For Playstation 2 I think the best plot is Xenosaga 1. The story is great, it kept me hooked up in the game like crazy. Too bad I havne't had time to play the second.

On PC and Xbox I'd say it's KOTOR 1, amazing story, characters and everything. In my opinion the best RPG in these last 5 years.

I haven't played FFVI, but a lot of people here are saying it has a great plot. I've already download it, I guess I'll give priority to this game.

Just keep in mind that FFVI has great storytelling...which isn't necessarily the same as having a great plot. With FFVI it's how the story is presented that makes it special. It has complexity, but not to the pretentious extent that a Xeno game does. However, unlike Xenogears, it does a great job of presenting its story without coming off as condescending or heavy-handed. FFVI is about sophistication without pretense. If you come in expecting FFVI to be super complex, you might be disappointed. And keep in mind that the story arc (Terra is the main character) has to do with finding yourself and finding a reason to continue fighting. FFVI is about the themes of burden and hope. I wouldn't want you to become one of those irritating people who go around complaining that "the story falls apart" after a certain point. Those guys are a bunch of wusses who can't handle a little bit of open-ended gameplay. :boxing:

Valkyrie Profile's B ending is definitely disappointing. It doesn't do credit to an otherwise great game. I do give it a little credit for making it no secret that there's something not quite right about it though. I felt a bit disturbed by the way events unfolded, so it does add some perspective to things, but I wouldn't recommend that anyone judge the game by it. The A ending is a must-see. Only then can one truly appreciate how amazing the game is.

I think someone should remond the title of the thread "Best Plot/Story Rpgs of recent time"

so I don't think the ps1 era and before that count here >.>

Final Fantasy the monster of all stories. Ha! What have you been smoking?

I'll back up everybody who has mentioned Digital Devil Saga and Shadow Hearts Covenant. Both very good.

I also liked the story of Nocturne in its all simple and easy way. Not as complicated as other stories, but good nonetheless.

Dragon Quest 8 also had a good, well written and executed story. There are som cheesy aspects, but most of it is pretty good.

I pretty much really enjoyed all FF stories. Especially the later ones like FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX and FFX. A story doesn't have to have a bunch of surprises and twists to be a great story. It can just be very well told, involving, and interesting.

I thought Chrono Trigger had a very good story, and Star Ocean 2 and 3 did as well. There are a ton of games I thoyght had great stories.

To the person who mentioned Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic, I say good choice.

I nominate Planescape: Torment.

That would be me. :) I haven't had the chance to play Torment yet, although I'd like to considering the support behind it. Maybe I'll have to try to find it somewhere...

Just how recent are we talking about here?

Anyways, I haven't been into a whole lot of RPGs (I noticed recently that my attention span is shortening; a few years ago, I could sit through a long cut-scene, but now, I find that I'm impatient with just a short, 2-3 minute speech -_-;; ), but here are some of my more cherished RPGs:

Shadow Hearts: The first to the series (although technically Koudelka is before Shadow Hearts), this game introduced me to a more active battle system. I loved the gothic/horror atmosphere, monster designs (god, ESPECIALLY the monster designs <3 ), characters, and the plot, although cliche, was still memorable. Shadow Hearts Covenant was also a great story and game as well.

Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter: This game (and the series as a whole, it seems :( ) wasn't really popular, but I personally loved it. The storyline was simple but pretty original. The game was relatively short for an RPG, but there was some neate character development and interesting plot twists. The battle system, however, was really neat to me; I loved the P.E.T.S. system, and the AP system was really unique. Plus, BoF is probably one of the only RPG games that don't have a heal spell (only items could heal you character's HP)

Having restarted Valkyrie Profile on my PSP, I'd have to put this in there -- also, technically now it fits into the more recent RPG releases. :D

Valkyrie Profile tells a dozen stories all wrapped up in one battle-maiden package. Each of the characters has some sort of tragic past (Yumei ftw ;;) to deal with, and here comes Lenneth to recruit them into a battle between the gods. It's like...

"Hey, I just died. Can I have some peace, yo?"

"No, actually, you can't. Sorry, but you're gonna be immortal and fight in a battle. Kthx."

Won't ruin anything for any of those unfortunate many who've yet to play the game, but it does have some fairly serious heart-wrenching plot twists. And you know VP2: Silmeria's gonna be just as emotional as the first.

As someone who owns every single Breath of Fire game ever released, I fully support this notion. These games are highly underrated. The storyline to V was quite strong, and it thoroughly kicks ass. I mean, it's no FF Tactics, but it's certainly a strong entry.

Deni, did you forget my earlier post..;_;

;_;
I love Breath of Fire V too

I REMEMBERED, but his post was easier to quote because it was closer. :edgarrock:

I haven't liked too many. Xenosaga II comes to mind, even though I didn't care for the first one. Shadow Hearts had its moments, but Covenant was only good in the Russia Arc. Final Fantasy X was okay. Same with Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth, if that counts. (I'd played a copy when it first came out, though, as I'd loved Star Ocean 2.) Couldn't get into Dragon Quarter; I'm not much of one for dungeon crawlers. And FFX-2 wasn't my style.

That's the beauty of Nocturne's plot. The game doesn't spoon-feed the story to you (ahem, FF10, Xenosaga, DDS, I am looking at you), but rather just drops you in the middle of the game's world and lets you discover it for yourself from an insider's perspective.

Covenant, for being...well, weird as all hell, was a pretty good plot too. More games need to do "historical fantasy."

Another thing i like is the lonliness and darkness. For the most part of the game your all alone in this new, bizarre and dark world and the way Atlus kind of shows all this to you is amazing. Not many games have this kind off thing and thats why Nocturne is so special.

I have to go with Wild ARMs 3, also. (I haven't bought 4 yet...maybe when V comes my way? keh)

The story was well-executed, and it took me a while to realize that there were four chapters in the game. Just like a book, the story flowed smoothly enough that I couldn't wait to see what was coming. The only problem I had was the basis of the story--the Filgaia Theory. But that's just because I had just read an article about the Gaia Theory and had seen Spirits Within.

But--I still liked the story.

And I'll probably get shot for this....But, yes, I liked FFX's story. A young girl wants to save her home so badly that she's willing to die for it. Even after she turns her back on her religion, fights a maester, and is deemed an outcast--she still wants to fight for Spira. Now, there were elements to the story that could have been re-worked or just removed (can we PLEASE delete the laughing scene?), but overall, I thought it was a good story--not great, but good.

You KNOW I'm going to bring at least one of these up:

Suikoden III. Yes, it has a good plot. The same scenes from different POVs. I LOVE stuff like this. I've always thought it gives a little more to the story when something like this is done. And you HAVE to play the Trinity Site way--or you miss the whole story. And then you say to yourself--so THAT's why that happened. It's a decent build-up to the climax and ending.

The problem with Suikoden III's plot is that little seems to be accomplished by the end. It really needs a follow-up badly, since it seemed to be setting the stage for something major. Although the hidden perspective if you get all 108 stars added quite a bit to the story, and made me appreciate things I'd found rather dull before.

See, I'll support X. Outside of some terrible dialogue here and there, the story is strong.

But I'm sorry, Lek. Suiko III sucked balls. The ending with 108 stars was great, fantastic... downright brilliant, but the rest of the game was just awful.

I bet we can all agree on Suikoden III > Suikoden IV. Suikoden III was an awesome game to me but Thomas' POV was a pain in the ass and boring at the same time. The game was worth the 80hrs I placed into it. I still think Yuber was waaay too powerful..I recall one army battle where he almost soloed my entire fleet of characters ._..

I really liked Vagrant Story's plot and the whole 'ally/enemy' relationship Ashley had going on with Sidney. It was a nice build up to the stories end and all the plot twists along the way such as

Winter, I think VP has one of the better story lines of all time, and I'll even give you Suiko III being stronger than IV, if only because IV was goddamn painful and had Tactics attached to it, which is even worse, but III is still not a great game. The POV system was predictable and repetitive, as well as giving me an entire storyline I didn't care about. Also... Ducks in millitary helmets? Jesus fuck Christ, Beavers with guitars are better than that. The ducks made me so angry I couldn't appreciate the game at all. Sgt. Joe? More like Sgt. Sucks my balls.

The gameplay or the story? I'm talking the story and its execution. Not the gameplay. Only the story kept me playing.

The story has strong moments, to be sure, but they are ruined for me by the fact that I despised so many of the characters. If I can't care about the character, I won't care about their burning village. I hope it kills your mother, you lame fuck. (Tribal Mom = only saving grace. She was cool.)

Hmm, final fantasy games have good storylines, I will agree with majority of people here, even though FF VII is not the best, it's still enjoyable. The main reason people hyped about it 9 years ago probably because it's the first rpg in 3d engine.

the best storyline I think goes to Xenogears for its complexity and the using of religion symbolism, Chrono series for the whole paradox stuff, Persona II Innocent Sin for the most unusual ending in my gaming history ever.

Final Fantasy Tactics is god, I never bored with it, I have even played the original japanese version before the US release, it's still the most beautiful gem in PSX rpg.



Saga Frontier II actually has good storyline too, but I hate the whole system of the game, it's a downfall after Saga Frontier, my most favorite underrated RPG all the time. ;_;

for dragon quest series... I havent really played much dragon quest games except the addictive monster series. The Dragon Quest's inventory system is just so frustating, but I would like to finish one someday (currently playing dragon quest V and stucked)

I really like to know if there's rpg where all the characters are in gray area, means they could be both good and evil. Usually the storyline develops better than the ones with typical shonen series main characters.

THANK YOU. Saga Frontier is one of the best games ever. I've beaten all 7 scenarios multiple times, and I never get tired of it.

yay for another saga frontier player. you know...



I forgot to ask this, but has anyone played Shin Megami Tensei Series in the original SNES version? these games are proof Japan is atheistic country. the storyline is as radical as hell



but these two games are really hard, as hard as wizardry. I never able to finish them, but thanks to the script, I could enjoy the entire story. The story is quite radical, but I think it's very original and deserve to get more attention from gamers.