What's Your Favorite Best Storyline Video Game

[Country Bladesmith]

I would have to go with Half Life. Quake II would be a close second, and Doom gets the bronze. I always liked the Wolfenstein spoof level in Doom II. When you kill a Nazi, he shouts, "Mich lieben!" as he dies. Nice touch, but lousy graphics (which is understandable, since it was the early 90s after all). The original Quake was my favorite as a kid, but the OP asked about storylines specifically. I'll never forget the day I beat Quake on nightmare skill level...with no cheat codes!

Thanks @Kissel bixby for the unexpected trip down memory lane! ?

My first computer was one I built from two non working computers. It was a 486 with a whopping 75 MHz clock speed. ?
It was a DOOM machine!

 

[captainsousie]

My first computer was one I built from two non working computers. It was a 486 with a whopping 75 MHz clock speed. ?
It was a DOOM machine!

You overclocker you... 486-66 or 686-86. Then we got Pentium...

 

[Country Bladesmith]

You overclocker you... 486-66 or 686-86. Then we got Pentium...

Maybe it was less than 75 MHz then? I don’t remember overclocking it. ?

 

[Servant King]

My first computer was one I built from two non working computers. It was a 486 with a whopping 75 MHz clock speed. ?
It was a DOOM machine!

Could it run Minesweeper and FreeCell? That's all I care about, really...

 

[captainsousie]

Maybe it was less than 75 MHz then? I don’t remember overclocking it. ?

Could have been factory. It was the wild west back then.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

Could it run Minesweeper and FreeCell? That's all I care about, really...

Definitely Minesweeper and Solitaire, but it was Windows 3.1, so I don’t think it had the FreeCell version of Solitaire. If it did, I don’t remember it.

 

[pantsBoots]

Playing Zelda Ocarina of Time followed by Majora's Mask was amazing. Chrono Trigger was fun, as was Final Fantasy 1-3 (4-6) on the old Super Nintendo.

I don't really have time much for video games anymore, so my recommendations are dated.

 

[Servant King]

Composed on a Mac, of course...

 

[Country Bladesmith]

Playing Zelda Ocarina of Time followed by Majora's Mask was amazing. Chrono Trigger was fun, as was Final Fantasy 1-3 (4-6) on the old Super Nintendo.

I don't really have time much for video games anymore, so my recommendations are dated.

The newest console in my house was a Super Nintendo until my son got a Wii-U and later a Switch.

 

[captainsousie]

C:\\del*.*

 

[pantsBoots]

C:\\del*.*

DOS, baby!

 

[Brendan]

Maybe for me with my limited experience, would be Red Dead Redemption 2, followed maybe by RDR1.

Going back in time I’d love to say Duke Nukem 64/3D, purely because the story was simple, kill everything you see and rescue babes for hours on end with little to no cut scenes.
That’s probably the opposite of what you were asking, so go with the above..

 

[olkofri]

Composed on a Mac, of course...

Much better:

 

[danimalia]

I felt like no one played the first game released in America. Yeah that game had a great story.
My favorite game narratives are in the Souls series. I like how it's told in a very minimalist way that if you're interested you have to dig through descriptions and putting things together. Also love how the story and the game play are not just tacked onto each other but intrinsically tied. To illustrate partially I'll show the opposite... I hate when the story of a game is tense and grim "I don't know how we'll ever defeat the mumoes there are just too many of them..." and then you kill waves of basically cardboard cut outs (Mass Effect is the game that comes to mind first).
Then one of my favorite bits of story in a game is in the Witcher Three which also is narratively very strong. There is a mission totally optional where you fight a really powerful genie hardest fight in the game if I remember correctly. But that makes sense because of the gravity of why and the intention the character shows. That's all you really get for winning it (there are items, but at that point in the game...) is a story element but if you're invested it's way more then a stupid better sword.
Also there is a mission in the witcher three that is great.... that's just dialog mostly. You and your pals drinking and everyone who's played the game seems to agree about that mission.

I'm surprised you'd like The Witcher 3 if you hate grim storytelling, because that game, holy shit... Just brutal. Wonderful game though. Definitely one of my favorites.

Witcher 3 is one of my favorites. I really, really liked the story and characters in Persona 5 right up until the end when the game has one too many twists and the plot becomes way too convoluted. I wonder if that is a Japanese thing because I've noticed it in a few Japanese games. Yakuza 0 is also a great, if overly twisty, story. What is great about the Yakuza series is that they're just narratively batshit. The game will switch between some hardboiled, grim noir and slapstick silliness in no time flat. Also, Kiryu is just kind of a mensch in addition to being the ultimate badass. It is a bit strange watching this gangster character behave like a boy scout. Like, dude, how did you make any money as a Yakuza if you won't get your hands dirty? Reminds me of the (hysterical) scene in The Godfather where they're all sitting around and talking about, "Well, I guess we'll sell drugs if we have to, but I don't want this shit being sold around schools." Sure thing, pops.

 

[Kissel bixby]

For something different I really enjoyed dying light. Fast parkcore, open world, hordes of zombies. It is brutal a sometimes exhausting hand to hand combat. Every little noise attracts more. First time getting caught in a mom n pop store, looking for supplies and get cornered. It can take over a minute beating one with a pipe or bored. The sound and vibration is so real it is disturbing at first.

 

[jewman22]

I dont play many video games anymore, got too much adult stuff to do, but I do quite enjoy the Grand Theft Auto series, as well as Assassins Creed, but I think I'm a few behind since the last one I played was Unity.

 

[Kissel bixby]

I still think my favorite gta was San Andreas

 

[danimalia]

I still think my favorite gta was San Andreas

Grove Street, homie! It may be my favorite, too. I just had more fun playing it than any other, and I've enjoyed most of them.

That said, I really liked the story of GTA V. Aside from all the mayhem and carnage, it really does do a great job of sending up gangster movies, celebrity and pop culture, affluent LA yuppies, etc. And Trevor steals every scene/moment he is in the game, in all his desert rat, tweaker glory.

 

[Kissel bixby]

I haven't played yet, but on my list to buy, especially after my friend showed the gogo bar

 

[tobefrank]

All the Half Life games are great on story as well. Half Life is the first game that completely made me lose track of time.