question of the day: if I asked the Fediverse to help me name this game, would I regret it
🤔
Let's try this instead.
What are the names of your favorite story-driven games? Preferably science fantasy or fantasy in genre.
(Boosts appreciated, I want to collect as many titles as possible for analysis.)
-FALLEN LONDON and its sibling games, Sunless Sea and now Sunless Skies - really brilliant and unique storybuilding
-The Secret World/Secret World Legends, because i can go into absolute rhapsodies about the writing in those games all day long (shame about what Funcom is going to the actual game)
-Warframe as a lot of grinding but i think it solidly falls into the science fantasy category tbh, and again i think it's rather unique
@wigglytuffitout Oh, huh! I didn't know Warframe had a story.
@InspectorCaracal (emerald city confidential isn't actually wadjet eye, but i actually found it on fucking big fish games lmao. story-driven puzzle games are also HUGE there, and have an ecosystem entirely their own! largely it's games for women, written by women, featuring women... you just have to do a find-the-item puzzle to get you to every next story beat. i haven't delved into it myself properly, but it's worth knowing about.)
@InspectorCaracal TO DELVE THRU THE STEAM LIBRARY MORE AND SPAM YOU TAE FOOK...
i'd honestly consider the fallout series science-fantasy - fallout new vegas especially. i consider the Old-World Blues dlc some of the best writing in video games period, and i think its very hammy-old-sci-fi-movie tone would go well with your groove.
Hatoful Boyfriend is another oddball entry. i'm sure there are LOTS of other visual novels to be counted here, that's about as pure story-driven as a game gets lol
@InspectorCaracal
The Last Express, as long as i'm putting point-and-clicks on your plate
Life is Strange should perhaps be on here somewhere, i think it's interesting to consider with its story-as-the-mechanic kinda widget. i'd also maybe consider Until Dawn but that is VERY hammy and going for a specific slasher movie feel, so it depends on your tolerance for that sort of horror. (fun to watch youtubers play though lmao)
speaking of shit that's fun to watch others play... FNAF series.
@InspectorCaracal the FNAF series definitely has a story but one that is pretty hidden and comes in layers, and is the fodder for many a hysterical youtuber trying to piece it all together. but if you want an example of how a game can leave just enough breadcrumbs to get fans absolutely obsessed with hunting down more, FNAF is as good an example as any fuckin ARG at this point. (and speaking of ARGs... https://mic.com/articles/180278/the-secret-world-arg-lovecraftian-mmo-gets-an-alternate-reality-game-crafted-by-black-watchmen#.YXiYS90aP may as well put Black Watchmen and Kiss of the Revenant in here too)
@InspectorCaracal OK WE HIT THE S-ES THIS CAN ONLY CONTINUE FOR SO LONG
psychonauts is worth a mention! deffo a bit science-fantasy i think
remember me - is remembered as being a bit of a cheezy flop, but it's an interesting concept in playing with narrative-manipulation-as-gameplay-element
shadowrun returns, especially shadowrun: dragonfall! I LOVE DRAGONFALL.
star wars: knights of the old republic - honest to god probably my favourite game, absolutely in top 3.
@wigglytuffitout i gotta reassure you that i'm absolutely loving this whole thread
@InspectorCaracal Syberia and Syberia 2 to represent another line of point and clicks - i think they're a bit more influenced by Myst than say the LucasArts ones. (but also fuck Myst it's boring and pretentious)
Undertale - because, y'know, obligatory, if someone hasn't played Undertale at this point idk what they're doing with their life
Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines
and to represent modern point n clicks, The Walking Dead/The Wolf Among Us from Telltale
@InspectorCaracal to shake my brain a bit and try to remember things i've forgotten from non-PC gaming -
the Ace Attorney series of course
Ghost Trick is also phenomenal!
THE YAKUZA SERIES. i've not played myself yet but i've watched friends stream it and holy shit. pick up Yakuza 0, you won't be disappointed. they are also MASTERS of managing tone between serious and silly so both are improved by it instead of either feeling out of place. REALLY GOOD WRITING.
@InspectorCaracal Witcher 3 is also in the "not played myself, seen it streamed though and it was quite enjoyable" bit. solidly written.
i think that games without much narrative of their own, but then explicitly invite players to make narrative as they play, are also worth a nod and consideration - The Sims, Creatures series, etc. the players writing about their chronicles playing these games is interesting to me, but off base from what you're actually trying to do, i'm sure.
@InspectorCaracal Oxenfree is one i haven't gotten around to playing yet that might be cool to consider.
i also think that FFXIV has some of the best story of any MMORPG, and a much larger story focus than most other MMORPGs. but, uh, idk if you have 80 hours to devote to it LMAO
Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy can be mentioned largely as a "here's how you can try to make a narrative-driven game and then crawl up your own ass so hard that it ends up a soggy pile of wank, DAVID CAGE."
@wigglytuffitout ahahahahaha I saw the Best Friends LP of Indigo Prophecy and yyyeahhhhh
@InspectorCaracal Winter Voices is an oddball french game that is... very french? i don't mean that as an insult, but it's Very French. a unique direction of storytelling in games though. i think it has a demo still (or you can just buy the first episode to see if you like it iirc).
as a bioware thot i would be remiss in mentioning the Mass Effect series, because steam tells me i have put in 262 hours on Mass Effect 2 so far. 😅
@InspectorCaracal and finally, mentioned for total ludicrous parody, Saint's Row 3/4. 2 was still trying to conform to being a parody of a genre. i think in SR3 they fully embraced the silliness a bit more to make it moreso into its own thing.
i... think... that might be all i can think to mention at the moment.... for now LMAO
@InspectorCaracal ok, here's a few that i haven't played myself/played all the way thru yet -
Lone Survivor
The Longest Journey
Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna) - i suck at platformers but this is really cool as it was explicitly developed with a tribal council to accurately tell an inupiaq tale, and also you unlock little mini-documentaries as you go along to tell you about inupiaq life. REALLY cool.
Journey - because sometimes storytelling can be entirely wordless (!)