What game has a great story and is worth the time investment?

Perroboc@lemmy.world to Games@lemmy.world – 112 points –

I recently finished Rise of the Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy XVI, and I’m hesitant what I should play next (PC or PS5).

With FF I enjoyed the game and the story was all I expected from it, and I’m really looking forward to the DLC.

With Tomb Raider… damn that game is all over the place. The story is predictable, and also stupid. “Why did you rush in there? Without weapons? Against an army?”, and other similar thoughts kept running through my head. I don’t feel inclined to play Shadow of the tomb Raider (the sequel).

I have a backlog of too many games, and lately it takes a lot of effort to start because I don’t know if it’s worth the time investment. I love games with good stories, and playing a game that puts the lore and story in the background feels like a waste of time.

Sure, I could get started on Baldurs Gate 3, I’ve heard great things. But is the story great? Will I be able to say “oh that chapter/fight/act is awesome!” To other people looking for game experiences?

Experiences like Escaping from the ship in Super Metroid, helping that king in Witcher 3, fighting Psycho Mantis in MGS, fighting Titan in FFXVI, killing the first colossus, escaping from darth Vader, that first Mario odyssey stage, beating the first boss in Bloodborne, playing “Brothers” for the first time and getting to the ending… all great experiences with awesome stories to tell

TL;DR: what am I missing?

EDIT: Holy crap I didn't expect these many replies. Thank you! There are many recommendations I've already played, and many others I will definitely play. Thanks!

If anyone is interested in the result:

Recommended, bought:

  • Bioshock 2
  • Black mesa
  • Cyberpunk 2077
  • Death stranding
  • Deaths door
  • Detroit become human (PS5)
  • Disco elysium
  • Dragon Age
  • Elden ring
  • Fallout 3
  • Fallout 4
  • Fallout new Vegas
  • Ghost of Tsushima
  • Hades
  • Half life alyx
  • Hellblade senuas sacrifice
  • Homeworld
  • Horizon zero dawn
  • Inscryption
  • Just cause 3
  • Life is Strange
  • Mass effect 3
  • Metro series
  • Ori and the blind forest, and sequel
  • Oxenfree
  • Persona 5
  • Planescape: torment
  • Shadowrun dragonfall
  • Shadowrun Hong Kong
  • Soma
  • Spider-Man
  • Subnautica
  • Tyranny
  • Wolfenstein series

Recommended, to buy:

  • 13 sentinels (PS4)
  • Age of decadence
  • Cruelty squad
  • Dead space
  • Ghost recon wildlands
  • God of war ragnarok
  • Grandia
  • Kingdom Come Deliverance
  • Octopath Traveler 1 & 2
  • Outer wilds
  • Pathologic 2
  • Red dead redemption 2
  • Song of horror
  • Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG
  • The hex
  • the last of us part 2
  • The upturned
  • Torment: tides of numenera
  • Withering rooms
  • Yakuza

Already Played, and yeah, these are awesome:

  • Alpha centauri
  • Bioshock 1
  • Bioshock infinite
  • Borderlands series
  • Control
  • Dark souls series
  • Deus ex human revolution
  • Deus ex mankind divided
  • FFXIV
  • Ghost trick
  • God of war 2018
  • Guardians of the Galaxy
  • Hollow knight
  • Hotel Dusk
  • Mass effect
  • Mass effect 2
  • Nier: automata
  • Nier: replicant
  • Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
  • Portal
  • Portal 2
  • Psychonauts 1 & 2
  • Spec ops: the line
  • Stray
  • the last of us part 1
  • The Stanley parable
  • Titanfall 2
  • Undertale
  • What remains of Edith finch
  • Witcher 3
139

Outer Wilds (not Outer Worlds)

Ori and the Blind Forest

Hollow Knight

I came here to recommend Outer Wilds too

Also wanted to add Outer Wilds. The story is incredibly interesting and well-told, and it's one you have definitely not seen before!

I wanted to say Outer Wilds too simply to have OP join us in our search for that high of another player experiencing this game for the first time. Nothing quite like seeing the game "click" when they finally get those big plot points.

Pleasantly surprised to see Outer Wilds here, which I just finished the base game of the other day. Starting the DLC now.

Great game!

Mass effect trilogy

Soma

What remains of Edith Finch

Stanley parable

Spec ops the line

Fallout new Vegas

Detroit become human

Deus ex and deus ex human revolution

I want to second What Remains of Edith Finch. Tip: play it in a single go. It will take about 2 hours, but trust me when I say it's worth it.

How would you classify Detroit becomes human? Its been in my queue for awhile. The preview looks great, sounds great, but I havent heard anyone bring it up. Which makes me worry if its worth the time.

I’d say its worth the time. It has a lot of replayability, but I only played it once.

It’s awesome. Mainly a dialogue-based game. Drama. A lot of choices that you have to make. Emotional.

Disco Elysium

This should be the top answer. I'm also a person that can't really enjoy a game unless it has a good story and Disco Elysium blew me away. The best game to come out since 2019 as far as I'm concerned

I definitely recommend Control, since a lot of games you like have big epic set pieces as well as an engaging story. That game is insanely rewarding if you're willing to put the time and effort into looking for "collectibles" and piecing the game together. Very cool atmosphere and fun to play as well. You really get out of this one what you put into it.

Bioshock Infinite got shit on by both racists and leftists who completely missed the point of the game, but the ending is the best of the Bioshock series IMO and stuck with me longer than most anything else I've played. Lots of big cinematic moments, too.

Guardians of the Galaxy is slept on imo and has some amazing moments, and while the story is a retread of things the GotG comic has done, if you're not a big comic reader, you won't know, and if you are, you'll be jazzed about how things are represented.

BG3 is incredible and the hype is well-deserved. The replayability is genuinely off the charts. Ive begun 4 playthroughs and beat it once and have not played the same game twice. Main story is the same but the variability in motivation, drive, and interactions is simply incredible. It is THE CRPG, and this is coming from someone for whom BG2 is my favorite game of all time.

New Vegas is New Vegas. It's a shining example of what gaming can be for a reason. Needs no explanation (other than "don't go north at the start").

I came here to say Guardians of the Galaxy. The gameplay is fine, but the story and music in the game are awesome! I keep trying to get people to play it.

Have you done any Last of Us, yet? Both games are excellent.

First one. The second one… I’ve read it’s more of a vengeance story in the first half, and then you play the same story from the other side, making you see how awful revenge is.

Does it have scenes like the one with the giraffes?

Yep. I hated ND at the time but by the end of the game I was blown away. One of the most immersive incredible gaming experiences I've ever had (story-wise, both games I mean). As amazing as the first was I almost prefer the second.. I'm still torn.

It's not for every one though and it recieved a review bomb before it was released and a lot of those people still hate it.

To answer the giraffe one and without spoilers.. yep there'a lovely moments in it that stick with you

I'm replaying it right now on Survivor. Great game but so grim. I can't do long play sessions because I find it too taxing. It's extremely polished so you can play it at any difficulty level and it works well.

I'm here now because I want to find another game to play alongside or after that isn't so heavy.

I would agree that the first one is good, the second one is boring garbage in my opinion.

I like the second one better than the first.

Both have powerful stories, and I can respect a narrative that takes risks like TLOU has. I have some gripes with the second's narrative, but I would still recommend it to many. I've also been thinking about it recently, so I'm pleasantly surprised to see it mentioned here.

I think it’s totally fine that a game may not be someone’s cup of tea, but I recall the second game getting a lot of negativity for…some reason I don’t fully remember.

Outside of the story the gameplay is better, the tech is better, the environments are better. Even today it holds up as a powerhouse in these areas.

But, again, a recall a lot of people trashing the game, and I’m not saying that’s you at all. Don’t get me wrong. I’m just trying to remember why a certain subset of people online were going all apey over it. To me it’s absolute top tier game to this day.

I recall the second game getting a lot of negativity for…some reason I don’t fully remember.

Some of the popular complaints went into spoiler territory. Since I can't seem to spoiler tag on kbin, I'll only briefly mention that they generally centered around one of the main character's choices early on, while also targeting their appearance for being "unrealistic".

Outside of the story the gameplay is better, the tech is better, the environments are better. Even today it holds up as a powerhouse in these areas.

I agree overall. I also applaud Naughty Dog for the considerable number of gameplay options and accessibility features. If I remember correctly, someone has even beaten TLOU1/2 who was born blind.

I’m just trying to remember why a certain subset of people online were going all apey over it.

Not gonna get into it here, but the lesson learned by the protagonist felt like it missed the mark a bit when looking at the events of the game after things were said and done. Ultimately, I think it's fairly minor considering that's maybe my main gripe. I suppose I had some issues with pacing too, and thought some aspects of the plot should have been fleshed out differently. I was hoping to revisit TLOU1/2 eventually to see how my thoughts have changed.

This one doesn't usually get mentioned when people talk about good story: Borderlands 2. (1 is dry, 3 is stupid)

It's light-hearted so I think people don't take it seriously, but if you look past the fart jokes, and really pay attention. You get one of the BEST villains ever, and some real emotional moments.

The Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep was a great continuation of the main storyline as well.

As a long time D&D fan, I geeked out through the whole thing! So much fun!

Did you play Wonderlands?

Wonderlands is great. First good Borderlands game since Tales IMO

I did. I enjoyed it, but didn't replay it like I did with BL2.

I highly recommend Outer Wilds if you haven't already. Just don't get it mixed up with Outer Worlds

Outer Worlds is good too. Not as good as Outer Wilds, but still good. Sorta like New Vegas in space

The only problem with starting Baldur's Gate 3 now is that it's gonna be a crazy high bar for everything that comes after.

But if you want a great story that's affected by your decisions and character, it's a great place to go.

Bladur’s gate 3 is awesome but if you can wait, do so and you will have a much more seamless experience in the near future once more patches come out.

My recommendation is the following.

NieR Automata. It’s a masterpiece of a game with innovation all over the place. Trust me, it’s much more of a JRPG with some hot chicks. Go in blind and you will have an amazing experience.

On a similar note, Death Stranding. The story is less cohesive and honestly as a game it isn’t as good either but I still maintain that it is a game that everyone must try at least once. It’s not one of the best games I’ve played, by far but I am 100% happy that I played it.

Last recommendation is Hades. Flawless game with incredible amounts of polish.

P.S. all these games have AMAZING soundtracks

I'll second the NieR suggestion, and raise the prequel/original. Both of those games have no right being as good as they are story wise.

NieR, come for the 2Booty, stay for the existential questioning of the meaning of life.

One of my favorite games of all time and I 1000% picked it up because the fan art of the MC is hot.

I was really surprised by Titanfall 2. Looks like an ordinary mech shooter (okay there is nothing ordinary about that these days), but the story was solid and the level design amazing.

My only complaint is that it's way too short of a campaign. It's very easy to beat over a few hours, but it's fun the whole way through and I just want more.

The Outer Wilds, Fallout New Vegas and Just Cause 3

I was also gonna say Outer Wilds. My Steam library is almost entirely indie games and not much else stands out to me story-wise except maybe:

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

The Upturned

Song of Horror

Withering Rooms

Cannot say Outer Wilds enough. Wonderful experience. Exploration and lore is everything in this game. But it's not too much. Some games have exploration and lore just for the sake of having it. Whereas everything in Outer Wilds is purposeful and motivating to do.

Red dead redemption 2 has a really good story. Gameplay is pretty immersive and lots to explore.

God of war have a really good story and gameplay is overall fun.

Ni no Kuni II I found to be an interesting story. Gameplay was fun overall.

Ori, both games, has a good story to tell. Overall good platformer

Hollow knight is a fun platformer and overall story is good. Similar but not as good, death's door.

Death stranding has an interesting story but kind of strange. Gameplay is OK but can get a bit repetitive at times.

Spider-Man, overall fun. Story is unique.

Ghost of tsushima, good story and gameplay. Visually lovely.

Cyberpunk 2077 I found immersive, story wasn't bad but might not be for everyone.

I’m halfway through RDR2 and the gameplay is boring af. Ok not all gameplay, mostly the quests. The world is amazing, and it’s quite immersive indeed but 90% of the quests are, go here, shoot some guys, come back.

The issue with quests in RDR2 is that they give you no autonomy. Most games set a quest objective and give you a dozen ways to achieve it. RDR2 forces you to follow the exact path through the quest that the game wants you to take. If you deviate it either fails to progress or simply fails the quest. It felt more to me like an interactive movie than a game in that respect, though you get full freedom outside of quests.

Undertale

Ghost trick (it's on steam now woohoo)

BioShock trilogy

The original Ace Attorney trilogy

Also +1 to outer wilds. It's been mentioned a dozen times here already. It's my game of the decade.

Shouldn't need to be mentioned but play all of these games blind because story is a huge part of them.

Baldur's Gate story is great, yes.

Dragon Age (fantasy magick adventure) and Mass Effect (space opera) are also great.

Describing Mass Effect as a soap opera makes me irrationally angry. I think you meant "Space Opera", although even that isn't accurate. It's far more like Star Trek than Star Wars.

Spec Ops: The Line.

A bit dated, but one of the few shooters that makes you question your actions and view warfare for what it does to civilians and to soldiers. Definitely some memorable story moments.

Not so thinly veiled take on Heart of Darkness via the games industry.

Fantasic game. Intentionally meh gameplay. One of my faves, highly recommend.

Really good, played it when it came out. That phosphorus scene with the bodies of the victims stuck with me forever

God of War 2018 - such a great story and you don't need to know the previous games.

God of War - Ragnarock - it's rare a sequel to a banger is good. Even more rare when the sequel to a banger is an even bigger banger. 2018's story was good, ragnarock is so damn moving.

Red Dead Redemption 2 - never played the first one but bc 2 is chronologically before it, no matter. This game is so immersive and deep.

Horizon Zero Dawn - this one is probably hit or miss. You either lovr the lore or couldn't be fucked. For me it was a great story. Gameplay may not stand the test of time however.

Ghost of Tsushima - this game is so fucking pretty.

Hollow knight - the lore. Omg the lore and the art style and omfg the music. Hidden gem.

I can't think of more but there are a ton 🙂

Horizon's story stuck with me for a few weeks after completing it. Also one of the few games I played all the way through without playing other games as well. I usually have to play a few different games so I don't get burned out of any one game.

I agree on the God of War games as well. So well done.

Also, Fuck Ted Faro.

I've heard nothing but praises for Yakuza's story thus far. And I'm only a short way into my first game in the franchise, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and godamn does it live up to the hype. The characters, plot, world, they all are lovingly crafted and fit together so well. After this I'll be going back to do all the Kiryu games.

I highly highly recommend the entire Yakuza series if you want something story focused, with some caveats.

You'll hear a lot about all the mini games in Yakuza but the games' main focus is really the story. The games can take a while until they have introduced everything and you're completely free to explore the city. Cutscenes and dialogs can be pretty long but they are all really well animated. It can sometimes be like watching a show.

Where I initially ran into issues is that I didn't expect it to be this story heavy and just wanted to play. I highly recommend playing the whole series on Steamdeck. Since cutscenes can be long, the steamdeck's pause and resume is really helpful.

Also, play the 2 Judgment games when you're done with the Yakuxa series. I haven't made it through 2 yet, but 1 was great.

Disco Elysium definitely, as it's probably one of if not the best written games available right now.

If you want something with more gameplay, you should definitely take a look at Pathologic 2. New content will be released relatively soon for it too (as in a different playable character and story), so it's probably a good time to give it a shot.

You're missing Elden Ring. Bang for buck one of the best games hands down if you have 150ish hours to spare. Absolutely beautiful game with a great story, if a bit cryptic and dystopian. It's a game that takes patience and can punish mistakes but just such a rewarding experience, wish I could start it over without knowing anything.

The story in Elden Ring is super generic high fantasy. It's so boring.

I'm not the biggest fan of Elden Ring's story, but it is decidedly not low fantasy.

borderlands 2

optimally you scour up up to three friends to play with, but even alone the game is excellent.

it has a great story with one of the best villains in gaming ever (my opinion) as good as glados.

apropos glados the portal games are also a definite must play (what with portal 2 being the highest ranked steam game ever.)

My personal disclaimer on this is that Borderlands is way more fun with friends, but if you want to pay attention to the story you probably need to be selective about who you play with. I find most of the people I've played with don't really pay attention to the story and I either need to skip everything or force them to wait for me, not ideal for either person.

Since you seem to enjoy JRPGs I can't recommend Persona 5 enough! Story is at times predictable, but the characters make it worth your time.

Seconded, though particularly the Royal version. The extra semester (and related content) and quality of life upgrades are completely worth it, and the best way to experience the game.

New Vegas

Hey man you know where you can find a great cup of coffee? Starbucks!

Edit: this How I Met Your Mother joke apparently did not translate.

1 more...

The Last of Us. Damn I loved that game. First and only shooter that I've ever completed.

From some of the games you mentioned I think you'll appreciate some of these games. All of them are the sort of games that have very rich stories that you will want to talk to people about, remember how you wanted to get your friend to play MGS blind just so you could see him face Psycho Mantis and have his mind blown and then you had someone to talk to about it? I had the same feeling for each of these games (which means I won't tell you much about them, and you should try to avoid spoilers):

  • SOMA

  • Spec Ops: The Line

  • Life is Strange

I also think the Stanley Parable deserves an honorary spot it's not exactly story rich but it's a neat experience that I found quite unique.

NieR: Automata has the same effect for me. That game made me have some thoughts, I tell you what, that once-in-a-lifetime experience you wish you could erase your memory of to experience it for the first time again.

If you enjoyed FFXVI, it's worth considering FFXIV.

It's currently free to play through its first expansion and the second expansion will be free next year. So it's a safe game to try from that perspective.

The producer of FFXIV is the same as FFXVI. His mentality has been that he's wanted players who don't want to play an MMO to be able to play through FFXIV's story as if it were a mainline FF game. I'd say 95% of story content can be soloed at this point.

The two caveats are these: This is like playing through five full length JRPGs. To finish FFXIV's story takes months. It's easily 400+ hours of playtime imo.

The initial base game story, called A Realm Reborn or ARR is mediocre. It's not bad, but the story quality spikes up in a big way at the first expansion and then never backs down. Even the end of ARR is really good, but it's only decent up until then. However, after ARR is some of the best story writing I've ever had the pleasure to play. Shadowbringers and Endwalker in particular still bring tears to my eyes when I hear certain songs or rewatch some cutscenes. Truly a beautifully told story.

If you can deal with dated graphics 100% the original DeusEx.

And DeusEx Human Revolution still looks splendid and also has damn great story.

Played both Human Revolution and Mankind divided. Incredible games, shame that the second one was cut before the story finished 🙁

Also, the other good Ion Storm game, Anachronox.

I haven't played it in 20 years and still remember some great moments.

I was kind of disappointed with all of the planets after leaving Anachronox and I kind of just stopped playing at some point. I kind of want to pick it up again but I’m not super into the combat system either.

Well... if you want most of the main story but without the gameplay, someone had made a movie out of the cutscenes awhile back.

I ended up quitting on the final boss. Partly because I was gut punched by an unexpected plot point just prior. But also because it was the third big fight since the last save point and I got lost on the mechanics. I caught the ending through the movie I found.

Oh yeah, one of the more original RPG stories still.

Democratus is still one of my favorite RPG companions of all time.

Kingdom Come Deliverance

This game had the dullest characters and the most boring/cliché story and the fighting mechanism is absolutely horrible.

OK.. Thanks for informing me of your opinion I guess?

Fallout New Vegas (with some mods), Vampire Bloodlines (with community patch) and Deus Ex Human Revolutions. I'd personally even put Deus Ex 1 there for the story itself, but the game is pretty old and may be jarring for modern audience even with mods....

What mods do you recommend for FONV?

It depends if you are new to the game or not. There's two big categories of mods - those that only perform modernization and quality of life features, and those that rework everything until it looks like Skyrim.

If you are new, I'd recommend not using any of the latter; they can be fun, but it's good to know New Vegas "as is", I'd say. Otherwise the selection is so big it's hard to pick, I'm running like 30 or so (mostly extra weapons, enhanced AI, better crafting, extra sidequests and a player home). But just give an idea on the scope of mods, the settlement building system in FO4 was inspired by mods originally in New Vegas (Real Time Settler and Wasteland Defense), so there's really a wide scope of things to pick from.

As for the former, there's some that jump to mind - NVAC (New Vegas Anti-Crash), FNV 4GB memory patcher, stutter remover, nevada skies and/or EVE (essential visual enhacements), and probably a texture pack or two to enhance visuals. Maybe even NVSE, which is a scripting extension mod that other mods can/will need.

Currently playing a second Fallout 4 play through so that will color my view but honestly, all the fallout games.

Not the main story necessarily but all the smaller stories you find absolutely everywhere in those games are magical, piecing together what happens with a family who’s been dead for 200 years through terminals and notes or going through a vault slowly realizing what horrors have taken place keeps me pushing to exploring!

BioShock. The whole series has an interesting storyline. One and two are related directly. BioShock Infinite isn't directly related to the first two but arguably has the most compelling story arc. The ending is one of the first games I remembered being just dumbstruck.

I should play them again. I played 1 and Infinite only. Bioshock 2 felt like a cash grab at the time. Is it worth it?

Hotel Dusk and Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney if you want something with a slower pace.

The first three Metal Gear Solid games have fascinating stories. They're not the most logically sound stories and they have a lot of weird elements that make them hard to follow. At the micro scale they're not the most comprehensive. On the macro scale they're not hard to get into at all. When the story hooks you it really hooks you.

I was a child when I completed the first two MHS games. I never finished MGS3 because the disk got smashed to pieces. I do remember liking it a lot though. MGS2 is my favorite of the bunch. It was a good mix of old characters and new that carried the story in a satisfying way.

The absolute best story in video games(IMO) is the Mass Effect trilogy. For the longest time those games set the bar for video game story telling to me. Every character was so easy to get invested in. I cared for all of them and deciding who completed the journey or not was a series of deeply personal tough choices that carried across three games. Did the ending suck? Absolutely. Do not let that last 0.1% mar what is easily %99.9 one of the best space scifi stories in any medium.

MGS2 will blow your mind. This scene from MGS2 has been living rent-free in my mind since I first saw it as a teen when MGS2 came out.

Remember, this game came out around 2000. The internet was just starting to become relevant back then.

The 3rd act of MGS2 hits like a sledgehammer after so much light hearted, self-parodying, comfortably familiar heroic espionage. The story has aged so well. It invokes that eerie 4th wall break feeling that Psycho Mantis delivered, but on a prolonged and more meaningful scale.

As an edgy teen back then, I didn't fully appreciate the brilliance of MGS2. It's the one I look back at nowadays if I think about Kojima mindfuckery

Oh thanks for this list, I wish there were more that weren't scary. I'm a total coward.

Torment: Tides of Numenera, Disco Elysium, Age of Decadence, Shadowrun: Dragonfall, Shadowrun: Hong Kong, Tyranny, Fallout: New Vegas, Planescape: Torment

Quantic Dream makes pretty good story-driven games. People have recommended Detroit, but earlier games are also worth checking out, like Beyond: Two Souls

I'll throw my hat in the ring and say - the newer Wolfenstein series.

Incredible story, Incredible gameplay with choices that matter, and a lot of content to occupy your time across the like 3-4 games.

Including the one with the sisters?

I believe that has some relevance to the story but honestly I haven't tried that one.

Subnautica
Oxenfree

I definitely get your concern with BG3 as Lariat had a pretty lousy story in both DoS and DoS2. In both games they tried to be serious and funny without doing a good job at either.

I second Subnautica. It's not a big story, but I love the way it's told: gradually unfolding through exploration and discovery.

Spider-man is something that isnt mentioned here yet. It has amazing setpieces and a good story.

Metro series. It is not a horror game but have a nice story. Also, Astroneer is good. I didn't give any change to these two games in the past, but now I regret my decision.

I was gonna say metro as well. Caught it on stream two years ago, liked it. Read the books, awesome. Playing the first one rn, found out I‘m a wimp.

Also fallout except 76 (I have it but i dont like playing it, I really don’t like the always online part).

The witcher series (currently reading the first book after watching the series and finishing all three games.

Sure, I could get started on Baldurs Gate 3, I’ve heard great things. But is the story great? Will I be able to say “oh that chapter/fight/act is awesome!” To other people looking for game experiences?

I can only speak for the first 1,5 acts (I think I'm getting closer to finishing act 2). The main story is good so far, but perhaps not the best. There are loads of great side quests, fights and even choices though. And you can complete most tasks in a myriad of different ways.

Conversation that could go a few different ways. Are you looking for games with massive lore and world building? Dark Souls, Destiny, Nier, FFXIV.
Are you looking for something short and sweet that keeps you engaged with story the entire time? Bioshock, Horizon, Last of Us

I would recommend trying FFXIV if you liked XVI. Same team (Creative Business Unit III) worked on both games. They have done a lot of work so that even tho it is an online game, mass majority of the story elements can be finished solo. And then there's the joke about the free trial....which expands this October to not only include the base game + The full first expansion Heavensward...they are also adding in the second expansion Stormblood for absolutely free.

Also, if you want a mecha sci-fi game, play 13 sentinels. It is an fantastic unique storytelling experience.

I absolutely loved FFXIV, it was one of the reasons I played XVI. Yoshi-P, Zoken, and Koji Fox are awesome.

I'm late to the party, but just wanted to say that your list of purchases and recommended to purchase are just monumental lists of games. So many amazing choices.

I want to add two more if you have room.

Psychonauts and Psychonauts 2. They won't get you as much in the way of epic set pieces, but they are dripping with charm and very well crafted games with some of the most interesting levels I've seen.

I haven't seen anyone mention BioShock. BioShock 1 and 2. I've heard mixed reviews about the third and haven't played it so I'll make no comment on it.

Prey is in the same vein as BioShock.

Dead space has some horror but is also good.

All I’ll say about Bioshock Infinite is that it feels/plays very differently from the first one (and, I assume, the second).

The atmosphere is just entirely different and lacks most of the “horror” element that you had in the ruins of Rapture.

God of War 2018 & God of War: Ragnarök. I would recommend this first on PS5.

Next I would say is 100% worth the time investment: Final Fantasy XIV. It’s an MMO, but the story is amazing. You can play 99% of the story with NPCs easily. They made it so easy to pay older dungeons with the new NPC system to keep players going. It starts off very slow and just bleh (war story with light fantasy), but it gets better and better. I’ve played the 3rd expansion twice and plan on playing the 4th expansion again soon. I’ve cried so much. Even the side stories have great stories as the writers get their footing after the first bit. You’ll recognize several of the fantasy elements from FF16. I’ve only every played 15 before 14, so it’s not like I’ve spent a a lot of time in the series.

It's a bit older but I always loved Grandia's storyline it's on steam at the moment.

I see Undertale but not Deltarune. If you haven't tried it yet, the two released chapters are free.

I've been playing Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG on the PC since its inception more than a decade ago and I am still loving it. It's playable as a solo game (I rarely group up for anything) and there are 8 different character classes, each with their own unique story and missions. It's very much a typical Bioware product. So YMMV I guess.

Inscryption.

I don't dare say anything at all about it. Go in completely blind.

God damn yes. What a mindfuck of a game. Loved everything about it

Baldur's Gate has some of the best gaming moments in my recebt memory, but those are more character and story moments. On the other Hand, FFXVI has the most epic boss fights I've ever played, basically Kaiju beating the shit out of each others.