[Abe Sargent]

Next up...


Best Overall Story, All Time


This award looks at the video games that had the best overall story from beginning to end.

Good story crafting is not a part of a lot of games. Early video games didn't really care. What's the story of Pac-Man or Asteroids or Donkey Kong? For many genres, stories aren't something we really care about as much either. Sports? Sim? I mean, what's the story of SimCity or Madden?

And many stories aren't ' "good" stories, they are just derivative spinning of the wheel, like King's Quest, X-Com or Might and Magic. There's not a lot of meat to the bone.

But that has changed. Stories have increasingly become a key part of gaming at all levels. And thus, the value of a story that'd really compelling is important to the story. Even casual games have a lot of story these days, like builders and match 3 games and hidden object games.

So strap on in to the best stories in gaming history!

The Nominees for Best Story

Bioshock
Life is Strange
Knights of the Old Republic
Planescape: Torment
To the Moon
This War of Mine


Why these games?


Bioshock - Bioshock attempts to break out of the normal story telling convention by using great mythic arcs to show how bad man can be, and how off putting we can be. Just as we think we have found enlightenment and the true path, we are set back in major ways. There is a powerful mythic underpinning to the story that is deep.


Life is Strange - Ah yes, Life is Strange. Using time travel inventively to get information on someone and then use it on them to bond with them, you get a lot more character development than you would normally expect. It plays well with the genre, pushing a story that is not expected when you begin to reveal your time-bending prowess, but deep nonetheless, and requires an ultimate sacrifice.


Knights of the Old Republic - KOTOR is more authentically Star Wars than any Star Wars movie, it's that tethered to the franchise's core of redemption.


Planescape: Torment - When you lay aside the normal issue of death in a game, you allow yourself to be free to fully explore characters. And in this was one of the first where your choices mattered. Who are you?

To the Moon - I suspect this will likely be the last nomination for To the Moon for a while. But the story is really the best part about this game. It's the best game I ever read. The story here, without spoilers, still resonates deeply long after the game session ended.


This War of Mine - By lashing this game to the recent wars in the former Yugoslavia republic, this strategy game puts you in the role of War Survivors who have to make tough moral decisions to survive the war. Are you going to take medicine from old people who will likely die without it? Are you going to help children who need it? It's a strong game with a strong sense of the true Hell of War that nothing else really can convey.