Does any game have a story that you’d put up next to the greats in other media (film, books, tv, etc.)?

[Jangowuzhere]

No, of course not.

But I don't think that's how games should be evaluated, nor is that a goal that should be aspired to. Games are more experiential than a traditional narrative. I think a more interesting question would be: have you ever been as emotionally affected by a game as you were a book or movie?

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That's the main reason I play games. I always feel a greater sense of emotion when I play a game. Whether dread, excitement, sadness, happiness, etc. Games do more for me on an emotional level. I don't believe games need a strong narrative to emotionally resonate with people. On the other hand, movies and books with weak stories have a much harder time connecting with people. Games do not suffer from the same problem.

 

[Deleted member 984]

I think people should stop trying to put video games on the same pedestal as other mediums. Just let video games be their own unique and amazing thing without constantly comparing them to film/TV and literature.

Pretty sure film went through this sort of acceptance crisis as well. The world's greatest films pale in comparison to the depth and story of the world's greatest books.

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Games actually have great potential as a narrative medium that can be just as good if not better than movies and literature in certain cases. However it's about finding its voice what works with gameplay (which they are only just starting to do), tell stories with sincere emotional connections that are more than one character which highlight relationships of all kinds, interesting and diverse narrative structures, using camera, framing, lighting and colour to support the narrative and add depth and purpose, take on the traditional narrative genres and artistic movements. Ultimately just grow up and stop falling back on zombies, aliens, superheroes and soldiers, take the kiddie gloves off and start tackling real issues rather than save the world nonsense.

 

[Sev]

I wouldn't hold tv/film writing in very high regard in the first place. Books are a completely different story, though.

As a whole books are probably better, but personally there are a lot of video game stories I just find more appealing or that simply resonate with me more than most books, counting visual novels as games. They're completely different things with completely different stories to tell and ways to do so,naturally 1:1 comparisons aren't completely fair.

 

[nachum00]

Nah, not really. Some of my favorite games are Shadow of the Colossus, Silent Hill 2, Killer 7 and Hotel Dusk. And I consider their story's/writing to be far higher than that of almost any other game. But I can't even compare them to the best films I've seen or books I've read. Video games still have a long way to go.

 

[RingoGaSuki]

Measure up to? Dragon Quest V, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, FE Awakening, Earthbound and Mother 3 all far out do any movie or book I've ever read or watched.

 

[Dogenzaka]

Of course. Video games have had great stories for decades.

Silent Hill 2
Shadow of the Colossus
Earthbound
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
Virtue's Last Reward
Nier and Nier Automata
Yakuza 0 and Kiwami
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Ace Attorney
Final Fantasy X and XII
Metal Gear Solid 1-3
Persona 3-5
Catherine

And those are from giving it just a few minutes of thought.

 

[CrocoDuck]

MGS2, MGS3, MGS5, Silent Hill 2, off the top of my head.

 

[Vito]

The Last of Us exists OP.

 

[Shifty1897]

Is the story actually good? I haven't played this game, but I read a synopsis and it sounded incredibly melodramatic and contrived...

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To The Moon is so good I teared up a little thinking about it just now. Basically a video game adaptation of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

 

[Ingenious Idiot]

The problem is that our lens through which we analyse the narratives of games is so weak that the games that do even stand out don't really receive the same kind of lasting thought that works in other mediums do. Basically there's a lack of academic thought on games, but I think if this existed more prominently games like Shadow of the Colossus, Undertale, and even stuff like Dark Souls and Bloodborne when you consider everything in the games as a whole in the narrative it is presenting, would be viewed very highly.

Do you believe todays literary classics where considered as important as they are now upon their orginal release? It's only with the great legacy of literary criticism they really gain the kind of cultural recognition they have. That's what is missing from games right now

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This.

 

[OniluapL]

Yeah, of course. And honestly, that kind of comparison bothers me, because what is considered "great" in these threads is such a narrow view of what constitutes good writing - it's always those "prestige" stories, those which are seem as more refined or tasteful. But honestly, wacky stories, weird stories or stories in some "lesser" genre can be just as good or better. Books and film just have more cultural prestige, and even then, my favorite books and movies aren't ones from some kind of canon as well.

 

[Mega Man X]

Xenogears
Bioshock
Red Dead Redemption
The Last of Us

 

[Tetra-Grammaton-Cleric]

The Legacy of Kain games have some of the best world-building and characterization I've encountered and would make excellent novels, films or even a premium TV series.

 

[jviggy43]

Not even close. At all.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

Of course.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd
Mother 3
Nier and Nier Automata

 

[Deleted member 32822]

Nier Automata.

 

[Tonton]

The only plausible answer is Please Bang My Wife

 

[Kumomeme]

Heavensward pretty good though

it could become great novel, tv series or even trilogy movie, atleast for me

 

[TheRulingRing]

TLOU is the only one out of the major games imo

 

[Kinggroin]

No, but I also don't think they have to. I don't think game stories are shit either, I just look at them differently than other forms of media.

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This

 

[Mona]

Video games are some of my favorite pieces of media, stories included. But I don't know if I would put any of their stories up next to the greatest of all time

 

[Phendrana]

I didn't know about this, just looked this up. How I have never heard of this baffles me, but I'll watch this tonight.
Thank you so much for bringing it to my attention! :D

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You should watch Primer as well, if you haven't already. Best time travel film I've ever seen.

I recall Steins;Gate having notable holes in its time travel logic, but I don't know if that was an issue in the game, too.

 

[Roy]

Horizon Zero Dawn tells a pretty awesome Sci-Fi Story, if you are willing to watch all holograms and read the entries. Blew me away.

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True. Would have made an excellent film or mini series

 

[Deleted member 1656]

I think so, especially if we're talking about player-driven story. Though some people don't consider player-driven story real story...

 

[coma]

No, not even close. Netflix Originals-tier at best.

Games that use their interactive nature to enhance the narrative (Brothers, Edith Finch, etc.) show that the medium still has a lot of room to grow though.

 

[Lylo]

They are not really comparable, videogames can tell greats stories that take advantage of the medium. I'm not sure if SOMA would work so well if it was a movie (maybe a book would work), i really like the way the story uncovers as you progress. I love that game, always leaves me thinking every time i finish it. Very few movies or books had that effect on me.

 

[affeinvasion]

Media all have different criteria for success and to measure one against the other inevitably means that you are going to be short-changing one of them. It would be like starting a thread that asked "Does any novel have gameplay or interactivity that you'd put up next to the best video games?" That being said, the combination of narrative and gameplay systems of certain games like Ghost Trick and RDR definitely had an effect on me that I would compare to some of my favorite novels or films.

 

[OsakaDon]

In my personal opinion the less story a game has the better it is. I don't come to games for story. Just give me some simple motivations and I'm good to go.
At best have the games story be told through the environment.

I just don't care about story or two shlubs jaw jacking on about bullshit. I have some time to play so just give me some fun stuff to do and let me play.

Of the games with story that I liked I would say that the Resident series had my attention. I liked the mystery about it all, so disappointed that it was butchered when it turned to a movie.

 

[Alucard_DCLXVI_]

I, for one, certainly would put stories told in the interactive arts next to classically told stories.

"Games" being by nature interactive "lessens" (debatable) authorial control, but that does not hinder narratives to be told; in some ways it can even supposedly be a stronger channel to strengthen narratives due to the mediums' ability to engage its' participant. One obvious suggestion of this would be "Journey" which simply cannot be "told" or re-imagined in another medium.
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Given the interactive nature of games - it's hard to compare its' stories towards to the linear counterparts of classical mediums; furthermore it's difficult to wage which "tells" a story better or not.

Silent Hill 2, for example, is the one piece of art that have had the most effect on me in the horror genre; with Lynch's Inland Empire and Lovecraft's stories close behind.
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Then again, "Games" is heavily commercialized and its' aim is not always to primarily tell stories. But if they weren't telling stories at all - I would not be here talking about them; and I would presumably just disregard the medium as a time-wasting toy.
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The future is bright though, and there's hope. Heck, God of War released a year ago - and that's a great story I cannot find anywhere else told in the way it told its' story.

 

[LazyLain]

There have been stories told in games that I've enjoyed just as much as my favorite movies, so yes absolutely.

But just like any other medium, I do think that storytelling in videogames has unique advantages/disadvantages... so it's still a bit of an apples to oranges comparison, even when strictly judging the story.

 

[RedSwirl]

Horizon Zero Dawn tells a pretty awesome Sci-Fi Story, if you are willing to watch all holograms and read the entries. Blew me away.

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4. Horizon Zero Dawn

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I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy and I would hold these games up as comparable to many of the genre greats:

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (which it manages to tell without words), Horizon: Zero Dawn, God of War (recent), What Remains of Edith Fitch, Mass Effect Trilogy (sure the ending, but 99% of the rest was awesome), Witcher 3, and KOTOR, Chrono Trigger, The Gardens Between, and Lost Odyssey.

Most games you can almost see where the narrative gets shuffled to the back for a mechanics or cropped due to time to polish other aspects, or were shoe horned in to explain an objective regardless if it didn't match up with the established character/s. Very few do story well and often it's they do it 'good for a video game'. Those I mention not only do it well but blend so well with the interactive portions that instead of feeling like they're competing for the player's attention or merely existing in service to the other, that it shows off what a unique story telling method games can be.

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I like what MGS2 goes after thematically and I think it's executed really well.

I think Horizon Zero Dawn covers its setting and topics extremely well, too. I could almost see the script for many of its scenarios actually hashing out into a decent sci-fi series.

And I think many others are capable of reaching some emotionally profound responses from me, even if they don't hold up on the storytelling and world building quite as well. I'd prop up God of War 2018 as an example of this. Some of the scenes and themes of that game are so memorable because they really felt emotionally charged.

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True. Would have made an excellent film or mini series

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I gotta bring this up finally because I've heard no one else really talk about it: I got the feeling Horizon Zero Dawn really wanted to be the Nausicaä manga. Not the Nausicaä anime movie, but specifically the manga.

I know Guerrilla openly stated the game's Studio Ghibli inspirations (you could probably spot some Princess Mononoke in the game), but the overall plot, setting, and the ending to me seem to mirror the Nausicaä manga too closely for it to be coincidence.

It is hard for me to overstate how much better the manga is than the movie. Hayao Miyazaki is going down in the history books for shit like Mononoke and Spirited Away, but believe me when I say his Nausicaä manga towers over all of his movies.

To want to make a game out of it is an idea worth praise in and of itself. People say that like 90 percent of JRPGs are probably just trying to be Castle in the Sky, but really they're trying to be that and Nausicaä. Really, it was about time a big-budget western open-world game tried to capture the same energy. Horizon ends up being way less morally and politically complex (and a lot less epic if you ask me) and is bogged down on the needs of being a modern AAA open-world game and thus doomed to follow the Ubisoft template, but I guess you still gotta appreciate the underexplored concept and how Guerrilla's artists ended up executing it.

 

[Altera]

No. I know a lot of people are saying The Last of Us, but I couldn't disagree more. You can easily point to all the (better) stories told in movies that The Last of Us very clearly took "inspiration" from and just told the story worse.

 

[Deleted member 15447]

Legacy of Kain series.

 

[Majora's Mask]

Red Dead Redemption II could very well be against the very best old west movies. Fight me.

 

[Kito]

Oh, to the best of other media?
Yeah, no.

EDIT: Actually, I think Steins;Gate is the best time travel story ever. But that barely qualifies as a game.

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How's Steins;Gate 0? Is the anime or game better overall?

 

[jdstorm]

I gotta bring this up finally because I've heard no one else really talk about it: I got the feeling Horizon Zero Dawn really wanted to be the Nausicaä manga. Not the Nausicaä anime movie, but specifically the manga.

I know Guerrilla openly stated the game's Studio Ghibli inspirations (you could probably spot some Princess Mononoke in the game), but the overall plot, setting, and the ending to me seem to mirror the Nausicaä manga too closely for it to be coincidence.

It is hard for me to overstate how much better the manga is than the movie. Hayao Miyazaki is going down in the history books for shit like Mononoke and Spirited Away, but believe me when I say his Nausicaä manga towers over all of his movies.

To want to make a game out of it is an idea worth praise in and of itself. People say that like 90 percent of JRPGs are probably just trying to be Castle in the Sky, but really they're trying to be that and Nausicaä. Really, it was about time a big-budget western open-world game tried to capture the same energy. Horizon ends up being way less morally and politically complex (and a lot less epic if you ask me) and is bogged down on the needs of being a modern AAA open-world game and thus doomed to follow the Ubisoft template, but I guess you still gotta appreciate the underexplored concept and how Guerrilla's artists ended up executing it.

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See this is why we can't have nice things. This moving goalposts comment is very, ima let you finish but Beyoncé had the best album this year.

You liking something more, doesn't nesecarily invalidate what is being done by the other work. Besides Horizon isn't a story about complex global politics it's a personal story about a girl coming to accept herself. In many ways the media it shares the most in common with is Moana

 

[Fredrik]

No.

Simply put there aren't enough text and/or spoken words in games to compare well with media focused on just that.

 

[Deeke]

Halo for sure. It has this distinct sci-fi grit that taps wonder, hope, and a dogged fearless determination in the face of impossible odds. Hunted down to near eradication by a merciless foe from the stars, humanity has few beacons of hope, and you, Spartan, are the last line of defense.

Every time I play, I try the riskiest things possible just to so what will happen, the way I imagine John would. He doesn't think, he's all instinct, like the purest manifestation of bravery against a tide of terrifying enemies.

His relationship with Cortana also affected me too. And, of course, every other Halo game told its unique story (Reach was a particularly humanizing portrayal of sacrifice, duty, and honor.)

 

[Dabi3]

Bioshock

 

[Soneji]

Pure story? Not really. Storytelling though, definitely, with Ueda's works(Ico, SotC, TLG) and Majora's Mask being the GOATs,

 

[Issen]

Medallion's humming. Witcher thread. Must be.

 

[sapien85]

Rdr 2, last of us, nier automata, first Bioshock till the twist are the closest I can think of but not on the same level as the best no.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy game is better than the movie by a long shot

and I'd say Portal 2 is funnier than many comedies I've seen, with a better story, too.

 

[Drwu]

I'd say yes cause the whole idea of the "best" works in other mediums is flawed and constantly changing. Like how does the best movie stand up to the best book? What are the best movie and the best book? How are we measuring it. With out any kind of qualifiers it becomes a kinda vague and meaningless arguement. Almost like comparing languages. "Tagalog is so much better then Urdu". Doesn't really make sense to compare the two

 

[Zhukov]

Hahaha.

Nope.

The absolute best game stories are on the level of a pretty good movie or book.

The absolute best movie and book stories effortlessly shit upon all of gaming from great height.

 

[Elixist]

I didn't know about this, just looked this up. How I have never heard of this baffles me, but I'll watch this tonight.
Thank you so much for bringing it to my attention! :D

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i wish i could watch it for the first time again XD, classic film. one my favorite bruce willis and brad pitt performances.

 

[Nikus]

Hahaha.

Nope.

The absolute best game stories are on the level of a pretty good movie or book.

The absolute best movie and book stories effortlessly shit upon all of gaming from great height.

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You played the wrong games
Xenogears and Silent Hill 2 alone shit on so many good movies it's not even funny

 

[squidyj]

Ah shit I forgot Silent Hill 2 in my first post.
Shame.

 

[Oaklight]

Video games as a medium are still in their infancy compared to literature which has existed for many centuries, so of course you will find more elegant, evolved, and more effective ways of telling a story there.

I feel that video games already provide great experiences by simply allowing the player to shape their own stories and interact with them in various ways through gameplay. Classic storytelling methods found in the other mediums isn't the sole factor in video games so we shouldn't judge them solely on that.

Video games need more time to stew in the soup of time before they are ready to tackle the greats, but they are already well on their way. Who knows how evolved the medium could become in a century or a thousand years?

 

[Deeke]

GTA V Stories, starring Steven Ogg as Trevor Phillips.