11 Games With the Best Storylines You Need to Experience

Looking for your next narrative-driven adventure? Forget everything you think you know about video game stories. These 11 titles don't just tell stories. They rip your heart out, piece it back together, and leave you questioning everything.

1. The Last of Us

Joel and Ellie's relationship hits different. The game burrowed into players' hearts through its post-apocalyptic setting and the bond between its two protagonists.

You're navigating a fungal apocalypse, sure. But you're also watching a broken man learn to care again. Every clicker encounter feels tense. Every quiet moment between Joel and Ellie lands with weight.

The ending still sparks debates years later. Did Joel do the right thing? Wrong thing? There's no clear answer, and that's what makes this story brilliant.

2. Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 earned recognition for its immersive mechanics and emotional storytelling, examining themes like loyalty, redemption, and the death of the Old West.

Arthur Morgan's redemption arc destroys you slowly. Rockstar built a world where every interaction feels meaningful. Dutch's descent into madness. The gang's gradual collapse. Your horse dying (yes, that moment).

The prequel format works because you know how this ends. The Van der Linde gang is doomed. Watching Arthur fight against that inevitability makes every mission land harder.

3. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Geralt's search for Ciri delivers one of gaming's richest narratives. CD Projekt Red crammed this world with meaningful choices. Side quests feel like main quests. Main quests feel like Hollywood productions.

Multiple endings are shaped by player choices throughout the game, with outcomes that genuinely reflect the decisions made. The Bloody Baron questline alone stands as a masterclass in storytelling. Morally grey characters. Consequences that matter. No easy answers.

Plus, Ciri's story pays off beautifully. Whether she becomes a witcher, empress, or meets a tragic end depends entirely on how you treat her throughout the game.

4. God of War (2018)

Kratos went from rage-fuelled god killer to protective dad. That transformation defines this entire game.

The game shifted away from Greek mythology to Norse realms, following Kratos and his son Atreus as they journey to scatter the ashes of Kratos's wife from the highest peak. The one-shot camera technique keeps you locked in their journey. No cuts. No breaks. Just father and son, navigating grief, gods, and growing up.

"Boy" becomes something more than a callout. It's distance. It's protection. It's fear. Watching Kratos struggle to connect with Atreus while teaching him to survive cuts deep.

5. Mafia: The Old Country

Set in Sicily during the early 1900s, the game follows Enzo Favara, a teenage carusu who becomes embroiled in the rise and fall of the fictional Torrisi crime family.

Enzo survives childhood slavery in sulphur mines. Now he's climbing the ranks of organised crime. The narrative explores loyalty, love, and the corrupting nature of power through Enzo's relationships and moral choices.

Sicily's brutal underworld comes alive through Unreal Engine 5. Vendetta wars rage for decades. Don Torrisi demands absolute loyalty. Enzo must prove himself worthy of the Cosa Nostra, and family truly takes sacrifice here.

6. Mass Effect 2

BioWare nailed the suicide mission concept. Every crew member you recruit faces potential death during the finale. Your choices throughout the game determine who survives.

The Collector threat feels real. Building your team feels purposeful. Watching characters like Mordin, Thane, or Garrus develop through loyalty missions adds weight to every decision.

Shepard's journey from Spectre to suicide squad leader explores sacrifice, leadership, and what it means to unite different species against impossible odds.

7. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

That twist. You know the one.

Finding out you're Revan changes everything. BioWare crafted a Star Wars story that rivals the original trilogy. Light side or dark side, your choices shape the galaxy.

The companions feel real. HK-47's murderous commentary. Jolee's grey Jedi wisdom. Bastila's struggle between love and duty. Every character arc matters.

8. Fallout: New Vegas

Originally conceived as Van Buren, the unrealised third classic Fallout game, New Vegas became known for having one of the best storylines in gaming.

Obsidian delivered a post-apocalyptic Western where factions fight for control of New Vegas. The blend of post-apocalyptic setting with Western themes, combined with faction warfare in a lost world, resonated deeply with players.

Caesar's Legion. NCR. Mr House. Yes Man. Four paths to power, each with compelling arguments. Optional quests match the main story's quality. The writing here sets standards other RPGs still chase.

9. The Walking Dead

Every timed dialogue choice and irreversible death tests player instincts under pressure, with over 28 million individual episodes sold by 2014.

Clementine's journey from scared child to hardened survivor defines this series. Lee's sacrifice in Season 1 still hurts. Your choices shape who Clem becomes.

Telltale perfected the "this action will have consequences" format here. Not every choice matters equally, but the illusion of agency combined with genuine emotional stakes works beautifully.

11. BioShock

Would you kindly pay attention to this one?

Rapture tells its own story through environmental details. Audio logs reveal Andrew Ryan's underwater utopia collapsing into dystopia. Then the twist reveals you've been controlled the entire time.

The "would you kindly" revelation remains one of gaming's greatest narrative moments. It questions player agency itself. You followed orders because games train you to follow objectives. Ken Levine weaponised that against you.

11. Final Fantasy VII

Aerith's death changed video game storytelling forever. Players expected main characters to be immortal. Square showed otherwise.

Cloud's identity crisis. Sephiroth's descent into madness. Shinra's corporate evil. Jenova's alien horror. Final Fantasy VII weaves multiple narrative threads into something special.

The materia system, summons, and limit breaks all serve the story. Everything connects to the planet's life force, creating thematic consistency most games miss.

Final Thoughts

These games prove interactive storytelling matches any other medium. Some make you cry. Others make you think. All of them stay with you long after credits roll.

What's your pick for best video game story? Drop your thoughts below.