Video Games With the Best Stories

Table of Contents

• Video Games With the Best Stories
• Silent Hill 2
• Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic
• Life is Strange
• Planescape Torment
• Final Fantasy VII
• Deus Ex series
• Baldur's Gate 1 & 2
• NieR: Automata
• Red Dead Redemption II
• The Last of Us
• Mass Effect Trilogy
• BioShock series
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
• Pathologic 2
• The Last of Us: Part II

Red Dead Redemption II

It's amazing how little Rockstar needed to jump from the level of uninteresting, barely present storylines to engaging plots with characters we would remember for years to come. Grand Theft Auto III, with its mute hero and a cliché tale of revenge, was eligible for the former category, but when GTA: Vice City was released a year later, the protagonist finally spoke, and mediocrity gave way to a very interesting gangster story that borrowed a lot from cinema classics like Scarface. And that was just the beginning – in the years that followed, the team at Rockstar has spread its wings, becoming known as maestros of engaging stories. What's more, the stories are composed in open worlds full of optional activities, where cliché and repetition are very easy to come by.

Red Dead Redemption II is so far the peak achievement of the team when it comes to scenario (creation of virtual world as well – there is no other place where you will find an equally convincing living environment). The game takes us to the American frontier of 1899, when the age of the Wild West was beginning to reluctantly give way to civilization and progress. We play as Arthur Morgan – member of Dutch's gang, travelling from place to place, running from law enforcement and looking for a way to make a fortune through not-so-honest methods.

What is surprising about RDRII's plot, and what you have to get used to, is the unusually slow narrative pace. In the age of games that make sure that every twenty seconds the player gets a new stimulus such as an explosion, a plot twist or a shootout, Rockstar weaves its narrative dreamily and slowly, enabling players to get used to characters and situations, go fishing with them, hang out in a nearby town or during a robbery. It's easy to be discouraged by such approach. We are not used to such a calm pace. But if we give RDRII a chance and "survive" the first chapters, it pays off with incredible tension felt in the second half of the game and a great, overwhelming finale. And the epilogue linking the game to the first Red Dead Redemption, which might as well have been a paid stand-alone expansion, and worth any price.

1. More about Red Dead Redemption II