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FAVORITE RPG STORY AND WHY?
Posts
Shinan
4314
Shinan
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Closeauthor=Darken
im discarding planescape torment because it didn't have good characters
Maybe it's just my bad memory that is in the way but I seem to recall that the Planescape characters were some of the best I had ever experienced (up until that time). Especially Morte is one of my all-time favourite RPG characters.
Alternatively it might just be that they all were very unique and so made for a lovely motley crew that all looked different too (unlike in Baldur's Gate where every single character looked the same except for a palette swap).
I can't comment on the plot of Planescape though because I can't remember it. I guess I really, really, really should replay that game :)
Not sure if it counts, but Omikron: the Nomads Soul is among my absolute favourite games.
You can play the whole game as the cop from the start while getting sucked into this demon story, or get run over by a car in traffic, just walking around, and suddenly you're playing as someone else
It was such a nihilist, gritty game, I loved the shite out of it.
PoPoLoCrois was kind of a dumb story, but it took backseat to graphics and gameplay. Hard to peg it here, but the game was SIMPLE, so the story fit properly. Plus it was a lot of fun and the characters were all cute. I'd list FF9 like the rest of you, but PoPoLoCrois was more adorable.
I want to say other RPGs outside of FF, but I haven't played many. It's my least favourite genre.
Final Fantasy VIII has, in retrospect, one of the worst stories and characters ever. Although, when it came out, it really hit home. I was 18 or so, in the Artillery Reserves, a lonewolf, accept for my small pack of friends, and in love with a girl who was a free spirit and opinionated. FF8 was perfect for me then, and I loved every second of it. Now, I can't stand it.
You can play the whole game as the cop from the start while getting sucked into this demon story, or get run over by a car in traffic, just walking around, and suddenly you're playing as someone else
It was such a nihilist, gritty game, I loved the shite out of it.
PoPoLoCrois was kind of a dumb story, but it took backseat to graphics and gameplay. Hard to peg it here, but the game was SIMPLE, so the story fit properly. Plus it was a lot of fun and the characters were all cute. I'd list FF9 like the rest of you, but PoPoLoCrois was more adorable.
I want to say other RPGs outside of FF, but I haven't played many. It's my least favourite genre.
Final Fantasy VIII has, in retrospect, one of the worst stories and characters ever. Although, when it came out, it really hit home. I was 18 or so, in the Artillery Reserves, a lonewolf, accept for my small pack of friends, and in love with a girl who was a free spirit and opinionated. FF8 was perfect for me then, and I loved every second of it. Now, I can't stand it.
author=DarkenFair enough. The OP said that character personality/development/interactions can be included, which I thought was the crux of storytelling in a game medium.
you just talked about how a game's story should be consumed along with the game... HMMM where have we had this talk before (because i find this slightly ironic coming from you). idk i just assumed from this topic that if the RPG in question had its game elements stripped away which one had good writing? (that is what the original post said...). like i myself believe that games shouldn't be cut up into segments and analyzed individually but eh, i thought it was interesting to think about in terms of how well RPG stories hold up.
im discarding planescape torment because it didn't have good characters or a strong enough plot. people just rag on it because it had a lot of lore like ..everywhere... its probably one of the better written games out there anyway, but it's not saying much. that said it's still like a GOOD game.
edit: like i cant really say for sure if interactions are fully to blame for average story telling in games. its def pretty fucking hard to write a story knowing there are 200 meaningless conflicts in an ice cavern. then again i cant say people tried either.
EDIT: I can't recall where we had this talk before :|
author=prexus
I like that people are finally willing to admit that the amazing-ness of a game might just be a result of nostalgic attachment.
That being said, two particular RPG Stories that I instantly think of as being of superior quality are Final Fantasy 6 and Chrono Trigger.
Sorry, I laughed out loud!
I'm thinking Xenogears, just for its depth, supernatural elements, and characters.
Probably Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars. Seems like a bog standard rebellion plot at first glance, but multi-dimensional characters, engrossing pseudo-political intrigue (great example of Gambit Pileup done right) and the best dialogue I've ever read in any video game make it my favourite RPG in terms of story (and a whole lot of other things, but let's not get into those).
Wow, third page and no mention of Suikoden yet? How disappointing. =/
The plots in the Suikoden series (at least those of the main titles) were pretty much straight down to earth, full of authentic characters and believable situations... My favorite one of the bunch is Suikoden 3. In the first half of the game you're introduced to three different groups of people, all offering a different and often opposite perspective to the same conflict. But as the game progresses, these people have to put their differences aside and join forces to face a bigger threat.
People often complain that sometimes you have to play trough the same scenario from a different perspective a couple of times. Even some of the duels and strategic battles are the same (although designed differently). But the undeniable truth is that all of this translates to character development, and towards story depth in general... If there is something that the (old) Suikoden games didn't skimp about despite their technical and budget limitations, that something was depth.
Another common complaint is that Suikoden 3's "villain" doesn't feel much like a villain at all; which is great, really, since he's not a villain. Suikoden 3's main antagonist point of view is not but another perspective you can play the game through, after beating it once with all of the 108 stars of destiny. And thus, bringing the story to completeness.
All in all, it is my earnest belief that the story of Suikoden 3 could very well translate to a movie, or even a trilogy of movies, not unlike the 'Lord of the rings'. And perhaps a much better one at that... I mean, Midgets saving the world? Really? hjk
The plots in the Suikoden series (at least those of the main titles) were pretty much straight down to earth, full of authentic characters and believable situations... My favorite one of the bunch is Suikoden 3. In the first half of the game you're introduced to three different groups of people, all offering a different and often opposite perspective to the same conflict. But as the game progresses, these people have to put their differences aside and join forces to face a bigger threat.
People often complain that sometimes you have to play trough the same scenario from a different perspective a couple of times. Even some of the duels and strategic battles are the same (although designed differently). But the undeniable truth is that all of this translates to character development, and towards story depth in general... If there is something that the (old) Suikoden games didn't skimp about despite their technical and budget limitations, that something was depth.
Another common complaint is that Suikoden 3's "villain" doesn't feel much like a villain at all; which is great, really, since he's not a villain. Suikoden 3's main antagonist point of view is not but another perspective you can play the game through, after beating it once with all of the 108 stars of destiny. And thus, bringing the story to completeness.
All in all, it is my earnest belief that the story of Suikoden 3 could very well translate to a movie, or even a trilogy of movies, not unlike the 'Lord of the rings'. And perhaps a much better one at that... I mean, Midgets saving the world? Really? hjk
yamata no orochi
184
Let's see...Planescape Torment might have the best writing, Dragon Quest V the best execution, and Mother 3 is maybe the best of a synthesis of the two that we're going to get. I haven't played much of Suikoden II or of Xenogears, but the former appears to go to some pretty interesting and intense places, while the latter has an incredibly detailed and interesting world. Chrono Trigger's probably the best melding I've seen of Final Fantasy bombast and Dragon Quest intimacy, in terms of story. Personas 3 and 4 are designed in a way where the story and the gameplay are completely entwined (especially 3) so maybe they deserve a mention?
On the other hand, Nier is just really special and made me sad for two days after finished it. I didn't even play the game--I read the Let's Play! And it still broke my heart! It's a pity that Cavia's not around anymore, although considering what kind of a story Nier is, having it be the one-off work of genius that failed commercially and eventually disbanded its home company is probably very fitting. Not taking into account that people are still releasing (awesome) soundtrack CDs for it over in Japan, so I dunno.
The lesson of this post is, go read the Let's Play of Nier (or play the game!) so that we can all be sad together.
On the other hand, Nier is just really special and made me sad for two days after finished it. I didn't even play the game--I read the Let's Play! And it still broke my heart! It's a pity that Cavia's not around anymore, although considering what kind of a story Nier is, having it be the one-off work of genius that failed commercially and eventually disbanded its home company is probably very fitting. Not taking into account that people are still releasing (awesome) soundtrack CDs for it over in Japan, so I dunno.
The lesson of this post is, go read the Let's Play of Nier (or play the game!) so that we can all be sad together.
The lesson of this post is, go read the Let's Play of Nier (or play the game!) so that we can all be sad together.
*hands a tissue*
I played Nier a while ago, and except the C & D ending, which were pretty sad and I hope not canon, I think the real depressing thing is that humanity was implied to extinguish soon since Popola and Devola died? (Unless I'm remembering it wrong.)
Ahah people bound to die because the villians are killed, that's fantastic and controversial and fantastic again.
Also, the soundtrack was a blast.
You might find this interesting. And long.
https://docs.google.com/View?id=dgvmkf89_228fxgghgg3
Did you know Emil was gay? I never realized.
Yeah, I like Suikoden III's story. Too bad the gameplay was awful - you walk through the same bland 6-7 areas more than ten times each during the 60 hour epic.
The problem with Suikoden 3 was that it was, in fact, a very short story. Basically, 1/3 as long as the length of the game, since you replay the same scenarios from different P.O.V.'s. This isn't a flaw really, it just made playing the story feel unfulfilling at times. "Yeah, yeah, I already seen this. What's next?"
The other problem is that I'll never forgive that awesome opening sequence, making me think McDohl was in the game.
author=Deckiller
Yeah, I like Suikoden III's story. Too bad the gameplay was awful - you walk through the same bland 6-7 areas more than ten times each during the 60 hour epic.
I wouldn't call the gameplay 'awful', that's a pretty strong word. The battle system was pretty tight.
author=calunio
Dhux's Scar, definitely.
Thanks for this, quite a surprise!
I seem to get shot every time I mention this game here, but I'm going to have to pull out Lufia and the Fortress of Doom.
"lol Soli you're dumb Lufia I is like the most generic RPG ever, surely you meant Lufia II?"
Lufia II is also great. They are both among my absolute favorite games of all time. But while Lufia II is an objectively better game by pretty much every standard you could measure a game by, I'll always prefer the story of the original.
Lufia 1 gets a lot of flak for being "generic" or whatever, but for it's time, I'd actually go so far as to call it innovative. It's the first game I can remember that actually took time to develop its characters outside of the context of the main plot. You could walk around town and your PCs would strike up random conversations with townspeople/each other. For the first time in my RPG career, I felt like I was really getting to know these characters as people rather than just a cluster of abstract stats. I could tell you about who these people were, where they were from, their relationship with the people there, and how they each felt about every other member of the party. A rare feat from the early SNES days. The plot eventually uses this against you, as what seems like an incredibly standard save-the-world plot becomes extremely personal in the game's final hours. At least that's how it feels to me.
"lol Soli you're dumb Lufia I is like the most generic RPG ever, surely you meant Lufia II?"
Lufia II is also great. They are both among my absolute favorite games of all time. But while Lufia II is an objectively better game by pretty much every standard you could measure a game by, I'll always prefer the story of the original.
Lufia 1 gets a lot of flak for being "generic" or whatever, but for it's time, I'd actually go so far as to call it innovative. It's the first game I can remember that actually took time to develop its characters outside of the context of the main plot. You could walk around town and your PCs would strike up random conversations with townspeople/each other. For the first time in my RPG career, I felt like I was really getting to know these characters as people rather than just a cluster of abstract stats. I could tell you about who these people were, where they were from, their relationship with the people there, and how they each felt about every other member of the party. A rare feat from the early SNES days. The plot eventually uses this against you, as what seems like an incredibly standard save-the-world plot becomes extremely personal in the game's final hours. At least that's how it feels to me.
author=Solitayre
I could tell you about who these people were, where they were from, their relationship with the people there, and how they each felt about every other member of the party. A rare feat from the early SNES days. The plot eventually uses this against you, as what seems like an incredibly standard save-the-world plot becomes extremely personal in the game's final hours.
Not nearly done enough in RPGs. This is the highest and most time consuming priority in my project.
Even just giving an NPC a name and a face goes a long way.
Suikoden's 108 characters give you 108 backstories, no matter how little or insignificant. Too bad, only one person ever dies in any game, with the possibility of revival.
Puppet_Master
150
JRPG: Mother 3- Even though the identity of the captain is about the least surprising plot twist of all time, the emotional connection to the characters and the balance of screwball humor and tragedy was really excellent.
WRPG: Fallout 1- Ok, so it's not that great of a story, but it did a great job introducing you to the series and had one of the greatest and most bittersweet endings in video game history. It also set up the "Find MacGuffin and then learn about about the real problem" story structure that every Fallout game since followed.
Indy RPG: Barkley, Shut up and Jam Gaiden. It's just such a ludicrous of a concept that (as part of the joke) takes itself so seriously. That and the fact the time it came out was a really fun period at Gaming World shaped my decision.
WRPG: Fallout 1- Ok, so it's not that great of a story, but it did a great job introducing you to the series and had one of the greatest and most bittersweet endings in video game history. It also set up the "Find MacGuffin and then learn about about the real problem" story structure that every Fallout game since followed.
Indy RPG: Barkley, Shut up and Jam Gaiden. It's just such a ludicrous of a concept that (as part of the joke) takes itself so seriously. That and the fact the time it came out was a really fun period at Gaming World shaped my decision.
Stew
0
Final Fantasy VI.
I love how dark the story is and I really enjoy how despite having the largest playable cast in any Final Fantasy game, all of the characters are well-developed and interesting. The storyline is actually pretty simple when you get down to it, but I'd rather have a simple story with interesting characters that something that's labyrinthine and populated by people I couldn't give a damn about (cough FF XIII cough).
I love how dark the story is and I really enjoy how despite having the largest playable cast in any Final Fantasy game, all of the characters are well-developed and interesting. The storyline is actually pretty simple when you get down to it, but I'd rather have a simple story with interesting characters that something that's labyrinthine and populated by people I couldn't give a damn about (cough FF XIII cough).
author=Deckiller
...Too bad the gameplay was awful - you walk through the same bland 6-7 areas more than ten times each during the 60 hour epic.
That hardly encompasses 'gameplay' =P ...Anyway, exploration and sight-seeing are nice, but if Suikoden 3 had conventional 'dungeons' it would have been a real chore going trough them every time. I think the developers decided to keep the areas
author=calunio
Dhux's Scar, definitely. ...It's just too clever and full of the craziest plot twists ever and cosmological stuff.
Dhux's Scar tries a bit too hard, IMO. It has been ages since I played it and most details are blurry in my mind. But while I love the general premise, those 'crazy' plot twists only managed to make me roll my eyes. This also ties with the fact that the cosmogony stuff is really spotty. You just have to accept the story as it comes; any attempt to make ends meet of it is a gamble.
prexus
309
author=Craze
Um. See, what you're saying about nostalgia applies completely to FFVI. So much of that is based on stuff you've filled in, because it was absent/left out/not actually developed in the least. There is so little dialogue in that game... not nearly enough to develop the, what, twelve PCs? Characters like Umaro and Gogo get basically nothing, and most other characters are pretty blah.
If you have Sabin when you go rescue "Gerad," there is, like, one bonus line of dialogue. That's the crux of my argument, really: FFVI has potential, but the amazingness is not actually there. One more generation and it could have been terrific, but it was overreaching what it could actually fit onto an SNES cartridge.
Did it toy with themes? Yes, absolutely. Did it actually execute them well? In my heretical beliefs, nope. It furthers a thin plot just barely, and people have pretended the rest is there.
One concession: Shadow/the dreams. That's some cool shit.
Part of the reason I like the storyline in FFVI so much is that level of vagueness. I have gone back and played it with an analytical eye. I also played it in the presence of my wife at the same time. You know how sometimes you hear a really awesome song, then you go to show it to someone and the whole time you are listening to it, you are assuring the listener the good part is coming up... Well, I didn't get that when I was playing it with her. I was even surprising myself with some parts that really hit me hard...
The vagueness has a lot to do with the fact most of the heroes in FFVI are already established characters. Their primary story is in the backstory. Locke/Rachel's story is an awesome one, but its takes some major detective work to really figure out what happened. As soon as you do, suddenly Locke's odd behavoir around the female characters becomes really obvious and understandable.
I also like that some characters weren't fleshed out at all. I mean, Umaro and Mog are simple characters. Umaro is helping because Mog made him do it. Mog is helping because he had an experience or vision that taught him the common tongue that also directed him to help you.
Gogo, again, is intentionally left open ended. There is tons of speculation, but s/he is meant to be an enigma. Is it the same Gogo from FFV? Is it Darill? Where did s/he come from, and what (aside from Mimickery) is his/her goals?
Characters like Cyan, Shadow, Strago and such don't get much story fleshed out for them because they're pretty much done, storyline wise, before the game even meets up with them. They are just along for the ride. But if you want to delve deeper into the story, there is enough there to piece together something satisfying.
I am just trying to further my opinion, not try to change yours or anything Craze.
prexus
309
author=Deckillerauthor=prexusSorry, I laughed out loud!
I like that people are finally willing to admit that the amazing-ness of a game might just be a result of nostalgic attachment.
That being said, two particular RPG Stories that I instantly think of as being of superior quality are Final Fantasy 6 and Chrono Trigger.
I'm thinking Xenogears, just for its depth, supernatural elements, and characters.
The difference being is that I have gone back and played those games again, and again, and probably again. Each time I was older, hopefully more wise, and definitely more analytical.
Just because a game is older and not unheard of doesn't mean I can't use it as my example. It would be different if I was just saying "I really liked these games when I was younger so I think they have the best story." For the most part I am actually analysing the aspects of the story that I like, that have still stood the test of time, and forming an opinion based on it.
