gaming What video game genre has the best storyline?

[AveryGamerDude 4,640]

I plan on making a game as a career when I grow up. I understand that it will take years of time and cost a lot of money, but I'm okay with that. As long as the game gets an average score of 95% on Metacritic. But I know that in order to achieve that, I'm gonna need an unforgettable storyline. Some games I've seen that were hailed for their story were Mother 3 (Fantasy), Halo (Sci-Fi), The Last of Us (Post-Apocalyptic Survival-Horror), and Grand Theft Auto (Crime). Just to name a few. But I wanna know which genre is the holy grail of story telling. Is it fantasy? Is it Crime? Is it Sci-fi? I just don't know. Can you guys help me out here? I know this probably isn't the best place to look for advice on gaming storylines, but I need all the help I can get. If you help me out, I'll be eternally grateful.

[Discordian 6,013]

Genre and story aren't usually tied so closely. The most you'll get out of any genre is length and possibly how interactive the story is with the gameplay. How good a story is won't usually have anything to do with it's genre. For example: RPGs tend to have very long stories but can overstay their welcome even though it's practically in the name of the genre. There are gameplay-centric games that have amazingly minimalistic stories such as some of the more famous Hack'n'Slash games (Devil May Cry, God of War, etc.).

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,152]

As @Discordian put it genre doesn't necessarily equate to a good story. I mean I'd put the excellent story lines and character development of great WRPGs like Dragon Age: Origins and The Witcher 2 against other games like The Last of Us and Red Dead Redemption any day of the week. All four games have GREAT story lines.

 

Period.

[ScarfaceOne 263]

Narrative Adventures and Stealth are generally the best. Narrative adventures were designed around storylines. Tomb Raider 1-3 also had very good storylines. Against evil people who wanted to destroy the world.

[MarkKB 32]

Wot, no racing?

 

Yeah, I know, racing games tend to have cheesy stories, if they have them at all. But I'm a big fan of cheese, and besides, the first racing game to really hit a story out of the park will get all the moneys*.

 

* Probably not really

 

In all seriousness, I think you're approaching this in the wrong direction. The best story-based games don't come from a specific genre. Instead, they are the ones where the story lends itself to gameplay - you've got to nail down the gameplay first before you start thinking story details.

 

Questions like - how are you going to interact with the world? What 'attributes' will the characters have? How will they be replenished or buffed? How will enemies or 'risks' interact with you? These help inform your decisions on how to approach the story - you can then ask yourself, what explains these gameplay elements in-universe?

 

I'll point to Bioshock and Portal as two games that exemplify this kind of thinking. Both games begin with the gameplay - plasmids v. "zombies" (splicers) and mechs (Big Daddies) for one, portals v. chasms (toxic pools) and turrets for the other - and work back from there to explain why you are in that position, and why the risks are there. They feel a lot more real because the gameplay has been fully integrated into the fabric of the world.

 

I'm not saying don't have a general idea of a story in mind, but generally, attempting to work a detailed story into a game is hard. Bang out the gameplay early, and let that be the scaffolding for your story. (And really, that's true for any genre.)

Edited August 11, 2014 by MarkKB

[Everleaf 541]

Well any it honestly depends on how well it was written in general the genre itself has little to do with the storyline it just depends on the storyline of it itself....

 

[AveryGamerDude 4,640]

Narrative Adventures and Stealth are generally the best. Narrative adventures were designed around storylines. Tomb Raider 1-3 also had very good storylines. Against evil people who wanted to destroy the world.

Stealth games?! YES! That's awesome, because the game I'm gonna make is gonna be a lot like Grand Theft Auto, but with a much higher emphasis on stealth.

[Mr. Forest 135]

I was going to choose 'RPG', but in all honesty 'Sci-Fi' seems more correct.  Most of the games I've played that have great stories are based mostly around science fiction.  Then again, I love sci-fi so I may be just a little biased.

[boiteporte 591]

I think RPGs offer much more potential for good story-telling.

This is because a lot of RPG games offer very detailed worlds and rich backstory. Most characters are also very deep. And several RPGs offer different possible branching paths as well.

[Deathstroke 1,564]

Was gonna vote for war but i remembered that all of fps games follow a cliche storyline 

 

*America in war in the middle east*  

 

*a squad of super soldiers that can't be killed whatsoever* 

 

*the squad discover that a Russian helped those terrorists* 

 

*the squad kills the Russian* 

 

This is getting repetitive uninspired bullshit 

[Jammo 986]

Was gonna vote for war but i remembered that all of fps games follow a cliche storyline 

 

*America in war in the middle east*  

 

*a squad of super soldiers that can't be killed whatsoever* 

 

*the squad discover that a Russian helped those terrorists* 

 

*the squad kills the Russian* 

 

This is getting repetitive uninspired bullshit 

To be fair Advanced Warfare is doing some things I haven't seen before. Where the conflict was America's own incompetence on forcing democracy on parts of the world and the private contractors use for their shadier jobs turning against them using the USs own technology. Far less "America fuck yeah"

[Deathstroke 1,564]

To be fair Advanced Warfare is doing some things I haven't seen before. Where the conflict was America's own incompetence on forcing democracy on parts of the world and the private contractors use for their shadier jobs turning against them using the USs own technology. Far less "America fuck yeah"

Still, our "heros" will be Americans so still uninspired 

Edited August 11, 2014 by Deathstroke

[Jammo 986]

Still, our "heros" will be Americans so still uninspired

 

The same could be said about most Hollywood movies. It's not gonna be an amazing story but I am gonna give it credit. It took more thought than "We're fighting these evil foreign men now."

 

That being said. I'll play RPGs for story. JRPGs need a Renaissance. :3 Japan told some of the best stories on SNES and PS1.

Edited August 11, 2014 by Jammo

[Tao 6,736]

Ima RPGer if anything and old time school soul!

 

Star Fox

Zelda

FF X

Persona 3/4

Okami

KH 2

Arc the Land

Pokemon

Parasite Eve

[Discordian 6,013]

Stealth games?! YES! That's awesome, because the game I'm gonna make is gonna be a lot like Grand Theft Auto, but with a much higher emphasis on stealth.

You're still thinking about it the wrong way. Choosing the genre won't affect your story that heavily, it's more about the gameplay. Stealth is a gameplay-specific genre definition. The story isn't affected in the slightest.

[rarity1 461]

I like RPG games that allows me to shape my own storyline like Skyrim and Fallout.