Plots in video games...

[Randomness]

Whats your all-time favorite plot in a video game?

Also, whats your all-time favorite plot twist in a video game?

For overall plot, I especially liked the one between the two Baten Kaitos games, just because of the unpredictability.

My favorite plot twist is in the first Baten Kaitos...[spoiler-box]where Kalas turns out to have been evil from the very beginning, to the point of trying to kill everyone else in your party. Probably the only time I haven't even suspected a plot twist before it happened.[/spoiler-box]

[Scrub]

My favorite overall plot is definitely the Legacy of Kain/Soul Reaver game series. Goddamn, everything in the game is so great, and I really like all of the characters in it.

My favorite plot twist would be in Bioshock, where you find out that Fontaine was using mind control on you the whole time. The whole 'Andrew Ryan is your father' thing I could figure out beforehand, and Atlus seemed a little fishy, but i never expected the WOULD YOU KINDLY thing. I was literally going OH GOD DONT KILL ANDREW RYAN while your character clubs him to death. Poor guy.

[ShinMaruku]

Nights had a great plot. Although insane. Props to ST of old and their use of Jung.

[Sinue_v2]

Either Phantasy Star II or the Gabriel Knight trilogy.

The Gabriel Knight games are written like a cross between a Michael Crichton novel and a Anne Rice novel. Lots of research and very intellectually stimulating - coupled with the romanticism and intrigue of modern mythical monsters like Vampires and Werewolves.

Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within Compilation (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kuNrAkhowQ&feature=related)
Yeah, it's from an FMV Adventure. The gameplay in that respect is it's only downfall. It's probably one of the best adventure games ever created, and one of the best storylines in videogames. period. The acting is pretty damn good for a game as well, as well as the music. They even recreated a piece of a lost Wagner Opera (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE0Gz_GNCQ8&feature=related).

Oh, and despite how that first video looks - Gabriel isn't gay. It's... an odd turn of events, but he's somewhat in love with Gracie Nakamura (the girl with the opera glasses in the second video).

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sinue_v2 on 2008-01-04 14:42 ]</font>

[Mudkips]

I'd have to go with Final Fantasy Seven... I know I shouldn't talk about it, but IT WAS AWESOME! :]

[amtalx]

Planescape: Torment. EOF. Never in my life have I cared so much for a fictional character in a video game. It is and old game, and will most likely not run on current OSs,.However, if you have a box still running Win 95/98, you owe it to yourself.

[Angelo]

Final Fantasy IV.

The main hero starting out as a murderous dark knight only to redeem himself as the world's last and only Paladin. The antagonist turning out to be the protagonists brother, the love triangle between Cecil, Kain, and Rosa. Damsels in distress, flying to the moon, romance and betrayal.


It was just everything perfect to me.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Angelo on 2007-12-22 22:45 ]</font>

[UnderscoreX]

Fainaru Fantaji X.

Also really liked SH: Covenant's.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: UnderscoreX on 2007-12-23 10:43 ]</font>

[Kylie]

Silent Hill's is amazing to me because of the level of emotion.

[Monochrome]

On 2007-12-23 10:42, UnderscoreX wrote:
Fainaru Fantaji X.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: UnderscoreX on 2007-12-23 10:43 ]</font>


I'll go with this for both counts (if you played till the end, you'll know the character-twist I'm talking about).

It's also been previously mentioned, but VII could easily take both spots as well, even if it's a cliche choice. It stands the test of time because it's that good.

[Noblewine]

Sword of Mana-It has two characters that have the same destiny but different obsticles to get through. It gets a little confusing as you get through but it's your typical good versus evil but it ends well.

[TetsuyaHikari]

Angelo came in and already gave my response, lol. I'll just agree with him. FFIV was a fantastic game. I've played through it multiple times and still love the plot http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[Sord]

Drop the plots and give me a free roaming game, I'm not big on linear gameplay. Every now and then it's fine, but not one after another. I like having tons of choices.

[astuarlen]

On 2007-12-22 22:41, amtalx wrote:
Planescape: Torment. EOF. Never in my life have I cared so much for a fictional character in a video game. It is and old game, and will most likely not run on current OSs,.However, if you have a box still running Win 95/98, you owe it to yourself.



PS:T runs on XP; I played it last summer. Didn't care for the character at all, but I will admit the main conceit was fairly original. Perhaps I'd have found the plot and character more interesting if I hadn't heard so much praise for the game.

[Saner]

Valkyrie Profile. grade A ending path carves out a powerful and best version of the story.

Xenogears. first time through it felt like this great story would never end, which was a great epic feeling.

Xenosaga's all 3 episodes. Very tragic and emotional story. Xenogears was dark but Xenosaga's ending is on the completely different side of the coin. Xenogears led to happiness but Xenosaga led to sadness and uncertain future.

Phantasy Star IV. great ultimate continuation and finale of the classic saga.

Resident Evil. the whole S.T.A.R.S. concept and forest and mansion and monsters and the whole concept is really brilliant. it's too bad it wasn't more flexible in who can survive and who you can use, and more perspectives of the event. but despite its limits, it still is a interesting story.

Septerra Core. underrated PC game. the dungeons are somewhat bland and tedious but the story leads to a very unexpected conclusion in many aspects. and the battle system can be related to Chrono Trigger but with an added twist.

King of Fighters 97.
KOF in general is really the first fighting game series to have an epic storyline saga, so far it has 3 story arcs under it's belt (Orochi Saga, NESTS Saga, and now Heralds saga which needs one more game to conclude its chapter), with dreammatch games serving as intermissions between each trio of games that tells its own story of ambitious villains, classic heroes and cool newcomers.

While some team endings are comical, the more serious and mature endings put all Capcom fighting game endings to shame.


Mass Effect. more flexible storytelling and interactive conversations that surpass the way conversations were expressed in cutscenes in other games. there is a lot of depth and character interaction. and the endings I have seen are the best BioWare has ever crafted (not feeling rushed or half-baked like in KOTOR and Jade Empire). and this is just the first part.

well there are a lot of game stories I admire, can't really stick with one cause while their stories are great, sadly, there's only so many times I would try to replay them before I feel like trying something else or something new. Before I thought I had a favorite game but it's tough sticking with one type or one theme. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif maybe that's why I go back to FPS games a lot cause pick up and play games usually don't have any tedious or slow paced aspects that either demand more time to get to the good bits, or some process that you don't feel like doing again. lol but I dunno. FFXIII and Timesplitters 4 better be great lol. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif

[Ash1ey]

The first Shadow Hearts game for my favorite overall plot

As for plot twists... I'd have to go with Silent HIll 2

[UnderscoreX]

Covenant had more pizaz.

[Shardio]

Eternal Sonata.
That game introduced me to REALLY LONG CUTSCENES http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_eek.gif

[omegapirate2k]

Yep, Baten Kaitos definitely has one of the best twists ever in video gaming history.

[DonRoyale]

Tales Of Symphonia for me. It starts out with an early "wtf is he talking about" kind of feel, but when you go through it the second time, you understand pretty much everything.

Kratos and Zelos had the heaviest plots. Too bad I killed off Zelos because he's a fruity asshole and I'd MUCH rather control Kratos...Heh.

I mean, every character in that game had a plot. Except Colette. Silly, stupid Colette, getting kidnapped every two seconds...it's just ridiculous! (I pity anyone who used her often...)

[amtalx]

On 2007-12-24 18:10, astuarlen wrote:

On 2007-12-22 22:41, amtalx wrote:
Planescape: Torment. EOF. Never in my life have I cared so much for a fictional character in a video game. It is and old game, and will most likely not run on current OSs,.However, if you have a box still running Win 95/98, you owe it to yourself.



PS:T runs on XP; I played it last summer. Didn't care for the character at all, but I will admit the main conceit was fairly original. Perhaps I'd have found the plot and character more interesting if I hadn't heard so much praise for the game.



I can see that. I played it back when it was originally released and nobody knew what it was. It gained its "sleeper hit" status after I had already finished.

[AC9breaker]

Legacy of Kain, hands down.

and I feel Assassin Creed is going to be up there.

Oh yeah the Fanboy in me has to mention this one too,
FFVII



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: AC9breaker on 2007-12-26 10:33 ]</font>

[amtalx]

On 2007-12-26 10:32, AC9breaker wrote:

Oh yeah the Fanboy in me has to mention this one too,
FFVII



BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

[Angelo]

On 2007-12-24 15:55, Kikumaru wrote:
Angelo came in and already gave my response, lol. I'll just agree with him. FFIV was a fantastic game. I've played through it multiple times and still love the plot http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif




I can't wait for the Nintendo DS remake. It's going to be all kinds of awesome. I think I've honestly played through Final Fantasy IV start-to-finish about 9 times.

[BlaizeYES]

honestly, the plot of final fantasy 7 was good, but i think it was overrated. final fantasy 10's plot was really good, i was reluctant to play any final fantasy at first. i played 10, and it got me to play 7. i just love in ff 10: what everyone is trying to stop is the very thing that created tidus in the beginning, and it'll also be his end. and its that inevitable truth as the hero of the game that you have to stop sin despite knowing what will happen if you do... and you hold out until the end of the game because you have hope that everything will work out well for him. but it doesnt. until the credits, i was still waiting for tidus to come back... hell, i even had this feeling that auron would make another appearance. its easy to have a plot become more powerful when someone dies, but few can really capture it quite like this. you really dont want tidus to die, but you also have to beat the game... i was refused to believe that they would carry through with killing the main character, and you can see tidus' attitude starting to shift through the final hours of the story. he no longer talks about how much he loves yuna and how happy he is, he's completely unsure about what he's been pushing the whole party to do through the entire game. its perfect


another plot i really liked as a kid, playing my first RPG ever, was Mario RPG. i loved that story as a kid, i remember how sad i got when geno turned back into a doll. that was before i played any game that dealt with an issue of loss, so i was sitting there thinking, "how could this even happen?"


another game that i love is the entire metal gear solid series. the first one is my favorite with how the events take place... grey fox at the end... everything plays out perfectly as if it's a gripping movie. i played the game for the first time when i bought a gamecube a while back, and mgs was the only game i got for it because my friend kept recommending it, and i fell in love with the game. the second one is not nearly as good, its devoid of emotion and you cant really be absorbed into the characters, and i've tried playing the ending twice, both times i fall asleep during the psychobabble that the AI has with raiden. the third one was great because of both the character of the boss and ocelot. you watch ocelot change from a whiny little 19 year old kid into a worthy adversary of snake. and during all of this, he is helping out snake. when you choose the right gun and he shoots the blank, that wraps up the story perfectly. ocelot loved the competition, but at the same time, he wants the closure of snake beating the shit out of him and taking off so easily with sokolov. also, i love the facial expressions as well, from the boss watching snake get his ass kicked by volgin, to ocelot's helping of snake during volgin's fight... it's amazing how far games have come and how accurately dynamic each character in mgs3 really is. just pay close attention to the boss, ocelot, snake, and even a little bit of eva. BRILLIANT.



i havent played any newer games recently, not many plots really interest me as much as they did before. my choices are probably generic, but those are the games ive been exposed to and loved the plot

[Saner]

oh yeah

the Suikoden series

and Chrono Trigger, especially Chrono Cross have great stories too!

[Jife_Jifremok]

Hey, I laughed my ass off after seeing what happened to Tidus, especially after Yuna face-planted onto the floor because of it! http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

I actually forgot how awesome the Metal Gear Solid plot was. I was really gripped by Metal Gear 2 and the story of MGS3. I have to play through MGS1 and 2 again now but I don't have them.

Baten Kaitos, as mentioned before, has the best plot-twist I've ever seen. Breakdown was also pretty cool with the bigass plot twist, though that was the only really good thing about that game's story.

I'm really more a fan of characters than of plots (saving the world is a LOT more fun with fun and interesting characters!), but a bigger fan of gameplay than anything else. So if I like a gameplay, I will like the story no matter how cliched it is; if I hate the gameplay I won't give a rat's ass about the story.

[PSOLaguna]

Considering everyone has pretty much mentioned all the major ones I would have said, I'll start by adding that I think FFVIII was great and it improved on the qualities that VII had brought to the series. Oh as for a good plot twist ..Vagrant Story mixed it up back in the day.

[Dangerous55]

A lot of games have convoluted storied that I don't bother following much. Like, most RPGs. I still don't know what the fuck I was doing in Chrono Cross those 40 hours. I do somewhat, but barely remember.

Now, Baldur's Gate 2 has a great story. John Irenicus is an amazing character. Whoever did the voice acting on him did a great job.

Icewind Dale 2 has a decent story. But I'm a sucker for stories where militia/troops fight an underdog, ragged battle. Freedom Fighters for example.

Resident Evils too, I love that entire saga.

Metal Gear Solid, another example of convoluted story.

Shadow Hearts. That story is pretty cool. I dig the entire use of history and the like.

I can't think of many games that jump out at me for having amazing stories.

[BlaizeYES]

i agree. having good well-rounded characters is extremely important if i'm playing a game. a rehashed "revenge" storyline and characters that are hardly realistic mentally and emotionally... its just shit.

i've always been a huge fan of "shenmue" though... both 1 and 2 were brilliant, although ryo is somewhat of an idiot... it's his supporting cast and their stories that carries him.


chrono trigger was not bad at all either, but i havent played it in about 8-9 years. i remember chrono, and then that frog i used to hate in the game. jesus

[BlaizeYES]

On 2007-12-27 23:25, Dangerous55 wrote:
A lot of games have convoluted storied that I don't bother following much. Like, most RPGs.

Metal Gear Solid, another example of convoluted story.





see, now i believe this is where i have to disagree with you,my friend. now mgs2 i cannot vouch for. that story is in a league of its own. its so abstract, i remember reading "plot interpretations" of it and still not really have a clear understanding what was going on.

i would say its convoluted if the story played out like a james bond movie where james bond is just some smug "heartthrob" where you can assume that everyone in the movie is a bad guy even if they're helping you out. i was like 15 when i saw this james bond movie where theres a CAR PLANE and i refused to watch a james bond movie ever again.


the beauty of metal gear solids 1 and 3 was that it remained linear, and snake was only questioning his own mission... not changing the plot every few seconds. you played through, and although you were hearing messages via codec telling you that naomi may be bad or roy campbell is an asshole, it didnt phase you. you didnt even really pay all too much attention to it because you knew you still had a mission. you understand the reasons that many of the soldiers in the first game were rebelling against the government, and they all would give their own piece of mind(for 10 minutes, which is impressive) right before they die. you feel remorse for the characters, and even when you question who is behind what, theres still one underlying fact: YOU HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF METAL GEAR.


metal gear solid 3 was basically even more linear than the original,and even greater of a game in terms of storyline and character depth. i am big on games and movies taking place during ww2 and the cold war, so i liked the movie even more. but it wasnt a "bond" movie even though it shared a similar style. nobody was really betraying you; if anything, the betrayals in the beginning, you were hoping snake would get a bit of closure as to why that happened. the boss tried to act completely unemotional, but the game does such a great job developing her character that you see that shes human as well, you were dying to see if the boss would break down... 2/3s into the game, it really began to take its toll on her as the plot only starts gathering momentum to unclimbable peaks. then around the same time the torture scene happens, you see ocelot beginning to feel empathy towards snake as well. everything following that: absolutely brilliant. the scene where you face volgin and the chase that follows is still one of the greatest things i've seen in a video game, and it builds up to that climatic moment when you feel as if everyone is on your side. i am loosely quoting young jeezy when i say that at that moment the boss gives the headnod to ocelot while telling eva she's going to be alright, "you cannot lose because the whole city was behind you." jesus. just thinking about that game makes me want to go buy a ps2 again,pick up that game, and play it over. the game draws out so much, about a good 10 hours of pretty uneventful moments, but as you reach volgin's fortress, you cant pull yourself away from whats happening. just brilliant


i apologize for going off and ruining both metal gear solids 1 and 3 for anyone who hasnt played it hahah, but i still believe both are the only reason i got a playstation 2 in the first place a few years ago. and yes, i am VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT THOSE 2 GAMES

[Masou]

video games dont have plots. they're all plotless D:
ok ok thats not true entirely, however i think that the plots of new and upcoming games are starting to..falter, to say the least. I think around the time the ps2 came out was probably the prime of video game storylines.
Occasionally we still see an amazing game come out with an amazing story line, but that doesnt mean give it 96879465468321 sequels!

[amtalx]

Now that I've finished Mass Effect, that story was pretty good. Too bad we will have to wait for years just to see how it ends. Way too short though.

[Saner]

actually they said Mass Effect is a story in itself, yeah it has planned sequels but the first story pretty much solves the threat for now.

anyways ya of course the classic Phantasy Stars have great stories too. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif

also Final Fantasy 8 is the best FF story in many ways, especially since its hero is the only one where you often get to see what they're thinking, and get to know both of their parents. there is a lot of depth underneath the love theme, plus it has one of the most satisfying happy endings ever made.

[Neith]

On 2007-12-28 06:16, Saner wrote:
also Final Fantasy 8 is the best FF story in many ways, especially since its hero is the only one where you often get to see what they're thinking, and get to know both of their parents. there is a lot of depth underneath the love theme, plus it has one of the most satisfying happy endings ever made.


Yeah, for terms of Story, I think FFVIII is the best of all the ones Ive played. Especially with the Laguna dream parts, which end up bringing the whole story together. Brilliant game, usually overshadowed by VII though.

I know someone will want to hit me for this, but PSO. A lot of people will say 'but there isn't much of a plot'. If you took the time to read into things though, especially the markers left by Rico (and the messages left by Flowen in Episode II), you ended up with a very deep understanding of what exactly was happening to the world, and what was happening to these people you'd been asked to pursue. Then, add in all the offline quests- while not directly connected, each quest completes the story of one/a few individual/s on Pioneer 2, and makes the whole experience far more thought-provoking.

I'll probably think of more later.

[BlaizeYES]

On 2007-12-28 09:56, UrikoBB3 wrote:


I know someone will want to hit me for this, but PSO. A lot of people will say 'but there isn't much of a plot'. If you took the time to read into things though, especially the markers left by Rico (and the messages left by Flowen in Episode II), you ended up with a very deep understanding of what exactly was happening to the world, and what was happening to these people you'd been asked to pursue. Then, add in all the offline quests- while not directly connected, each quest completes the story of one/a few individual/s on Pioneer 2, and makes the whole experience far more thought-provoking.

I'll probably think of more later.





lol, yes i agree completely. PSO's story wasnt all that bad, it was more scattered. they tried to explain everything through in-game messages, and on an online rpg, all you're thinking about is leveling up and getting the best weapons. i remember looking for all of those little memos from rico, especially when i got to the ruins. to be completely honest, i don't even remember the story really that much lol. but i remember thinking, "ok, some of this could make sense." didn't rico turn into the last guy or something? i dont even remember




and on a side note, halo 2 built the plot up way too much with little payoff in halo 3. i played it when i visited my brother, and by golly... i hated the game almost as much as i hated him for buying the game with some helmet of master chief as a dvd holder. i mean really, its not worth the 120 dollars when the game cant deliver

[Nai_Calus]

Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI.

FFVI really blew me away back when I first played it, did the second time and still is the third time. It remains the only RPG I've beaten twice. The storyline might be somewhat cliche, but it's well-executed and so many little threads that are usually forgotten are actually carried through and finished from one part into the second. Add in extremely likable characters that get a decent amount of development, and you have a recipie for awesome. (And then there's the game itself, which is fun to play, looks awesome, and does an incredible job of conveying the story and emotion with just the sprites...)

Chrono Trigger had a more awesome, less cliched plot and the same kind of attention to detail. (Lucca's mom anyone? Jesus Christ, that was awesome.) Also very likable characters. FFVI got me more though, dunno. I'm a sucker for sap. Plus Kefka was badass, even if he did die in one turn since my characters were massively overpowered.

[DizzyDi]

After much thought I have come up with a few faves...

- Lunar Silver Star Story: This game is the EPITOME of the classic JRPG storyline. Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, girl gets abducted, boy goes on epic quest to save said girl. Of course its a little more deep than that but thats basically how it goes, and its great. Its been done a million times before and since, but no game that I've run into has done it better and more genuine.

- Xenogears/saga: Complicated as hell, filled with bibilical references that may or may not belong, filled with backstabbing and counter-backstabbing, convoluted character relationships, so on and so forth. AND ITS AMAZING. No game storyline has come close to the type of shit the xeno series has done, maybe MGS, but whatevers. I loved Gears AND the Saga series.

- Shadow of the Colossus: Its not really so much the story, but how its presented. It was just so subtle and minimal, yet it drew you in. You're a wandering swordsman on a quest to revive the one he loves. You travel to a land forgotton by time to ask a mysterious being for her soul back. He sends you on a quest to kill giants, and you do it. And thats all you know. I can't explain it but this game, to me, has more story and substance than most books! Its like...Why am I killing these beasts? What are the consequences? Why is the land so barren? Who is this girl i'm saving? Better yet, who is the character I'm playing as? I can't get enough of it.

- Valkyrie Profile: During a time when the RPG landscape was filled with FF wannabe's and spinoffs, Enix came along and came with one of the most unique games for the PS1. The main storyline itself isn't much, but all the substories that you see from all the different characters more than make up for it. Watching your soon-to-be warriors take their final steps in life before death is an experience everyone should take part in.

Final Fantasy Tactics: Good story. (o.O)/ I'm getting lazy. Also, I dig a bittersweet ending.

Those are the only ones I can think of at the time.

[jcm5]

final fantasy X the whole game had very emotional parts my sister cried when i played with her watching... and mass effect great storyline im gonna do another runthrough and do everything oppisettly.. hahahahahahah sex scene with ashley im gonna try and see how it looks like with the alien chick liara. this is gonna be funny im gonna go devote another 23 hours and 42 minutes playing the game again.

[Monochrome]

On 2007-12-29 20:09, DizzyDi wrote:
After much thought I have come up with a few faves...

- Lunar Silver Star Story: This game is the EPITOME of the classic JRPG storyline. Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, girl gets abducted, boy goes on epic quest to save said girl. Of course its a little more deep than that but thats basically how it goes, and its great. Its been done a million times before and since, but no game that I've run into has done it better and more genuine.




ahhh, get out of my head!! Couldn't have said it simpler or better myself (so i didn't). Well, the awesome box set and extras (cd soundtrack, cloth map, art book) certainly help too.

[edit: ok this has nothing to do with plot, but I suppose it helps sell the overall experience ..]

Also, it's good to see FFVIII getting some love. After FFVII's ending it was cool to get a complete, sweet finale. Even if it didn't make a whole lot of sense. And I actually had to track down the cd single of "Eyes On Me" by Faye Wong after hearing it in the ending. I don't even like ballads but...



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Monochrome on 2007-12-30 16:26 ]</font>

[DizzyDi]

Worst plot twist ever. Ruined the fucking series for me.

[OmniVoid]

Most of my favorites have already been posted, but one that I dont think as of yet has been posted was the plot twist in Star Ocean 3. Dissapointing, yes, but I did not expect it.

[spoiler-box]The universe in which Star Ocean takes place is a video game for real people.So you're basically playing a video game in which people are playing a video game[/spoiler-box]

[Saner]

yeah SO3 had a controversial plot twist. but even though it basically makes the characters virtually a.i. it kinda made things even more emotional. but despite what they are, they still think and feel like real humans. and since SO3 is a fictional story, that means there's no limit to how "real" the characters are in their own world.

I mean they literally crossed the boundaries from VIRTUAL space to REALITY/4D space. and they still have their own willpower. So they are just as real as anyone else.

but ya, I kinda liked Star Ocean 2 more although I found the endings pretty shallow, I think they focused too much on offering like 70 different epilogue endings that were simple instead of making them deeper and more detailed.

[RavenTW]

On 2007-12-28 03:33, Masou wrote:
video games dont have plots. they're all plotless D:
ok ok thats not true entirely, however i think that the plots of new and upcoming games are starting to..falter, to say the least. I think around the time the ps2 came out was probably the prime of video game storylines.
Occasionally we still see an amazing game come out with an amazing story line, but that doesnt mean give it 96879465468321 sequels!



Go play Bioshock. You'll cry with happiness.

Yeah, the plot twist in Bioshock shook me, and I don't shake easily. The authors wrote it into the story so well, you could never see it coming until it was there.

I also liked the plot twist in Armored Core 3: Silent Line. Sure, it's the same as System Shock 2, but I played AC3 first, so it was cool to me. It also had my favorite boss battle in the entire AC series (IBIS was just so awesome-looking)

Mass Effect also pays well in terms of storyline. It's a little predictable (every quest has a twist and you can expect where it's going. There were only about two missions that were as simple as people said they were gonna be), but it's still a good game, and has a pretty-sweet looking antagonist that you wanna feel sorry for near the end. (I made him shoot himself http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif )

[CrimsomWolf]

Knights of the Old Republic I [spoiler-box]I've never even thought that my heroine could've been Darth Revan, and that Malak was her ex-apprentice, and that just year ago she nearly destroyed the Republic.[/spoiler-box]

Then is Mass Effect [spoiler-box]I think it's one of first games in which one of antagonists commit suicide (if we're charismatic/intimidating enought). Sort of reminds me of Code Geass. And of course The Squid-ship-with-napoleonic-complex aka Sovereign. The guy is totally insane... if it's a guy, sence it's essentially self-awere space ship that controls minds of it's crew.[/spoiler-box]

Both have well-developed plots and can rival Hollywood productions (even if Mass Effect is short.)

[mariwan]

Final Fantasy I

[darkante]

Final Fantasy VIII.

Time compression thing really confused me, but it made sense after a while.
The rivalry between Squall and Seifer.
The battles between the Guardians.
The music were very thoughful.

Really awesome experience.

FF VIII remains my favorite cause of it´s unique junction system.
And for all, the game is probably the easiest Final Fantasy part if you knew what the hell you were doing lol.

If you like ordinary rpg, you gotta try it out! http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

Advice: If you decide to powerlevel.. the enemy levels with you so take that into consideration. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: darkante on 2008-01-04 07:57 ]</font>


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: darkante on 2008-01-04 08:00 ]</font>

[Sinue_v2]

Star Ocean 3? Good? Sorry, but I can't see it. It was average for your typical JPRG, and it threw me for a disappointing loop when it took the underlying theme of the game and turned it into a pivotal plot twist at the last second without any real explanation as to how it works or why. Yes, it drops subtle hints throughout the game that you should be reading up on Descartes before finishing - but I still get hung up on the idea that... They took "I think, therefor I am" a bit too litterally. So the AI characters were conscious beings, and as self-aware consciousnesses, they could not be deleted and destroyed. Further, the idea that reality is the illusion and your perception is it's own reality. So they're world could not truly be destroyed. But this only comes from Fayt's mind, and Fayt's consciousness. What about Cliff's or Sophia's? Or everyone else? Is everyone in the GameWorld just a manifestation of Fayt's consciousness - or did everyone at the moment of deletion create their own version of the world with their consciousness. Is the world a collection and hobbletogether of multiple consciousnesses? And if the world was saved by the act of their conciousnesses surviving, would that make them gods? The story of SO3 doesn't explain this very well and it's just all left hanging, leaving the player scratching their head in a WTF moment. And then there's people like me who appreciate Descartes as a brilliant mathematician, but a complete loony toon elsewise. Rather than doing it properly and using Descartes philosophy as a springboard into their own storyline, they basically took the story a 90 digree twist straight down and hinged the entire thing on his (poorly/non-existantly presented or explained in the context to how it affects the story) philosophy.