Board 8 > Board 8's Top 60 Stories in Gaming - Results Topic Part 2

(+) Yeah! (+)

KamikazePotato posted...

Seriously, look into Fata Morgana

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Tag

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Zero Escape is also pretty light on the anime tropes, ZTD in particular. VLR would be the most I think.

Anyway, eight of mine have appeared and I am fairly confident the remaining two will make it, so Ill hold off on my list until they are all out there.

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KamikazePotato posted...

Seriously, look into Fata Morgana

Alright, it is now on my wishlist.

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Lightning Strikes posted...

Zero Escape is also pretty light on the anime tropes, ZTD in particular. VLR would be the most I think.

Anyway, eight of mine have appeared and I am fairly confident the remaining two will make it, so Ill hold off on my list until they are all out there.

Are any of them guilty of the constant grunting and gasping that plagues anime?
FF7R was torture

https://youtu.be/47XyOrxb2x8

Like 20 of them in the span of 30 seconds and 99% of them were completely unnecessary

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I don't think so.

Pretty sure when ellipses show up on screen in those games it's almost always actually silence!

Fata Morgana has no voice acting though for the main game.

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OctNovDisEmber posted...

Like 20 of them in the span of 30 seconds and 99% of them were completely unnecessary

For fucking real

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who hates this shit. Legitimately off-putting.

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Out of all the VNs in this topic, how many of them require multiple playthrus. I hate doing that for some reason

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For mine, the Zero Escape games and Raging Loop require you to go back to certain path branches, but you don't actually have to play them again, and you jump straight through them on a chart. You would need to avoid the DS version of 999 since it doesn't have this feature, though. The reason I always had and issue with that game until the console versions came out.

Umineko and and Fata Morgana are straight lines. Fata Morgana has 8 bad ends but they are short sequences, not actual branches.

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Also, I cannot BELIEVE me and everyone else forgot to mention this one, but The Somnium Files came out last year (Switch/PS4/PC) and that's absolutely fantastic. It's from Uchikoshi who does the Zero Escape games, and is structured very similarly, but is not part of that series.

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Eh, The Somnium Files was fun and had some cool ideas but it was nowhere near list material imo.

- Lackluster cast (which is a huge flaw to me, I generally need to care about characters to care about any story-based thing). Iris/Ota were bad, Date was bland, Aiba's banter was hit-and-miss, the Boss and the mom were just kinda boring. I think the only one I particularly liked was Mizuki.
- Some of the somnium sequences were really cool, and I liked the idea of investigating via somnium sequences, but plot-wise it felt under-utilized. A lot of the sequences ended with the characters going, "well, that was weird, idk what that was all about." As a result, some of the route divergence felt forced, like there's no real reason to notice Sejima hiding in the yakuza office in one route and not another.
- This is admittedly just a personal problem but I did Iris' left-side somnium very early, loved it, and then was disappointed that no other somnium in the game is nearly as good.
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Well, I can't say I agree with your list of flaws, but I more meant for general VN recs. I don't think it makes this list either.

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56 Points
8 Supporters

I know this is a topic about stories, but special shoutout to Nier's soundtrack for being the greatest game soundtrack of all time and so complementary to the story (and the experience as a whole) that it's impossible to imagine the game with any other music. Those tunes tell a tale all their own.

Aside from being audio heaven, Nier is a game that more than deserves a high ranking on this list. It puts a unique spin on the post-apocalyptic world idea by giving it a fantasy leaning and adjusting the tone to be simultaneously lighter and darker. In Nier's world, people aren't wondering if they can survive long enough to rebuild society, because they know the world has functionally ended and is winding down to a quiet close. The focus is on people treasuring the bits of happiness they have left...and holding onto them, no matter the cost. Some games tug at your heartstrings; Nier plays them like a goddamn fiddle. If you're able to become invested in the characters - and it's hard not to, considering how likable and sympathetic they all are - fewer stories will give you a greater emotional response than Nier.

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Heck yeah Nier. Didn't quite make my final cut but it was probably 11th or 12th.

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https://youtu.be/3XN3NsHE9dM

Best trailer ever.

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Nier was my last cut when making my personal list. Glad to see it didn't need the help!

And yes, best intro ever

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I only played Automata which I wasn't huge on, but I think I might like the story/premise of the original Nier somewhat more if I ever played it.

It would rely on the gameplay being better though--which was actually my biggest gripe with Automata--but I've unfortunately heard this is not the case.

Both games have top tier music though.
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Supposedly the rerelease is getting a combat workup from the studio doing it. Will be interested in seeing what that looks like.

It's a shame that it's looking like you'll only be able to play as inferior generic teenage boy Nier and not Papa Nier (a big reason why that game stood out), but maybe they'll surprise us and there's more to that than it seems.

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I'm not interested in playing a Nier without Papa Nier, but I'm glad people will get to experience some form of the original game regardless.

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65 Points
9 Supporters

I don't think any video game is as definitive to its genre as Silent Hill 2 is to the horror game genre. The moment one tries to create a horror game with a plot beyond 'roar spooky monster', you're inviting Silent Hill 2 comparisons. Which is funny, because Silent Hill 2 (while well-received) wasn't considered at that level when it came out, but its reputation has aged like fine wine. The game defines what it means to be a psychological horror. There's so much nuance going on with every character in every scene of Silent Hill 2 that I'm still learning details despite playing the game and watching 3+ playthroughs over the years. The town of Silent Hill itself is just a phenomenal setting for telling stories of mental trauma, and it's a shame that the setting was only used to that full potential once before the series got canned.

That's not to say that Silent Hill 2 is perfect - I would struggle to recommend it to modern games who aren't used to as much jank as we old fogeys are - but even its imperfections seem important. When you've got a fanbase that defends poor tank controls and the occasional stilted dialogue performance because it 'adds to the atmosphere', then you know you've got...well, a crazy fanbase, but also a story that is special to people and is greater than the sum of its parts. I know so, because I'm part of that crazy fanbase. It's a game you just keep coming back to, in your restless dreams or otherwise.

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Side notes:

Silent Hill 2's banner is my favorite, and I don't even think it turned out that well. I just like the atmosphere it gives off.

Note the point jump between #10 and #9. The points...ratchet up a bit from here on out.

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SH2 petrified me beyond belief and stayed with me for years/decades because of that, and when you actually read into it and consider the depth of its story, it gets even better.

Like MGS2 in that I've only grown in appreciation of it more as time has gone by.

For serious though, fucking horrifying. When I was a kid - around the time I first joined this site actually - we lived in a very long apartment with a very long central corridor running through it. I had to go across said corridor to go to the bathroom. So SH2 gave me a recurring nightmare that I would wake up to go to the bathroom, it would be a storm outside, and as I crossed said central corridor lightning would strike and I would see the silhouette of Pyramid Head. This went on for, like, months. And once I woke up from said nightmare I would, of course, need to go to the bathroom, which I would be extremely reluctant to do.

Haunting, amazing game

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65.5 Points
9 Supporters

Life is Strange is actually the one game in the Top 20 I haven't played, and I probably will eventually so I don't want to spoil myself, so I'll be crowdsourcing this writeup! Fans of the game feel free to talk about why they care about the story so much. It certainly got a lot of support.

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I like Life is Strange quite a bit, but it seems really wierd for it to be all the way up here.

Just easily accessible I guess.

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Wasn't on my list but it's a good story and, really, the kind of thing the medium doesn't do super often. I'm a fan.

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Ya I agree. It's decent but I def didn't think it would get this high

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SH2 was my +10 and LiS my +6 so I think my list is tapped.

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Silent Hill 2 was also my +10! Every detail, from the tiniest sign posts to the gut-wrenching ending, is the most meticulously designed narrative in a video game to me, and maybe even to media as a whole.

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By ending I mean more the "revelation".

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Ehhhh

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Life is Strange was mot on my list, but:

Life is Strange is a really remarkable story that isnt afraid to actually try and tackle some serious subjects head on. It also isnt afraid to turn the Telltale-esque concept of choice on its head by giving you the chance to go back and change your choices after seeing the consequences, which makes you have to live with your final decision. It also deserves credit for improving the dialogue as it went along too so by the end they sound like actual teens.

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UltimaterializerX posted...

Okay you have to educate me here. Use spoiler tags.

Come on bro. James killing Mary.

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Lightning Strikes posted...

Life is Strange is a really remarkable story that isnt afraid to actually try and tackle some serious subjects head on.

I can definitely give it that.

Though in that regard specifically, and I do hate to sound like a broken record...people should really play Fata Morgana.

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Snake5555555555 posted...

Silent Hill 2 was also my +10! Every detail, from the tiniest sign posts to the gut-wrenching ending, is the most meticulously designed narrative in a video game to me, and maybe even to media as a whole.

Silent Hill 2 is one of the only pieces of media where the more I talk about it, the more I sound like a pretentious writing hipster soapboxing about symbolism and hidden meanings and such, but sounding like that is inevitable because SH2's story is just that good.

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UshiromiyaEva posted...

I can definitely give it that.

Though in that regard specifically, and I do hate to sound like a broken record...people should really play Fata Morgana.

Board 8's Top 60 Stories in Gaming - Results Topic Part 2: Play The House in Fata Morgana

I may not be as much of a shill as my Umineko days but I've still got some advertising left in me

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+10 NIER
+9 Planescape: Torment
+8 The House in Fata Morgana
+7 Steins;Gate
+6 Disco Elysium
+5 Pathologic
+4 Umineko When They Cry: Question Arc
+3 Suikoden V
+2 Silent Hill 2
+1

I feel pretty safe in counting my +5 and +3 out at this point. Suikoden V was a late addition, which I kind of feel bad about now since it looks like SH2 would have at least tied Life is Strange if I didn't change my list.

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Pathologic 2 is on my wishlist, so considering the overlap between me and the rest of your list I'm looking forward to playing it eventually.

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It's an experience. Not always the most fun experience (probably why I put off trying the sequel for so long. Shame I can't get it to run well on my computer) but always compelling.

Edit: The first one is, I mean.

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UshiromiyaEva posted...

I like Life is Strange quite a bit, but it seems really wierd for it to be all the way up here.

Just easily accessible I guess.

Yeah SH2 is the best story in gaming for me, LiS would prob make my top 20. Horror games in general are not popular at all on message boards.

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Hell yeah, Nier in the top 10. Part of me is hoping that (beyond the choice to go with Brother Nier) they don't mess with the remaster too much narrative-wise just so there's an easier way to recommend the game to new players. It's getting harder and harder to ask people to go back to the PS3.

Of course another part of me is hoping they go full mindfuck and add in all sorts of crazy stuff from supplementary material so hmm

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I would trust Yoko Taro to add good stuff to the story if it came to that

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74.5 Points
10 Supporters

I best describe VLR as 'plot twists: the game'. That sounds demeaning because shock factor doesn't usually make for a good story, but VLR just makes it work. There's a reason this is the highest ranking Zero Escape game despite the end plot not even having much of a payoff. VLR is absolutely wild and goes so many places, with each new plot point feeling well-foreshadowed, earned, and surprising, while also setting up further questions for the next development. The moment-to-moment of VLR is unsurpassed by most games and is an absolute trip to experience for the first time, even if the character designs got a bit too Anime and a few of the plot twists make no sense.

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ya go my VLR

didn't expect it to do quite this well but it's deserved

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TheArkOfTurus posted...

+10 NIER
+9 Planescape: Torment
+8 The House in Fata Morgana
+7 Steins;Gate
+6 Disco Elysium
+5 Pathologic
+4 Umineko When They Cry: Question Arc
+3 Suikoden V
+2 Silent Hill 2
+1

I feel pretty safe in counting my +5 and +3 out at this point. Suikoden V was a late addition, which I kind of feel bad about now since it looks like SH2 would have at least tied Life is Strange if I didn't change my list.

I like this list

Never played the VNs, disco or nier but interested in all and everything else was either on my list or one of my last few cuts. Pathologic 2 is so good

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Stuff like XIII's post is probably why I'll never play SH2. Just not into horror.
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+10 The House in Fata Morgana
+9 Umineko
+8 Tales of the Abyss
+7
+6 Danganronpa V3
+5 VLR
+4
+3 Tales of Berseria
+2 Steins;Gate
+1 Nier

Almost there.

Still feel like my remaining two make it.

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KamikazePotato posted...

65.5 Points
9 Supporters

Life is Strange is actually the one game in the Top 20 I haven't played, and I probably will eventually so I don't want to spoil myself, so I'll be crowdsourcing this writeup! Fans of the game feel free to talk about why they care about the story so much. It certainly got a lot of support.

Imagine a game about time travel that can't quite decide which kind of time travel story it is, and instead decides to do them all. And somehow, it kinda works.

Max Caulfield returns to the sleepy Oregon Town of Arcadia Bay where she grew up, as a high school senior on a scholarship to the town's private academy for their photography program. She's explicitly avoided seeking out her best friend, Chloe Price, because they left on awkward terms, but when she and Chloe are thrust together and Max discovers that she can rewind time to make new and better-informed decisions, she becomes Chloe's new savior, doing whatever she can to protect her old friend who has gotten (and continues to get) herself into trouble by falling in with the wrong crowd during Max's absence. In the process, Max will learn more than a few dark secrets about Arcadia Bay, experience the darker sides of Blackwell Academy, and confront a terrifying storm that might destroy the whole town unless Max can navigate the timelines to stop it.

Max herself is a blank slate of a character, having some sarcastic internal monologue but generally being pretty wishy-washy up front, however, the writing and acting of Chloe (Ashley Burch) is an absolute treasure. If you don't hate Chloe and her antics, you absolutely adore her, and there's rarely much in-between. The character was engaging enough with fans to warrant a prequel set a year before Max returns to town, with Chloe taking center stage.

Life is Strange's writing is uneven at times, misses out on a few opportunities of the medium, and can be exhausting when it expects us to learn and explore an entire town's worth of characters, but the highs of its experience are so high that it absolutely earns its place near the top of this list.

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