RPGs with the best stories/characters

[Zonas]

Best stories and characters, huh?

One of my favorites will always be Dark Cloud/Chronicle. The stories and characters in the series are done quite well, it realy does disappoint me that the actual gameplay can be hit or miss for some people. Really, the only issue I take with the story is the whole, "hijacked by gannon," bit that happens at the end with no real build-up. Sure, the first one kind of had that, but it was hinted at enough.

I also love the story of Kingdom Hearts. Sure, it can be very kiddy at times with the Disney and FF characters, but the original characters they made have such fantastic moments. Their stories can be really touching at times and the plot that revolves around them can be quite good.

And say what you will about the change in gameplay, but I think Super Paper Mario needs a mention. The individual worlds can be rather forgettable at times, but I'll always remember the main plot of the story with Black and Tippi. It was sappy at times sure, but it really did top the plots to the previous games so easily.

There are others, but I'd rather not repeat what will already be said.

[Gallahadd]

How many guesses before you figure what I'll say?

Shadow Hearts Covenant! (how many guesses did you need?)

it's hands down the best RPG I've ever played, the story is fantastic, blending elements of true history with elements of pure WTF, even though it's been YEARS since I've played, the story still sticks with me.

As for Characters? forget about it! not only are the characters brilliant, they're UNIQUE. No silent, goodie-two-shoes sword wielding protagonist, no fucking useless female lead clearly just there for romance, no wise old sage for magic support. Instead our protagonist is Yuri Hyuga, who fights using Knuckledusters, that is when he's not transforming into a demon to rip people to shreds. The female lead? She kicks more ass than you've ever sat on! the wise old sage?.... he fights using a tiny living doll that you buy new dresses for with porn.

I think I'll leave it up to my boys Penny Arcade to sum up how awesome Shadow Hearts Covenant is

[Akka]

I love games with a strong focus on lore, story and, especially, characters.

Planescape : Torment

Seriously, nothing can compare. Nothing. And I've played about every single RPG in your list and then some. Even to this day, Torment is so far ahead everything else it can not even be considered to be in the same category.

I'm going to buy Neverwinter Nights 1, 2 with all expansions soon and play them as well, as people say they are as amazing as KotOR.

No they aren't. NWN2 is okay (not great, but pleasant). NWN1 OC is just shitty (it's closer to a bad Diablo than an actual RPG). The first NWN1 extension (Shadow of Undrentides) is average, the second (Hordes of the Underdark) is quite good.
Also, there is some NWN1 modules (fan-made ones) which are truly great (Excrucio Eternum, Tales of Arterra).

You should really try KotoR 2 though. It has some bugs and troubles, but it's as good as KotoR1, and in a way that will probably make you like it more (it's much less polished, but much deeper).

Baldur's Gate 1,2 and Planescape Torment are also in my plans, but outdated graphics stops me right now from playing them.

BG1 is, IMO, bad. BG2 is EPIC and really a must. Torment, as I said above, is the best game bar none. All can be bought for a pitance on GOG, so there is really no excuse to not play them.

Deus Ex: HR was also interesting, but it is not an RPG, fairly speaking. More like an FPS game with unusual mechanics and few characters.

Try Deus Ex. It's close to Deus Ex : HR, but more RPG-oriented. It's truly great (if old).

Fallout series... Didn't get into it. Post-apocalyptic lore is not to my taste. And the conversations are too short and simplified, IMO.

Witcher... Looks fine, but also a little bit... Let's just say I don't plan on playing the game any time soon.

It's a waste. New Vegas is the best RPG we had since BG2, and Fallout 3 is fun too.
Witcher has quite good story and characters (especially the 2).

So, do you guys know any other RPG games like these (Bioware games, Kingdoms of Amalur, etc.)? I stumbled upon Kingdoms of Amalur just by luck, reading review of Mass Effect 3 and noticing that this game comes with pre-order, so I guess I could miss other such games as well. How old a game is, doesn't really matter, anything after, say, 1998 would do.

Thanks! ♥

In the "old but good", there is also Arcanum if you like Steampunk + magic.
Alpha Protocol, despite all the flak it took, is really engaging if you're more interested in story and characters (which are incredible) and can forgive some bugs and bad action sequences (which are just as incredible, but not in a good way).

[Deleted]

You listed exclusively western RPGs
(where only the core story is scripted and you make most of the decisions thus creating your 'own story')

as oposed to the japanese RPGs
(where most things are linear and you only have limited impact on the story thus usually making it more coherent and in-depth).

So the first question is do you not like the japanese ones or have you simply not tried them?

As for western style RPGs that you haven't named:
- Witcher + Witcher 2

- Gothic + Gothic 2 (Gothic 3 is a bugfest probably avoid it, the games are old tho)
Later those devs also made Risen + Risen 2 which I personally didn't like as much tho.

- Skyrim + Elder Scroll Series (which you only listed as 'morrowind')

- Fable series (although Peter Molyneux ... so you have some questionable aspects in those)

[WarpedAcorn]

One that hasn't been mentioned thus far is Dark Souls. The story and characters are presented in a very unique way that I have not seen done in any other game. Specifically, there are maybe 1-3 points of exposition throughout the game. All of the lore and story is presented in a very passive way that you have to figure out or discover on your own. The backgrounds and fates of the characters you meet aren't given to you, and some can only be discovered by being at the right place at the right time. The story moves forward on its own, and depending on where you are you might miss your chance to see or hear something that provides insight.

VaatiVidya has an amazing Dark Souls series on YouTube that goes over a lot of the lore and the specific characters that can be easily missed. His channel can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe0DNp0mKMqrYVaTundyr9w


Alpha Protocol is another game that has a really cool story if you like action-spy movies. There are a lot of options and characters, and it plays like an Action-RPG. You upgrade your character, but you can do missions stealthy or straight forward. There are a lot of minor things that change future missions. The game is maybe 8-10 hours, but the replayability is really high. I've replayed it at least 6 times so far in order to see as much of it as I can.


Another oddball one is Deadly Premonition. It has a real David Lynch feel and is heavily inspired by Twin Peaks. The gameplay, voice acting, and graphics are all bad. But somehow it was one of the most fun games I've played because as bad as the game is...it actually is pretty awesome with some crazy twists. Its less RPG and more Action, but it also has a lot of open world stuff where you explore the town. Townsfolk move around town during the day. Real time progresses. Side missions upgrade your character's abilities and equipment. And most importantly, every person in town has their own story and secrets to discover. Its definitely one of my favorites, and a great example of how a game with so many terrible components can fit together into something that is more than the sum of its parts.

[Kowloon]

Suikoden I
Suikoden II

[wombinator04]

Mass Effect series, the Illusive Man and others are fantastic

Dragon Age Origins. Dragon Age 2 never happened.

Witcher 2.

Warcraft series. Not really full blown RPG's, but I really like the characters and stories Warcraft spawned.

[May90]

Wow! Thanks for replies guys. I didn't even know there were so many story-based RPGs existent...

Looks like will need to play Witcher afterwards. People praise this game. I watched some videos on Youtube today, and cinematics and dialogues look incredible. Didn't like the fighting system though, but, if story is great, I can live with that.
Will take a look at other mentioned games. I was especially glad to see Arcanum here: for some reason, I've never played it, but heard so many positive words about this game that it may now actually make me sit and finally install that game, even though it's old.

No they aren't. NWN2 is okay (not great, but pleasant). NWN1 OC is just shitty (it's closer to a bad Diablo than an actual RPG). The first NWN1 extension (Shadow of Undrentides) is average, the second (Hordes of the Underdark) is quite good.

Well, I've read many different opinions. Some hate both games. Others say NWN2 is good and NWN1 sucks. Some say NWN2 sucks and NWN1 is great. Others still love both games.
I'll just start with NWN1 in a few days and will see how it goes. Hopefully I will have such a great time with both these games and expansions as I had with KotOR back in 2004!

You should really try KotOR 2 though. It has some bugs and troubles, but it's as good as KotoR1, and in a way that will probably make you like it more (it's much less polished, but much deeper).

Played it countless times and, actually, loved it even more than KotOR 1. With restoration mod the game doesn't feel as unfinished as vanilla, and characters, as well as story, are just astonishing.

BG1 is, IMO, bad. BG2 is EPIC and really a must. Torment, as I said above, is the best game bar none. All can be bought for a pitance on GOG, so there is really no excuse to not play them.

Super-outdated graphics (even in HD edition) is what stops me from playing these games. But, people say they are the best RPGs ever made. So, maybe, I will force myself to start eventually...

You listed exclusively western RPGs
(where only the core story is scripted and you make most of the decisions thus creating your 'own story')

as oposed to the japanese RPGs
(where most things are linear and you only have limited impact on the story thus usually making it more coherent and in-depth).

So the first question is do you not like the japanese ones or have you simply not tried them?

I haven't tried any Japanese games. I go to Japan very often (sometimes you get really happy with getting a job) and feel the difference in culture. So I don't think I would love Japanese RPG. But I'd love to try one or two, just to see what they are about.

[Sj]

I've noticed, personally speaking, that the best stories usually don't have above-average characters. It also seems that the great characters make an otherwise run-of-the-mill story that much better just because they're a part of it. Examples would be Final Fantasy VI and Grandia II, respectively.

I must stress that this is a personal opinion of mine, and I don't intend to pass it off as fact; feel free to retort or disagree.

[jcf190]

Suikoden 2 goes down as my all time favorite RPG. In fact, it may be the only one I played through more than once. I'm hoping they re-release it in some form. It'll be a system seller for me if they ever do, as I don't currently own any consoles or handhelds.