30 Days of Video Games

[buba]

Day 14 - Your Favorite Story in a Video Game

Sonic Unleashed

The story starts with Sonic in another adventure to stop Eggman, when he is just about to beat him, Eggman fools Sonic and turns our hero into a monster and sends him to the Earth.

There Sonic meets a creature that has lost his memories, even being a "monster" Sonic decides to help the little thing while he goes after Eggman.

Unleashed story is about Sonic and Chip friendship, being a little serious but also very comic at moments, a perfect mix for me.

Edited January 29, 2012 by Tmsp

[Carbo]

Can it be over the course of several games?

Sure thing.

[Arcade Racer CC14]

My favorite story has to be this one:

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

This one has the distinct honor of not only being my first RPG and my favorite story in a game, but also my favorite game of all time. The story from beginning to end is just classic. It starts out in the traditional Mario formulaic way and then quickly spins out into an epic tale full of memorable characters, fantastic locations, excellent humor, amazing battles, and great twists. It's just fantastic in every way and helped spawn two series' of excellent RPGs with memorable plots of their own starring everyone's favorite plumber. This game's plot is one of the reasons why I prefer the Mario RPGs to the traditional Mario platformers. I wish that all Mario stories could be this good.

Edited January 29, 2012 by chaoscontrol14

[Tori Himemiya]

Day 14 Favorite Video Game Story:

As much as I love Odin Sphere and I really love its story but I have to give this one to...

...Disgaea: Hour of Darkness.

The reason why I pick this game is that despite of its humor the storyline is actually pretty deep. The game is about Laharl who just woke up 2 years after his father, the Overlord, has passed away and he wants to claim his throne. Along the way he runs into Flonne an angel as well as the Defenders of Earth who eventually help out Laharl on his quest.

Now that brief summary might not sound deep but it really is. Laharl gains a lot of character development, there is a Heaven vs Hell theme but it isn't the way you would think it would go, and other stuff. I would be able to tell you more in detail a couple years back but I do feel rusty on it. But Disgaea's story is top notch.

Runner Ups:

Odin Sphere - I love the storyline, especially when it comes from 5 different point of views. But in the end its all just everyone trying to avoid destroying the world and yet it happens anyways. I wish some characters like Odin and Odette would get some character development.

Metal Gear Solid 3 - This is a prequel starring a younger Big Boss by the name Naked Snake (no he's not naked obviously) but I really did enjoy the storyline, trying avert nuclear war while trying to figure out who to trust. There's more to it but that's just a summary.

[Kamicciolo]

Day #14 - Kami's always heartwarming "Ninja should stick to Twilight Fanfiction" Favourite Video Game Story

My pick would have to be Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. All of the Mario & Luigi games tend to have enjoyable stories, but Bowser's Inside Story easily takes first place for me. The general gist is that Fawful (that lovable maniac from the first game) is back and badder than ever, and has managed to trick Bowser into taking up Kirby impressions on Mario & Luigi, leaving Bowser as the only one to actually deal with the villain (and technically save the Mushroom Kingdom).

I rate this game's story so high because with Bowser as the main focus instead of the Mario Brothers (who do still get their fair share of screentime obviously), the nature of the story shifts in nature to reflect Bowser's far more brutish and impulsive attitude, very short temper, headstrong and somewhat bumbling mannerisms and far less heroic methods in dealing with both people and problems. Bowser almost certainly carries this game's story, in a way Mario & Luigi wouldn't have been able to (without being Out of Character obviously :V).

The story is also helped by the other characters. We have the Wacky Fawful in the main villain role, who seems to have gone off the deep end a bit since the last appearance, his minion Midbus, who acts as something of a rival to Bowser and seems almost oblivious to his insults (only making him madder in the process :V), and the side characters like Broque Monsieur and his faithful Broggy, who assists Bowser in the early portion of the game and then becomes a shop keeper. They all help make the experience better.

Honourable Mentions

Sonic 2 to Sonic 3 & Knuckles - The story following the Death Egg has always been a nostalgic favourite of mine, since the Death Egg was treated as something you absolutely couldn't leave unchecked. Even with the limits of the technology at the time, it still felt epic, and it all had a nice firm conclusion.

Sonic Adventure - First attempt as heavier story telling for the series, and despite the flaws it was a pretty solid attempt. It continued on with the legacy left on Angel Island, while expanding Sonic's world and giving each character enough spotlight to shine. Many people already point to Gamma's story for it's resolution, but they all have their own focus and impact, which is nice.

Sonic Generations - ...I'll be honest...I'm listing this mainly for the "twist" at the end. Considering the series' track record for monsters in stories (and all the Sega Representatives misleading everyone by hammering in that Eggman wasn't the villain), it was just grand to see Eggman in control. Personally, I think the scene before the final battle really showed how deliciously evil Eggman could be just through his actions and dialogue, which is more than any monster could achieve.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Adventure Tours) - These games are famous for crossing over both series and still managing to keep the interaction relatively low...well that stops here! The Adventure Tours mode puts both sides together and blends them together rather nicely I;d say in what is essentially a simple plot filled with nice character interaction. It's got me interested to see what's coming in the 3DS sequel :V

Assorted WarioWare stories (mainly Wario portions) - These are generally comical little stories to segue into the minigames, but they're always great to see because Wario and his cronies are just mad :V.

[Carbo]

If you ever followed my musings in this little 30 day game around Day 4, you'll realize I love Shu Takumi, creator of the Ace Attorney series. As fantastic as that series is as a whole though, Ghost Trick is undoubtedly his magnum opus. This game had everything - a unique premise, a fantastic plot, an incredibly original game play mechanic, lovable characters and some honest to god legitimate twists.

I can impossibly describe the plot in detail, as so many twists and turns in the plot make it incredibly hard to do so without spoiling, but in this game you take control of Sissel, who has died, but has somehow manifested his soul and now walks with supernatural powers that are able to manipulate inanimate objects. One lingering problem remains however, and this is the fact that he has completely lost his memories of the night.

Now I know what you're thinking, "amnesia plot? fuck that shit", but you wouldn't believe how incredibly intuitive this game handles it. It is probably one of the only games that has ever used an amnesia plot responsibly with so many ridiculous and legitimate unpredictable twists. The story is carried by a cast of colorful and lovable characters, and the game play mechanic is cleverly integrated to support it. Oh yeah, and again; soundtrack is pure bliss by mastermind Masakazu Sugimori.

Ghost Trick is pretty much in my top three games of yesteryear, and is my favorite portable game of all time. I immensely recommend it, as it's an experience you won't soon forget. Just like Ace Attorney, the replayability comes from it's wonderful story that's like a book you can just play on the go, with far more interesting game play mechanics to support it.

[Semi-colon e]

Perhaps it's because I don't play that many story heavy games, and some of the games I have played that tried heavy stories failed spectacularly (Metroid: Other M, Sonic 2006).

So I picked these games (spoiler alert, etc.). While the protagonist is mute as ever, as it represents you, his actions develop the story in more of a way than "you beat gym leaders, evil team, and E4 again". You have two rivals, and both have their faults, but they both develop thanks to you and other characters by the end of the game. Bianca has her own character arc where her overprotective dad keeps trying to stop her while on the journey, then Elesa the really hot gym leader kind of steps in and they have a surprisingly heartfelt conversation by Pokemon standards. Bianca is also constantly trying to find her purpose in life, which I think a lot of us can relate to.

The other rival, Cheren, is a bit of an overcompetitive guy, always trying to find power, and the Champion of the region actually makes him question "then what", which is pretty inspiring stuff, that it's not all about winning and power. This constitutes his major character arc, which is pretty great.

However, the champion development is N in Team Plasma. He honestly believes he is doing the right thing by separating Pokemon and humans, but the big plot twist here is that he's been manipulated since he was young to hate humans and connect more with Pokemon by his potentially adopted father, Ghetis, which is so monstrously cruel but at the same time, incredibly clever and devious. However, Ghetis didn't anticipate the player and all the people in the world, who love their Pokemon and each other, and in the end it's you who helps N get over his torment (another tragic scene). Once N has been converted to good, Ghetis goes fucking apeshit and becomes the final boss before the post-game, and goes all out insane and is balls hard, just showing how truly evil he actually is.

This game just had characters that, for once in a Pokemon game, felt real and feasible, and I felt quite attached to them by the end of the game, which is fucking unusual. It felt like you, the player, contributed all that, and helped all the characters develop.

[JezMM]

BioShock and BioShock 2

Oh man these games. Both are so hauntingly sad and beautiful in different ways. Both also have lovely twists and turns that obviously I shall not talk about here. But seriously everyone owes it to themselves to try these games out, even if you're not into shooters. It's more than just a shooter (also for those paranoid about horror elements, they're pretty light in the game, it's not consistently horror in the same way Silent Hill or Resident Evil is or anything).

While BioShock 2 wasn't quite as CLEVER or "large" in story as BioShock 1 was, it made up for it with the emotional and personal elements of the story.

Whenever I play these games I never want my time with them to end. Q_Q

Very close runners-up would be:

Half-Life series

While the actual world isn't quite as RICHLY presented as BioShock's, it's still so very very close, and the actual primary storyline and characters is so addictive. While Half-Life 1's story was very meh, it's worth including as part of the series so I can cheat and include Portal and Portal 2 as well.

Paper Mario series

All the Paper Mario games gave such personality and deepness to the traditional Mario plot and world and it's just all so well written, and full of lovely little twists you'd never expect from a Mario game. Anyone who says all Mario games have terrible storylines can fuck off when these guys are around. Thousand Year Door is my favourite of course.

Sonic Adventure 2

Yeah it was cheesily done and hasn't aged that well (though SA1 fared much worse), I still think this is an excellent example of how to do a deep plot without making the whole game be serious all the way through. If they could combine a plot of this density with the new dialogue writing I'd be in heaven.

[Emmett L. Brown]

Fourtheenth: Best Story

Final Fantasy VI: Hope versus Nihilism.

Every single hero of this story is put through enough misery to make them give up on life completely, yet each and every one of them find a personal light in the darkness rekindle their hope.

On the surface, it's your basic good rebellion against an evil empire trying to conquer the world with magical machines. It would be so bland it'd be forgotten in a sea of RPG stories if it wasn't able to take that simple premise and build such an amazing world with characters so deep and interesting that even modern JRPGs can't keep up. The basic story builds to the expected climax of the evil emperor on the verge of gaining godlike power and rule the world forever, which would be the final boss fight normally...except the emperor's insane comic relief underling kills him and then destroys the world. What the hell!?

Few stories ever dare to explore the consequences of the bad guy winning. Not just having already conquered the world in the intro, but actually defeating the heroes at the mid-point and then completely fucking up the entire planet. The end of the world provides the perfect opportunity to let each of the main characters explore their motivations. They can't fight to save the world, because they've already lost that fight. Instead they have to decide for themselves if there's anything left in the ruined world to give meaning to their fight.

The main story is held together by a dozen smaller plot-threads that all tie together at the climax when the bad guy, who's pretty much the embodiment of nihilism, asks the heroes why they bother to challenge him. Every one of their answers has been explored in its own sub-plot both before and after the sundering of the planet:

But drama annoys me when it get's heaped on too thick, too fast, so the excellent pacing and occasional comic relief help give FFVI a deserved first place in my personal list of best video game stories.

[Sami]

Day 14 - Your Favorite Story in a Video Game

"Wait, really? You're... you're kidding, right?"

LOLNOPE. Well... okay, maybe I'm shooting the piss (HELL YEAH BRITISH SLANG) a little with this one, but even so... I think I can back this up with some fairly legitimate reasoning. Sonic 3 & Knuckles' story doesn't offer very much in terms of depth, nor does it have any interesting twists and turns. The characters aren't interesting and the plot isn't what carries the game. But... I think that's why I love it so much. Playing Sonic 3 & Knuckles without it's story wouldn't *really* make a difference. The game still has some of the best level design I've ever seen in a video game, it's still incredibly polished, it still pushes the system to its limits in terms of graphics and sound, and... well, I could go on. Sonic 3 & Knuckles serves to show that dialogue and cutscenes aren't at all necessary to tell a worthwhile story. There's still some interesting mythos (Angel Island's history and the murals in the Hidden Palace), the characters, while having very little depth, are still very enjoyable and proved to be charming enough to carry a story over fifteen years later.

Sonic 3 & Knuckles may not have the most interesting of stories, but there's something to it that just makes it absolutely lovable.

Also this keeps me from having to choose between the many RPGs and visual novel-type games I've played. Some great games worth mentioning that instantly come to mind: Persona 3 and 4, Ghost Trick, all the Ace Attorney games, Portal 2, The World Ends With You, Jak 3, Kingdom Hearts, and... well, whatever I'm not forgetting.

[Covskin]

Grim Fandango has a brilliant, noir-ish style and plot.

You are Manny Calavera, Grim Reaper and travel agent for the Department of Death. Once Manny has sent enough souls to the Ninth Underworld, he can make the journey himself. For most people, it takes 4 years, but if you live a good live, you can take the Number Nine train, which brings the journey down to 4 minutes.

When Manny misells a Walk to a NN saint, Manny realises something is wrong. Thus begins a story of lies, deceipt, love and corruption in the Afterlife, spanning four whole years.

Manny goes through an amazing character arc in this game, from a working stiff trying to get his last commission, to a man trying to make things right not just for him, but for a bunch of people he only just met. Manny travles the whole Underworld, from El Marrow to Rubacav, to the Edge of the World and back again, all to right the wrong and save Meche's destiny.

[krazystitch]

Day 14 - Favorite Story/Stories

Bioshock

I think this is the third or fourth time I put Bioshock on this thread. This is a hint, you guys. If you haven't played this game yet, GO PLAY IT ALREADY! Ahem, anyways, I know I'm here to talk about the story. The story is absolutely amazing. It starts off with a plane crash, you land in the middle of the ocean and you end up swimming over to this lighthouse where you enter and begin your descent down to the depth of this underwater city called Rapture. One that was bound for greatness and perfection but was dumped into an era of corruption. There's so much more I want to say about the story, but so much more I know I can't because of twists and the last thing I could ever want to do is spoil this wonderful game. The characters, enemies, and atmosphere are all unlike anything else I've ever experienced. Go play this game. Love it.

To the Moon

"An indie game? What the hell?"

I know, right? No, but seriously, this was actually a very obscure game that I only learned about through a thread on this very forum. it was praised for having such an amazing story, and since I'm such a sucker for just that, I decided to try it out. it deserves every single award that it got. Through many different occasions in this game, I found myself smiling, feeling worried, and even at one moment pretty darn sad. This game is actually more of a book than it is an actual "game." It controls like an RPG, but without any elements of actual fighting or the like. All you do is walk around, press a button to skip dialogue, and solve a few puzzles. There's a lot I want to say but, again with Bioshock, there's so much more that I just can't afford to spoil if any of you ever get around to playing this. You can pick it up for a pretty cheap price online. If you like a good story in a game, you'll love this.

[Starman Swift]

Day 14 - Favorite Story

Metro 2033

I might be only halfway through it at the moment, but I am liking this story. It does make sense for it to have a good story, since it was based on a novel. It certainly feels more unique than other End-of-the-World fare. Nukes destroyed the world, the only people that survived live in a huge metro station. They've developed a bullet economy, and send people to the hostile surface occasionally in order to scavenge for supplies. Some of them have split into factions, mainly the Nazis and the Communists, and wage war on each other.

There are rumors of a new, evolved form of humans known as the Dark Ones, or Homo Novus, who break the minds of all who fight them. You are Artyom, your friend has gone missing after leaving your area of the metro to wreak revenge on the Dark Ones after they attack your station. The game is about your long, twisting journey to find him.

[Senator NinjaShark]

Day Numbero Four and Teen - Ninja's Awe Inspireing, "Makes Kami's choice look like the Script for the next Fred Movie", Favourite Stories in Video games Ever!

This game, is what a Deep-yet-Lighthearted story should be in my Opinion.

On the Surface it seems like a very, very Simple "Princess got Kidnapped, go save her" Story, but the More you progress on the Search for the Crystal Stars, the more you see about the suprisingly Interesting Backstory about each Place you visit and about the Tituler Thousand Year Door.

It's not afraid to go into "Dark" Moments at times, but in the end retains it's Lightheartedness and overall Humor and self awareness. The Characters themselve are also all Enjoyable and Interesting and are what makes this game even better in my Eyes. It's this kind of "Substance" that makes me Love this game more the More I think about it and what makes this my personal Top Pick for a Great Video game story.

I like to consider Okami a Modern Day classic, and I have no Doubts it will most likeley be remembered as such.

The Beauty behind Okamis story is it's Incorporation of Old Japanese Folklore, all combined into one Big Story, with the Legend of Nagi and Shiranui being the Driving Force Behind it.

It all Opens up with Susano (Nagis Descendant) accidently Freeing Orochi, and thus releasing the evil back into the Lands of Nippon. So you, as Amerterasu (the reincarnation of Shiranui) and your Trusty sidekick Issun set off to Kicks Orochis ass once again.

Spoiler: they do

and they all Lived Happily ever after

*dramatic Close up* OR DO THEY?!

and the it turns out that was only the START of the whole Adventure!

and this is the Other thing I Love about Okami, it's like watching your Favourite TV show all the way to the end, and then Hearing there is a Second season right up ahead, with even More Awesome Awaiting.

What Follows is a truly Wonderful Story in my eyes. Filled with Great Characters and a Beautiful Ending.

Honorable Mentions:

Metal Gear Solid series - another series wich I consider a Modern Classic. I've followed this series ever since Metal Gear Solid 1 for PS1, and it quickly became one of my alltime Favourites. The Off the shits Plottwists and amount of Detail put into all of it almost never ceases to entertain Me.

Ace Attorney Series - Like with MGS above, I love this series for it's off the shits twists and tense cases and Awesome Characters (Especially Gumshoe)

Edited January 29, 2012 by Mr. NinjaShark

[Winston]

Day 14 - Your Favorite Story in a Video Game.

Sonic Unleashed

I don't know why I like Unleashed's story so much, It has always had a certain charm to it that the other Sonic games have had never had, not even Colors or Generations have as much charm. I also love most of the characters, and whenever Sonic and Chip interacted, it was pretty funny. The voice-acting was also very good, and brought alot more life to characters. Also, the CGI intro is amazing, Sonic fan or not, you can't beat that intro.

Edited January 29, 2012 by The Scarlet Spider

[Serperior]

Once again, I'm bringing up this game, but forget it, I like it's story too much to care. To give a basic summary of the plot for those who haven't played it, you play as Amaterasu, a sun goddess who is the reincarnation of a god that died 100 years ago who got revived after an evil spirit had been awakened after 100 years, and ravaged the land of Nippon, and it is your job to go and vanquish the evil that has spread and restore the land to it's former glory. It sounds pretty simple, even though I did only give the barebones details of the story, but there's still a lot to it that makes it a really nice story.

As previously mentioned, it's pretty shocking how many references to Japanese lore they were able to throw into the game, and how they were able to put their own twists on it in places and still make it work while still being similar to the original. Also as previously stated, I found it pretty neat that the game made it seem like the Orochi story arc would be the story arc that spanned the whole game, but then just as you think it's all over, another, even longer, and in my opinion even better story arc starts up, and sets you off on a whole new adventure. The cast of characters in the game has a good number of really likable ones, whether they be main characters or side characters and they even manage to give a mute protagonist enough of a personality to make them likable. I also like how well it's able to blend it's serious moments and it's comic moments, amongst a few other things. It can have a humourous moment at one point and straight after go into the serious stuff, and given the characters it has to work with (Issun in particular really helps with this because of how he is characterised), even transitions between the 2 in the same cutscenes don't feel forced at any points. I've heard that people thought the twists in the story were predictable, and in places, they were kind of predictable because of certain characters mentioning certain things before twists, but the way they handle the actual twists when they're revealed is is still well done, and some of the twists' final results are still unpredictable despite the basic gist of it being given away. I'd go into more depth, but I'd rather not give anything away.

Honourable mentions:

Any of the Mario RPGs: These games make most of the Mario cast (I say most since they don't do much for Mario himself, he's still has the same flat as paper personality as ever most of the time) a lot more likable by giving them a lot more screen time to display their personality. Bowser in particular meets this criteria in Bowser's Inside Story and Super Paper Mario (I count it as one of the RPGs, even though quite a few people probably wouldn't) as he gets to display a lot of sides to his personality that he didn't in the main games, and it leads to some really amusing moments. They even introduce new characters that are really likable, and I wished would get an appearance outside of the RPG games, such as Fawful. These are another set of games which I think have a really good balance of serious moments and funny moments as well.

[Match]

FAVORITE STORY IN A VIDEO GAME

When the story starts, Ness is woken up by a meteorite. He goes to investigate. After going there, he encounters a roadblock and Pokey, who says he should just go home. When he goes back to sleep, Pokey wakes him up by knocking on his door. His little brother is missing, and he needs Ness to help find him. Ness and his puppeh dawg King go out to find Pokey's little brother. They make their way to where the meteorite landed, and run into Buzz Buzz, an alien from the future where a douche named Giygas has dominated the universe. Buzz Buzz tells Ness to embark on a journey to defeat Giygas in the present, because his future form is too powerful. Ness then proceeds to search for 8 sanctuaries to unite his psychic powers with the earth and gain the required strength to defeat Giygas.

The story is pretty deep, and has a lot going on without being convoluted. My favorite part is SPOILER where the kids are trapped in darkness by Giygas, and Paula prays. A bunch of their friends and family are praying for their safety, and then Paula reaches out to the player, whose prayers defeat Giygas, due to his weakness to human emotions.

Sorry this one is so short, I'm in a hurry.

[PSI Wind]

Oh look, it's THIS game again :U

Okami is certainly one of my favorite stories in gaming. All of the characters are lovable and fleshed out, the story has amazing plot-twists, and when you think it's all over, you aren't even halfway done. Like many people have said, the way they used Japanese Folklore was genius and I really love it when they tell the story sometimes through beautiful art reminiscent of the time the game is set in. Some of the Side-Quests also have some nice plots of their own and some of the characters that were used in these were later made more well-known in the sequel, Okamiden. For example, Gen, who was used in the first game to obtain a secret brush technique, was given a more prominent role in Okamiden. Ammy, who while still being mute, still has a lot of character because of them using an Animal, who can express feelings through body language and whimpers easily. So, I'd say Okami has the best story in Gaming.

Edited January 29, 2012 by PSI Freeze

[Johnny Boy]

For my favorite story in a game it would hands down be the batman games. The stories for these games were everything I wanted in a batman story. They were dark, edgy, intense, at times even funny, and there were even some tear jerking moments in these games (especially the end of Arkham City). I cannot wait to see how Rocksteady will go above and beyond with the third game.

Edited January 29, 2012 by Dark Energon Johnny

[Chibinuva]

Day 14 - Your Favorite Story in a Video Game.

The Storybook series definitely had my favorite stories (which, given they were "storybook" games, makes sense.) For one, SatBK had great dialogue, especially compared to some of the other stories. Both are really in-depth, while the cutscenes in SatSR were okay, the ones in Black Knight were great (especially since there was the occasional CGI cutscene.) I also appreciated that the themes were somewhat darker, but as in for older kids, not like ShTH where they just incorporated annoying cursing.

Honorable mention goes to ShTH, since while it was kind of confusing, it did have a fair amount of story, and giving Shadow some more character development was a plus. I also enjoyed watching the ten different alternate endings, and the ability to see all the different ways you've played the game in terms of cutscenes.

Edited January 29, 2012 by Spider-Man 2099

[Burnt Ash]

My favorite story in a video game would (it would be SA2, but I've listed that way too many times, so I'm picking a different one) be the Mario and Luigi series. The Mario and Luigi series has some of my favorite game stories of all time. Filled with seriousness (to some extent) and lots of humor (M&L PiT is awesome), the story fails to lose my interest. It really shows that the Mario series can do awesome stories such as these stories.

Honorable mentions:

Sonic Adventures

Sonic Storybook series

Paper Mario series

Edited January 29, 2012 by thebluehedgehog

[Indigo Rush]

It may not be particularly deep.

It may not be all that complicated.

It may not even be very unique.

But son of a gun... Ocarina of Time's plot was epic.

I just can't explain how awesome I find Zelda's story to be, it's not too difficult, not too simple, but it's all too memorable.

Zelda forever, yo.

[Solly]

Day 14.

This is actually really hard for me to decide on. Some stories I'm so familiar with that I don't give them much thought anymore. Maybe their universes and characters are lovable but the overreaching plot isn't that spectacular. For example, I love Ocarina of Time, and everyone and everything in it, but at the end of the day, "Link beats Ganon and saves the princess" isn't at the very top of the charts for me, even its basic yet epic tale is the kind of thing I like to see in a videogame.

So what is my favorite game story? I can't say with absolute certainty, so I'm just gonna go with one that I like so much I can't get it out of my head.

The original Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney trilogy was spectacular to me. Ever since I finished it, I was left with that feeling. The ending was just so perfect, it kicked so much ass...but it was bittersweet, because it had all come to an end. All 3 games were out by the time I played this, and I just knew there wouldn't be any more. The world and its characters were awesome, and the writing was brilliant, but I knew that there wouldn't be a sequel in the same vain with the same cast(until AA5 was recently announced and that became a possibility) and that I wouldn't be able to experience the series for the first time again.

The writing is brilliant, bar a few infuriating leaps in logic and some dumb character names, and as wordy as it all is it never makes you feel like you're wasting your time. THAT is why I picked it.

Honorable Mentions

I know I just downplayed Zelda stories a little bit but don't get me wrong, I really do love them. The universe and characters in Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time are great. There's nothing more satisfying than meeting the people in the world, making an influence on them, unraveling the plot and saving the worlds of Hyrule and Termina. But the overreaching story is not what I remember most about the games, nor is it the most crucial element to me.

And lastly, props to Skies of Arcadia. For a game with an admittedly really cliched plot, it left an impression on me. There was a whimsy to the world and its characters I really admired.

[Cobalt_Bolt]

Day 14 and my favorite story in a video game. I would have to say the Assassin's Creed saga from 2 onwards. The first game was about introuducing the plot of how Abstergo/The Templars are planning on controlling the world using Pieces of Eden. The second game onwards introduced the emotional element into the story in how it affected Ezio and his family from the death of his father and brothers in Firenze to how he sought out the truth in Masyaf. I would say more about the Assassin's Creed saga but I would be spoiling it for those who haven't played it yet.

[Gregzilla]

Day 14 - Favorite Story

Portal 2 - Portal 1 itself was very dark and mysterious, while still laying on laughs as you were trying to figure out what was going on. By the time you boot up Portal 2, the characters have been established, and the mystery is gone. It's just you and the characters going at it in the true colors. And what ensues in the following hours is the absolute best writing I have ever heard in a game. While the first game was dark and mysterious, this one is just hilarious, and some of the atmosphere almost reminds me of something out of an animated movie. And that ending....that ENDING. Probably the best ending I've ever seen in a video game, but I won't talk too much about it just in case that's the topic of another day. I think Valve just might have the best writers in the business. You get to see more GLaDOS (bitchier than ever), hear the delightfully insane Cave Johnson (whose concept of science is absolutely hysterical), and you are introduced to Wheatley, who may be the most loveable character to ever exist ever. The story is perfect, the characters are perfect, and the acting is perfect. As soon as I get my hands on the first Half-Life, I'm gonna play through that series too, because I'm sure the story is just as good. Valve, I tip my hat to ya. In a way that I could go on forever about how much I hate Metroid: Other M, I could probably go on forever about how much I love Portal 2.

....You know what? Nintendo should get Valve to help make the next Metroid game. It won't happen, but if it did I bet it would be pure gold.

Runners Up:

Sonic Adventure - The acting is bad, the writing is awful, the editing is atrocious, but god help me I love it! Despite these problems, I think the underlying story of SA1 just hits all the right notes for me. You got Eggman being badass with machines, an ancient monster before that became a cliche, an enormous airship, a tragic robot, Mystic Ruins, dark pasts of the echidnas and Chao, and all the characters grew up just a litte bit. Though I should probably point out that this is the only game where my nostalgia is so overbearing that it almost refuses to let me not enjoy it.

Silent Hill - I've only played the first one, and while the voice acting is pretty meh, I give this game major props for actually being disturbing and scary to me. Very few games succeed in making me feel scared, but this tale of occult activity and hellish alternate realities really had me interested. I hope someday a new game will come out that's as scary as this, because so far very few games have even come close.