Which Games Have the Best Story?

As the title says, which games have the BEST story?  Genre doesn't matter.  I'll come back with some nominations later

Well,    I am a broken record on this one because I always say Syberia 1 & 2.   

Thinking back,  lets see.    Dare I say Twisted Origins  1, 2, & 3?      It did inspire us to a
group play and some of esme's best rants ever,    and the oddest looking chicken discussion.

Black Widow.     As that story progressed,  you kind of felt for her.

Cruel Games:  Red Riding Hood   That is another one that had us in a discussion as to
what had happened.


Infected,  Twin Vaccine---to me,  so good and interesting storyline.    I've been hoping for a sequel.

I own, but haven't played the Syberia games, yet

I LOVED the Twisted Lands games, all three of them, despite the oft-times confusing nature of things

I haven't played Black Widow, yet!  I should, there's a sequel coming out this month!

I just recently played Infected: Twin Vaccine, and while some of the game mechanics need to be tweaked, I did enjoy the story!  Very sad, and horrifying in a very The Stand kind of way.  I would like to know what happens next!

A couple of games that I really enjoyed the story on are Whispers: Room 6 (a short, free, online adventure) and Whispers: Revelation (links go to my reviews.)  Both games are clunky, but the STORY is good on both of them, and IMO, worth slugging through.

I know I'll think of more later!

There are two games that are tied for best story, imo. Very different in their approaches and subject matter, but both incredibly rich and amazingly textured. They were so good they actually changed my life! They are:
~ Grim Fandango (LucasArts, 1998)
~ The Longest Journey (Funcom, 1999/2000)

TLJ is available again from GOG and I've since replayed it several times, the last time just a couple months ago. It is just as pleasurable and satisfying as ever. Unfortunately Grim Fandango's game design system (admittedly a bit clunky) hasn't lent itself to a re-do so I'm not sure if I'll ever get to play it again, which makes me really -- I love it so!

The Syberia story is also really good and beautifully told. In its own way, so is the Broken Sword series. In a much smaller-scaled way, I also love the stories told by Amanita Design, specifically Machinarium and Botanicula (the latter being more of an un-story). Brilliant!

Lots of great adventure games out there, past and present! I recall that Adventure Gamers published a listing of their version of the Top 100 All-Time Adventure Games. I looked it up and - sure enough! - Grim Fandango and TLJ took spots 1 and 2. 

ETA - Some of the Nancy Drews aren't too bad, come to think of it. Zork Grand Inquisitor and Zork Nemesis both have great stories, albeit very different. And if you didn't mind figuring everything out slowly on your own there was the intriguing story of Myst and its sequels... not a story as much as a mystery. But I'll always stand firmly by my original two favorites.

I haven't found any casual games with storylines to compare, but some are very good for what they are. I'll have to come back to this post and edit to add my favorites (once I decide on them).

That is an AWESOME list, RM!  I adored Botanicula, and I still need to work through Machinarium.

After we do our Scratches group play, we should do The Longest Journey and the Syberia games!  I own ALL of them, and have never played them!  As a matter of fact, I have Myst (Masterpiece Edition), too!  A group play is just what I need to motivate me into playing them!

Oh, and please don't edit your post, RM!  I don't want to miss the rest of your list!  I'll happily put in a link to your new post so that we can jump to the rest of your picks

Thanks Genki.
The real irony is that TLJ features... wait for it... a talking animal helper! Probably the original one, though he's hardly cute.

Oh my gosh... *collapses in a fit of giggles*

I would definitely be in for the group sale.  I have t TLJ but have never gotten her
off the boat....which is right a the beginning of the game.     

I believe I have Myst..must check.        

Meanwhile, must go to work.

One of the best story games is actually a time-management!  The Delicious: Emily games are fantastic, starting with game #4, Emily's Taste of Fame.  This is a TM series done right, and all of the characters are absolutely endearing.  You really grow to care about them step-by-step (literally sometimes! )

I must check that series out, Genki.
Sorry I've been AWOL. My hacking cough turned into The Head Cold from Hell and I've been in bed for the past two days.

Aww, I'm so sorry to hear that, RM!   I hope you feel much better sooooon~!!  It seems like it's been a bad week (or perhaps a very good week, hopefully?) for most of us -- it's been very quiet.

There has been a lot of talk about how amazing the new Enigmatis (The Mists of Ravenwood) is, and I'm wondering if it's because it has an amazing story, or if it's one of those trifecta games with incredible story, graphics, AND gameplay?

While we're at it, I have a note that the first Enigmatis had the option of doing a mahjong scene instead of a hidden object scene, but I don't remember that being the case when I played it.   It's not in my review, either...