Summary

• Story-driven video games offer a great way to experience new characters and worlds within a medium less ive than watching a movie.
• There are lots of different genres of story games ranging from horror to romance, across both the AAA and indie game development spaces.
• From Red Dead Redemption 2 to Bioshock, here are the 10 best story games to play right now.

Story-driven games are still as popular as ever, offering players a chance to lose themselves in a fictional world that's less ive than watching a movie or TV show. Where multiplayer games can bring people together, single player narrative-centric games give s a chance to step into the shoes of someone else to experience something entirely new across any genre they can think of, whether it be horror, drama, or even romance.

When it comes to narrative-driven games there are plenty to choose from in both the AAA and indie game spheres, but some stand apart from the others. Here are 10 best story-driven games of all time, selected because of their immersion, characters, and of course, their stories.

10 Until Dawn (2014)

Platforms: PlayStation 4

Supermassive Games skyrocketed to infamy with its 2014 release of Until Dawn. With a star-studded cast including Rami Malek and Hayden Panettiere, this narrative-driven horror game lets players decide who lives and who dies based on their story choices. Filled with twists and turns, grisly deaths, and a memorable script heavily inspired by some of the best horror movie tropes out there, Until Dawn is a must-play story game for horror fans.

9 The Walking Dead Season 1 (2012)

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Mobile

Often regarded as the best The Walking Dead game, Telltale's first foray into the franchise is a masterclass in narrative design. Similar to Until Dawn, players must make decisions that will often decide the fate of the characters on-screen. The zombie apocalypse is the perfect setting for a choice-based game, but what's perhaps unexpected is just how much this game can tug on the heartstrings - this is certainly one of the most emotional stories seen in any video game.

8 The House In Fata Morgana (2012)

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC, Mobile

The House in Fata Morgana (and its later edition, Dreams of the Revenants), is about as story-driven as a video game can be: as a visual novel, its gameplay mostly involves reading through the stories presented across different doorways in time. Players will meet an unusual and memorable cast of characters as they begin to unravel the mysterious past of the titular house throughout various periods in time. Gruesome, heartbreaking, and entirely unforgettable, the underrated House in Fata Morgana is the pinnacle of its genre.

7 Portal 2 (2011)

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Mobile

Portal 2 could have been a run-of-the-mill sequel with some interesting gameplay elements, but the imagination of the developers at Valve extended far past the mechanics underneath the hood of the experience. Portal 2 is instead far more intriguing because of its story. The partnership the player forms with their robotic partner takes such a surprising turn, but it's not just the final villainous shift that takes audiences by surprise. Valve Corporation has created an unparalleled sci-fi world and unforgettable puzzle game that's boosted tremendously by the adventures set within it.

6 Disco Elysium (2019)

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One & Series X/S, Nintendo Switch

Disco Elysium is one of the best games of the last 20 years, serving as a narrative adventure that challenges what to expect from a video game. Its sharp and witty dialogue makes it a wonderfully intricate and immersive experience with hundreds of hours of replayability. Players take on the role of a detective with amnesia who must solve a murder, and despite its silly-on-paper premise, players can expect a deeply emotional story with a healthy dose of humor and a beautifully bleak world to explore.

5 Bioshock (2007)

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

Bioshock is the first game to spring to mind for many when discussing narrative stories - and for good reason. Players explore the underwater world of Rapture as plane crash survivor Jack, but this once-eutopia has fallen to ruin and chaos with danger lurking around every corner. As players follow the instructions of the mysterious Andrew Ryan, what unfolds is one of the most unforgettable narrative twists ever seen in a game and well worth experiencing for oneself.

4 Baldur's Gate 3 (2023)

Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5

Winner of The Game Awards Game of the Year 2023 - as well as Screen Rant's Game of the Year - Baldur's Gate 3 is a phenomenal leap in narrative design and storytelling. The game boasts thousands of different endings depending on the player's choices throughout and - being a game set in the world of Dungeons and Dragons - there's a wealth of lore and story to unpack even after putting the game down. There's no end to what can happen in Baldur's Gate 3, making it one of the biggest and widest story-driven games out there.

3 God of War (2018)

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4

Rebooting the God of War franchise was certainly an ambitious feat. However, the decision to move the story into the realms of Norse mythology and focus on the bond between Kratos and his son paid off. The game is one of the most popular story-driven first-party PlayStation releases and is considered a must-play for PlayStation - and PC - s. Making Kratos far more relatable by creating a story of fatherhood contrasts well with the monsters and deities that he faces, with the story itself serving as an emotional rollercoaster of mythical proportions.

2 Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018)

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Open-world titles can sometimes struggle to truly tell a story that grips the audience, with the focus of these games generally being on exploration and combat over the narrative. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a big exception, building on the franchise with a deeply emotional story that has cemented protagonist Arthur Morgan as one of the most notable video game characters of all time.

With a gritty but heroic lead and the opportunity to truly do anything, it's a shock that the narrative at the core continues to be both starkly relevant and the most exciting aspect of the game. It's gripping from the start, and Rockstar Games ensures it absolutely makes the most of the genre as rival forces continue to cause great concern to the player in an interwoven set of plots.

1 The Last Of Us Part 1 (2022)

Platforms: PlayStation 5, PC

2022 saw the remastered release of one of Sony's biggest games of all time: The Last of Us. While many were unhappy to see a 2013 PlayStation 3 game that already had a PS4 remaster get yet another version for PS5, TLOU remains one of the most gripping and harrowing video game stories of all time. The Last of Us for PS4 is rated higher than the PS5 version with a Metacritic score of 95, but from a storytelling perspective, either version is a must-play depending on one's available hardware.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world,The Last of Us follows the story of smuggler Joel Miller, tasked with smuggling teenager Ellie across the wasteland of the US after it's discovered she may be immune to the cordyceps virus that's destroyed the planet. A story of love, loss, and morality, The Last of Us Part 1 is the definitive way to experience the now-classic Naughty Dog adventure.