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

(+) Yeah! (+)

36. To the Moon

...I stand corrected!

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Wow...

I totally forgot about To the Moon!

This is the most ironic thing that could've happened to me.

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To The Moon is one of the surprises of the list for me.

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MGS4 made it trash list (exaggerating for lols obv). Its not the top 60 powerpoint presentations in gaming

I should really play To the Moon

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MGS4 is great.

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the fact that MGS 4 got 4 supporters and Deus Ex only got 2 and didn't make the list is a big old wow from me

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I liked MGS4. While not my favorite Metal Gear game, I did still enjoy it a lot, and also most of my gripes are gameplay-related.

Though even from a story perspective my favorite is MGS3 which presumably is showing up further into the list.
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I am beginning to think NHL94 didn't make it

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Wow I honestly didn't expect To the Moon to make the list at all, even though I had it (relatively low, granted) on my list. Good to see, it's a great story!

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i am beginning to think that all of my 90s games won't make it

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I doubt my favorite Metal Gear story will be on here (it's MGR)

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MGR's best moments are great, but it has a lot of mediocre stuff. In particular, practically none of the codecs are interesting (MGS4 also suffered from this, which might be the biggest reason I wouldn't consider it for a list like this).

pezzicle posted...

i am beginning to think that all of my 90s games won't make it

don't worry they're all in the top 10
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Rising's final fight is absolutely legendary and I could see someone putting it on a list just for that

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Aw, I actually find a decent chunk of MGR's codecs to be interesting. Of course I'm completely nutty for cyberpunk and its accompanying philosophies so a lot of the topics were naturally intriguing to hear discussed like they were. (Doktor and Wolf had most of the good ones)

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Mac Arrowny posted...

MGR's best moments are great, but it has a lot of mediocre stuff. In particular, practically none of the codecs are interesting (MGS4 also suffered from this, which might be the biggest reason I wouldn't consider it for a list like this).

don't worry they're all in the top 10

if deus ex didn't make it i;ll be surprised if a few others make it

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33. Final Fantasy Tactics
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/psp/937312-final-fantasy-tactics-the-war-of-the-lions
30 Points
4 Supporters

32. Grim Fandango
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/50544-grim-fandango
31.5 Points
4 Supporters

31. Deadly Premonition
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/xbox360/943397-deadly-premonition
32.5 Points
5 Supporters

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oh hey a game I voted for
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That's all for today!

31. Deadly Premonition
32. Grim Fandango
33. Final Fantasy Tactics
34. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
35. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
36. To the Moon
37. Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
38. Utawarerumono Mask of Deception & Mask of Truth
39. Mother 3
40. Horizon Zero Dawn
41. Persona 5 & Persona 5 Royal
41. Xenoblade Chronicles
43. What Remains of Edith Finch
44. Spec Ops: The Line
44. Tales of Berseria
46. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
46. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
48. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers
49. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
49. Tales of the Abyss
49. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
52. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
53. Dark Souls
53. Doki Doki Literature Club
53. Vagrant Story
56. Gone Home
56. Outer Wilds
58. Gyakuten Kenji 2
58. Yakuza 0
60. SOMA
60. Super Paper Mario

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pezzicle posted...

if deus ex didn't make it i;ll be surprised if a few others make it

Without commenting on any of your other submissions, I will say that I think you're grossly overestimating the audience a game like Deus Ex has on Board 8 or GameFAQs in general.

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Halfway through, half of my list made an appearance. Probably won't continue into the second half though, except for one or two of them

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aww, was hoping for FFT to do better
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Still currently only one of my games has made it. I know three of them won't make the list (my 9, 7, and 3). A good amount of the other 6 might.

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I expected FFT to do better (not that 33rd is a bad placement). Actually, out of the ten games I'll be revealing tomorrow, I expected 4-5 of them to do better as well.

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OH WOW. To The Moon made it. That was what I would have been shocked over. So happy there.

KamikazePotato posted...

Without commenting on any of your other submissions, I will say that I think you're grossly overestimating the audience a game like Deus Ex has on Board 8 or GameFAQs in general.

Ya probably I've spent most of my online time the last decade or so on other forums and only recently navigated back here.

DE is pretty widely held up as the best game of all time in the circles I usually engage with

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Fun facts...

The Bottom 31 were released in these years:

1997 - 1
1998 - 2
2000 - 2
2001 - 1
2003 - 1
2006 - 2
2007 - 1
2008 - 1
2009 - 1
2010 - 2
2011 - 3
2012 - 2
2013 - 1
2015 - 2
2017 - 8
2019 - 1

2017 coming out to play, at least in the lower half.

Grim Fandango got a +10 from someone. It was the only game they voted for.

Metal Gear Solid V received no votes.

Danganronpa 2 received two votes. Danganronpa 1 received one.

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pezzicle posted...

Ya probably I've spent most of my online time the last decade or so on other forums and only recently navigated back here.

DE is pretty widely held up as the best game of all time in the circles I usually engage with

GameFAQs didn't know that WRPGs existed until Oblivion came out and is still coming to grips with the notion of the PC as a gaming system. Deus Ex would have placed highly on most other sites, but we just value different things here.

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KamikazePotato posted...

Without commenting on any of your other submissions, I will say that I think you're grossly overestimating the audience a game like Deus Ex has on Board 8 or GameFAQs in general.

Also that def makes me feel like at least 2 other games are def not making the list haha

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MGSV deserved no votes

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Glad I voted for V3. I was really torn between it and DR2.

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I'm not the biggest Danganronpa fan, but if I had to pick one game to make the list I would've picked V3 easily.

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Danganronpa is something I want to get back to eventually. I was enjoying the SomethingAwful full-text Let's Play before it abruptly stopped updating in the middle of DR2.
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Drakeryn posted...

Danganronpa is something I want to get back to eventually. I was enjoying the SomethingAwful full-text Let's Play before it abruptly stopped updating in the middle of DR2.

Yeah, I got introduced to DR via orenoren's LP as well and TBH I kinda miss it.

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I'm looking at the final list, and there's a really stark divide between the Bottom 30 and Top 30. We go directly from 'happy to be here' to 'heavy hitters crowding each other out'.

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Gonna rank these as they are. There are some great games below tier 1 but I would never even consider voting for them.

That good shit
Gone Home
Outer Wilds
SOMA
Spec Ops: The Line
What Remains of Edith Finch

Good to great writing, characters, aesthetics or worldbuilding, adequate story
The Witcher 3
Final Fantasy Tactics
Vagrant Story
Utawarerumono Mask of Deception & Mask of Truth
Mother 3
Xenoblade Chronicles
Yakuza 0

It's good!
To The Moon
Dark Souls

Campy or fun story
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Deadly Premonition
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Grim Fandango
Super Paper Mario

Mediocre, but not bad, and does enough good things videogames do to stay enjoyable
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Persona 5 & Persona 5 Royal

Bad story propped up by presentation
Horizon Zero Dawn
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Who voted for these? C'mon. What are we even doing here.
Tales of Berseria
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers
Tales of the Abyss

No opinion
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
Doki Doki Literature Club
Gyakuten Kenji 2

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up

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hmm

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Oh hey, this started.

3. Eight games received a single +10 vote and nothing else. They may not be the most popular kid in class, but theyre already found someone who loves them. They were:

Bastion
Bomberman 64: The Second Attack!
Lenna's Inception
Night in the Woods
Phantasy Star 2
Terranigma
The Beginner's Guide
The Longest Journey

Surprised to see a couple of these on the one-and-done list, and Phantasy Star 2 is a really interesting inclusion. (I assume that was mostly for the veer at the end, because that was an interesting twist back in '91 or whatever year that was.)

However, I'm calling attention to this short list because I was the one who put Lenna's Inception on there.

Lenna's is an indie game that came out earlier this year, and I hadn't even heard of until two weeks ago. Judging from how many reviews it has on Steam, not too many other people have, either, so I'm gonna give it a little love here for a second.

Lenna's is a retro-style procedurally-generated blatant Zelda clone. That's it's gimmick. You're playing a game that thinks it's somewhere between Zelda 1 and Link's Awakening, except the whole world is random. The dungeon order, the key items, the overworld, some of the puzzles and NPC interactions...shuffled and dealt out like a Diablo game. That's what you have to look forward to in the gameplay. But we're here to talk about the story, and for such a short (and randomized!) game, Lenna's has a surprisingly well-composed story.

Lenna is a schoolteacher in the Kingdom of [GLITCHED], watching her pupils until she decides to step out for a moment. Once outside, she briefly blacks out, and when she looks back, the data where her schoolhouse is stored has become corrupted. Desperate to save her students, she hurries to the Village Elder for guidance, only to find him brutally slaughtered, leaving behind only a package for the hero, Lance.

The joke at this point is that Lance is clearly Link, and everyone in the game world knows they're in a game world and have a specific role to play. Except, with the elder dead, nobody is left to give Lance the tutorial. Being a schoolteacher, Lenna picks up the slack, and promises she'll show Lance how to swing his sword if he'll complete a quest to rescue her students. But then a monster murders him horribly. Lenna defeats it and loots the game's version of the Triforce of Courage. Now it's up to Lenna to clear the eight dungeons Lance was supposed to finish, as the world becomes increasingly corrupted, and try to save everyone before the game's data becomes completely ruined. And that's just for the bad ending.

I hope you'll consider giving it a shot. It's ten bucks on Steam.

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Rankings are fun. Didn't really order them inside tiers.

Yes
Doki Doki Literature Club
Mother 3
Super Paper Mario
To The Moon
What Remains of Edith Finch
Spec Ops: The Line
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Outer Wilds
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
The Witcher 3
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Dark Souls
Dark Souls

I should've played these by now
SOMA
Grim Fandango
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Call me when they make the movie
Final Fantasy Tactics
Horizon Zero Dawn
Tales of Berseria
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Xenoblade Chronicles
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers
Yakuza 0
Tales of the Abyss
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

I know it's a classic but really?
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

No opinion zone
Utawarerumono Mask of Deception & Mask of Truth
Gone Home
Vagrant Story
Deadly Premonition
Persona 5 & Persona 5 Royal

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That Lenna's Inception writeup makes it sound like something I should've played already, good talk.

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persona 5 making it was already a bad omen but mgs4 also making it broke the seventh seal

jesus christ what a mess of plot, characterization, dialogue, and presentation those two games are

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MGS4 is great and I will fight about this.

I miss the days probably over a decade ago where having it below the other three wasn't such a popular opinion.

Also, this site is definitely less into Deus Ex than the average place, but a place that has it widely regarded as the best game of all time is probably a bigger outlier.

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Given that I nearly got harassed off the board for disliking it, I definitely don't miss those days. If people like it that's fine but there was a very, very unhealthy protectiveness that developed just because it was the last one (until it wasn't). That is not healthy fandom.

Anyway, on a lighter note here are my thoughts on each game:

31. Deadly Premonition - Ridiculous game and story, wouldn't entertain it this high, but I love it. Takes too much from Twin Peaks (but I love that too).

32. Grim Fandango - Never played.

33. Final Fantasy Tactics - Not seen enough of.

34. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Great, on my list, one of the best examples of that style of RPG storytelling.

35. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - Really bad.

36. To the Moon - Never played but I really should.

37. Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony - Never played.

38. Utawarerumono Mask of Deception & Mask of Truth - Never played, and I've only barely heard of it from this place.

39. Mother 3 - Great stuff.

40. Horizon Zero Dawn - Ehh. The backstory is great, the main story is there. Although even the backstory was done arguably better by another game the same year (Xenoblade Chronicles 2). It's alright.

41. Persona 5 & Persona 5 Royal - I really like this one, despite its issues. The themes are very strong and resonant, and it works them into the game itself beautifully.

41. Xenoblade Chronicles - Love it, on my list. The perfect example of how top-notch writing, direction, localisation, and performances can elevate something that could have been
pretty rote.

43. What Remains of Edith Finch - Stellar, not really sure why it wasn't on my list now that I think about it.

44. Spec Ops: The Line - Excellent, barely cut from my list because I think it implements the white phosphorous sequence (which is really well done in its own right) in a somewhat contrived manner. I always thought you should have been able to retreat there, ending the game and rolling credits.

44. Tales of Berseria - Not played much but what I have seen seems promising.

46. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective - Never played it but should.

46. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Never came close to thinking about putting it, but I get it. The story is well implemented into the game and this is a case where I think memories of the story trump the story itself.

48. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers - Never played, seems interesting.

49. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Top notch for entertainment, the airport paperbacks of the video game world (in a good way!).

49. Tales of the Abyss - What I have seen doesn't seem great.

49. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - Alas this is not "best setting". Actually have no problem with this being below OoT though I wouldn't put either. Great setting though.

52. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - Never played, but should have.

53. Dark Souls - I gave this the lowest spot on my list because I feel the storytelling is really fascinating and intricate. I also think that it is still the best representation of the themes and feel of high fantasy, specifically the themes of Tolkien, in video games.

53. Doki Doki Literature Club - Never played, seems interesting.

53. Vagrant Story - Never played.

56. Gone Home - Loved it until the ending, in particular the sheer audacity of the bait and switch, spoiled the whole thing.

56. Outer Wilds - Amazing. This was fairly high on my list and more people should check it out. There has really been nothing like this in games.

58. Gyakuten Kenji 2 - Didn't finish it but what I did play was really enjoyable.

58. Yakuza 0 - Never played it but what I watched Giant Bomb play seemed cool.

60. SOMA - Terrific. This was one of the top three on my list that seemed rock solid for me. You should play this regardless of your preferences for genre or types of story, this is my top recommendation in this topic.

60. Super Paper Mario - Wins the award for the game that punches the most above its weight. Really great stuff, easily the best Mario RPG story (and Mario story more generally). Not near my list but close to my heart.

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The Witcher 3 was the first game off of my list! It got a +4 from me.

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I have a question for those of you doing rankings...

Are you ranking the games' stories or the actual games as a whole?

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ctesjbuvf posted...

Also, this site is definitely less into Deus Ex than the average place, but a place that has it widely regarded as the best game of all time is probably a bigger outlier.

"Widely regarded as best game of all time" is probably a hyperbole, but any PC gaming site would usually have Deus Ex near the very, very top.

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Also, seeing To the Moon up there makes me think it would've been a good competitor in GotD2, not the "Turbofodder" people were leading me to believe.

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Advokaiser posted...

I have a question for those of you doing rankings...

Are you ranking the games' stories or the actual games as a whole?

My 'best games' and 'best stories' lists are similar at the top because some of my favourite gaming experiences revolve around a good story or good characters, but there are a few of the ten games I submitted to this that probably aren't in my top fifty in terms of 'best games'.

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I absolutely only did stories. My favorite game of all-time is my favorite primarily for its story, and yet it's still only the +4 on my list.

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Of course we're ranking stories, but the story is not a discrete element from the game. So how that story is implemented into the game and integrated with the gameplay is absolutely a factor.

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