What game had the best story of all time?

[Kenryoku_Maxis]

RageBot said:

Kenryoku_Maxis said:

I don't think I've found a game out there that has even come close to any of the books, movies or TV series I have seen in solid plot and character development. Simply because games either focus too much on chunks of plot that lose their way (such as Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid games) or lose focus of the story as they have to focus on the gameplay, eventhough they still have good characters and powerful moments at times (such as Zelda games or Dragon Quest games).

Suffice to say, the games that I remember the most for their storyline are Suikoden I-III. Which can't be chosen individually, as all three games are an ongoing trilogy with interconnected characters and plot points. It did what I feel makes a story good in a game, which is focus on the characters and drive the plot by putting you in the role of interacting with each scene and event directly. You truly were the 'hero', as everything you did influenced the course of the games storyline, who joined your party, who lived and died and even how the games ended.

If you liked Suikoden I-III, you really should try Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy Tactics, they are very similar in many aspects.

(If you play FFT you should play the PSP version, even though there are slowdowns, that's because the original translation was bad)

I've played FFtactics, but suffice to say, it didn't do what I was describing with Suikoden.  In all fairness, it was more like a game where you were a hero being forced to accept what the world was throwing at you and 'make do' with battle after battle all in an effort to survive.  And somewhere down the line, there's some plot about finding your friend and an evil church.  There's just little reason given to why you're the hero and more about people attacking you because they hate you or who you are associated with. 

Whereas the overwhelming plot of Suikoden was about the hero overcoming adversity, commanding an army because his ability to bring people together, trying to save people from being killed and through all that, stopping the worldwide conflict.

In short...I can't really think of two games with more opposite plots.