer Wilda
• Undertale
• Descent Freespace 2
• Silent Hill 2
• Heavy Rain
• Disco Elysium
• I have no mouth and I must scream
• Limbo
• Braid

A Mind Forever Voyaging, by Infocom.

It's an old text adventure from the 80's with a particularly cool and oddly relevant concept: You take the role of an AI that's been meticulously raised in a simulation to truly become a general intelligence. The reason this project was undertaken was to eventually send you, the AI, into other simulations based in the near future to test the outcomes of various political policies of the new republican government, record your interactions, and report back to the engineers who created you.

The game's designer said that he created the game in response to the despair he felt from Ronald Reagan being elected.

I haven't gotten super far in it, but it has an incredibly well written short story in the manual that details all the events leading up to the start of the game, and so far the game itself is unlike anything else I've ever played.

FFVII set me up to be an eco-Marxist.

Disco Elysium helped me come to terms with my alcoholism and learn to move forward with my life instead of wallowing in self pity and loathing for the things I had done.

Really those are the two games that affected me most heavily in my life.

I just played around 6 hours of it, but Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 intro made me cry. With everything going on in the world right now the sense of despair is very relatable.

Seconding Spiritfarer.

I also became entirely entranced by Horizon: Forbidden West. A death in that game hit me unexpectedly hard, and I had to take a couple days off from playing it to kind of deal with the grief. I tried the first Horizon, but I feel it didn't get anywhere close to the depth in worldbuilding and character development of the second game

Cyberpunk 2077. Years since I booted it for the first time I am still at it

What Remains of Edith Finch comes to mind for me.

In the game, you play Edith Finch going back to her family home. It was home to multiple generations of the Finch family. This family has a serious case of bad luck, and most of them didn't get very old. As Edith, you explore all of the rooms and see the final moments of the person who used to live there.

It is not a horror game - but it is haunting, in a sense. If you enjoy good stories and writing, give it a try. It's only about 2 hours, and best played in a single sitting. It's also on sale regularly.

Horizon: Zero Dawn. Such a haunting, beautiful story.

New Vegas, the writing of the dialoges are brilliant. Some of the funniest or straight up saddest stuff are both there.

CrossCode. I won't spoil anything, but Lea very quickly cemented herself as my favorite protagonist of all time.

Blue Prince sure feels like it counts, our whole family is hooked, and has been playing it every day for about 2 weeks now. Even well after rolling credits.

In a similar vein, I'd have to say Hollow Knight and Outer Wilds. Together with Blue Prince, they all have a storytelling strategy of "you have to put some effort into getting the story out of it", but the effort makes every new discovery or revelation feel super rewarding.

Celeste is the one that comes to mind for a more traditional story that REALLY hit.

Persona 5 comes to mind, too. I was ENGROSSED in that story for months. Even if it went off the rails a couple times.

I'm also gonna shout-out Tales of Symphonia. That game was formative for me.

Life is Strange
Spiritfarer
Titanfall 2
Hellblade
Red Dead 2
Hades
Oxenfree

Many more, but these stood out on actually caring about the characters and what happened to them.

I'll say the obligatory Red Dead Redemption. What a ride. From beginning to end. It legitimately feels like an "epic" where the character and world develop.

As you get to the end of the game and you're in the more populated areas that feel like they have left the wild West behind and the parallel with the story... it's great.

Bioshock infinite, really pulled me in.

SOMA still lives in my brain 10 years later.

The quarry, and until dawn were pretty good. A bit lacking in gameplay, but awesome stories.

Witcher 3 tells many stories that contribute to an overarching story.

Fallout new Vegas does it with the option of murder hoboing

Bg3 is pretty good story wise too ❤️

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 1 and 2 have an awesome main story line with writing that makes me feel like I am playing video game sequels to A Knight's Tale.

But then it also has some pretty yawn inducing stuff, too, that might be interesting to history buffs since it takes place in real life, during real historical events in Bohemia. A lot of politics and nobility dick-waving. I skipped through a lot of random side quest dialogue because it was just an hour of discussing politics. 🤣

Disco Elysium tho is hands down the best written game I've ever played. We need more video games to be written by actual authors. It also just has an insane amount of branching paths and differences in how you play that mostly appear in dialogue, but also just wearing different clothing can change things dramatically.

Come on, noone mentioning Planescape Torment so far?!

Hell blade: Senua's Sacrifice.

The game itself helped me understand people, who are no longer with us, in a better way. The manner in which psychosis is presented is powerfully accurate, at least from an outsider perspective. It made me cry as it portrayed struggles in a manner truthful to the symptoms beyond the effects - the story and execution of it really gripped me.

Journey, there is no word but the story is so well written i

Gone Home - when I finished the game I was legitimately sad that I couldn't spend more time with the people whose lives I got to know so intimately from their environments. And yes, they didn't feel like characters anymore, they felt like actual people. That's one of the highest praises I can give to a game's storytelling.

A Way Out. Highly recommend playing it with your closest friend. Fucking game made me feel stronger emotions than any other game I've ever played, because the motherfucker I was playing with is my best friend. I'm not going to spoil the ending, I'm just going to say: heavy fucking feelings

All games from the Too the Moon series.

Talos Principle is the best story I’ve played hands down.

The Cat Lady is one I'd say stands out to me.