What video game has the worst story?

what cultr said

honestly if we're going to talk about horrible stories here, any super mario game before he became three dimensional

HIPSTER.

 

probably spongebob: creature from the krusty krab. i've watched my little brother play.

 

Pac-Man and his unhealth obsession with balls.

 

Pac-Man and his unhealth obsession with balls.

Zinnngg!!

but if we are talking about bad story lines, White Knight Chronicles, or Borderlands.
when in fact that i love Borderlands and have beaten it with all the dlc, it's story line was the WORST.

 

I think the blanket assessment of whether or not a game has a good story is this:
If a game's story is also it's premiss, then it has a bad story.
Example: Super Mario Galaxy. The premiss is "Peach got kidnapped by Bowser, you must save her by collecting stars to power the spaceship you're riding."
This is also the entirety of its story. There is no character development, no progression besides the number of stars going up, no plot twists, just its premiss.

The opposite would be Cave Story. The game itself has changing goals, giving you limited and paced exposure to the ultimate goal of defeating the Doctor. It switches from "explore Egg Corridor," to "hatch the dragon egg," to "fetch Kazuma," to "protect the red flowers," and so on and so forth. Your goal isn't "kill the Doctor" from the get go.
This is usually the key factor in determining the quality of a story.
Of course, a game with a paced story isn't always a good story. For example, Metroid Prime games, who's story didn't feel so much of a driving factor as getting new items did. Many people lost interest when it was time to find the artifacts to beat the game since there was no promise of upgrades.

 

I'd say the best story I've come across is Cave Story and FFIV, while the worst would have to be the Mario Games, they are basically The Princess Was Taken, go save her and beat bowser.

 

There's a difference between a bad story and a simple lack of story. Taking the Mario example, the story isn't really the focus and barely detracts from the games as a whole. They also tend to have plenty of vibrance and personality despite the lack of an actual narrative. The worst stories are the ones that expect/force you to sit through hours of excruciatingly bad writing delivered through the mouths of unlikable characters (again I reference things like Star Ocean 4).

 

There's a difference between a bad story and a simple lack of story. Taking the Mario example, the story isn't really the focus and barely detracts from the games as a whole. They also tend to have plenty of vibrance and personality despite the lack of an actual narrative. The worst stories are the ones that expect/force you to sit through hours of excruciatingly bad writing delivered through the mouths of unlikable characters (again I reference things like Star Ocean 4).

I would like to emphasize that this is my opinion as well.

 

Personally I think the worst story in a game I've played is Halo ODST.
It doesnt really have a purpose, it's not connected to any other Halo games other than the fact that it takes place during 2. It honestly has no reason for existence other than that it was just tiding fans over until Reach.

 

Personally I think the worst story in a game I've played is Halo ODST.
It doesnt really have a purpose, it's not connected to any other Halo games other than the fact that it takes place during 2. It honestly has no reason for existence other than that it was just tiding fans over until Reach.

There is indeed a story, this is when you collect all 30 hidden audio files. I guess it gives you some kind of backstory to why it all happened, I dunno.

 

There is indeed a story, this is when you collect all 30 hidden audio files. I guess it gives you some kind of backstory to why it all happened, I dunno.

Still bullshit though, considering you have to find secret things to know the story.

 

Definitely, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. While the gameplay is fairly decent, although the game is too easy, the story is utter crap. It almost entirely consists of an anviliciously-propagated "Escapism is bad" aesop, which is completely broken: The alleged protagonist, Marche, destroys the keystones of the world he ended up in and mangles, immiserates or kills plenty of people to return to the real world with his friends, who lived a happy life in Ivalice, while their real lives sucked. And he is continuously portrayed as the good guy (and considered such by the creator of the game).

It's sort of painful to think about how the name of the original, brilliant Final Fantasy Tactics was used for that game.

 

In media in general i'm tired of the old crutch thats being used across the board. Violence being the only option. Where the antagonist(s) are either subdued or killed, because thats what happens to bad guys. Surprisingly it crops up in kids films too. Recently a notable example was in:

Spoiler

Kung Fu Panda 2. The bad guy, like our protagonist, Po, had a difficult childhood that left him with unfinished business. Po's problems are looked at in detail over the course of a good chunk of the film. The antagonists issues are only vaguely glanced over, and Po makes a good attempt at trying to get him to rethink what he's doing and that he'd be better off with peace in his heart rather than revenge. Though unsurprisingly, the antagonist fails to see it that way and makes a final attempt to do Po in, getting himself killed.
This happened in Tarzan. This happened in Beauty and the beast. It even happens in Klonoa 2, leading to a pretty unpleasant fight with one unhappy dude.

This happens in so many different films and games and i'm sick of it. Oh for there to be more films and games that explore right and wrong more thoroughly and encourages rehabilitation and philosophy rather than outright violence. It's such a cop out.

 

Miles, I completely agree that our culture should be encouraging peace, actual solutions to problems, etc, rather than violence... BUT

Rehabilitation and philosophy are not fun things to do in video games.

 

Depends on the type and mood of the game. If done well, it can fit seemlessly into a game centered around battles, enhancing the story without causing any awkwardness.
(One of many examples: Iji, a game about war and survival and STUFF BLOWING UP!!1, which nevertheless questions the necessity of violence while still being tense and entertaining.)

 

Rehabilitation and philosophy are not fun things to do in video games.

If done correctly, it can be quite amazing.

 

In media in general i'm tired of the old crutch thats being used across the board. Violence being the only option. Where the antagonist(s) are either subdued or killed, because thats what happens to bad guys. Surprisingly it crops up in kids films too. Recently a notable example was in:

Spoiler

Kung Fu Panda 2. The bad guy, like our protagonist, Po, had a difficult childhood that left him with unfinished business. Po's problems are looked at in detail over the course of a good chunk of the film. The antagonists issues are only vaguely glanced over, and Po makes a good attempt at trying to get him to rethink what he's doing and that he'd be better off with peace in his heart rather than revenge. Though unsurprisingly, the antagonist fails to see it that way and makes a final attempt to do Po in, getting himself killed.
This happened in Tarzan. This happened in Beauty and the beast. It even happens in Klonoa 2, leading to a pretty unpleasant fight with one unhappy dude.

This happens in so many different films and games and i'm sick of it. Oh for there to be more films and games that explore right and wrong more thoroughly and encourages rehabilitation and philosophy rather than outright violence. It's such a cop out.

I completely agree. As a kid, my favorite story was always "The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig". For those of you who don't know, instead of "defeating" the pig by building their houses out of ever stronger materials (which they tried at first, but the pig was too powerful - he didn't just huff and puff like the big bad wolf did, he actually had dynamite and shit (mostly the former)), they eventually built one out of flowers, and their sweet smell "tamed" the pig and he became the wolves' bff.


Also, I would like to point out that Lyle in Cube Sector has a story which pretty much is its premise, but it's still hilarious and adds to the game.