which game has to have your fav story of all time?

[Richter Belmount]

I think it has to be metal gear 2 and mgs 3 for me
snatcher
ff6 for me
terranigma as well

[Jumpman Jr.]

Ocarina of Time is an amazing story line to me. I always think what a great movie it would make.
Just think about the crowds reaction when Sheik pulls off her mask...
100% Gold Drama.

[diskoboy]

Tie: Half-Life 1 and 2.

[hezeuschrist]

FFIV. Fantastic, if not common.

Aside from that, God of War gets a serious vote from me too. It's so entertaining to play action games that really give you a purpose thats more than "KILL THE BAD GUY."

I also have a feeling that once I get my hands on Killer7 I'm going to nominate that too.

[Ronfar]

The Koudelka/Shadow Hearts series and the Lunar series. Also the story from FFVI.

[Haoie]

Best love story goes to, hmm, probably Lunar: Eternal Blue. Alex just was a little too transparent to be very likeable.

Best overall sort of story goes to Terranigma. I love the whole creation story, resurrecting lifeforms, helping mankind shape history. Cool stuff.

Best story twist goes goes to Metal Gear Solid 1. Well I wouldn't want to spoil it, but the twists had me reeling.

[tholly]

Ocarina Of Time .... I don't think I have ever better a game more than twice besides that game .... even after already having beaten it, the story was still amazing .... it was just simply an amazing game with an amazing story ....

[njiska]

This is a tought one, i'm torn between the entire Metal Gear series (MG, MG2:SS, MGS, MGS2, MGS3 - NOT SNAKE'S REVENGE!!), D2 and The Getaway series.

All 3 feature different unique stories and it's really hard for me to pick a favorite. That being said i'm gonna say the MG series is the best since they're the best games out of my top three choices.

[Yago]

I am going to go with Half-Life. This was one of the first 1rst person shooters I actually started and finished in single player mode. I usually just play these types of games on-line.

[slownerveaction]

I'm not a big fan of game storylines, but I have to give a tip of the hat to Snatcher.

Some other games, like OoT, are great too, because they're so simple, yet so effective. I love relatively uncomplex stories in games that give you just enough motivation to enhance the gameplay, rather than hinder it. 99% of the time, the ZOMG! twist doesn't do much for me.

[UnInformer]

Final Fantasy VI and VII
Metal Gear Solid
Deus Ex: The Conspiracy
Deus Ex: Invisible War

[MegaManFan]

Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross both have a great story, along with some of the most beautiful music ever commited to a video game. I can't deny the greatness of Final Fantasy VII either - every time you thought you had it figured out you went down the rabbit hole even further. My wife's personal favorites would be Final Fantasy IX (we actually bought a new PlayStation to finish it when the old died - that's how much she wanted to see the end) and Final Fantasy X.

[Lothars]

Well for me it has to be

Final Fantasy IV and especially Final Fantasy VI

as well MGS 1,2 and 3 gotta love the ending of 3

also love the story in Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross

Otherwise well some parts of FFX was great

[McBacon]

For me, its gotta be Shenmue 1 and 2, the game is just superb.

[mieu_c]

Phantasy Star III

I loved this game .. it made me cry! :embarrassed:

[AlexKidd]

Kind of obvious ones but i'd go with Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 3(u.s.). Thinking about it, a lot of my favorite games have either no story or a pretty bad one(Castlevania,Bonk,Contra,Metal Slug,pretty much any shooter) I suppose storyline pretty much only matters in an rpg.

[robotriot]

I'd say The Dig and Outcast, both PC games. I really would like to see movies based on those ^^

[Push Upstairs]

"American McGee's Alice"

A delightfully creepy, demented, sublime, and petulant journey through wonderland.

Too bad the ending didnt live up to the game that preceded it.

[classicb]

Beyond Good and Evil

I really liked that game I just wish they would make the rest of the trilogy.

[SMB]

I have to go with Half-Life 1,2 and the expansion packs, great story with memorable characters.

Second place has to go with Ocarina of Time, I was really sad to beat the game because I knew I would never experience anything like it (at least untill a true sequel is released)

Third place goes to Shenmue, I know some people like to dump on this game for it's many flaws but deep down it has an amazing story.

[emumuumuucowgomoo]

Without a doubt in my mind:

ZOMBIE NATION.


1999. What appeared to be a harmless meterorite crashing in the Nevada desert had turned out to be Darc Seed, an evil alien creature with horrible powers. By shooting strange magnetic rays, Darc Seed had turned the helpless nation into zombies and had brought the Statue of Liberty to life to do his dirty work. These rays had also given him control over many deadly weapons, but none were more powerful than the legendary samurai sword, Shura. When the great head of the samurai, Namakubi, heard that the sword had fallen into evil hands, he set off immediately for the United States. For only he possessed the strength and knowledge needed to recapture the magical sword and free the U.S. from the evil clutches of Darc Seed.

For those of you who haven't played this game (and I pity you) - that's, literally the "head" of the aforementioned samurai, Namakubi.

In a videogame world slowly becoming consumed with pompous pretention, leave it to the folks at Meldac of America to grab a Japanese shMUP, tweak it to insane killer difficulty, do their best at translating the insane Japanese story to make it more kickass-killer, and releasing the thing to an audience of tens! (seriously, this is one of the trickier games to find - and I'm sure had Seanbaby not featured it in one of his rants, it'd be virtually unknown on the level of Gun*Nac or Kabuki Quantum Fighter. Speaking of which...


KABUKI: QUANTUM FIGHTER:


The year - 2056

Someone, or something, has broken into the main defense computer and is blocking access to the backup system. Of course, if the program controlling our nuclear weapons systems is altered, our planet could be reduced to a pile of cinders in seconds.

Conflict is unavoidable.


The new image transfer system, just now being developed, looks like it will be our last hope. The image transfer system - an amazing process that allows a human mind to be converted to raw binary data, making it possible to travel easily inside computer circuits. But the conversion system is completely untested. If a human mind is changed into raw data, what form will it take when it's reassembled inside the computer? What changes to the psyche could the procedure cause?

No one knows.

NAME:
SCOTT O'CONNER

AGE:
25

SEX:
MALE

The man chosen for this dangerous mission - colonel Scott O'Connor. Well trained in body and spirit, and knowledgable in computer hardware and software. He is the perfect choice.

Now, stretching himself out on the image transfer machine, he is preparing for a trip to save his country...

His civilization...

His people...


That story has it all. Irishmen! The end of civilization! Ultimate evil! Dramatic tension! Computer hacking! Psychological insight into the human condition, the heart of the soul itself! And Kabuki! Basically all the crap of Final Fantasy, meets all of the drama of Ninja Gaiden or Shenmue, with a good dose of originality - or surreal random humor - thrown in to make it palatable to those of us who just aren't moved by a world in decay, lives in crisis, a hero scorned, an elderly male relative kilt by a bad guy, a princess banished. Instead we get some mad killer Irish version of Cloud - and this was way before Cloud was even around to whack things with that giant sword, no matter whether you judge it by the real world or the videogame world - who evidently has a great grandfather or grand uncle who was Kabuki, and so therefore it makes him Kabuki when he gets, uh, image transferred. Oh, and he headbangs enemies to death. This is another game that is fiendishly difficult, so I don't know how it ends, but I'm still to this day biting my nails wondering.


And finally, last but not least...


JOURNEY TO SILUS:


[CITYSCAPE.]

[NUCLEAR EXPLOSION.]

After many years of space colony development, Jay's father has passed away.

The evening news reported that Jay's father's death was an accident.

Several days later Jay finds a floppy disk left in his father's room.

"I hear the terrorist are planning against the colony development. You must complete my mission if I cannot."

"THEY WILL PAY THE PRICE FOR THE DEATH OF MY FATHER."


So what do we have here?

Well, first off, the third screen in the game (including title screen) is of a nuclear explosion, thus sparing us from having to finish Kabuki: Quantum Fighter to find out. Also, it's pretty bitching to cut straight to the chase - I paid $4.99 to see some explosions, I don't want to suffer through twenty hours of exposition before the world's destroyed (like I did in Final Fantasy 2), or forty hours of exposition before the world's destroyed (like I did in Final Fantasy 3), or one hundred and twenty seven mind numbing stages before the world's destroyed a piece at a time (like in Rampage). Heck, I don't even want to solve any puzzles in order to see my nuclear explosion, like in Maniac Mansion. Bill Gates didn't give us 640k of RAM so I could look at pretty pictures of grass and clouds, or sprites dancing around and seducing my character to sleep. And damned if I'm going to SAVE it. In case you haven't noticed, games where you have to save the world on your NES are typically baldingly difficult. I'd rather watch it be destroyed and go fight on some "Space Colony", kickin' it to music that sounds like it was ripped straight out of Megaman.

Secondly, the screen after that features an actual cross. I KID YOU NOT A CROSS, A CROSS, A STICK AND THEN ANOTHER STICK INTERSECTING IT AT A NINETY DEGREE ANGLE!!! THUS FORMING ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY DEGREES OF SOLID JESUS!!! Before playing this game, let me tell you, I was a heathen child. I remember hanging out at the local Church with a mouthful of blood, just so when a member of the congregation stopped to fawn over me like I had the mumps or something, I could slap my cheeks and laugh. Satan was my co-pilot. The Christian babies I'd eat, the heathen Godless communist-liberal Democrats I'd vote for. Then I saw this cross, my soul was saved, and I'm off to plead for a Pat Buchanan / Robert Dornan presidential campaign, and to fight the heretics teaching that puesdo-scientific "Evolution" nonsense in Kansas, aka God's Heartland.

Finally, the aforementioned "floppy disk" is clearly a FDS disk, which is totally BOSS. I mean, wouldn't it be awesome, digging through a bin of games at a thrift store and pulling out some handwritten prototype - and instead of being some worthless Capcom piece of shit or, you know, something trivial like Earthbound, it turns out to be encoded with a poorly parsed survivalist message for the new millenium? Think, just think - had we been doing our jobs as busy-body game scourgers, one of us might have latched onto a piece of proprietary software that informed us of exactly what to do in case the terrorists attack the World Trade Center! (hint: Remaining at your job when the building next door explodes is NOT the correct answer, I don't care how important your place in the grand Capitalist New World Financial Order money making / laundering scheme is)

Oh, and finally - Cityscape. Cityscape flashes red and blue. Nuclear explosion. "Jay's father was killed by a megaton nuke exploding on his head passed away (peacefully, in his sleep, of old age). The news media called it an accident".

Nintendo rules.




Anyway. Honorable mentions include Ninja Gaiden - the first console game that kept the story going, and gave us all the basic puzzle pieces of a James Bond movie - Zombies Ate My Neighbors (the story is in the title! GENIUS!), Deja Vu (you're in a men's room. You don't know who you are or how you got there. I can finally pinch a loaf at Border's in peace, knowing that there is a team of top notch game designers who know my pain, and have shown me a way out of it) and Twisted Metal: Black, which is told in a majorly artistic way and isn't overladen and boring.


And actually, to be fair, when I first played Final Fantasy 2 (or IV if you're going to be fruity about it), the epic sweep of the story moved a tear to my senimental eye. Of course, I was like twelve at the time, and twelve year olds are prone to taking strange critical opinions.

I also vaguely remember the story of Secret of Mana, and I vaguely remember that either the story was moving, or the music was moving. One or the other, possibly both, did not fully suck.

[WanganRunner]

I can't believe no one mentioned this yet....


XENOGEARS.

By far my favorite game storyline of all time, I can't think of anything else that is even remotely on the same level. Everything else just seems simplisitic and poorly thought-out in comparison.

[Speedy_NES]

Chrono Trigger - would be a nice storyline for a movie ;)

-Speedy

[Snapple]

Final Fantasy 7.

Anyone who says they saw any of the plot twists coming is lying off their ass. It's just brilliantly written.

[DoubleJJ]

Metal Gear Solid. The first one was definetly better written, and had a great story. Classic.

[poloplayr]

Tetris.

[sabre2922]

Lunar

Phantasy Star 2

Silent Hill series

MGS1

Zelda series

Chrono Cross

Resident Evil series (yeah its cheesy but I luv it anyway)

Shenmue :( for the final installment that well never see or will we?

[shoes23]

I was always a huge fan of Maniac Mansion. It has one of those completly humorous and over-the-top type stories. Classic in my mind.

[Lemmy Kilmister]

I thought the story in Metal Gear Solid 3 was fantastic. The relationship between Big Boss and The Boss was extremely well done and probably one of the best character interaction in a game ever. Other then that I love the story to most of the classic RPGs like Final Fantasy 6/3, the Lunar Series, Phantasy Star 4, ect.

[suppafly]

Shenmue (My fav game ever)
Snatcher (a true masterpiece too)

[tholly]

Tetris.


i think pong may have beaten that one......slightly

[The Plucky Little Ninja]

I'll throw in another two votes for Metal Gear Solid 1, and Lunar: The Silver Star.

Most recently though I'd have to say Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath. I just loved the story behind that thing. The passing of oddworld is just a tragedy.

Oh yeah, and maybe one vote for Bad Dudes.

"Are you a BAD ENOUGH DUDE to save the President?"

[emumuumuucowgomoo]

Tetris.


i think pong may have beaten that one......slightly

Depends. Tengen Tetris had a bitching story! "There are blocks and you need to conserve for Mother Russia! Also if you conserve long enough there are dancers!"

Then Nintendo got it and fucked it up like they always do. "There are blocks and you need to conserve for the princess! Defeat the holes and make a Tetris! Also, everything about this game is fruity!". I'm surprised they kept the T block in - at least they added squares so it doesn't look TOO cross-like.


Also, has anyone played the BPS prototype version of this for Nintendo? A friend of mine told me that's the version where if you get two Tetrises on the Chocolate Factory level, Aeris comes back from the dead and joins your party! He's also the same guy who told me about the naked hooker code in Tony Hawk Pro Skater, so I don't know whether to trust him or not.

[retroman]

not sure if its the best ....but KOTOR 1 was awsome

[rayearthknight]

Snatcher--where's the movie? They seem to be remaking every other form of Japanese cinema...why not this?
Panzer Dragoon Saga--It's like Miyazaki's films with a darker edge.
Burning Rangers--well, the screenplay notes I written based on it is pretty good, iidssm.

[Crush Crawfish]

In terms of compelling, well-written, and overall excellent storyline, my vote goes to Chrono Trigger. It was just an amazing tale, complete with memorable characters and a plot twist that left me in complete and total shock.

However, I find that my favorite stories are the ones that make absolutely no sense, causing you to question the developer's sanity. Examples include:

Ganbare Goemon 2- Crazy general magginesu wants to westernize Japan with his army of Bunny-men! OH NOES!

Monster Party- A gargoyle named Bert convinces a kid to come to his planet and fight giant kittens and onion rings. A work of unparalelled genius, it is.

M.C. Kids- Hamburgler has stolen Ronald's magic bag. Romeo & Juliet ain't got nothing on this tragedy.

[Sothy]

Bubble Bath Babes - NES

[DigitalSpace]

Chrono Trigger, with Final Fantasy III and GTA: Vice City behind it for the top three.

[vintagegamecrazy]

The Breath of Fire series,
Zelda OOT
Star Ocean 2nd story
Soul Blazer
Paladdin's Quest
The Metroid series.

[tylerwillis]

FFX is the only game that has ever brought a tear to my eye.


Beyond that: FFVI and Lunar: SSC.

[Poofta!]

Arcanum (PC rpg),

and of course FF7, but thats no surprise.

[Jumpman Jr.]

I think I may also have to say Windwaker for the Gamecube. The thing is, I'm currently half way through it (I think) so I'm not entirely sure how well the story will be.
However, up to now, the story is very well done. Especially if you've played Zelda games before (more specifically - Ocarina of Time).
Ah well, we'll see how it plays out.

[Scissorman]

Lets see. For me my favorite stories would have to be...

Snatcher
Final Fantasy 6(3)
Lunar:Silver Star Story
Warhammer 40,000:Dawn of War
Star Wars Jedi Knight 2:Jedi Outcast
Silent Hill
Super Metroid

There's probably more, but I don't want to drag on too much.
:D

[Sotenga]

It's gotta be Gradius. The evil Bacterions are invading and the Vic Viper has to destroy them all. That's all there is; short, sweet, and to the point. :D

[shoes23]

Just got done playing Blood Will Tell for the PS2, and it has a great story for a hack and slash style game.

Hyakkimaru's father made a deal with the 48 demons of the underworld so that he could bring peace to the land, however, his first born son's body parts would each by taken by a fiend. For the rest of the game you run around killing demons and regaining body parts to either increase your stats or gain a new ability. The voice acting is top-notch too which really allows you to become engrossed in the storyline.

[sabre2922]

Ive been looking for Blood Will Tell and cant seem to find it anywhere.

[VG_Maniac]

Some of my favorite storylines:

Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VII
Chrono Trigger
Ocarina of Time
Super Metroid
Metal Gear Solid