A good video game story can be many things. It can be hilarious, heartwarming, horrifying, heartrending, any combination of these, or something else entirely. 2024 was no slouch when it came to well-written narratives, from the chilling tension ofBanishers: Ghosts of New EdenandSilent Hill 2 Remaketo the poignantcharacter moments ofNevaand1000xRESIST.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Players reunited with Cloud Strife and Ichiban Kasuga, get to know theparty members ofMetaphor: ReFantazioand the crew of theTulparinMouthwashing,and see what Batman and Indiana Jones got up to early in their careers.Presented in alphabetical order, these are the ten best video game stories of 2024.
1000xRESIST
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1000xRESIST’sstoryis so many things. It’s beautiful, emotional, sometimes heartwarming, sometimes heartbreaking, and somehow both complex and simple. It’s a futuristic tale in a complex sci-fi world very different from the world players live in now, yet it’s also a very human story that is extremely relatable for all players. The game effectively and bluntly confronts the realities of the recent COVID-19 pandemic in a way few others have. The central character, Iris / ALLMOTHER, is both protagonist and antagonist, sympathetic and occasionally terrifying—a truly realistic portrayal of someone who is shaped by their identity and experiences into someone and something she never expected to become.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
Banishers: Ghosts of New Edenblends action and horror in a tense, twisting story about investigating the haunted town of New Eden. Protagonists Antea and Red are well-rounded figures who are fun to get to know, which makes it all the more effective when bad things end up happening as they are swallowed by the mystery of New Eden. The game is filled with moments both horrifying and triumphant, and it effectively uses its multiple endings to present many possible fates for the Banisher duo players have grown to love.Banishers: Ghosts of New Edenis a story of loss, fear, magic, and the darkness that can lurk within even the most close-knit of communities.
Batman: Arkham Shadow
Arkham Shadowsees a younger version of Batman facing down the Rat King and several other villains as, yet again, the defense of Gotham falls to him.Arkham Shadow’ssetting of Blackgate Penitentiaryallows Batman to come face to face with multiple members of his iconic rogues' gallery (if a bit early), from Harley Quinn and Carmine Falcone to Killer Croc, Bane, and many more. The game’s story also makes effective use of foreshadowing to set up future developments in Batman’s story, such as the rise of Harvey Dent as a villain and the formation of the Batman and Robin duo.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthcontinues the storythat began in 2020’sFinal Fantasy 7 Remake.Cloud and his companions have left the city of Midgar and are fully committed to their goal of defeating Sephiroth and taking down Shinra. The second in a planned trilogy of remakes includes many key narrative scenes, such as Cloud revealing his past with Sephiroth to his party members and further interactions with alternate timelines where Cloud’s friend Zack still lives. There are cute dates, tense fights, party bonding moments, and much more. The game’s story is a complex and emotional one, mixing scenes fans of the original recall fondly with all-new content added for the remake trilogy.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones returns to the video game world with a rollicking, high-stakes adventure reminiscent of his classic films.Indiana Jones and the Great Circleis a proper high adventure, with Indy traveling to multiple stunning locations around the world to defeat the Nazis and solvethe mystery of the titular Great Circle. Playing this game truly feels like taking the lead role in anIndiana Jonesfilm. The writing is as sharp as the crack of Indiana’s whip, the puzzles and traps build tension as effectively asRaiders of the Lost Ark’srolling boulder, and Dr. Jones is every inch his sometimes charming, sometimes awkward, always ready-for-adventure self.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth’sstory effectively blends off-the-wall humor with genuine emotion. On the one hand, it’s absolutely hilarious to see Ichiban Kasuga journeying to Hawaii, meeting up with new companions, and completing bizarre side quests, including restoring an entire resort on Dondoko Island. On the other,iconicYakuzaprotagonist Kazuma Kiryuis confronting his own mortality and realizing that he may no longer be able to protect Japan, his friends, and his chosen family in the ways he promised to. It’s a story that can leave players laughing and crying from scene to scene, and the ultimate result is a truly unforgettable one.
Metaphor: ReFantazio
While a good fantasy story doesn’t have to be epic in scale,Metaphor: ReFantazioaccomplishes this with style. The story is a high-stakes one of political maneuvering and the nature of rulership, featuring a group of strangers from many different cultures coming together as true companions. The sense of stakes and consequences is omnipresent inMetaphor;the player is always reminded of how important their quest is and how much the world relies on the outcome of their actions.Metaphor’s plotcontrasts effectively with quieter bonding scenes among party members to create a multi-layered, powerful fantasy narrative.
Mouthwashing
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Mouthwashingis a grim, at times hopeless-feeling storyabout the building tensions between a group of people trapped in a small space with no foreseeable rescue. It’s unrelentingly dark, plumbing the depths of human villainy in a setting that emphasizes the isolating horror of space. No other game has embodied the iconic phrase “Hell is other people” better thanMouthwashing.Its cast ranges from the deeply relatable to the deeply twisted, and its resolution is a memorable and dark one.
Neva
Many games tell a great story, but few games do it almost entirely without words.Neva,the heartwarming tale of the enduring bond between a woman and the wolf she rescues, is a beautiful and stirring wordless narrative that tells its tale through scenes, animations, music, and the interactions between its central characters. With minimal words—only Neva’s name, sometimes called out by the player as Alba—players understand the depth of the bond between the pair, the dangers of their journey, and how the two are the only thing standing between the world and the darkness that threatens to swallow it.
