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.
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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).
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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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