What's the best story in a Japanese game?

So, Japanese games tend to take a lot of flak for how they're written. Gameplay seems to be the focus in most cases, with story being secondary. Stories are often cliched and highly predictable.

What do you think the best written Japanese game is?

Are you actually asking for best story, or most well written story?

@turambar: Either or both, story and writing in games coming out of Japan tend to be heavily maligned, so I wanted to know what some people thought the best exceptions were.

Best is subjective from person to person.

I'll just answer some games I enjoyed

Lost Odyssey

Blue Dragon

Shenmue

Kara no Shoujo

Chrono Trigger

I don't know, if people insist on saying the stories suck in Japanese games, I give up trying to convince them at this point, some people have a natural apprehension to games that are not western developed, I have just learned to accept that.

The best story in a game?

In terms of writing, I'd say P4 has some of the best out of a Japanese game in recent years. No one title gets the "best story" moniker from me, but Deadly Premonition and Dark Souls are probably the two front runners for me, again out of recent years.

I forgot to mention those, but agreed.

That's where I get confused, I would challenge anyone to tell me with a straight face that the plot in Call of Duty and Gears of War isn't just as derivative and repetitious

Well, Monster Girl Quest 3 for 2013. Breaks cliches hard, ends on a high point, a really respectable product considering everything (very non-worksafe, also non-mindsafe). You really have to look hard though, big name wellknown titles are predictable cliché fests especially in Japan, I still expect too much from Square-Enix but then I got into Gust's fine games and the whole Atelier series and it's the quality wellwritten wellproduced respectable sensible JRPG that treats me like an intelligent human being, what I always wanted.

Atelier Ayesha hit PSN as a digital release last February, so for an English language release I'm ready to say that's the best story in a Japanese game of 2013, with the disclaimer being that I've got a psychotic hatred for predictable cliché fests - that game satisfied me better than the last ten years of Square-Enix developments.

NieR is the best written video game of all time.

The Yakua series of course. Especially Kenzan since it is based on Miyamoto Musashi and Yakuza 4 because it is just awesome.

Drakengard has the best story. You may wish death on Cavia for making you play the game (oof!), but you'll stick around for the story and the multiple endings.

Shenmue

Yakuza (the first & third in particular)

Persona 4

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective was a nice story, with some overly stereotypical characters. I remember finding the game in itself boring, but playing through just to see how the story would unfold.

Sonic 06.

Well, first off, I think your premise is flawed. Japanese games were some of the first to really focus on story, and plenty make it an integral part. As for stories often being cliched and predictable- well, true, but I think that applies everywhere and there are always exceptions.

You may get people arguing over Final Fantasies. For my money, FFX is the only really well-written one. I could write an entire essay on why, but it is quite smartly done. I'm sure people will disagree, though, because Final Fantasy is an absurdly divisive franchise.

Ar Tonelico 2 is a much more obscure one, and people familiar with the series by reputation only (and that reputation isn't really that great.) Ar Tonelico 2 - and ONLY 2- is amazing however. Complex characters, a smart, complicated story. A great world. A little on the optimistic side- it's not particularly dark. However, it has one of the worst professional translations I've ever seen (at least in a relatively modern game), which blows. The fan translation is in playtesting and almost done, and looks to be much much better.

Outside of that, Silent Hill 2 is Japanese, and I know a lot of people like it's storytelling (I've never played it). I'm sure theirs many many more- The idea that all Japanese games have stupid, predictable stories is in the same vein as the stereotype that all anime is skeezy crap for shut-ins. There are plenty of bad stories, just as there is plenty of skeezy crap for shut-ins, but dig a little deeper and you can find some really cool stuff.

Oh, I suppose I should mention the persona games, and really the Shin Megami Tensei series in general. Not all of them are great, but most are above average. I love Persona 3, the Devil Summoner games and the Devil Survival games quite a bit.

I'm playing through Persona 4 Golden on my Vita, and I'm about half way through and really enjoying the story so far.

I'd never deny that there are Western games with poorly written stories. I'm more saying that it seems rare that a Japanese game reaches the level that the best Western games hit, that's why I'm wondering what the top tier of Japanese video game stories is. I think maybe I didn't get that across very well in my original post, Take a look at Giant Bomb's GOTY awards for Best Story in the past three years as an example:

2013:

Winner: The Last of Us

Runners up: Gone Home, BioShock Infinite

2012:

Winner: The Walking Dead

Runners up: Dust: An Elysian Tale, Papo & Yo

2011:

Winner: Portal 2

Runners up: Mortal Kombat, Bastion

How many Japanese games do they play, dude? That means nothing.

All the Phoenix Wright games I've played have had great writing, with fun (and ridiculous) plots and genuinely good characters - particularly the first, which didn't have any annoying "weak link" characters. It seemed pretty original, too (though I'm not too well-versed in either Japanese plot clichés or western courtroom dramas, so maybe I can't judge). I don't know if I'd call it "the best" - Japanese games are too big a place for there to be one "best" story - but it's definitley up there.

Drakengard's story is the worst but it is intentionally so. Seriously, fuck that story.

Erm. Persona 3-4. Also tales of Xilla is pretty good.

I'd never deny that there are Western games with poorly written stories. I'm more saying that it seems rare that a Japanese game reaches the level that the best Western games hit. Take a look at Giant Bomb's GOTY awards for Best Story in the past three years as an example:

But are those listing really a reflection of a lack of quality in story telling in Japanese games or just the status quo of most GOTY lists from mainstream gaming publications choosing not to recognize Japanese games in GOTY lists.

They mostly don't play Japanese games with involved stories.

The one where you have amnesia and the leader of a small rebel group. You fight the evil empire that rules the world... even though you were once one of them!!!!

I don't care what anyone says, I have loved the Metal Gear Solid stuff thus far. And I also think, crazy fights aside, Yakuza has some pretty great stuff. Both are franchises with really well realized characters in my opinion. Oh, I thought Catherine was well put together as well.

In all fairness though, I don't play a bunch of japanese story driven games as much as I used to. This past generation has been pretty dominant by games from the west.

For me it's Final Fantasy Tactics I think. It's a well told story with a good amount of drama and political intrigue.

I really do like the Persona games, even though I may have issues with parts. It's overall really fun.

@donchipotle: In all honesty, digesting that story as a 9-year-old probably fucked up my psyche. Oh well! That ending with Caim's sister was pretty greeeeeat.

Do you have any plans to get Drakengard 3?

Best is Final Fantasy Tactics because of Delita who's the best character in anything ever and even pretty close to Shakespearean characters like Iago.

If you really don't like the non Delita elements of FFT (understandable) you could go for Front Mission 3 which has an extremely realistic world view for the near future and the plot/characters to back it up.

Xenosaga is the best one with voice acting; 3 games, 3rd one falls off halfway through because its 4 games jumbled together into one, but it still is pretty good and 1 and 2 are unassailable on the storyline front.

Vagrant Story has a very interesting plot that leaves a lot open to interpretation and Valkyrie Profile 2 is also quite solid.

Final Fantasy X has the best themes but terrible fucking characters so it falls well short, Final Fantasy XII has like a 30 hour story in a 130 hour game so that kind of fails too, Final Fantasy VI is amazing for the first half then it falls apart.

Suikoden V is fantastic as is Shadow Hearts: Covenant.

Deadly Premonition is good but a lot of it is based on shock value which other games do better but also don't rely on exclusively. York might be the best non Delita character out there but he doesn't really tie into the storyline very well. York also doesn't rip his own head off and regenerate though, and that just doesn't cut it.

Crispin Freeman laughs at Nolan North and Troy Baker.

One fact that no one has brought up yet: The quality of the story and writing in a Japanese game, for us, hinges on the translation. If one part is bad, if that element of the story doesn't make sense, I could throw the whole thing off. I'm sure there are plenty of great stories in Japanese games that have been hindered by a bad translation. Conversely there have probably been some games that have been made better, where the translator was a better writer than the original.

But now as I have said that I realize it doesn't really matter if we are just judging what is presented to us.

Metal Gear: Revengeance. Not kidding I loved every second of it! It's sooooooo gooooood. Talking robot dog was THE BEST!

Yakuza 4 seemed pretty alright too. You get to play a Yakuza loan shark and start bar room brawls and street fights. Pretty awesome.

I'd give Shadow of the Colossus the best story for a Japanese game, but it's not the writing that makes it strong. For best written game, probably Persona 4. That game relies on it's on characters, and for the most part, they hit it out of the park.

@tourgen: Thats not what Yakuza is about XD

Yakuza is actually the pinnacle of Japanese view on media. It is the perfect example of what Japanese people want to see. Drama and overemotional scenes and stories. That is why I love Japanese media in general.

Tactics Ogre.

And FF IX.

ffxiii

Could you explain this to me? Shadow of the Colossus is arguably my favorite game of all time, but I think the story is the weakest part of the game. It's told through 2-3 cutscenes throughout the whole game, only the ending of which has any dialogue. It's just a typical 'guy tries to save his girlfriend/sister/wife' story. I NEVER understand why people say the story is so good other than they want to appear artsy.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective may be the best story of any game. Ace Attorney and Persona are also pretty great.

It's the story that's not told to you with the cutscenes that is special. The way you learn about this empty, forbidden land by simply sight-seeing. The way the art direction of the colossi tell their own stories. And most importantly, the guilt you feel by killing these mostly peaceful creatures that seem to have went undisturbed for centuries. It's similar to Dark Souls, in my opinion, with how it says a lot without telling you it directly.

@random45: I think that's why people say that. It makes you sympathetic for the Colossi through their animations and you having some control over their deaths, so the story is enhanced by the fact that it's a game.

Persona 4's story is only absurd in how amazing it is. It breaks the japanese pattern in the sense that it manages to be pretty long and actually make sense throughout.

Most importantly, it does something that most video-game stories never manage to do, especially japanese ones: it's story is about a bigger theme. Japanese storylines usually exist for the sake of themselves. For example, if there is a twist, it is there because it is AEWSOME, rarely for the sake of the themes.

It is a tight, well-paced detective story with mostly good and fun twists, combined with a teen/high-school drama with interesting, coherent and relatable characters.

Edit: To make myself clear, I like a good crazy japanese story "about itself". Most Final Fantasy games are like this, the Xeno games stories are usually pretty good. But it's the fact that Persona 4 rises above that makes it special for me.

I absolutely am getting Drakengard 3.

Really? I'm playing Xenosaga I+II, and I'm not really feeling it. I don't get what the point is. I know there's a point somewhere, but I can't figure out what. Also, I thought 2 was the one that fans don't like.

I defy anyone to say the story of Persona 2: IS is cliched and predictable.

Hopefully they fix the gameplay as the Japanese version was a broken mess but the story's still exactly what one would expect from a Cavia game.

One of the most imaginative JRPG that has been lost since the SNES is Terranigma. I would love a re-release or a remake.

Probably the best story ever put in a video game, with the biggest challenger being The Last of Us.

A broken mess sounds like a step up from most Cavia games.

Ni No Kuni

I actually like the entire Metal Gear storyline with the various Snake characters and beyond batshit developments and where MGS:GZ will go this March (preordered with my $40), but then again..
..some people like the stories of hollywood summer action blockbuster popcornflicks.