Best Story Games/Story Driven Games of All Time

Best story games, is probably one of the most frequently googled question as far as Video games are concerned.

The process of making video games has evolved, and so as the perception of people regarding video games. Earlier, where games were all about clearing levels and going one step forward, people over a course of time have developed more interest in story based games.

The best story games or the best video game stories can at times create even more impact over people than best of movies and novels. The reason for such a craze is that, these best story driven games, not only engage you into their narrative, but also lets you dive into that immersive world and live the story by being the protagonist of that story based game.

These story based games are now getting you to live experiences that you probably had just imagined or fantasized about. From swinging through the city of New York as Spider-Man to living in a post apocalyptic world of Horizon Zero Dawn or The Last of Us. These story mode games are here to give you that exhilarating experiences.

The narrative video games in the last two decades have come a long way in terms of environment building and story-telling. Couple it with some advance gaming gadgets and consoles, you shall actually feel that character as you.

Here are some of the Best Story Driven Games, that probably you would have played at some point in life, and if you haven’t, you should definitely try these video games with best stories. Some of these games could make amazing Movies or T.V shows:

15. Resident Evil 4 :

Developed by:  Capcom Production Studio 4 Published by:  Capcom Available on: PS2, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, Android and iOS

Resident Evil 4 is a third-person shooter game that belongs to the horror genre. It was originally released for GameCube in 2005 and later for other platforms. Till date, it is considered to be one of the best story driven games of all time, which post its release gave a different meaning to shooter games.

You play as US Government Special Agent, Leon S. Kennedy who is sent on a mission to rescue US President’s daughter from a cult in rural parts of Europe. Here, Kennedy has to fight against villagers who are infected by mind-controlling parasites and also unite with another agent, Ada Wong.

It continues to hold its position as the best Resident Evil game ever made.

14. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt:

Developed by: CD Projekt Red Published by: CD Projekt Available on: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC

The Witcher III: Wild Hunt is an third-person action-adventure role playing story game that was released in 2015. It is based on the novel The Witcher, written by Andrzej Sapkowski. It is the third installment of The Witcher series. This narrative video game is based on Slavonic Mythology and is set in a fictional world.

Players play as Geralt of Rivia, who is a monster slayer known as The Witcher. The Witcher is in searching of his daughter who is on a run from The Wild Hunt.

Since it is based on a very popular novel, it makes it a very good story game. Due to which it also won the game of the year award in 2015.

WHICH GAME HAS THE LONGEST STORY ?

The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, is not the longest game, but it clearly has one of the longest stories inn gaming history which, at least takes more than 170 hours to complete.

13. Horizon Zero Dawn:

Developed by: Guerrilla Games  Published by: Sony Interactive Entertainment Available on: PS4 and PC

Horizon Zero Dawn is a role-playing action story based game. It as released originally for PlayStation 4 in 2017 and later for Microsoft Windows in 2020.

This is an open-world game with third person perspective. What makes this RPG one of those games with good storyline, is the fact that, it based in a post apocalypse world ! And not just any world, but a world taken over by machines, which actually look like different Dinosaur species.

We play as Aloy, a hunter who is on a quest to find out about her past in a world overrun by machines and robots. This story driven game is set in 31st century, where human have very limited access to technology and weapons. They are scattered and are part of different tribes. You will get to know more about different tribes and their specialities once you play this marvelous story mode open world game.

12. Mass Effect 2:

Developed by: BioWare Published by: Electronic Arts Available on: PS3, Xbox 350 and PC

Mass effect 2 is an action space story driven game, if that is a correct explanation. It is a role-playing video game that was originally released for Microsoft Xbox 360 and Windows in 2010, and later for PlayStation 3 in 2011.

Mass Effect 2 is the second game in the series and a sequel to the original Mass Effect.

Set in the Milky Way Galaxy during the 22nd century, interstellar travel in this game is possible with the use of Mass transit devices called Mass Relays, built by an extinct species called Protheans. The protagonist of the game, Commander Shepard, is a human soldier who gathers a team to fight against the Collectors, a race of aliens who look like insects. This story game showcases various different species of aliens and a conglomerate body of governments known as the Citadel Council, responsible for maintaining law and order in Milky Way Galaxy.

If you are a fan of Star Wars movies, and have keen interest in Space, celestial bodies, aliens, interstellar travelling, then for you, this AAA title will surely be one of the Best story games of all time.

11. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare:

Developed by: Infinity Ward Published by:  Activision Available on: PS3, Xbox 360 and PC

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, hands-down is the best story game out of all Call of Duty games. It was the 4th installment in the Call of Duty series, and brought the COD series out of the World War II setting that was common among all other Call of Duty games that came before it.

It was released in 2007 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows.

During the main campaign, players control six different characters. However, players control Sergeant John ‘Soap’ MacTivish, who belongs to the British Special Air Service (SAS) for most part of the game. Other characters include : Sergeant Paul Jackson, Captain John Price, Captain Pelayo, Gaz, Lieutenant Vasquez and more.

Since this narrative video game came out in 2010, its story takes place in the year 2011, where a radical leader named Khaled Al-Asad kills the president of a small oil rich country in Middle-east. Meanwhile, a civil war starts in Russia. While playing the game, we travel to various locations such as, United Kingdom, Azerbaijan, Middle-East, Russia and Ukraine.

10. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain:

Developed by: Kojima Productions Published by:  Konami Available on: PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC

Set in 1984, the events of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain take place, 9 years after the events of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.

Following up the story of Ground Zero, the plot of the game revolves around mercenary named, Punished ‘Venom’ Snake, as he ventures into Soviet occupied Afghanistan and Angola-Zaire region to avenge his team mates and kill those who killed his men and came close to killing him at the end of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zero.

What makes this game awesome, is not only the fact that it is one of those videos games with best story, but also its interactive gameplay.

9. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim:

Developed by:  Bethesda Game Studios Published by: Bethesda Softworks Available on: PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC

Skyrim is the fifth installment in the story based game series Elder Scrolls.

The game that came out in 2011, was way ahead of its time pushing the envelope and surpassing the conventional limits of open-world games, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, defined the actual meaning of role-playing, and was one of the few which started it. It is because of these reasons, that Skyrim is not only considered to be one of the best story games, but one of the best videos games of all time in general.

The story is set 200 years post the events of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and revolves around player’s character, known as Dragonborn. The one thing to note about the game is that it has multiple quests, which are so profoundly interconnected, that you switch from one quest to another, while you are earning points and making upgrades to your character.

8. Marvel’s Spider-Man:

Developed by:  Insomniac Games Published by: Sony Interactive Entertainment Available on: PS4 and PS5

Marvel’s Spider-Man was released in 2018 for PlayStation 4 and later in 2020, was remastered for PlayStation 5, where they changed the face of Peter Parker. It surely would have offended the guy whose face was taken in PS4 version in the first place.

But all jokes aside, we can not deny the fact that this action-adventure open-world game is, if not the best but definitely one of the two best superhero games ever made (the other one being Batman: Arkham City). Apart from its best ever swinging mechanics in a Spider-Man game, its amazing combat, true to the eyes New York City, the game also had a really engaging story-line.

What do you expect from a superhero game ? That there is some kind of chaos in the world spread by some super-villains, and by the end of the game superhero fixes everything.

Well, the stereo-type remains the same in Spider-Man as well, but still it doesn’t feel repetitive. The characters, the moments, the action sequences and the cut scenes, have been written so brilliantly, that this game makes you laugh, cry, and also makes you feel like hero, while telling us about the struggles of Peter Parker.

This AAA title surely deserves to be in this list of best story games of all time.

7. Ghost of Tsushima:

Developed by:  Sucker Punch Productions Published by: Sony Interactive Entertainment Available on: PS4

Ghost of Tsushima is based on the Mongol invasion of Japan in the late thirteenth century, and that itself is enough to declare it a fantastic story-line.

In 1274, a Mongolian Invasion was led by Khotun Khan on the Japanese island of Tsushima. After a disastrous defeat of the Japanese Samurai by the Mongolians, the leader of the local Samurai on the island, Lord Samurai is captured. We play as Jin Sakai who has to rescue his uncle Shimura, build a team and free the island from Mongolians.

Games with stories need to have great character building and plot points to keep the interest in the game going. Ghost of Tsushima gives every character some purpose and successfully builds a chaotic open-world, where you feel a sense of accomplishments whenever you capture a castle or free a village.

Though the role-playing gimmick, where Jin has to take decisions and make choices doesn’t really make a difference in the story of the game, it does make us come across various natures of human psychology, such as friendship, honor, sacrifice, truth, betrayal, etc. Ghost of Tsushima does have one of the best Video games stories.

6. Batman: Arkham City:

Developed by: Rocksteady Studios Published by:  Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Available on: PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC

The second installment in the Batman Arkham series not only has one of the best stories in video games but is also a strong contender for the best superhero video game ever made, competing with Marvel’s Spider-Man.

A well crafted story, brilliantly written characters, thrilling background score, a dark, rainy night in Gotham city, are some of the things making this game a master-piece. And of course how can we forget about the Joker, the archenemy of our greatest detective in the world.

Bruce Wayne, is abducted during a press-conference by a group of mercenaries called TYGERS, where he is altercating against the existence of Arkham City. Hugo Strange discloses how he knows the real identity of Batman and his mission called Protocol 10. Bruce Learning about the Stange’s plan escapes the abduction, turns into Batman and decides to stop Protocol 10.

This story based game also includes other characters like, the Joker, Penguin, Two-face, Commissioner Gordan, Cat-woman, etc.

5. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves:

Developed by:  Naughty Dog Published by:  Sony Computer Entertainment Available on: PS3 and PS4

If there is one video game franchise that could have made an amazing movie, it had to be the Uncharted series. And to our surprise, an actual feature film is being made on the Uncharted series.

Well, it deserved it. When Uncharted came out in 2007, it was one of the few games which focused more on the story of the game. Since, it was a story driven game, with no open world scenarios or side-quests, it was important for Naughty Do to cut to the chase, and make the story of the game as engaging as possible, which they did successfully.

Then came the best of all Uncharted games, i.e, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, which gave a different meaning to the phrase, ‘Games with Stories’.

The narration, the characters, the locations and the amazing graphics this phenomenal story based game had to complete every cinematic aspect of the game, is what made this game one of the best of all time. This game had pretty much everything. Let us just hope to see Nathan Drake back in action.

4. Grand Theft Auto V:

Developed by: Rockstar North Published by:  Rockstar Games Available on: PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC

GRAND THEFT AUTO V ! The name says it all. The highest selling game, the fastest selling game, the third generation video game and many more titles can be attached to this American crime story based game. But the one title that we tend to ignore a lot of times is of being among the video games with best stories. This video game could make a brilliant web series, lets agree on that.

The game that originally came in 2013 on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, was later remastered for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. But the popularity of the game still doesn’t seem to fade away, as this third-person open world game has been released on the newly launched PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. And yes, a lot of credit has to be given to its Online Multiplayer mode, but that does not strip away the fact that this RPG is an amazing narrative video game.

GTA 5 has three playable characters, Michael, Trevor and Franklin, which can be switched at any time of the campaign. All the characters have their individual traits and background. The game beautifully, unfolds the story, where the three characters are sometimes dealing with their own issues or working on a mission together. Moreover, players to get different choices and options to do a mission, which determines how the story will progress.

The characters are the strength of any GTA game, and Grand Theft Auto 5 does not take that for granted. Lastly, it has multiple endings, which is like a cherry on the top.

Which was the most expensive game ever made ?

GRAND THEFT AUTO V. Though, some say Destiny 2 is the most expensive game that cost around $500 million, but we can neither confirm nor deny that. However, the more popular belief is that GTA 5 is the most expensive game ever made, which had a total budget between $170 million to $265 million.

3. God of War (2018):

Developed by:  Santa Monica Studio Published by:  Sony Interactive Entertainment Available on: PS4

God of War came in 2018 for PlayStation 4. And the first thing after playing the game that must have gone through the minds of most of the people out there is that how was it linked to the previous three God of War games. We all know that Kratos dies by the end of God of War 3, so how was he resurrected ? Moreover, he was in the Greek world, then how did end up being in the Norse realm ? When did he have a wife ? When was his son born ? Not like this game was a total re-boot of the previous franchise, it was actually a sequel and the fourth installment in the series, then what was all of this ?

Frankly, the developers never bothered to answer these questions, and we never cared to persuade them for an answer. The reason for that is the marvelous plot of this story based game. It is a sequel to the 2009 God of War 3 game, but shows no connection to the game apart from a few harrowing memories of the past Kratos gets during the campaign.

The story of this game follows Kratos a Greek God of War, whose second wife has died, and he is on the journey to the highest peak of nine realms along with his son who is unaware of his divine powers, to fulfil the last wish of his wife of spreading her ashes there.

2. Red Dead Redemption 2:

Developed by: Rockstar North Published by:  Rockstar Games Available on: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC

It was a difficult choice between GOW and RDR 2, but it seems like Red Dead Redemption 2 has come out as the winner. Yes, it is debatable and a bit controversial as well, but there are certain reasons why Red Dead Redemption 2 is above God of War in terms of story-telling.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a prequel to the 2010 title, Red Dead Redemption, due to which you could see some characters from the first part in this game as well. Set in 1899, a gang of outlaws, called Van Der Linde Gang, is on a run from the Law, after they robbed a big bank in a big town of Blackwater. We play as Arthur Morgan, a prominent member of the gang for the most part of the game and later, by the end with John Marston, who was the protagonist of Red Dead Redemption.

The plot, the sequences, the suspense, the emotions, the conversations and the end number of characters with their different personalities and their relationship with other gang members, are some of the things make RDR 2 an deserving member of the league of good story games.

The fact that it is the most interactive and immersive open world game that has been ever made, where players have endless things to do, it doesn’t take away the amazing story-telling ability of Rockstar North.

1. The Last of Us:

Developed by: Naughty Dog Published by: Sony Computer Entertainment Available on: PS3 and PS4

Yes, you guessed it right. And if you did not, what else were you expecting ?

The last of Us, that originally came out on PlayStation 3 was later remastered for PlayStation 4. And man ! What a game it was. If there was an award for best story games of all time, it would have gone to this game, hands down. I, personally was slightly disappointed with Naughty Dog after Uncharted 3’s poor story-line, but they took away the disappointment with The Last of Us.

In a post-apocalyptic world, a cordyceps fungus has infected half of the world population. We play as Joel, a smuggler, who has been tasked to escort a teenager girl named, Ellie to an organization called Fireflies. The game is all about, the father-daughter relationship that Joel and Ellie develop as they travel across United States in search of Fireflies, while surviving from infected beings and various bandits.

With a mix of emotions, horrifying sequences, sometimes justified violence and an amazing performances by voice artists and actors, this game has to be at the top of the list for best video game stories.

Also check out: https://www.thegadgetronic.com/best-open-world-games-to-play-right-now/