Summary
The goal of a video game would often be to give you the best of both worlds – an excellent story combined with polished systems and mechanics. Some of the best examples might beAlan Wake 2,Baldur’s Gate 3, or Hades 2. But unfortunately, it’s not the case for all games, and sometimes the story will triumph over the gameplay.
You’ll see this is true not only of Double-A games but also of a handful of Triple-A titles as well. While the gameplay may feel underwhelming and disappointing in some of the games below, the writing and characters certainly won’t let you down.
Alone in the Dark is definitely one of those games where you want to wait for a steep discount before buying it. The combat is a very unsatisfying, stiff, and buggy mess, and one of the major things holding it back. It’s unfortunate, because the puzzles are very well-designed, and the Southern Gothic atmosphere and horror-mystery storyline are the best parts that save it.
This is a reimagining of the original 1992 game where you once again step into the shoes of P.I. Edward Carnby and Emily Hartwood to help Emily’s uncle, Jeremy Hartwood. The lore writing, creature designs by Guy Davis (who’s done art for many of Guillermo del Toro’s films), voiced narration on texts,and the performances by actors David Harbour and Jodie Comeras the protagonists are superb.
DC lost its footing with the Batman games post-Arkham Knight, but Gotham Knights is still a much better experience overall than the live-service, multiversal nonsense of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. The biggest letdown is the combat and progression, especially after the seamless game design you had with Rocksteady’s installments.
The Batcycleis somehow even worse traversal than the Batmobile, the combat is RPG level-based and requires grinding repetitive side missions with little to no flavor, and switching between characters isn’t as worthwhile as you’d hope. Nonetheless, the story introduces the intriguing Court of Owls in addition to other enemies like Clay Face and Mr. Freeze, and that opening cinematic will draw you right in.
Murdered: Soul Suspect isa detective story like you might never have imagined. You are the ghost of Salem detective Ronan O’Connor, who works on solving his own murder and the case of the Bell Killer. The story is a compelling supernatural mash-up of L.A. Noire and Ghost Trick Phantom Detective, so where does it go wrong?
The detective mystery that unfolds is worth playing, with many twists and sharing a connection to the Salem witch trials, but the gameplay is juggling too many things at once and is not as polished as the story. There are mechanics like possession, clue-finding, and hiding from wrath-type demons that hunt O’Connor’s spirit. Is the game stealth and combat-focused, run-and-hide, or investigation-based?
Publisher(s)
2K, Aspyre
Mafia 3 is one of the strongest narratives of the series and has an incredibly nuanced way of telling its story. Through a series of flash-forwards in a taped interview style reminiscent of True Detective and seeing events as they play out in the past, you uncover the enigma that is Lincoln Clay and his warpath against his enemies at home in New Bordeaux following his return from the Vietnam War.
It’s a revenge story done differently and features more radical changes to the mechanics than any of the past Mafia games. There’s a loyalty system that affects the ending, where you have to choose how you split the territory between Irish gangster Thomas Burke, Haitian mob leader Cassandra, and the former protagonist Vito Scaletta. The general missions and rackets feel like unnecessary busywork that ruins the pacing, but the boss missions are the most memorable, with characters that stick with you.
The PS4 era of narrative-driven exclusiveson the console was quite unmatched. One of the earliest games that demonstrated heavy storywriting prowess and impeccable graphics and technology was The Order: 1886. It was another one of those short linear adventures with more cutscenes than actual gameplay, but it still has one of the most unique werewolf stories and alternate history plots in gaming.
Preserving the order of the Knights of the Round Tableall the way to the Victorian Ageand Industrial Revolution, you play their agent Sir Galahad on a quest to destroy the Lycan threat in a rich Gothic London. The writing, voice-acting, and transitions from cutscenes to gameplay will keep you immersed, but the third-person shooter combat and gameplay progression are nothing to write home about.
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is a powerful and emotional psychological taleabout grief and childhood traumaset against a historical backdrop. The game’s main focus is to give you a harrowing and intimate look at psychosis and how it’s affecting Senua, as well as track her spiritual journey as she comes to terms with the loss of her beloved Dillion, through some groundbreaking writing and audiovisual work.
The sequel, Senua’s Saga, takes the narrative to tenth-century Iceland and expands on the world and characters,bringing with it even more stunning visuals. What brought the series down was that the game design felt second to the story and didn’t fit. Senua’s Sacrifice is plagued by boring and repetitive combat and puzzles that ruin the experience, and Senua’s Saga becomes one continuous interactive game cinematic.
Don’t Nod is a video game studio known for presenting some of the best narratives in gaming,whether it’s Life is Strange, Tell Me Why, Remember Me, or Jusant. When putting that expert narrative design and story writing effort into a more Soulslike title, that’s where the studio falters, as designing that type of gameplay is something Don’t Nod still needs to master.
Vampyr and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden are the two Soulslike games from Don’t Nod that have a shared supernatural universe. You’ll fall in love with both stories instantly, but feel the combat needs some major fine-tuning.
Vampyr follows Dr. Jonathan Reid during the 1918 Pandemic in Londonafter he becomes a newly turned vampire. Banishers is a haunting ghost tale exploring the love story between Red and Antea set even earlier in 1695.
Starfield’s gameplay was a bit of false advertising by Bethesda. It’s not the immersive space sim that was promised, as there are plenty of signature loading screens at every point and the space travel is more of that. Also, the majority of the planets are empty, lifeless, and feel unfinished, making the exploration aspect of it counterintuitive.
But if you’re able to ignore all that,Starfield offers a space mystery like none other, following a group of explorers called Constellation tasking you with collecting shards that can grant you special abilities. The main characters and companions are all very well-executed and can develop into potential romances, and it truly has some of the best dialogue writing for a Bethesda game.
Firewatch represents the epitome of very poor game design choices but a powerful and poignant story that will resonate with everyone. Some gameplay is even full-on text adventure, so what you’re really in for is a narrative game rather than one with exciting amounts of gameplay. It will immediately seem more like a wilderness exploration and map simulator than a traditional mystery game, as it’s described.
Among the many issues with the gameplay is how you can easily get confused about where you’re going in the environments, which ruins some of the immersion. The story is also one that’s unexpected given the art direction and peaceful nature of the game, but equally beautiful, as it deals with the topic of mental health and explores the growing relationship between Henry and his supervisor Delilah via a walkie-talkie during a personal crisis in his life.
The interactive episodic Walking Dead series from Telltale will always be its crown jewel achievement. In fact, this piece of interactive game media told in four seasons may be even better than the 11 full-length TV seasons of The Walking Dead and the spin-off shows. It’s one of those gamesthat is just an astonishing work of art.
Telltale’s The Walking Dead follows the journey of a young girl named Clementine whose character is developed over the course of four seasons and is one of the best protagonists in The Walking Dead universe. If you prefer choose-your-own-adventure narratives, point-and-click gameplay, and QTEs, it’s a deeply emotional and suspenseful journey, especially exploring her bond with Lee Everett in the first season.
