The Best Story Games of All Time

Freya Jack

June 4, 2025

Best Story Games of All Time

There are few games as immersive and emotionally gripping as Red Dead Redemption 2. Combining empowering gunplay with one of the most fascinating open-world maps of all time, this is AAA storytelling at its best. See my collection of the best story games of all time.

While time travel has a shaky track record in video game story-telling, Chrono Trigger shows how it can be done with finesse. Featuring cavemen, cursed knights, and goat-people, this unique game is sure to delight.

1. Braid

With a story that’s as compelling and thought-provoking as it is engrossing, Braid lays out an intriguing mystery that keeps you guessing at every turn. It’s also one of the more challenging puzzle games to master, and the Anniversary Edition adds a new world with fun new challenges.

What starts out as a simple 2D platformer with rewinding time mechanics quickly expands into clever ideas in each of its levels. The rewind ability itself is a fascinating concept that’s never over-explained. The same can be said for the levels themselves that get progressively more complex.

2. Firewatch

While some games use a sprawling open world to add depth to the story, Firewatch focuses on creating relationships and an edge-of-your-seat mystery within its Wyoming wilderness. The game’s moment-to-moment storytelling is head and shoulders above nearly every other video game ever made.

Henry takes a job as a fire lookout in the Shosone National Forest to escape his wife’s early-onset dementia. He communicates with his supervisor Delilah over a walkie-talkie, and you choose dialogue options to help him develop their relationship. The two are soon menaced by unseen forces and must unravel a years-old mystery.

3. The Witcher 3

A genre-defining game, The Witcher 3 weaves an expansive world of lore and intrigue around Geralt of Rivia. Its story is a captivating yarn of murder and romance that never operates in a simple moral binary.

Its grand gestures — from reuniting lovers to a battle with a rotting hag that lasciviously lolles its tongue — make for an epic journey. But it’s also a game that delivers the small moments.

Its dialogue is incredibly well written and the branching narratives are superb. Plus the game has some of the most stunning visuals and music.

4. The Last of Us

The Last of Us tells a complex and powerful story with a lot of drama, romance, and action. It is also highly replayable thanks to the multiple choices you can make that affect the narrative.

Part II lays everything bare, including the game’s secret second protagonist Abby’s backstory and her own conflicted, violent daze. While it might be easier to keep track of, this removes any sense of mystique from her journey. It’s a shame.

5. Portal 2

The first Portal introduced a new style of FPS puzzle gameplay and left a lasting impression with its deadpan humor. But Portal 2 takes that a step further and manages to be even better than the original.

the best story games of all time

The world is bigger, the characters more vivid, and GLaDOS’s madness takes many forms. Plus, the game adds a co-operative campaign where you and a friend control two of GLaDOS’ robots for an additional layer of narrative storytelling. Even the environments, from claustrophobic test chambers to yawning underground chasms, serve as a backdrop for the story.

6. Mass Effect 2

Whether it’s Life is Strange or Mass Effect 2, powerful video game stories are about more than just fighting bad guys. It’s about assembling a team of unlikely allies and then facing overwhelming odds together.

Mass Effect 2 lays out a galaxy’s worth of history and introduces us to characters that feel real. It even features a satisfying series of reunions that avoid feeling like a sitcom reunion episode. Its improved combat system and deeper character relationships make it a worthy successor to its predecessor.

7. Cyberpunk 2077

Back at launch Cyberpunk 2077 looked pretty cool, but a shallow open world experience hampered its potential. Now, thanks to Update 2.0, the game finally feels properly fun.

This roguelike-style game’s neon-lit, futuristic dystopia is a fusion of sci-fi classics. Megacorporations rule the world from their sky-high towers while decadence, sex, and crime run rampant below.

the best story games of all time

Cyberpunk 2077 blends its wild energy into mature storytelling. Though its systems can occasionally feel overwhelming (political wheeling and dealing, randomized loot with rarity roll thresholds, core attribute leveling, full-body enhancements) it’s worth the effort. May be this game is the best story games of all time.

8. Baldur’s Gate 3

In a genre that hasn’t had one of these since The Witcher 3, Baldur’s Gate 3 brings new life to tabletop roleplaying-inspired, reactive fantasy RPGs. Larian Studios creates a rich, sprawling world stocked with too many fully-realised, powerfully written and skillfully voiced characters to count.

Even seemingly minor NPCs are carefully written with branching narrative paths that bring their past decisions to a head in jaw-dropping ways. The story is as rich as the game’s world. And it can change completely based on your choices. No two playthroughs are the same.

9. Hades; best story games of all time

Roguelikes aren’t usually the best vehicles for complex stories but Supergiant Games has managed to make it work with Hades. The Greek Mythology-inspired game tells a tale of family and all the pain and secrets relatives can hide from each other.

Every area is packed with unique enemies, bosses and boons, helping every run feel different from the last. It also has a strong relationship building system allowing you to build up relationships with Orpheus, Cerberus and others as you progress through the house of Hades.

the best story games of all time

Every playthrough is rewarded with weapon and character upgrades, as well as new story insights.

10. In Stars and Time

As with Firewatch, the greatness of In Stars and Time lies in its writing. Whether it’s the wry banter between Henry and Delilah or Siffrin’s self-aware, quirky dialogue, its script is as strong as any other in this list.

The best story games of all time

While the story in this CRPG is thin, it still offers a dazzling, cinematic experience. It tackles themes like mental health and friendship in a believable, affecting manner. The best story games of all time is a tale that will leave you thinking long after it ends.

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