I recently finished Rise of the Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy XVI, and I’m hesitant what I should play next (PC or PS5).
With FF I enjoyed the game and the story was all I expected from it, and I’m really looking forward to the DLC.
With Tomb Raider… damn that game is all over the place. The story is predictable, and also stupid. “Why did you rush in there? Without weapons? Against an army?”, and other similar thoughts kept running through my head. I don’t feel inclined to play Shadow of the tomb Raider (the sequel).
I have a backlog of too many games, and lately it takes a lot of effort to start because I don’t know if it’s worth the time investment. I love games with good stories, and playing a game that puts the lore and story in the background feels like a waste of time.
Sure, I could get started on Baldurs Gate 3, I’ve heard great things. But is the story great? Will I be able to say “oh that chapter/fight/act is awesome!” To other people looking for game experiences?
Experiences like Escaping from the ship in Super Metroid, helping that king in Witcher 3, fighting Psycho Mantis in MGS, fighting Titan in FFXVI, killing the first colossus, escaping from darth Vader, that first Mario odyssey stage, beating the first boss in Bloodborne, playing “Brothers” for the first time and getting to the ending… all great experiences with awesome stories to tell
TL;DR: what am I missing?
EDIT: Holy crap I didn’t expect these many replies. Thank you! There are many recommendations I’ve already played, and many others I will definitely play. Thanks!
If anyone is interested in the result:
Recommended, bought:
- Bioshock 2
- Black mesa
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Death stranding
- Deaths door
- Detroit become human (PS5)
- Disco elysium
- Dragon Age
- Elden ring
- Fallout 3
- Fallout 4
- Fallout new Vegas
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Hades
- Half life alyx
- Hellblade senuas sacrifice
- Homeworld
- Horizon zero dawn
- Inscryption
- Just cause 3
- Life is Strange
- Mass effect 3
- Metro series
- Ori and the blind forest, and sequel
- Oxenfree
- Persona 5
- Planescape: torment
- Shadowrun dragonfall
- Shadowrun Hong Kong
- Soma
- Spider-Man
- Subnautica
- Tyranny
- Wolfenstein series
Recommended, to buy:
- 13 sentinels (PS4)
- Age of decadence
- Cruelty squad
- Dead space
- Ghost recon wildlands
- God of war ragnarok
- Grandia
- Kingdom Come Deliverance
- Octopath Traveler 1 & 2
- Outer wilds
- Pathologic 2
- Red dead redemption 2
- Song of horror
- Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG
- The hex
- the last of us part 2
- The upturned
- Torment: tides of numenera
- Withering rooms
- Yakuza
Already Played, and yeah, these are awesome:
- Alpha centauri
- Bioshock 1
- Bioshock infinite
- Borderlands series
- Control
- Dark souls series
- Deus ex human revolution
- Deus ex mankind divided
- FFXIV
- Ghost trick
- God of war 2018
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Hollow knight
- Hotel Dusk
- Mass effect
- Mass effect 2
- Nier: automata
- Nier: replicant
- Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
- Portal
- Portal 2
- Psychonauts 1 & 2
- Spec ops: the line
- Stray
- the last of us part 1
- The Stanley parable
- Titanfall 2
- Undertale
- What remains of Edith finch
- Witcher 3
You must log in or register to comment.
BioShock. The whole series has an interesting storyline. One and two are related directly. BioShock Infinite isn’t directly related to the first two but arguably has the most compelling story arc. The ending is one of the first games I remembered being just dumbstruck.
I should play them again. I played 1 and Infinite only. Bioshock 2 felt like a cash grab at the time. Is it worth it?
The Outer Wilds, Fallout New Vegas and Just Cause 3
Cannot say Outer Wilds enough. Wonderful experience. Exploration and lore is everything in this game. But it’s not too much. Some games have exploration and lore just for the sake of having it. Whereas everything in Outer Wilds is purposeful and motivating to do.
I was also gonna say Outer Wilds. My Steam library is almost entirely indie games and not much else stands out to me story-wise except maybe:
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
The Upturned
Song of Horror
Withering Rooms
Cruelty Squad.
Have you done any Last of Us, yet? Both games are excellent.
First one. The second one… I’ve read it’s more of a vengeance story in the first half, and then you play the same story from the other side, making you see how awful revenge is.
Does it have scenes like the one with the giraffes?
Yep. I hated ND at the time but by the end of the game I was blown away. One of the most immersive incredible gaming experiences I’ve ever had (story-wise, both games I mean). As amazing as the first was I almost prefer the second… I’m still torn.
It’s not for every one though and it recieved a review bomb before it was released and a lot of those people still hate it.
To answer the giraffe one and without spoilers… yep there’a lovely moments in it that stick with you
I would agree that the first one is good, the second one is boring garbage in my opinion.
I like the second one better than the first.
Both have powerful stories, and I can respect a narrative that takes risks like TLOU has. I have some gripes with the second’s narrative, but I would still recommend it to many. I’ve also been thinking about it recently, so I’m pleasantly surprised to see it mentioned here.
I think it’s totally fine that a game may not be someone’s cup of tea, but I recall the second game getting a lot of negativity for…some reason I don’t fully remember.
Outside of the story the gameplay is better, the tech is better, the environments are better. Even today it holds up as a powerhouse in these areas.
But, again, a recall a lot of people trashing the game, and I’m not saying that’s you at all. Don’t get me wrong. I’m just trying to remember why a certain subset of people online were going all apey over it. To me it’s absolute top tier game to this day.
I recall the second game getting a lot of negativity for…some reason I don’t fully remember.
Some of the popular complaints went into spoiler territory. Since I can’t seem to spoiler tag on kbin, I’ll only briefly mention that they generally centered around one of the main character’s choices early on, while also targeting their appearance for being “unrealistic”.
Outside of the story the gameplay is better, the tech is better, the environments are better. Even today it holds up as a powerhouse in these areas.
I agree overall. I also applaud Naughty Dog for the considerable number of gameplay options and accessibility features. If I remember correctly, someone has even beaten TLOU1/2 who was born blind.
I’m just trying to remember why a certain subset of people online were going all apey over it.
Not gonna get into it here, but the lesson learned by the protagonist felt like it missed the mark a bit when looking at the events of the game after things were said and done. Ultimately, I think it’s fairly minor considering that’s maybe my main gripe. I suppose I had some issues with pacing too, and thought some aspects of the plot should have been fleshed out differently. I was hoping to revisit TLOU1/2 eventually to see how my thoughts have changed.
Mass Effect and Borderlands
Subnautica
OxenfreeI definitely get your concern with BG3 as Lariat had a pretty lousy story in both DoS and DoS2. In both games they tried to be serious and funny without doing a good job at either.
I second Subnautica. It’s not a big story, but I love the way it’s told: gradually unfolding through exploration and discovery.
Kingdom Come Deliverance
This game had the dullest characters and the most boring/cliché story and the fighting mechanism is absolutely horrible.
OK… Thanks for informing me of your opinion I guess?
I’ll throw my hat in the ring and say - the newer Wolfenstein series.
Incredible story, Incredible gameplay with choices that matter, and a lot of content to occupy your time across the like 3-4 games.
Including the one with the sisters?
I believe that has some relevance to the story but honestly I haven’t tried that one.
Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri
Sure, I could get started on Baldurs Gate 3, I’ve heard great things. But is the story great? Will I be able to say “oh that chapter/fight/act is awesome!” To other people looking for game experiences?
I can only speak for the first 1,5 acts (I think I’m getting closer to finishing act 2). The main story is good so far, but perhaps not the best. There are loads of great side quests, fights and even choices though. And you can complete most tasks in a myriad of different ways.
Spec Ops: The Line.
A bit dated, but one of the few shooters that makes you question your actions and view warfare for what it does to civilians and to soldiers. Definitely some memorable story moments.
Really good, played it when it came out. That phosphorus scene with the bodies of the victims stuck with me forever
This game is not fun. Not at all.
But I do not regret playing it.
Not so thinly veiled take on Heart of Darkness via the games industry.
Fantasic game. Intentionally meh gameplay. One of my faves, highly recommend.
Outer Wilds (not Outer Worlds)
Ori and the Blind Forest
Hollow Knight
Also wanted to add Outer Wilds. The story is incredibly interesting and well-told, and it’s one you have definitely not seen before!
Pleasantly surprised to see Outer Wilds here, which I just finished the base game of the other day. Starting the DLC now.
Great game!
+1 for Outer Wilds!
I wanted to say Outer Wilds too simply to have OP join us in our search for that high of another player experiencing this game for the first time. Nothing quite like seeing the game “click” when they finally get those big plot points.
I came here to recommend Outer Wilds too
Outer wilds is the best story driven game ever
Metro series. It is not a horror game but have a nice story. Also, Astroneer is good. I didn’t give any change to these two games in the past, but now I regret my decision.
I was gonna say metro as well. Caught it on stream two years ago, liked it. Read the books, awesome. Playing the first one rn, found out I‘m a wimp.
Also fallout except 76 (I have it but i dont like playing it, I really don’t like the always online part).
The witcher series (currently reading the first book after watching the series and finishing all three games.
Mass effect trilogy
Soma
What remains of Edith Finch
Stanley parable
Spec ops the line
Fallout new Vegas
Detroit become human
Deus ex and deus ex human revolution
How would you classify Detroit becomes human? Its been in my queue for awhile. The preview looks great, sounds great, but I havent heard anyone bring it up. Which makes me worry if its worth the time.
I’d say its worth the time. It has a lot of replayability, but I only played it once.
It’s awesome. Mainly a dialogue-based game. Drama. A lot of choices that you have to make. Emotional.
I want to second What Remains of Edith Finch. Tip: play it in a single go. It will take about 2 hours, but trust me when I say it’s worth it.
borderlands 2
optimally you scour up up to three friends to play with, but even alone the game is excellent.
it has a great story with one of the best villains in gaming ever (my opinion) as good as glados.
apropos glados the portal games are also a definite must play (what with portal 2 being the highest ranked steam game ever.)
My personal disclaimer on this is that Borderlands is way more fun with friends, but if you want to pay attention to the story you probably need to be selective about who you play with. I find most of the people I’ve played with don’t really pay attention to the story and I either need to skip everything or force them to wait for me, not ideal for either person.
