I Don't Play Many Games. Narrative Game Recommendations

I've been a premium subscriber for a while and I've been visiting Giant Bomb for about 1.5 years but I don't play many if any narrative driven games.

The games I've previously put time into in recent years have been competitive games like TF2 (about 7-8 years ago) and Rocket League. I've previously played Super Meat Boy, Journey, and I continue to play Tetris but I'm not sure that counts.

I tried playing Doom but it wasn't for me, completed 40-50% of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End but I didn't care for the story nor Drake, played Half-Life 2 when it came out and again a couple of years ago but I didn't find the narrative engaging.

When I was younger, I remember enjoying the first 3 Metal Gear Solid games and Max Payne. I've tried playing MGS 4 in recent years but I felt I no longer cared, so I stopped.

I was hoping you guys and girls could help recommend games for me to try. I'm looking for something that has depth to the story and is engaging, and the gameplay is fun and relevant to the story.

EDIT: There are omissions in my original post which I didn't realise. I played Bioshock Infinite (~4 years ago) and I was around a third to a half way through the game but I just wasn't invested in the story. I also played Skyrim (~6 years ago and never completed it) and whilst I enjoyed the variety in combat, I tired myself out by playing the game too thoroughly. And most recently, I played Firewatch but the lack of gameplay was brutal and just couldn't get myself to complete it even though I was really interested in the potential blossoming of romance between the two characters.

Extra Info:

What kind of story are you looking for? Something crazy and bombastic? Or something more subdued?

I want to keep an open mind and I'm willing to try anything as long as the story has depth on a level which probes and explores fundamental ideas, such as - randomly off the top of my head - is all power bad? is humanity worth saving? or explores parent child relationships or explores our passivity to global warming. A story which has subtext to be succinct.

Having said that, Journey was beautiful and it's story didn't fulfill the above. The journey that was created for my emotions with the music, visuals, the story and the relationship with your buddy on the same journey was beautiful.

Do you like a bunch of worldbuilding and side details? Or would you rather just never listen to an audiolog or read a random letter laying on the ground again?

I don't mind reading letters or listening to audiologs as long as I don't have to spend vast amounts of time doing either. But I want to keep an open mind so if the other aspects of the game are on point, then I'm willing to compromise.

What kind of game length are you looking for? How deep do you like your RPG mechanics?

I'm not sure about game length because it's been years and years since I completed a game. I'm not sure if I like RPG mechanics and I'm willing to keep an open mind, anything that would be easy to pick up and no really in depth inventory management but again, I'm willing to compromise if it's a story I'd like to explore.

What kind of story are you looking for? Something crazy and bombastic? Or something more subdued? Do you like a bunch of worldbuilding and side details? Or would you rather just never listen to an audiolog or read a random letter laying on the ground again? What kind of game length are you looking for? How deep do you like your RPG mechanics? What sort of perspective do you prefer?

...and have you played The Witcher 3 yet? Asking that one because every other post is probably going to recommend it. Once per page you might get someone recommending Prey or Wolfenstein: The New Order/The New Colossus.

@justin258

What kind of story are you looking for? Something crazy and bombastic? Or something more subdued?

I want to keep an open mind and I'm willing to try anything as long as the story has depth on a level which probes and explores fundamental ideas, such as - randomly off the top of my head - is all power bad? is humanity worth saving? or explores parent child relationships or explores our passivity to global warming. A story which has subtext to be succinct.

Having said that, Journey was beautiful and it's story didn't fulfill the above. The journey that was created for my emotions with the music, visuals, the story and the relationship with your buddy on the same journey was beautiful.

Do you like a bunch of worldbuilding and side details? Or would you rather just never listen to an audiolog or read a random letter laying on the ground again?

I don't mind reading letters or listening to audiologs as long as I don't have to spend vast amounts of time doing either. But I want to keep an open mind so if the other aspects of the game are on point, then I'm willing to compromise.

What kind of game length are you looking for? How deep do you like your RPG mechanics? What sort of perspective do you prefer?

I'm not sure about game length because it's been years and years since I completed a game. I'm not sure if I like RPG mechanics and I'm willing to keep an open mind, anything that would be easy to pick up and no really in depth inventory management but again, I'm willing to compromise if it's a story I'd like to explore.

What do you mean by perspective? Like first or third person? I don't mind either

Would you recommend Witcher 3, Wolfenstein or Prey based on the above?

The Nintendo DS has a lot of amazing adventure games that are mostly story based. The Ace Attorney games had you investigating crime scenes and then tripping up witnesses in court by presenting evidence to contradict their statements. Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors had a group of nine people kidnapped and left on the ship where you have to solve Escape the Room sections to progress. Hotel Dusk had you as a retired P.I. discovering the secrets of the hotel he's staying at through puzzle solving and talking to the residents. These have a lot of reading, to the point you do more of that than playing, so if that's not your bag they might not be for you.

If you're looking for something on home consoles, the recent God of War is great. It has an engaging story with deep combat and loot. Nier: Automata is a recent classic with a story about the nature of ai consciousness and fun character action gameplay. The Yakuza games offer an open world in Japan with stories that often delve deep into the politics of a Yakuza organization. I would call its gameplay the evolution of the 2d brawler, as well as tons of fun mini games based on Japanese culture such as karaoke and managing a hostess bar.

I know most everyone on this site hates the Kingdom Hearts series (available in its entirety through the 1.5+2.5 collection and 2.8 collection on PS4) but I will never stop proclaiming that it's story is perfect and it's gameplay is amazing.

Have you played Mass Effect 2? Fleshed out teammates, all dialogue fully voiced, and streamlined gameplay.

ME1 has a better main story, but the gameplay is a bit rough. If you can find 1 cheap maybe try it and see if you can stomach the rough edges. Otherwise go straight to 2. You can still enjoy 2 on its own (I started the series on 2, and then was compelled to go back and play 1 - 2 - 3 again).

Both games are around 20 hours.

The Witcher hits 3 of your 4 points here pretty squarely. The Last of Us also covers some similar ground. Both are phenomenal as far as I'm concerned, two of my favorite games and game stories ever.

The Witcher 3 is a lot longer than The Last of Us (100+ hours versus 15 or so for The Last of Us). The Witcher also has a lot of RPG systems and inventory stuff going on. It's not the most complicated RPG, but it is an open world game with many systems at work. You could always play on the easiest difficulty and ignore a lot of that stuff to focus on the story.

The Last of Us is more straightforward. It's a linear game that is entirely driven by the story. The Witcher 3 gives you a lot of freedom and is stuffed with (very good) side content, while The Last of Us will just take you through the story as you go. The Witcher 3 is absolutely worth experiencing, especially for the story, but if I wouldn't advise doing so unless you were on board with the level of time commitment you'd be getting yourself into.

So, you picked the wrong Uncharted. If Drake as a puckish rogue with a heart of gold getting into some Indiana Jones nonsense sounds more fun, check out Uncharted 2.

Uncharted 4 was some dour nonsense.

Naughty Dog CAN do dour well. The Last of Us was great.

I’m a sucker for Bioshock 1 and Bioshock Infinite as story-based games. Bioshock 1 has tones of horror, whereas Infinite is much brighter and dreamier, as a setting.

KOTOR is a classic I still go back to. The Witcher series is also great for its story.

If you want something quicker and more linear, Spc Ops The Line is fantastic, brief and approachable. It’s the only game in my adult life that I beat in a sitting, aside from 30 Flights of Loving.

Alan Wake is an all-time favorite of mine, and is pretty brief.

What else...it has it’s flaws, but I really dug Quantum Break. Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls fit in this category as well. None are super long either.

Telltale’s Tales from the Borderlands is great, as is Walking Dead Season 1 and The Wolf Among Us. They’re page turners, for sure.

Firewatch and Gone Home are great “walking simulator” story games.

While it’s hardly the greatest story ever told, playing through the Metal Gear Solid series is a wild ride. Also from Konami, Silent Hill 2 is amazing, but the HD upgrade was apparently bad. You’d have to find a way to play the Xbox, PS2 or original PC versions.

Mass Effect as a trilogy probably doesn’t quite hold, but Mass Effect 2 probably holds and is kinda a self-contained story.

It's always worth noting that 100 percenting The Witcher 3 probably would require a hundred plus hours, but just doing the primary stuff - the story and any sidequest that comes about as part of the story - is only around thirty or forty hours, maybe less if you're rushing on an easy difficulty. If OP plays TW3, I strongly recommend doing any sidequest that's given as part of the main quest. There are some parts to that game that I can't believe you can just skip. That said, TW3 also has lots of RPG stuff going on - you spend no small amount of time in menus, and the gameplay - while fine - is not the game's strong suit. And weapon degradation is in the game and sucks, as always. I agree that it's worth experiencing.

However, seeing as the OP has mentioned having a problem finishing games, I honestly don't think that diving into a game with all the depth and breadth of The Witcher 3 is the best idea. The Last of Us might be a better choice, as that game's story is also pretty great and it's at most 20 hours long, probably less if you're playing on an easier difficulty. But I have a hard time recommending The Last of Us anymore. Last time I tried to play it, I just couldn't make myself play those clicker sections. They suck. They suck hard, some of the most infuriating stealth design I have ever had the displeasure of enduring.

Would you recommend Witcher 3, Wolfenstein or Prey based on the above?

The Witcher 3 has the best and most expansive writing, story, characters, and so on out of all three - but you have to be aware of how much is there. You might wind up biting off far more than you can chew, and the gameplay doesn't always hold up to the quality of the story - again, it's generally fine, and difficulty is rarely the problem, but gameplay isn't going to float you through the game.

I like Wolfenstein: The New Order a whole hell of a lot. I've played it several times over the years and enjoyed it every time. Like Witcher 3, the gameplay doesn't always hold up to the story, but it's also only around ten hours long at best so you're probably not biting off more than you can chew. It's a first person shooter with a fair number of quiet character sequences where you walk around talking to people, or you listen to BJ's internal monologue. I would probably recommend The New Order first, since it's not overwhelmingly massive but still tells an excellent story.

Prey 2017 (not to be confused with Prey 2006) could take you anywhere from a few hours to forty, depending on how thoroughly you explore the space station. Prey is way more about worldbuilding than anything - there are a ton of notes, emails, audio logs, and environmental things for you to soak in. The actual plot linking all of this together is fine, but it means nothing if you don't have an interest in the inhabitants that used to live in this broken down space station. If you enjoyed System Shock 2 or Bioshock back in the day, Prey 2017 might be your jam. Gameplay here is generally pretty great, though it can be kind of broken, sometimes in your favor and sometime's the enemy's - but you can focus on any one of several different playstyles and they all have their ups and downs. Ultimately, though, it comes down to whether you like to be stealthy or loud and whether you prefer magical space powers or guns.

All of that said...

How about Dark Souls? A remaster of the first game is coming out soon and from what I've seen, it looks like a pretty good remaster. Smooth 60FPS, 1080p display at least, and so on. I mention Dark Souls because

The games I've previously put time into in recent years have been competitive games like TF2 (about 7-8 years ago) and Rocket League. I've previously played Super Meat Boy, Journey, and I continue to play Tetris but I'm not sure that counts.

You appear to have a competitive streak in you that enjoys difficulty. You enjoyed Journey, so you clearly enjoy games that deliver their story more through a visual aesthetic than traditional words and moments. Dark Souls has a multiplayer component via invasions and through jolly co-operation. It has a story - it's hidden in item descriptions and up to wild interpretation, but it's definitely there and can definitely get your thoughts rolling if you let it. You can't pause, but it's easy to save and quit anytime and you can't pause in the competitive multiplayer games you played anyway. The inventory in all three Souls games is bottomless, so if you never want to manage your inventory you don't have to. So my personal recommendation here is going to be Dark Souls - if you're not into that, then I'd recommend Wolfenstein: The New Order.

Play The Witcher 3 when you feel you're ready for such a massive game.

EDIT: As a complete aside, if you like the way Prey sounds but want a different setting or maybe a better balanced game, then the two Dishonored games by the same studio are also great, though I think their greatness lies in some jaw-droppingly brilliant level design and extremely well put-together mechanics and not really the "I saw that coming from a mile away" story twists and kinda meh worldbuilding.

If you want a shorter experience. Try any of the big games that have come along. Gone Home explores some interesting themes. What Remains of Edith Finch was praised for its story-telling. There are dozens of adventure games that explore all kinds of themes and can be played through just for the story if you open up a walk-through.

If your willing to put some time into a game and want something thats gameplay and story, you might try the latest Assassin's Creed, you might try God of war. You might try jumping into Wolfenstein 2 (just read up on what came before honestly not worth playing through the first game). You might enjoy Prey, etc etc. The truth is most of the games that get a lot of attention are fairly heavy in story. At least on the level of the Uncharted game you played in some cases, in others more akin to Max Paine's smaller but still important moments.

If what you want is a single game that you might be able to deep dive into the story for a massive amount of time. Then pick up the Witcher 3. It is, by far, the best gameplay and story heavy game to come out in the last decade. You can simply read up on what came before, or start with the Witcher 2 (the first witcher is a hard game to go back too and its story can be read in a page worth of text.) The Witcher 2 is a good game, but the 3rd is like, "The" game of that genre. Nothing else has come close.

Otherwise, have you watched the Persona 4 Endurance Run? You might give that a look-see and see if games like that appeal to you. In which case Persona 5 or Nino Kuni came out.

There is also something like Horizon Zero Dawn, Last of Us and, honestly people are right. The earlier Uncharted games might catch you in a way the 4th really didn't.


The thing is, you want games with a deep narrative? That's pretty much defines every AAA game that's not a Call of Duty or Madden that's come out. It really depends on the kind of stories you want to hear Re:theme and message, as well as how much story vs gameplay you want vs what kind of gameplay you want vs if you even want gameplay and just wanna play a good story.

Night in the Woods comes to mind. If you're not familiar, it's an adventure game(in the point & click sense, but without the pointing and clicking). A college dropout returns to her hometown and tries to reconnect with her friends and family. However, she discovers that everyone's had to grow up, the town is practically abandoned and is falling apart, and her own family isn't in the best shape it's been either. It's a game that talks about depression, working life, religion, nostalgia, dying towns and existential dread, and tells that story through interactions with the characters in town. The game is separated into days, and each day you can walk around town and talk to individual characters, finishing the day with by talking to a character that takes you into a special scene(usually in a different location). I wouldn't say it's perfect. The ending didn't work that well for me, for one thing, and it gets pretty tiresome to walk around town every day and talk to every random dumbass out on the street. The dream sequences are bad - most of them don't go anywhere and are boring find three dudes in this map kinda chores. But NitW is definitely about something, and I ended up liking it quite a lot. It's relatable, and often funny. Granted, I'm a twentysomething college dropout. I could only be more in the target audience if I was American.

Here's a sequence in the game that spoils nothing, but shows you what it's gonna be like. It's just a trip you can take one day by talking to one of the random dudes in town.

I keep thinking about playing Firewatch again. Haven't since it first came out. That would be my recommendation for a narrative focused gameif you haven't played it. Looking forward to Campo Santo's next game,

It also depends on if you want something that's a little more non-traditional in narrative format, if you want something that speaks to more personal themes, like your relationships with other people and with art, or something else that's not typically done by AAA games. On that front, I would recommend games like Undertale, The Beginner's Guide, and Her Story, which all experiment with how they tell stories. 80 Days is also really cool if you want to play something on your iPad (that's sorta like a visual novel with money mechanics).

For traditional games though, I think that Last of Us, Witcher 3, and maybe something like Red Dead Redemption are your best bets. If you want to play a puzzle game instead, Talos Principle and the Portal games have fantastic narratives too.

The Last of Us. The game fits for what you're looking for it seems. The gameplay fits the story, as it's about survival, and so the game is by and large a survival third-person shooter, with some horror mixed in, but it's not that scary. It can be intense for sure. It's incredibly immersive. There are little notes you can pick up that are interesting, and tells a story of other people in the world. The game doesn't really deal with global warming, but the way the environment is presented through flora and fauna thriving as relatable human architecture crumbles is plausible. The story of whether humans should or can be saved is part of the story to an extent.

It deals with an ambiguity of some of the central characters, like are they bad or are they good, or both/neither? It also probably has my favorite "X amount of years have passed" kind of stories. It allows you to imagine what some of the characters were like in the time span between the two points as well as just humanity in general and our surroundings. If you're one that takes your time to explore every nook and cranny, the game should take anywhere from 15 to 20 hours. The first two times I beat the game it took me 18.5 hours. Contrary to what I've seen some say, I think the gameplay is excellent. The game is also not just 'another zombie story'. Even the zombie (Cordyceps) aspect I find interesting, but it's more of a side thing than the main draw. It's just the explanation as to why the world has gone the way it is. The game is also very much about a father and daughter relationship.

The soundtrack is fantastic. It's one of my favorite games, and for me, only has a few negligible issues.

Pillar of Eternity games have story mode difficulty option where you can just play through the narrative, the rest of the game becomes vestigial side dressing and trivial.

I recall Spec Ops The Line has an interesting narrative for a FPS.

I immediately felt like suggesting Planescape: Torment if we're talking about narrative games. It's an old PC RPG taking place in the weirdest, most alienating Dungeons and Dragons setting, filled to the brim with a bunch of philosophical ideas surrounding the question "What can change the nature of a man?" It's probably still one of the best stories told in a video game, assuming you're into reading walls upon walls of text. That said, I feel like might be a bit off the deep end for someone just coming back into games, even with some of the tweaks they threw in the recent Enhanced Edition. There's not nearly as much dealing with convoluted AD&D mechanics or juggling inventory as its contemporaries (only the last third is really combat-heavy) but there's just enough of that stuff that I could see it being a turn-off.

Night in the Woods. Night in the Woods. Night in the Woods.

There are omissions in my original post which I didn't realise. I played Bioshock Infinite (~4 years ago) and I was around a third to a half way through the game but I just wasn't invested in the story. I also played Skyrim (~6 years ago and never completed it) and whilst I enjoyed the variety in combat, I tired myself out by playing the game too thoroughly. And most recently, I played Firewatch but the lack of gameplay was brutal and just couldn't get myself to complete it even though I was really interested in the potential blossoming of romance between the two characters.

@justin258

I'll give The Witcher 3 a chance due to recommendations from multiple people and also because of its widespread critical acclaim. Since you've mentioned its length, it won't be the first game I try and I'll remember to do the side quests too.

One of the first few games I'll check out will be The Last of Us and the Wolfenstein: The New Order, thank you for those.

Games and films with horror elements scare me too much so Prey isn't a game I'll be able to try. I really wanted to play Bioshock 1 and I tried many years ago but the setting and the scares were too much for me.

I categorise Super Meat Boy, TF2, Rocket League into a separate category entirely which appeal to my competitive instinct so on that basis I may check Dark Souls out. Would you consider Bloodborne a game that is interchangeable with Dark Souls? since I got Bloodborne for free through PS Plus.

@nutter

I tried Uncharted 4 because of its wide critical acclaim but I just don't find the universe engaging so I'm not sure if the previous Uncharted games would be something I want to try.

Spec Ops: The Line is definitely something I want to try and I remember the Zero Punctuation review mentioning the game forcing you to make morally questionable decisions.

@ntm

Thank you, The Last of Us is a surety at this point so I'll definitely check it out

@redhotchilimist

What are the gameplay elements in Night in the Woods? I tried Firewatch and whilst I was invested in the story, the lack of gameplay elements made it really difficult for me to complete it.

@godzillasbrain: Cool. Night in the Woods is basically just walking, jumping and talking to other characters. It's not bad for what it is, however, even though what I said makes it sound super plain. Also, I should mention that I just finished Spec Ops: The Line before I came online about an hour ago or so. You might like it, but I hit the credits and just thought 'Hmm, that was dumb'. The game isn't bad, and you might like the revelatory stuff that happens, but for the most part, it's a very basic, short cover shooter. The story didn't do much for me at all, unfortunately. I honestly kind of regret buying it (only because I have actually been wanting to save up money). I wanted to get it now since I am not really playing anything new and I've heard good things about the story. The Witcher 3 can be extremely long if you choose to do everything (nearly 400 hours), but it is a fantastic game. Lastly, play Bloodborne instead of Dark Souls unless you consider playing through the entirety of the series. That's what I'm recommending. I hope The Last of Us isn't too scary. If a game like Bioshock was too much, The Last of Us might be as well, same goes for Bloodborne. I don't know.

Nier:Automata