The best storyline in game history?

[Ashall]

Metal Gear Solid 3-4 Omg best movie I've ever seen.

Made sure my brother didn't play it unless I was home to watch! lol

I didn't understand a few things but thankfully MGS 4 had enough flashback scenes for me to understand what happened in 1 and 2. All I have to say MGS is epic and the music is great as well. So cried when Naked Snake killed the Boss and most of the latter half of MGS 4.

If they were to make this story into Live Action movies... Awards.

The only games I've played were on the NES.. But I know this had to be one of the best stories for a video game.

[froody1911]

Batman Arkham Series

Despite being two of the best games ever made and having an excellent form of narration, they don't have much in the way of a story. Specially the first one. Its entire story can be summed up in 2 sentences:
"The Joker, who had been manufacturing the titan toxin with some inside help in Arkham, escapes and lets all the inmates loose in an attempt to kill Batman. Batman tries to find an antidote, while fighting some of the baddies he helped put in Arkham, including the Scarecrow who makes him confront his guilt about his parents' death."
Really, that's it. So I'm curious why you feel it's one of the best storylines.

[Maxis2K]

Batman Arkham Series

Despite being two of the best games ever made and having an excellent form of narration, they don't have much in the way of a story. Specially the first one. Its entire story can be summed up in 2 sentences:
"The Joker, who had been manufacturing the titan toxin with some inside help in Arkham, escapes and lets all the inmates loose in an attempt to kill Batman. Batman tries to find an antidote, while battling some of the people he helped put in Arkham, including the Scarecrow who makes him confront his guilt about his parents' death."
Really, that's it. So I'm curious why you feel it's one of the best storylines.

Sometimes a good story doesn't have to have 20 hours of dialogue and 'deep' plots.

I would argue that Batmah Arkham Asylum was good because it was just the right amount of emphasis on everything.  Much of the story was told by your exploration of the Asylum, not just Joker talking to you through TVs.  But when Joker did interact with you, it was done exceedingly well.

I think the story for Arkham City is kind of the opposite.  There's 10x more content to the story and a good 10 different villains involved.  And in this case, the awesome parts came from all the tie-ins you made with past storyline.  Ras al Gul and Talia al Gul for example.  Its like they just picked right up from where the Animated series left off and continued their story.

Anyway, long story short, a story doesn't have to be long, heh.  I mean, if I was gonna pick a story purely because of its length, I'd pick Red Dead Redemption.  But its not quite the best story I've ever seen in a game.

[froody1911]

I agree that telling the story through exploration was an excellent idea, I already mentioned that. But yes, I personally do think that a good story ought to have some depth. To me, narration isn't the same as the story itself. Arkham City fares better in story length and development, but again it's not anything mindblowing.
To each his own I guess.

[Maxis2K]

I agree that telling the story through exploration was an excellent idea, I already mentioned that. But yes, I personally do think that a good story ought to have some depth. To me, narration isn't the same as the story itself. Arkham City fares better in story length and development, but again it's not anything mindblowing.
To each his own I guess.

Well yeah, its entirely based on opnion.  Lots of people think games like MGS4 and Final Fantasy VII have the best stories ever.  I rather think a 'good' story in a game is one that works with the flow of gameplay, not just being a story for the sake of story.  This is probably why I consider Arkham Asylum to be a well done story, because it became a reason to have gameplay.  While Joker is chattering away on a TV, you're still running around exploring or beating up bad guys.  Unlike most games where you have to stop and see an exchange between your character and the villain (or his accomplices).  A perfect example of the opposite extreme is Final Fantasy Tactics.  Many times it'll stop you right in the middle of battle to have a 10 minute back and forth with a particular Enemy.  Stuff like that just breaks the illusion to me and feels forced.

But anyway, I ramble.  Note, people who like FFVII or Tactics, I mean no disrespect.  I just personally like stories that don't detract from the flow of the game.  Bonus points for games that use dialogue and exposition while allowing you to keep exploring/fighting.

[Ashall]

I watched my nephew play Arkham, I think it was the first one. It just looked like another button smasher to me. But hey what do I know, the only batman thing I've seen is the Christian Bale movies. He seemed to enjoy it.

[Maxis2K]

I watched my nephew play Arkham, I think it was the first one. It just looked like another button smasher to me. But hey what do I know, the only batman thing I've seen is the Christian Bale movies. He seemed to enjoy it.

In all honesty, it is a kind of button masher, just like al the Freeroam games that have come out, including things like Grand Theft Auto.  The difference is, you have to time when to hit the buttons and counter people's attacks.

I'll be the first to admit Assassins Creed, Red Dead Redemption and Batman Arkham aren't the deepest games in terms of gameplay imput.  But they're super fun.

[Nikkoru]

If were discussing storylines in a game series, I would agree with Metal Gear as the best. Outside of its sheer creativity and cinematic quality, Metal Gear has the most splendid and innovative methods of blending the gameplay with the story elements so as to make them completely fluid. I am surprised it wasn't optioned as a movie itself, I doubt it would match my expectation - but as far as transmedia is concerned it's ripe for other potential outlets.

If I had to pick a single game rather than a series, Beyond Good and Evil was brilliant. Its characters, setting, plot, and general artistic flare not only made it exceptional - but unique.

[Ashall]

If were discussing storylines in a game series, I would agree with Metal Gear as the best. Outside of its sheer creativity and cinematic quality, Metal Gear has the most splendid and innovative methods of blending the gameplay with the story elements so as to make them completely fluid. I am surprised it wasn't optioned as a movie itself, I doubt it would match my expectation - but as far as transmedia is concerned it's ripe for other potential outlets.

I feel the same way but just thinking about that as a movie is awesome. I mean if they could get Kojima to direct it with a huge budget, I bet the film industry could pull it off.