Video games with great plots

[Cosmos]

I'm not really a gamer, mostly because I suck at playing video games, but I do appreciate video games as an art form. I like watching playthroughs and "movies" of games made from cutscenes. A while back, I watched the Last of Us and the Walking Dead and was totally blown away by their stories; in particular, I think the Last of Us would have won fucking Oscars if it were a movie.

So I was wondering, can anyone recommend other games that can be enjoyed as movies?

 

[Van Darkholme]

Deadly Premontion because its bascially Twin Peaks.

 

[AN/ALR56]

Wolf among us
Dark dreams don't die
Witcher series
Mass effect series
Far cry 2(my favorite plot and setting of all games I've ever played)
Halo series.
Metal gear series
Hotline Miami.
Max Payne 1 & 2
Mafia 1 & 2.
Hidden and dangerous 1 &2
You need to play them,doesn't matter if you suck.
They are all awesome.
If you want a easier experience then try point and click games like the telltale series of games,1990s pc CD rom adventure games,play those first and then try to play the "harder stuff".

 

[Randy Lahey]

Red Dead Redemption

 

[Trickie]

I don't know if you're into watching "so bad it's good" stuff, but someone made "movies" for Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, and they're pretty fun to watch.

Sure as hell beats playing the games.

 

[John Titor]

- Zero Escape: 9 Hours 9 Door 9 Persons. I always use this as a very good example of story that can be done in a game and not a movie or book. It's not cinematic like what you described but it is worth a look.

- Also has a sequel called Virtue's Last Reward and coming soon is Zero Time Dilemma which shifted its style to Telltale for better or worse.

- There's also Steins;Gate if you haven't already seen the anime. The VN is more detailed.

- Catherine.

- Portal 2 is not only well crafted but has one of the most hilarious writing in games.

 

[Skeletor]

I'm not really a gamer, mostly because I suck at playing video games, but I do appreciate video games as an art form. I like watching playthroughs and "movies" of games made from cutscenes. A while back, I watched the Last of Us and the Walking Dead and was totally blown away by their stories; in particular, I think the Last of Us would have won fucking Oscars if it were a movie.

So I was wondering, can anyone recommend other games that can be enjoyed as movies?

I think somewhere on Youtube there's a montage of all the cutscenes from The Last of Us. Honestly, the ending is one of the best moments in all of zombie fiction.

 

[Watcher]

Legacy of Kain Blood Omen

Grand Theft Auto 4

Wolfenstein the New Order

Spec Ops the Line

 

[Trans Fat 41g]

Hitman: Contracts put an uglier, lonelier tone to the franchise but also fixed the clusterfuck that was the original Codename 47's plot (which left out the aftermath of the Lee Hong assassination, and the events between his Columbia hits and Fuchs hits). In Contracts, the game is set within Blood Money, where the main protagonist is shot in the liver and experiences several violent flashbacks of his first years as a contract killer.

Half Life 2 gets a lot of deserved praise for its core plot handle, but I still think the first games story is unparalleled.

Halo 2's story ended on a sour cliffhanger, but it is arguably darker than the current B-Movie installments. Reach comes close.

The Croc series didn't have much of a lifespan, but it reads like a cutesy kids book and is a great 'funny' game for kids.

 

[broilerrx]

Deus Ex and Deus Ex: Human Revolution are definitely on the list. Skip Invisible War though, since that game is more retarded than a short bus driving down the street whilst blasting Radio Disney.

Another game with an amazing story is Planescape: Torment. There's more I'd list, but I'll save it for another time.

 

[Mark Corrigan]

Betrayal at Krondor
Starcraft + Brood War

 

[tarni]

The Darkness II

 

[P.A]

Trails in the Sky. Not exactly something you can just go out and watch, but the Normal difficulty setting isn't too taxing, and aside from the main plot, you get a lot of smaller side stories if you go digging around.

 

[c-no]

Wizardry 8. The plot itself is that your party is stranded on an alien planet thanks to the spaceship you boarded getting shot down. Along the way you eventually find out your group is the one in a prophecy that is destined to fight the main villain, the Dark Savant. As cliche as that sounds, you eventually discover the true identity of the Dark Savant and you also end up becoming not heroes of the alien planet but rather gods of the universe.

 

[Clown Doll]

Deadly Premontion because its bascially Twin Peaks.

I would greatly recommend supergreatfriend's LP of it on Youtube if you're unable/unwilling to play the game yourself (thought it's on Steam apparently so you should be able to play it). The atmosphere in the game is phenomenal.

 

[Ponderous Pillock]

I'd throw in a couple of Sam Lake's masterpeices (for more Twin Peaks references)

Alan Wake & Alan Wake's American Nightmare
Quantum Break's plot (so far) seems pretty amazing too.

I'd also pretty much recommend anything by Wadjeteye Games. It's all nice point and click genre stuff but the stories and voice acting behind them seem frequently solid. The variety from the same writers always surprises me too.

And finally, I'd also say Life is Strange, especially now it is complete. The plot at times isn't perfect, but it's heavily story driven in the narrative. It also has a tendency of grabbing a knife and stabbing you hard in the gut with all the feels.

 

[SpessCaptain]

LISA, Sunless Sea, Dropsy.

I can't pound into people's skull enough about the beautiful LISA game. I loved every tense moment of it, it really made me into a monster.

Sunless Sea is fucking awesome if you want to read about a Underground Zee-Captain and their exploits. It's heavily influenced by text and is constantly being updated with content. You will lose your ship. You will lose your mind. You will lose your life.

On the other contrast Dropsy has a very unconventional non-texual story about an unlovable clown who just wants a hug, he has a mystery to unravel and the ending just tears you open. It's all done in picture-text so be ready for interpretation!

 

[Van Darkholme]

I would greatly recommend supergreatfriend's LP of it on Youtube if you're unable/unwilling to play the game yourself (thought it's on Steam apparently so you should be able to play it). The atmosphere in the game is phenomenal.

Sadly it's a trash port but I think there are fanmade patches available for fixing certain technical aspects.

 

[MediExcalibur2012]

I'm not really a gamer, mostly because I suck at playing video games, but I do appreciate video games as an art form. I like watching playthroughs and "movies" of games made from cutscenes. A while back, I watched the Last of Us and the Walking Dead and was totally blown away by their stories; in particular, I think the Last of Us would have won fucking Oscars if it were a movie.

So I was wondering, can anyone recommend other games that can be enjoyed as movies?

I've always wanted to see GTAIV as a movie
It's insanely amazing and the story hit me deep

 

[Pepsi-Cola]

If you liked the Walking dead and Wolf Among us, try watching Heavy rain on YouTube or whatever. It's the same concept, a interactive story where your decisions will effect the overall outcome of the plot, but taken to a whole different scale.