The "smartest" game you ever played

[rocketpig]

Words Of Wisdom said:

rocketpig said:

I'm not talking about puzzle games so don't include them. I'm wondering what games had stories you felt were intelligent and seemed clever in some way to you; games that didn't pander to the lowest common demoninator or convolute the story with immature jibberish hidden behind big words or "adult situations". I've been thinking about this for awhile and was shocked at just how few titles I actually came up with when I was done.

1. Fallout 2
2. Psychonauts
3. Grim Fandango, though I really need to replay this game to see how it holds up after nearly a decade.
Honorable mention: Half-Life, because Valve kicks so much ass.

So, what are your choices?

If you're looking for what I think you are, why is Fallout 2 on the list? It had some nice writing in places, but the actual overaching story was pretty bland.

I can't think of any game that has really struck me as "smart" or that has had a really intelligent story. Honestly, I prefer games that toss out all that BS. Skies of Arcadia made me happy because the story was simple, effective, moved the game quickly, and came almost baggage/emo free (almost impossible to find a JRPG like that).

Pretty much anything by Bioware outside of Neverwinter Nights could probably get an honorable mention but all had their flaws. I liked Baldur's Gate 2 simply because the main villain was interesting as a character... up until they explained his motivation that is. Jade Empire was good overall, but everything felt half done. Concepts felt half-finished everywhere. It was like they had all these great ideas and started putting them into place then decided to just not flesh them out.

I've passed the point where garbage seems amazing (FF7) and I'm now to the point where I really have no high expectations from video game stories. If they can stay interesting and not bore me, that's more than I expect from the get-go.

I'm not basing it on story-only. Looking at my OP, I didn't properly clarify that. I think Fallout was smart, not because of the writing, but because of some of the characters and the complete freedom allowed by the game. Wanna be a hooker? Go for it. Watch out for those STDs, though. Wanna kill little kids? Go for it, but beware the death squads.

It wasn't the story that sold me on Fallout 2, it was everything else. But, you already know that, being a Fallout fan and all.

BTW, I agree about Bioware. They always seem to do just enough to make the story interesting while not going overboard and making it confusing for confusion's sake. But, like you said, they never seem to go that extra mile to push the game over the top.