# Best written games you've played



## Alias Black (Jun 9, 2015)

As a long time fan of computer and video games, some of my best narrative experiences come from them. They were my gateway drug into sff, and gave life to some of my favorite characters.   I'd even go as far as to say there are masterpieces in this medium that rival those on paper. Here are some of my favorites, let me know yours (limited to two, cause us gamers will just keep going on if left unchecked)

*1. To The Moon*







(Wikipedia article) A pretty obscure game (more like an interactive story) that has haunted me endlessly, long after I've finished it. It talks about a device operated by two scientists that creates artificial memories. The device is used on terminally ill patients to give them the illusion that they have fulfilled their dreams, and let them rest in peace.

They encounter an elderly patient who dreams of going to the moon, but doesn't remember why. The scientists delve into his memories to find the reason. Along the way, they learn more about him and his painful journey through life. A very simple premise that sets up a very powerful story.

I'd recommend this game to anyone who owns a computer, and can read.

*2. Bioshock Infinite





*
A pretty recent game that I'm sure many have heard of. It's hard to talk about the excellent points of the story without spoilers, so this is going to sound a little thin: You are sent into the airborne utopia of Columbia to rescue a girl that has the ability to open portals to parallel timelines. 

The story deals very maturely with the themes of Utopia/Dystopia, parenthood and the nature of parallel timelines that are borne from simple choices we make. I apologize for the vagueness - much of the beauty of the story comes from the shyamalan-eisque twists that appear towards the end of the game.

Will recommend to seasoned gamers, who have experience with first-person shooters and do not have motion sickness.


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## Remedy (Jun 9, 2015)

You are cruel by making me choose only two! 

1. *Siege of Avalon* - which had the tagline: "_Played any good books lately?"





_
It played a lot like Diablo, but it had loads of reading - unfolding a proper fantasy tale where you make the decisions. Its been so long since I played it, but I remember I sunk many hours into it and got swallowed up by the story.

2. *Deus Ex





*
Possibly my all-time favourite game. Awesome story and concept. I couldn't praise it enough.

The recent prequel, *Deus Ex: Human Revolution* was absolutely brilliant as well. The sequel, *Deus Ex: Invisible War* was poor though.


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## Alias Black (Jun 9, 2015)

Definitely concur with Deus Ex and Human Revolution! I haven't played Siege of Avalon, but I'll make sure to take a look. Sounds mighty fun from your description.


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## Remedy (Jun 9, 2015)

Siege of Avalon has probably dated quite a lot. I was 12 (14 years ago) when I first played it - but seeing as it was one of the first games that sprung to mind, it must have left a lasting impression. 

Edit: This was Game Spy's review (the review I most agree with): "_With this game's gradually revealed story of deception, treachery, and heroism, the age of good storytelling has returned. It doesn't come without a price, though -- be prepared to read. A lot._"


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## thaddeus6th (Jun 9, 2015)

I haven't played any of those four 

1. The Last of Us.

I shan't spoil it, as it's fairly recent and has been re-released for the PS4. The plot revolves around Joel and Ellie, very much an odd couple in a horrendous post-apocalypse world. Fungal zombies have destroyed most of civilisation, and circumstances force the ageing survivor and teenage girl together. 

There's great characterisation, and they both feel fully three-dimensional. Critically, the relationship between them works perfectly and develops in a natural, credible way. The game's very adult, not just in the visceral combat, but in its willingness to give real weight to the storyline. I've only played it once, and I'll probably not return to it, on the basis that the storyline was perfect the first time.


2. Vagrant Story. 

I did a retro-review (it's about a decade and a half old now) on my blog: http://thaddeusthesixth.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/retro-review-vagrant-story.html

The translation from Japanese to English by Alexander Smith is staggeringly good, almost Shakespearean. There's no voice-acting (it was just before that became the norm) so instead speech bubbles are the order of the day, but the dialogue is nevertheless nigh on perfect. It's easy to understand but has a very old feel, and the blending of English with some French, German and Latin terms helps make the abandoned city that houses the game feel like part of a much wider world.


I could've named some more, but hopefully the ones I had in mind will be mentioned by other posters.


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## Alias Black (Jun 10, 2015)

The Last of Us was brilliant, I was considering between it and Bioshock Infinite for my no. 2, in the end Bioshock won because it had a slightly more original premise. Ellie remains one of my favorite characters ever created in books, films and games combined. She was just so real.

I played Vagrant Story a long time ago, but never finished it. Always regretted that. Then again, it was the golden age of JRPGs, I was probably distracted by another great, FFT, Xenogears or Star Ocean (please someone talk about those haha!)


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## Remedy (Jun 10, 2015)

And Metal Gear Solid...


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## thaddeus6th (Jun 10, 2015)

Vagrant Story's ripe for a remake, though I doubt it'll happen. It was one of the first games to have proper three-dimensional areas, and [as a graphical pioneer] it's aged terribly. Plus it had its own 'trophy' system (you got achievements for killing certain bosses, killing X hundred enemies with weapon type Y and so on).

Not sure if it's on PS4 but I'm reasonably sure it could be downloaded for the PS3.


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## Alias Black (Jun 10, 2015)

I liked MGS, but was never as into it as some of my pals. There's something about the spy genre that distances me from it. I had the same relationship with Splinter Cell.


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## cyberpunkdreams (Jun 11, 2015)

Loads of great games with loads of great writing! The original Deus Ex, for definitely. Maybe too many others to mention. But there's one, for me, that stands in a category far and away by itself, that doesn't really brook comparison to anything else. I know others may disagree, but... *Mass Effect*.

Edit: with the female Shepherd, of course. Completely different experience.


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## thaddeus6th (Jun 11, 2015)

I got the trilogy, and played as FemShep. Really enjoyed it, and I'll miss her from the next game. I tried a second playthrough as ManShep, but it just felt wrong (like having a female James Bond).


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## cyberpunkdreams (Jun 11, 2015)

thaddeus6th said:


> I got the trilogy, and played as FemShep. Really enjoyed it, and I'll miss her from the next game. I tried a second playthrough as ManShep, but it just felt wrong (like having a female James Bond).



Indeed. I'm actually playing it through again with exactly the same character, and really enjoying it again. Shepherd is special, no doubt about it! I read that they really made an effort to differentiate her from the male version (i.e. not just have a female voice artist read the same script), and I think that they inadvertently made a much stronger character.


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## thaddeus6th (Jun 11, 2015)

Aye, I hope we get a persistent protagonist with the next games, and they find a voice actress to do the role justice. Laura Bailey could do it, I think [not that Bioware asked me  ]. 

I probably give more weight to voice-acting than might be usual, and I think that can really help sell a story. Loghain in Dragon Age: Origins, FemShep, David Hayter as Solid Snake are all great [I'm not buying MGS5 due to Hayter's inexplicable axing from the role].


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## cyberpunkdreams (Jun 11, 2015)

Shep was voiced by Jennifer Hale, who's done... pretty much everything. I was hoping that ME4 was would be a prequel and therefore still have Shep, but, alas, that would be a total cop out and would probably never happen anyway.


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## Alias Black (Jun 12, 2015)

I have good memories of the Mass Effect series, and I loved the story, but the writing didn't leave a strong impression on me. Of the Bioware games, my favorite remains the Knights of the Old Republic series.


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## Remedy (Jun 12, 2015)

Alias Black said:


> I have good memories of the Mass Effect series, and I loved the story, but the writing didn't leave a strong impression on me. Of the Bioware games, my favorite remains the Knights of the Old Republic series.



I thought Mass Effect had terrific world-building and character-depth, but I felt the plot was lacking slightly. Stronger in the first game than the second. Definitely deserves a place here though.

KOTOR games are brilliant!

Did anyone ever play these two?







Nothing to do with game writing, I know, but I suddenly got all reminiscent...


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## thaddeus6th (Jun 12, 2015)

I played the first. Felt it was so-so, to be honest. I remember reading a review which called a certain fight (with Darth Maul, I think) brilliant in terms of gameplay, but I thought it was button-mashing and little else.


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## Remedy (Jun 12, 2015)

thaddeus6th said:


> I played the first. Felt it was so-so, to be honest. I remember reading a review which called a certain fight (with Darth Maul, I think) brilliant in terms of gameplay, but I thought it was button-mashing and little else.



Yeah, I remember it as button-mashing too. The game was really buggy as well, but it had a certain charm. Good length and very loyal to the film.


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## Alias Black (Jun 12, 2015)

I've never played those, my PSX collection was mostly filled with JRPGs - Chrono Cross, FF7/8/9, Xenogears, Tales of Destiny, Star Ocean, etc, etc

Since we're talking about Star Wars games in general (how we digress, but what the hell, this is a fun tangent) my votes are on Republic Commando and Jedi Knight 2. In terms of gameplay, I'll rank RC above KOTOR even, and JK2 as a close 3rd. Both of them have forgettable plots though.


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## Remedy (Jun 12, 2015)

I never played Republic Commando, gameplay looks good though (I watched a short video). I remember playing loads of Jedi Knight II with my friend on PC - Great variety of weapons and play styles. Since my friend was the one who owned it, I never played the single player campaign.

Have you played *The Force Unleashed*? I really enjoyed the physics in that one.


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## HareBrain (Jun 12, 2015)

*Final Fantasy 7* had it all, in my opinion.

I'd probably go for *Xenogears* as my second, even though I didn't finish it and found large parts of it tedious. I did, however, track down a typescript of the later sections, and in some respects the scope of its vision is probably the most breathtaking I've come across in any game, and possibly any novel.


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## Culhwch (Jun 12, 2015)

A recent game that really sucked me in with the story was _Sleeping Dogs_. Very underrated game.


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## Alias Black (Jun 12, 2015)

Remedy said:


> Have you played *The Force Unleashed*? I really enjoyed the physics in that one.



Oh yes! I had some friends who worked on that so I was "forced" to play it haha! I actually loved it a lot!


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## Remedy (Jun 12, 2015)

Culhwch said:


> A recent game that really sucked me in with the story was _Sleeping Dogs_. Very underrated game.



I loved _Sleeping Dogs_. It was given as a free download to Xbox Live users - so I got it with low expectations and no prior knowledge. I was stunned by how complete and well made it turned out to be. I've purchased some of the car radio music used in the game. It's a perfect length too, unlike the GTA games that seem endless. Enjoyed it so much that I restarted the game straight away and had an equally enjoyable second run!  Great story.


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## Alias Black (Jun 12, 2015)

HareBrain said:


> In some respects the scope of its vision is probably the most breathtaking I've come across in any game, and possibly any novel.



Totally. Its commentary on religion almost caused it to not be released in the US.



Culhwch said:


> A recent game that really sucked me in with the story was _Sleeping Dogs_. Very underrated game.



I loved it. The parallel progression of police and triad storylines made such entertaining conflict in both gameplay and narrative.


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## Fueggo (Jun 13, 2015)

Deus Ex, Bioshock, Fallout, Mass Effect, KOTOR, Spec Ops: The Line... 

In my opinion, these are the best written games I have played.


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## cyberpunkdreams (Jun 18, 2015)

Apparently Sleeping Dogs is based on a true story. It was given to me too, but although the story did pull me in eventually, I didn't find the writing all that great. It was fine, just not stunning. I guess this stuff is very subjective!


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## Warren_Paul (Jun 21, 2015)

There have been some fantastically written game stories I've come across in my time. If I was to pick the best of them I'd go with these:



*Grandia II: *(One of the greatest stories I've ever seen in a game).
*










Final Fantasy X: *(Absolutely phenomenal story. There's a remastered version of this game now).

*



*

*
Phantasy Star IV: *(Showing its age now, but was well ahead of its time. Great characters, a very moving story).






*


Final Fantasy VII: *(Recognized as Squaresoft's pinnacle of achievement and quite possibly the best RPG ever made)







And with mention of Final Fantasy VII I just _HAVE_ to link the following:


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## Remedy (Jun 21, 2015)

I never played Final Fantasy VII so I'm looking forward to the remake.

Really enjoyed the story in Final Fantasy X. The characters were fascinating and so different. I think I might have lost an entire week of my life to blitzball.


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## Warren_Paul (Jun 21, 2015)

Remedy said:


> Really enjoyed the story in Final Fantasy X. The characters were fascinating and so different. I think I might have lost an entire week of my life to blitzball.



By the time I'd unlocked all the secret content of the game and beaten all the Dark Aeons and such, my save file was reading over 250 hours played... Shows how much I loved FFX.


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## Rodders (Jun 21, 2015)

I loved JK2.

No love here for Half Life?


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## Remedy (Jun 21, 2015)

Rodders said:


> No love here for Half Life?



I never got into it. Tried it a few times, but always preferred Deus Ex.
________________________________

Did anyone play the *Syphon Filter *games? I liked the story there.


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## thaddeus6th (Jun 21, 2015)

Warren, mixed feelings on those.

Phantasy Star IV was one I was tempted to include. It's fantastic. I was not, however, taken by FFX. Tidus might be the most annoying protagonist in any game I've ever played.

FFVII was also very enjoyable. I wonder how they'll go about remaking it.

I played the first two Syphon Filter games, and quite liked them.


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## HareBrain (Jun 21, 2015)

Warren_Paul said:


> *Grandia II: *(One of the greatest stories I've ever seen in a game).



What did you particularly like about it? I have to confess I remember almost nothing about the story (though I enjoyed playing it).



thaddeus6th said:


> FFVII was also very enjoyable. I wonder how they'll go about remaking it.



They'd better keep the same soundtrack!

I have to say I wasn't a fan of the Advent Children film, so I'm not massively hopeful. I do hope, though, that there's an option to have the original voices and subtitles -- the dub tracks are always hideous. Actually, I'd prefer no voices and subtitles, like the original.


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## Warren_Paul (Jun 21, 2015)

HareBrain said:


> What did you particularly like about it? I have to confess I remember almost nothing about the story (though I enjoyed playing it).



I loved the characters, and I thought overall the writing was top notch with the way the story twisted, turning all the beliefs of the characters upside down. I thought it had fantastic character development. And the gameplay itself was really fun. Considering that it first showed up on the Sega Dreamcast, the combat engine was ahead of its time. I thought it also had great music too.



Spoiler



We start off with the MC being hired to protect a priestess who is trying to stop the return of an "evil god," Valmar, only to discover along the journey the story takes that Valmar really isn't evil at all, and that the Church of Granas, the supposed "good guys" that they are working for are the real bad guys. Not many games have such a huge twist like that in their stories.

I loved how it became a story about the fight for freedom against oppression, and about personal motivation, that Granas and Valmar are just opposing powers, and humankind themselves, and how they manipulate those powers, are the true evil of the world. It's a story that deals with morality.

And then they throw the MC's long lost brother into the mix, making for a truly moving story arc.

And I also liked the romantic subplot between Ryudo, Elena, and Millenia, how Elena started off hating him, only to learn more about his background and come to love him. I liked how Millenia really was just another part of Elena's true self that the priestess in her refused to acknowledge at first, yet over time came to accept. Couldn't ask for better character development than that.


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## HareBrain (Jun 22, 2015)

Warren_Paul said:


> Not many games have such a huge twist like that in their stories.



Fair enough, but it didn't make much of an impression on me, clearly -- unlike the twist in FF7 with the photograph. That had me unable to breathe.

Another well-written game with a similar twist (to Grandia 2) is Summoner. I thought that was astoundingly well done. (And the rest of the game was pretty nifty too, apart from the rubbish draw distances in cities.)


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## Warren_Paul (Jun 22, 2015)

HareBrain said:


> Fair enough, but it didn't make much of an impression on me, clearly -- unlike the twist in FF7 with the photograph. That had me unable to breathe.



For sure, what works for one person doesn't always worth for another.

Yeah, I remember that twist in Summoner you speak of. It was a good game.


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## cyberpunkdreams (Jun 22, 2015)

Rodders said:


> No love here for Half Life?



Half Life had writing?


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## EJ Heijnis (Sep 15, 2015)

My wife introduced me to Final Fantasy IX, which had a great story. I mostly play strategy games, but one of the few FPS I played was Unreal. In my experience at the time, the graphics and music were fantastic, but the story really drew me in. The convict who survived a spaceship crash slowly turns into the savior of an oppressed people. I thought it was very good.


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## Edward M. Grant (Jan 6, 2016)

cyberpunkdreams said:


> Half Life had writing?



_Half-Life_ was one of the first PC shooter games that tried to push a real storyline into the game world, as thin as it was. The idea of having NPCs talk to each other, do complex actions and lead the character around in a shooter game was quite revolutionary. Before that most such games were more along the lines of 'Here's a gun. There are Nazis. Go.' or maybe had a few pre-rendered cut-scenes at the ends of levels or before boss fights.

Personally, I preferred _No-One Lives Forever_, which I'm pretty sure came out around the same time. Just listening to the NPCs talk to each other was often hilarious, and sometimes made me feel bad about killing them.

These days I hate most games that try to push me into a story, and have a lot more fun in sandboxes like _Oblivion_. Every now and again I remember there are some gates to Hell that I'm supposed to close, then I install another mod and forget about them again. Started one of the recent _Hitman_ games over Christmas and it was _Cutscene-Cutscene-Cutscene-Cutscene-shoot someone-Cutscene-Cutscene-Cutscene-where-character-makes-supposedly-difficult-choice-over-which-I'm-given-no-control-Cutscene-Cutscene-Cutscene_.


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## Edward M. Grant (Jan 6, 2016)

Alias Black said:


> I have good memories of the Mass Effect series, and I loved the story, but the writing didn't leave a strong impression on me.



_Mass Effect_ was actually the point where I started to really dislike stories in games. _GTA_ had already soured me on them, by having tedious story missions you had to grind through just to open up the world to have fun, but _Mass Effect_ was the killer. The story may have been OK--dunno, because I never finished it--but the writing was abysmal.

First there was the half-hour unskippable cutscene at the start where I had absolutely no control over anything, then there was Mr Gung-Ho the Redshirt:

'Look at me, I'm Mr Gung-Ho!'
'You're gonna die as soon as we get to the planet, aren't you?'
'Oh, look. A cutscene where Mr Gung-Ho dies to give me a motivation to hate the aliens, and I'm not allowed to do anything to prevent it.'

Then that progressed to some weird alien thingy that was clearly not a good idea to go anywhere near.

'Oh, look. A cutscene where my character goes and fiddles with the weird alien thingy that's clearly not a good idea to go anywhere near, even though I wouldn't have done that. Because letting me choose not to would have spoiled the story.'

Then, later on, I forced myself through the numerous cutscenes which had at least twice as much dialogue as was required to tell the story so I could do some quests until I was accepted into some alien ultimate bad-ass club.

'Hey, look at me. I've just been accepted into the Ultimate Alien Bad-Ass Club. I think I'll talk to this lady as I walk past.'
'Excuse me. Can you help me find my cat?'
'Lady, didn't you hear I just got accepted into the Ultimate Alien Bad-Ass Club? Why would I have time to look for your cat?'

I quit not long after that. One of the first games I own that I didn't finish.

_Shogo_, now that had a good 'can you help me find my cat?' mission. In fact, that may be the game I was thinking of that came out at the same time as _Half-Life_. It's one of the few I've played through multiple times just to see the different story endings; mostly because the story didn't get in the way of the actual gameplay.


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## Inca_UK (Jan 15, 2016)

I think the top dog would have to be *Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic. *The twist in that, holy sh*t! I never saw it coming and I'm not used to twists like that in games.


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## Khalid M (Jan 16, 2016)

The Last of Us has excellent dialogue, very crisp and natural-sounding, also creative and has lots of characterization. The story was great too.
However if you ask me what I consider to the best written game, then my answer is:


HareBrain said:


> I'd probably go for *Xenogears* as my second, even though I didn't finish it and found large parts of it tedious. I did, however, track down a typescript of the later sections, and in some respects the scope of its vision is probably the most breathtaking I've come across in any game, and possibly any novel.


This sir gets it.
I'm happy someone here played Xenogears. I could write an entire essay about, so I'll try to stay brief. Among many other things, Xenogears has:
- A timeline of _*10,000 years*_. With lots of historical events, civilizations rising and falling, and a scheme slowly building up all this time. Yes.
- No less than FIVE main antagonists, and all of them get a lot of development.
- All characters were written with the Enneagram system of Personalities in mind, which means most of them are very complex and as genuine as fictional characters can get. The characterization is rooted in actual psychology.
- We hear the word epic misused every day, but in this case it is truly fitting to use. You will devise war strategies, reclaim back a throne, search for a floating country, infiltrate an empire, and witness disasters on a global scale.
Xenogears is a pain in the butt to play though, dialogue scrolls slowly, some maze-dungeons will make you tear you hair, and the infamous second disc has little gameplay because the project had to be rushed, but it's totally worth it.


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## Temaran (Jan 17, 2016)

I am genuinely surprised that no-one has even mentioned Planescape: Torment here yet.

For me it is by far the epitome of writing in games and no other title has since even come close to its mastery of the art.






I'm also a big fan of System Shock 2 for it's writing. I saw a bioshock game earlier in this thread, but the newer games pale in comparison. Especially in terms of the villains. Oh Shodan, how I love-hate you!!






/Temaran


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## Camiedee (Feb 14, 2016)

Mass effect is my favourite game series, simply because of the writing, the story, the characters and the universe the game creates, it is just, fantastic. And I can't wait until the new game comes out.


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## Khuratokh (Feb 21, 2016)

Planescape Torment is one of the best written games I feel. It really pulls the heartstrings. I won't spoil it, please buy it at GOG.Com

Halflife 2 featured Alyx, one of the best written npc's in a shooter. It showed female npc's didn't have to have oversized breasts to grab your attention.

Portal is pretty funny dark humor.

Homeworld. Basically the story of BSG in rts form. the third mission had me in tears. Really effective use of music too.  The only time I was this deeply affected by an RTS.

Cave Story.
Starts out simple, quickly becomes nintendo hard. But has a pretty affecting story.
And the whole game was made by one very talented man.

Fallout 1 and 2. Topdown isometric. Choices had weight. And the evil path had some brilliantly twisted options. Sure you could just slaughter everyone, but you could also set two factions up for war.
But the writing fits the scenery perfectly.


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## Ihe (Mar 17, 2016)

I'm late to the party, but I agree the first 2 Fallout games are incredible. Fallout 2 is simply a masterpiece. 
Another really well written game is Bastion, an indy gem.


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## Vaz (May 18, 2016)

The Mass Effect series.

The Last of Us.

Heavy Rain.

The Witcher series.


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