Best Plot/Story Rpgs of recent time

Browsing through some new rpgs that are coming out/have come out (Valkyrie Profile 2, Shadow Hearts 3) I was reminicing of the days of great, engrossing and wonderful storylines of the past. Things like chrono cross, Chrono Trigger, with their heartwarming and at times dark storylines, Final Fantasy VII, the monster of all storylines, Final Fantasy VII, the one none of really understood wat it was... (Sci Fi AND Fantasy, AND College themes :S).

ARe there any Rpgs that have come out recently, bascially I mean on the PS2, that have amazing storylines, Im getting through Star Ocean , till the end of time rite now, its good, good battle system, but the storyline is pretty weak, almost insultinhly bad at times.

I also got Xenosaga 1, .hack 1 sitting there, but havent had time to play, but they dont seem to be htat great. Also got Suikoden 3, started that, it was terribly boring, but I gotta give it a try...

Point is...ARe there any PS2 Rpgs with a good storyline?
Perhaps those Shin Megami Tensei series? or maybe the awkward looking Shadow Hearts series?

Thanks for all the input guys. (New to the forums, so Hey everyone lol)

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Monster of all storylines, FF VII? *sighs and just walks the fuck out before this gets any more inane than it already is.*

All right, I'll pop in and say this before I go. FF VII is NOT the greatest storyline of all time, it's barely even in the fucking ballpark.

And as for PS2 RPGs with a strong storyline, Digital Devil Saga was quite strong, to be sure, and Shadow Hearts 2 was fantastic.

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I'll mention Suikoden V for a PS2 title as well. It's the latest RPG I've completed, and I was very satisfied with the story. The game is long, but enough time was spent developing the plot and characters.

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Digital Devil Saga and Xenosaga games hands down. Shadow Hearts 2 wasn't so bad either. But yeah FFVII best story line in recent time... I laughed.

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digital devil saga is indeed pretty good and is kind of different of the other rpg storyline (it's just the long dungeon and that you get a fight every step or 2 can get annoying at least for me)

Xenosaga EpI is pretty good too! EpII, well I didn't really play alot it's just all the changes, the boring new voice-acting, the "new not-so-good battle system", the long cinematic that now are boring (at least in the first one it was interesting to watch them even if there's a lot of them) but they seem to come back good with EpIII which for now seem pretty good to me.

I for myself like most of the tales of game, tales of eternia was the best for me, but was on the ps1 so probably not new enough for you, but tales of symphonia on gamecube was pretty decent. Can't say about tales of legendia I'm not far enough to say something about the story(but god what they have done with the battle system ; ; )

(god those mods are fast XD)

I was speaking idiomatically.

I'm tempted to come in and categorically say that they are all shit, every last one of them, but I've stumbled across a few unlikely jewels.

I haven't had a chance to play the first two, but Wild Arms 3 and 4 are surprisngly well written. WA3 has a fairly interesting storyline; important characters die off rather suddenly, the heroes behave competently, and I really liked that the game acknowledges your character's levels. Battles against the major villains become less and less hopeless as your party is level 20, 30, 40, until it is completely plausible how you suddenly turn around and defeat them for good at the end of the game.

WA4 wanders a little too far into the land of RPG cliches, but the characters actually talk like real human beings, and the writing carries the plot far beyond it's simple archetypes and recycled events. Having the protagonist come from the standard issue RPG starting village actually has a purpose other than it being The Way Things Are. Even Raquel, who I suddenly realize is more or less Cloud with boobs, manages to completely beat Cloud at his own archetype.

Paper Mario reminded me of why Nintendo is so awesome, even when their marketing decisions are poorly informed. It's funny, and entertaining, yet has a fairly serious game system underneath the light-hearted veneer. It really says something when Paper Mario is a superior game all around to Final Fantasy. Paper Mario 2 is absolutely mine as soon as I get a Wii.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Monkey King

Wild Arms 3 and 4 are surprisngly well written.

Monkey King beat me to the two games that I planned to gush on about!

Wild Arms 3 tells the tale of 4 travellers who meet up by fate. What starts as a simple meeting by chance at the start, goes beyond an adventure of obligation into an adventure or much larger proportions. For the few hours or so, you follow one group. At the climax of the interaction between your group and this one, then you realize that there is a far more sinister group pulling the strings. There's also somewhat of a rival group that gets in your way throughout the whole game. Things lead to each other and then you're trying to revive the world's guardians. Neat character development as well.
eg. Virginia has never shot her guns before the start of the game! Compare that to towards the end of your journey.

As for the other gem:

Wild Arms 4 deals with themes of maturity. At the start of the game, everything is just hunky-dory for the protagonist Jude. His perfect world quickly shatters soon after a catastrophic event happens and he is thrust instantaneously into a war-stricken world. There are uber-spoilers within the first hour of gameplay! This isn't your typical "hero" quest by a long shot.

For almost every moment of the game after that first hour, all 4 of you kids are on the run from an elite squad of agents bent on capturing the mysterious girl in your group, Yulie Ahtreide. Throughout the whole game we see how Jude matures from childhood into adulthood rather forcefully. We see Arnaud change from his cowardice to bravery. We see Yulie attempt to escape her horrible childhood memories. We see Raquel has troubles of her own, despite being the overkill princess of the group.

Back to the classic:

Wild Arms 1 also shares concepts in common. Tragedy strikes the group of travellers who meet up by chance (common theme), and after a brief period of feeling like they only met up for one event by chance, they realize that they must journey together. The group ends up resurrecting golems and fighting off an alien force. More maturity in the group here, as one of your members is a princess, one is a loner, and the last is an outcast.

I recommend them all!

FELIPE NO

Well, in the realm of olden times RPG. I'd have to say; Final Fantasy IX. Which you have this mother (Garnet's mother) wanting nothing but power. Though in the end, she was being manipulated by Kuja and Garland.

Final Fantasy VII. Hands down would be my best (along with FFIX), would have my vote in being the RPG to have a deeply emotional story. About one madman (Sephiroth)'s quest for world power. Which he sacrifices countless people (even including Cloud and his team's beloved friend; Aeris).

For future favorite story. My vote would go to Xenosaga, Wild Arms 4 & Final Fantasy XII. As with Final Fantasy XII, you have that "World War III"-esque type of story. Where the Arcadian Empire invades Dalmasca.

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I'm going to get hell for it, but I really enjoyed the Final Fantasy X story. And not just because it was Final Fantasy, but because

Spoiler:

the writers actually had balls to make the main characters defy the church. That was a twist that I thought was extremely well written and was pulled off very well.

I would also recommend SMT:Nocturne, but the pacing was so bad that most people wouldn't get the full scope. DDS and Shadow Hearts 2 were excellent, too. And so was Dragon Quest VIII, until about the middle of the game.

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Who needs story anyways. Play ICO or Shadow of the Colossus.

I too feel like PS2 rpgs are a little bit of a let down. I don't think anyone has mentioned this so far but I have a soft spot for Breath of Fire V. Its not an amazing story but it has a great concept and its a short play. Ive noticed that as I've grown older, my taste in games and my patiences for long games have changed.

I will take this moment to also recommend any devil summoner game (Digital Devil Saga, Nocturn) and give Xenosaga some credit, although we won't know how "great" the story is until the 3rd one is released.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I don't think any recent RPGs have had worthwhile storylines...Xenosaga was just OK for me, would have been better if it wasn't so damn pretentiously self-important and angst-ridden. I haven't bothered playing ep2 since I've heard nothing good about it and my experience with ep1 has sort of turned me off to the series and 60 hour RPGs in general. SMT DDS had the same problem (being a multipart excruciatingly slow paced RPG) but worse; take all the angst and anime cliches you can find, paint them on a generic RPG (one that would just be a box with the letters 'RPG' on it), give it a bitchin' soundtrack and throw in some horrible buddhist references for good measure. Then break it into 2 half assed chunks with virtually no improvement and expect people to pay twice as much for it. What can I say, it worked for me.

I originally thought that Metroid Fusion has a creative storyline, even though it's not an RPG. Not that it was groundbreakingly good, but it was something I never saw before. Then I dl'ed the Alien movies and saw that the main plot twist along with many monster designs and concepts were blatantly ripped off.

My all-time favorite storyline in a video game (outside of PRESS START of course) is Chrono Trigger, but only because it was so very well executed. The music, the pace (25 hours is perfect for an RPG, there just needs to be a worthy sequel now), the characters (Crono's silence > Cloud's whining any day), the concept, the total lack of angst (save magus perhaps), the fact that you have an objective at all times and are never forced to wander around mindlessly, all of them add up to one of my all-time favorite games. Which is why Chrono Cross was such a disappointment.

Quote:

Browsing through some new rpgs that are coming out/have come out (Valkyrie Profile 2, Shadow Hearts 3) I was reminicing of the days of great, engrossing and wonderful storylines of the past. Things like chrono cross, Chrono Trigger, with their heartwarming and at times dark storylines, Final Fantasy VII, the monster of all storylines, Final Fantasy VII, the one none of really understood wat it was... (Sci Fi AND Fantasy, AND College themes :S).

For future reference FF7's storyline is shit, sorry but the big plot twist was basically Star Wars' "Luke...I am your Father" with clones/genetic engineering/whatevs. All the other plot twists about Cloud's identity are only possible because you get lied to through the entire game. And it doesn't make it easy to identify with the main character when he can't make up his damn mind about what happened.

The best Final Fantasy storyline is Tactics, which incidentally also happens to be the best gameplay-wise. The main character is actually cool because he doesn't try to be. There is an original conflict that doesn't involve a hitleresque hermaphroditic pretty-boy villain trying to destroy the world for the same reason (aka none) in IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, and probably XII, can't say for sure yet. Of all those storyline rehashes, I'd say it was best done in VI due to the likeable characters and lack of melodrama (Nevermind that Kefka looked like a faggot, he destroyed the fucking panet and didn't whine about it for a second). Too bad the gameplay sucked.

I thought the Metal Gear series had a hilariously crappy storyline but that's an entirely differently topic, and I think I've stated my opinion elsewhere.

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I am really enjoying the story-telling of BoF V. I think that its unique graphical style and art direction is part of its story-telling. Also, I am playing through the first Shadow Hearts currently and find I'm always interested in finding out what happens next, along with visiting the new and exotic locations.

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Suikoden V...Internal political battles explode into an all-out, no-holds-barred civil war and you get to see everything unfold from your group's perspective (and in time, the enemy's). Helps that the main characters tend to break stereotype (everytime I thought I had one figured out, they did something to make me take notice) and seem quite...alive for RPG characters. That, and you get to see so many different perspectives from the various allies you meet up with. Anyone who's whining about bad storylines recently and hasn't played this...You have no argument (though I hear it hasn't been released yet in Europe). The gameplay is pretty spiffy as well...That is, if you guys care about that stuff.

My problem with FFVII's story is, was and always will be the ending (though I was never crazy about how misleading some parts were). I was with the storyline right up until the lifestream comes and surrounds the meteor and...That's it? That, and the way Shinra is basically written out of things when there was so much more potential than the lousy retread into Midgar. That was enough to alter my opinion on the entire thing from "Wow, I can't wait to see what happens next" to "Eh, maybe these guys were just randomly coming up with stuff and didn't really think things through." The recent influx of FFVII games/stuff (almost a decade later) has done nothing to change that opinion.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Oh, why not. Dragon Quest 8 has an intriguing story, if not just a wee bit cliche`. I'd say though, as far as recent RPGs go, it does sport some of the best character development I've seen in a long time.

The nameless hero does actually have some relevance to the story, especially in the Epilogue which is nameless hero-centric. Jessica gets her own introduction, as does Angelo (both get intros similar to the first 3 Wild Arms games, though not quite so separated), but Yangus's background remains somewhat of a mystery for a while. It's not really known why he follows teh "guv" around through all this dangerous mess until a good ways into the game.

PC character development aside, the NPCs are really where the character development shines. The NPCs have an unbelieveable amount of depth to them, and don't simply exist to continue the story, not the majority of them anyway. Meeting new people was always a pleasant experience, and there were times when I felt like I had to check up on them just to make sure they were allright. Ah well.

Far as the story goes, it's a bit cliche. Stuff happens to a castle, one guy is normal for some odd reason (which you don't find out why until you beat the game and play the Epilogue quest) and that means he has to go save the castle he's been serving since ever. Yadda yadda yadda. Like I said, this game is mostly about the characters in it, and their personalities are likeable and really make the game feel well-made, which it is.

I'll also just lightly toss in my opinions for Wild Arms 3 and 4. Both are fantastic games with excellent stories and great gameplay.

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I don't think RPG plots have changed much since Final Fantasy VI, which remains my personal favorite in terms of cast, storytelling, and music, so I like the ones that also try for unique gameplay and atmosphere. That being said, out of the current gen stuff that I've played, I'd suggest SMT Nocturne and Breath of Fire V. It's the great presentation of everything that makes those two seemingly plot-lite games have more engrossing worlds than their more traditional counterparts. Also, if you don't mind the cliched elements, check out Shadow Hearts Covenant. Finally, Suikoden V has a good story, even if the storytelling approach and general setup hasn't changed much from the original game.

FELIPE NO

Final Fantasy games generally have an okay story. I don't agree that Final Fantasy VII is the "monster of all storylines". I think it had it's moments and was okay, but not fantastic. The thing that turned me off Final Fantasy VII like all most games was the fact that Sephiroth was, to me, just the token all-powerful, messed-up crazy guy. It was okay, mostly because a lot of games have taken that approach to the bad guy.

I think Final Fantasy VI holds the title for best storyline...of a Final Fantasy game. There are games out there that have way better storylines than any Final Fantasy. FFVI, even though it's been done before, looked deeply at war and what people do for power, but besides that the characters were actually characters I cared about. That's important in both Television shows and Video games to me. I have to care about the characters. Most characters (granted there were a few random ones...Gogo being one) had some big goal or point in their story. Relm mostly comes to mind with the fact that her mother died, her father abandoned her and left her with Strago. FFVI really felt more like a novel at times than it did a video game.

Also Final Fantasy Tactics deserves a big nod with it's kind of medieval plot involving feuding families and clans. The initial conflict between Delita and Ramza and the betrayal by Algus was very interesting and that was only within the first chapter of the game.

Anyway, there are some games out there that are way better in terms of story or plotline. Chrono Trigger has always been fantastic and fascinating with the time traveling plot and averting major catastrophe. Plus it was one of the first games to feature multiple endings so that was fun to play out and see which was the best. Xenosaga Ep 1 was definetly something interesting and very mature in it's plotline. I loved how it has the issue involving the realians being regarded just as things and then KOS-MOS comes along and doesn't realize any difference between a human life and a realian.

Anyway, that's just a small list, there are still many I'd love to play and experience. A lot are saying good things about Shadow of the Colossus and I've yet to play it, so I might give it a go.

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I'm probably going to be flamed to hell for this, but Tales of Symphonia had a pretty good plot. The characters were meh, and Lloyd (I THINK that's his name ._.) annoyed the hell out of me quite often with his stupidity, but it does have a few good twists here and there.

To be honest, though, it's not the best of RPGs. And it's also DEFINITELY not what I was expecting when I picked it up (I had heard while it was in early development that it was a sequel to Tales of Phantasia, more or less my favorite game of all time, and never bothered to confirm the rumor when it came out).

The ending is incredibly abrupt, though. Seriously, I'm playing the game, wondering "Okay, can I go to the coliseum now?" and finish the dungeon... and the ending pops up. Some mild cursing later, I read up and discover that I can go to the coliseum when the final dungeon is made available.

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I very much liked the story of Suikoden 3, because practically the whole game everything is always focussed on the main plot and never on any useless fetch-quests. Very well done.

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Of RPGs? Final Fantasy Tactics and Chrono Cross are the only two that I can really say that I love from recent times on the console. All other Post 6 Final Fantasies overall have had "blah" if not shit stories, especially compared with the earlier ones.

For Computer, KOTOR's story destroys any of the Final Fantasies, hands down, as well as Fable, Baldur's Gate, Hell, even Nox and Diablo II.

Although not an RPG, one of the best stories to come out in a game has been God of War. The story in that game is told better than I've seen any RPG story told, and it gives me high hopes for the second installment in February.

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Thinking back on what I've played, I've enjoyed quite a few storylines.

Of the obligatory FF series, I've enjoyed VI. Obviously because the characterization was pretty good, and I couldn't find a terrible fault in the game. The story, like FFs in general, is cliched, but I liked it. Discovering one's self is a good theme to sum up the game.

Speaking of characterization, Valkyrie Profile was also very good. Every character had their story to tell, and without characterization, the story would not have held together. I loved how when you meet someone, you know they're going to inevitably die.

And then Xenogears. It had too many twists, but overall good presentation (until the darned second disc...!) Sadly, I couldn't say Xenosaga can live up to it's original. The gameplay was too horrible to even continue to Xenosaga ep 2.

Suikoden II had an almost untouchable storyline of the series in my opinion (although I'm itching to play V). The theme of friendship was displayed very beautifully, and the good vs. bad ending was necessary to get the full impact of the game. Of course, when I first played and got the bad ending, I got depressed just seeing the cover of the game, I couldn't pick it up for a week just to replay it for the good ending. Great story; really made me feel for their bond.

I haven't really encountered a PS2 title that I've really enjoyed and wouldn't mind replaying. It seems like as visuals improve, the story has to decline.

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Dragon Quest 8 is my favorite video game of all time from the 2000-2006 time period. Great story and gameplay.

FF4, however, is my favorite game in the 90's period, and since it's better than DQ8, it's my favorite of all time.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Summonmaster

Wild Arms 4 deals with themes of maturity. At the start of the game, everything is just hunky-dory for the protagonist Jude. His perfect world quickly shatters soon after a catastrophic event happens and he is thrust instantaneously into a war-stricken world. There are uber-spoilers within the first hour of gameplay! This isn't your typical "hero" quest by a long shot.

For almost every moment of the game after that first hour, all 4 of you kids are on the run from an elite squad of agents bent on capturing the mysterious girl in your group, Yulie Ahtreide. Throughout the whole game we see how Jude matures from childhood into adulthood rather forcefully. We see Arnaud change from his cowardice to bravery. We see Yulie attempt to escape her horrible childhood memories. We see Raquel has troubles of her own, despite being the overkill princess of the group.

I don't think it had a theme of maturity... I mean, yeah, it DID, but it was more a side theme. The main thing that makes the game a insant classic, plot-wise (not to say the game is bad, it's great), is that it dives into Humanity itself, such as how there is no true black and white, good and evil, that everything has a grey area, the horrors that Humanity can commit, and that the people who you think are doing wrong, just might think they're doing right.

Spoiler:

Plus, the ending was awesome. It wasn't a "everybody is happy" ending, but it wasn't depressing either. It showed you that the 4 kids got through it because they trusted each other and worked together, not some superpowered freaks. Instead of having a corny, too-often seen scenario, Jude, instead of fighting in a 1vs1 duel, throws his gun down and TALKS IT OUT. The fact that, while yes, the ending was slightly sad, all the characters did find happiness in some form, even Raquel, who dies.

And uh, yeah, FF7 is not a shining example of a good plot. It makes no fucking sense half the time.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Right now I am enjoying the story of Valkyrie Profile. It's cool because it isn't your typical random male or female who goes out on a journal to save the world from an evil demon force. Instead you're a goddess who is sent to Midgard, where the humans live, to find souls suitable to fight a war in Asgard for Lord Odin. As Valkyrie, you are able to hear the cry of souls which are close to death and see their story, and some of these can be very interesting and entertaining to watch. The story itself really picks up if you go for the best ending in which she learns more about herself. If anyone plays this game I urge them to at least aim for the true ending on their second playthrough.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Miles

If anyone plays this game I urge them to at least aim for the true ending on their second playthrough.

Seconded. In fact, I would say don't even play the game without planning on getting the best ending, because it explains so much that goes on during the game. The 'average' ending here is one of the most unrewarding feelings in gaming (but only because the rest of the game is a blast...The 'true' ending is the only one that does it justice).

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I kinda liked the Wild Arms 3 story...even though it kinda dragged on too long for me.

I have to say that I recently played through FFX and am deeply impressed with the storyline. Everything made sense, the player was never really left to fill in plot holes on his own, and the characters were all likeable. I almost want to play through it again a third time just for the story...........but thats not happening =

Jam it back in, in the dark.