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[Chandos]

Planescape Torment: best story ever.
Also Freespace 1&2 have very immersive stories where you take the role of a regular fighter pilot in the midst of a brutal, bitter and losing battle of survival against an unrelenting foe bent on complete wipeout of all human race. I have yet to play a game that can communicate the sense of scale (physical and emotional) so well.

[kg333]

Also Freespace 1&2 have very immersive stories where you take the role of a regular fighter pilot in the midst of a brutal, bitter and losing battle of survival against an unrelenting foe bent on complete wipeout of all human race. I have yet to play a game that can communicate the sense of scale (physical and emotional) so well.

FreeSpace 2 did an exceptional job with that...you really felt like you were doing your part to prevent humanity's extinction, often at great cost.

KG

[RedKing]

I'd forgotten the good old space-dogfighting genre. Yeah, X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Freespace...those were all pretty good at getting me so sucked into tactical awareness and evasive manuevers that I really did lose track of time, hunger, etc. Especially TIE Fighter, because you spend so much of the game going "AIIEEEEEE I HAVE NO SHIELDS ONE HIT AND IM DEAD DODGE DODGE DODGE". 

Freespace has that whole "Capital Ships are GINORMOUS" thing going for it. I still remember when the Lucifer first warps in, and you have to hit afterburners just to get out of its way.


Man, they really need to start making some more of those.

[Itnetlolor]

I'd forgotten the good old space-dogfighting genre. Yeah, X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Freespace...those were all pretty good at getting me so sucked into tactical awareness and evasive manuevers that I really did lose track of time, hunger, etc. Especially TIE Fighter, because you spend so much of the game going "AIIEEEEEE I HAVE NO SHIELDS ONE HIT AND IM DEAD DODGE DODGE DODGE". 

Freespace has that whole "Capital Ships are GINORMOUS" thing going for it. I still remember when the Lucifer first warps in, and you have to hit afterburners just to get out of its way.

Man, they really need to start making some more of those.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Briefing (15 minute melee/wipeout mission)... Loading screen... DIVE!!! DIVE!!! DIVE!!!

:Lucifer warps out:

"That was a little too close. We gotta wait 15 minutes to change our shorts."

I watched the video for that, and it made me want to get the game.

I want to play another X-Wing style game with today's hardware. So much potential. Graphics and gameplay-wise. Thank goodness for at least a new Mechwarrior game coming out.

[Pandarsenic]

I Have Candy Get In The Van was pretty good at being emotionally draining with its bad endings.

Actually, yeah. This is a game that really makes you feel awful about the choices you make.

If you aren't a sociopath-pedophile, anyway.

[Man of Paper]

I Have Candy Get In The Van was pretty good at being emotionally draining with its bad endings.

Actually, yeah. This is a game that really makes you feel awful about the choices you make.

If you aren't a sociopath-pedophile, anyway.

Oh, then most of us should be fine.

[ExKirby]

I'm going to sound somewhat craaaazyyyy, but Proffesor Layton and the Lost Future has a rather immersive plotline, in my opinion. I mean, at the bit where

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Celeste turns out to be Claire, who then has to be shot back in time to be blown up

I nearly cried.

[Chandos]

Freespace has that whole "Capital Ships are GINORMOUS" thing going for it. I still remember when the Lucifer first warps in, and you have to hit afterburners just to get out of its way.


Man, they really need to start making some more of those.

Not to forget all the moments where you would get caught in the huge beam of energy coming from the cannons of a capital ship, melting away in it's blinding light... Or barely winning a cap ship duel and nearly losing the human flagship in the process only to find out... I won't spoil this part for people who haven't played it yet.

I wonder who owns the franchise right now. Any idea?

[Majestic7]

Yes, FreeSpace is great... You can get it from Good Old Games these days, btw, if someone is a total barbarian and has not played them. I still stay with my earlier comment regarding Torment, though. I really liked TIE Fighter too, it was much better than the Rebel games. It came with a short novel in the box... and I think it was the last game I got on disks instead of a cd.

edit - Naturally P&P roleplaying games are superior beyond anything else regarding immersion, emotion, interest and plots. However, I thought this thread was about computer games. Otherwise I could tell a dozen stories about tabletop games and bore you all to sleep.

[SalmonGod]

One more to reinforce Stalker.  One of my favorite games.  Also a great exercise in storytelling.

Which is odd because it doesn't have a story in the traditional video game sense.  The setting IS the story.  There is a sparse plot, but that's really only a vehicle to tour you through the setting and you can even get away with mostly ignoring it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The whole thing is a beautifully constructed metaphor about the destructive effects of human ambition on one's self and environment, and inspired by an old science fiction short story in Russian with the same themes called Roadside Picnic.

1.  The setting takes place in a physical aftermath of the Chernobyl accident, which is in itself a great symbol of the destructive potential of human ambition.  Nuclear power fits on its own, and then throw on top of that a bunch of administrators foregoing safety precautions in hopes that the risks will pay off in promotions... and everyone suffers.  Note the memorial statue of Prometheus outside the administration building there.  Very fitting.

2.  Stalkers are guaranteed long-term health issues, taking on massive immediate dangers, and scrambling all over eachother in pursuit of fortune, and the most ambitious are after the wish granter.  Ironically, the wish granter just mind fucks people and turns them into its slaves, and may or may not expand the size of the exclusion zone every time this happens.  Basically, people become slaves to their ambitions and the more such people exist, the more others are forced to survive on those same terms.  The radiation and anomalies are great symbols of the paranoia inherent in such a lifestyle in the real world, where a psychological side-effect of being ruthlessly ambitious is an inherent mistrust of anything outside of oneself for its potential to be just the same. 

3.  I've always considered the major mothman sighting during the real-life Chernobyl clean-up to be an element of Stalker canon, even though it's never been officially given as such.  The mothman is supposedly sighted prior to a major tragic event.  This sighting is different from any I've ever heard of.  It took place AFTER the major tragic event, which would indicate to me that the worst was yet to come.  Enter the events of Stalker.  I'm really surprised they've never used that.

I'll also be second to throw in that nothing beats tabletop role-playing for plot immersion (I don't think video games were ever specified as a thread requirement).  The Burning Wheel is also the best system I've seen for optimizing that.

[Hiiri]

Oh god, how could I forget about Dreamfall?
That game is one of the most magnificent pieces of storytelling I've ever seen.

Are we talking about the first "The longest journey" or the sequel? Dreamfall is the sequel, and I heard it's rubbish

[yamo]

I grew quite attached to my troll in Fairy Tale Online.  When he keeled over i was Bummed!

[Il Palazzo]

Oh god, how could I forget about Dreamfall?
That game is one of the most magnificent pieces of storytelling I've ever seen.

Are we talking about the first "The longest journey" or the sequel? Dreamfall is the sequel, and I heard it's rubbish

The sequel. Of course, YMMV, but while I really liked TLJ, it was Dreamfall that made a lasting impression on me. Knowing - and liking - the story and characters of the first game certainly helped with kickstarting me into having positive feelings about the second.
I'd advise you to try it out, and decide for yourself. I can't imagine you not liking it enough to call it a time wasted, even if you might not fall in love.
Just keep in mind, when you ignore the story, the characters, the music, the visuals, and look just at the gameplay - it's really a mediocre game. And a lot of people complain about a huge cliffhanger at the end.

[Duke 2.0]

 Lufia II had a very light atmosphere and wasn't anything atypical of a JRPG.

 Which makes the situation at the end kinda jarring.

[Cecilff2]

Lufia II had a very light atmosphere and wasn't anything atypical of a JRPG.

 Which makes the situation at the end kinda jarring.

More like be your best friend, grow up, go on the best adventures together, then suddenly take a knife and stab you repeatedly, and laugh at you as you lie bleeding to death, type of jarring.  The music there makes it even worse. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I have yet to see any game with more of a downer ending.  "HAY GUYS WHERE'S MAXIM AND SELAN?" "Oh they're fine, LETS PARTY."  "They'll be home soon, Jeros", all set to the refreshing happy music.  It's even more inappropriate than the last boss music for Wizards and Warriors 2

Still one of my favorite JRPGs though.

Terranigma had an awesome story, and remains to this day my favorite.

STALKER, and Morrowind are good on the immersion parts too.