RPG plots

[Concerned Psychologist]

I realize this isn't the forum to post this in, but it does get the most views and response so I decided to post this here. If you need to rickshaw/move it, go right ahead.

What are some of the best RPG plots you guys have ever come across? Why were they so good? What made them stick out above all the rest to YOU? What were some good plot twists that really added onto stories in RPGs?

My favorite RPG plot was FF8. Despite what some may say about the game, the plot runs deeper than most people describe it. It relates to me, because I see myself like Squall(sp?) His struggle in a world he had going so fluently for himself, thrown into a mixer when he meets people who simply want to get to know him. His difficulty to find emotions hits at home with me, because for some reason I've never been able to feel emotionally attatched.(Condolences to hearts I've shattered ) There were no real twists in the plot though, other than some BS they feed you at the end about some ultimate evil, sorry I can't even remember the name it was so pointless. A good story for twists would be XenoSaga, I won't reveal anything, just play it, you'll love it.

[Chaotic]

Beyond a shadow of a doubt the best "plot" would be final fantasy 7, fucking BADASS villian, multiple villians on top of that, awesome hero whom doesnt even know what hes really about. The gradual discovery that everything you have come to learn and believe is a lie in relation to your characters, AWESOME character introductions, (yuffie in the japanesque town, aeris in the original cgi) Golden saucer... weapons... midgar... it was the very essence of ground breaking, i remember being so upset when that game was over, wishing i could LIVE it. I had never felt that way about a game, and to this day never have again. Hats off to squaresoft

[Kuai]

I think pokemon had a deep plot which consists of every boys need and primal instict to control monsters in which to bring havoc and destruction to evildoers and rivals. Being superior to those around you is everyones dream and through the magical world of pokemon, boys and girls everywhere are able to live out this dream, escaping from the cruel realities of the harsh grade 4 life. A chance to leave behind the fact that Sally likes Billy more than you and only wants to be "friends". A world in which homework is up to your ears and the only escape is when you turn on your magical gameboy SP at midnight and delve into the world of Johto. Continuing your journey to become THE greatest pokemon master of all time and proving your existence in this meaningless world.

[Chaotic]

hahahaha

[dak]

Terranigma has a cool plot.

[Lin]

http://www.kenzerco.com/periodicals/kodt/

I liked KotDT bagworld (among others.) The party discovers that the henchmen and hirelings they'd stored in their bag of holding, and then forgot about for months, have used all the equipment and magic items to construct a castle and their own little world and start demanding taxes from the players whenever they try to get their equipment back out of the bag. The players of course declare war...

[tanuvyen]

Originally posted by Chaotic
Beyond a shadow of a doubt the best "plot" would be final fantasy 7, fucking BADASS villian, multiple villians on top of that, awesome hero whom doesnt even know what hes really about. The gradual discovery that everything you have come to learn and believe is a lie in relation to your characters, AWESOME character introductions, (yuffie in the japanesque town, aeris in the original cgi) Golden saucer... weapons... midgar... it was the very essence of ground breaking, i remember being so upset when that game was over, wishing i could LIVE it. I had never felt that way about a game, and to this day never have again. Hats off to squaresoft

YES

i totally agree........ff7 owned

[Ayeshala]

Xenogears had the deepest plot I've seen in a Console RPG yet.

Edit : FF7's plot was kickass, except the localization was so bad half of it got lost somewhere between the Japan and the U.S.

[Concerned Psychologist]

I think pokemon had a deep plot which consists of every boys need and primal instict to control monsters in which to bring havoc and destruction to evildoers and rivals. Being superior to those around you is everyones dream and through the magical world of pokemon, boys and girls everywhere are able to live out this dream, escaping from the cruel realities of the harsh grade 4 life. A chance to leave behind the fact that Sally likes Billy more than you and only wants to be "friends". A world in which homework is up to your ears and the only escape is when you turn on your magical gameboy SP at midnight and delve into the world of Johto. Continuing your journey to become THE greatest pokemon master of all time and proving your existence in this meaningless world.

You must dwell on this constantly Kuai? Gotta catch'em'all I guess.

[kudos]

ff7 had the best storyline I have ever seen in an RPG or any game for that matter.

[Fogel]

I loved how they worked the time travel in chrono trigger and how certain characters had major plot shifts.

[Nanaki Ikanan]

FF8 had a plot? Oh yeah, it was something about how all the villains turned out to be good and the main villain never did anything wrong?

Sorry, FF8 ranks among my top ten worst games ever.

FF8 was a jumbled mess that tried to convince you that it actually was a story, when actually it was a bunch of deus ex machina and lame unlikable characters thrown together to make a game with pretty graphics.

FF7, Chrono Trigger, And Xenogears had the best plots; And The Dig, but that wasn't actually an RPG...well...sort of.

[Heh]

yea i wanted to live ff7 when i played it for the first time. damn when the game ended my life lost a meaning

[Frelance]

I was really upset when Aeris died, seriously bummed me out in real life for a day or two. I became one of the folks hounding the net for theories on how to res her. I think that's the best thing I can say about a scripted RPG. No other one has really impacted me outside the thrill-of-the-kill.

The subtle dynamic differences in the game ending based on how you played the game through were really cool, too.

[Iannis]

wait, you could get different endings based on how you played through ff7? Like what..all I remember was like, you cut sephiroth in half, everyone runs like mad to the ship, holy and the lifestream worked together to destroy meteo and jenova, and like...you can assume everyone escaped because Red VII had a bunch of little babies (wtf. last of his kind) looking out over the jungle that was Midgar.

Privateer was a pretty decent RPG, I thought. You really could either become a mercenary for the authorities, or you could become a bloody-handed pirate. Although the end kind of forced you to be a good guy, since you had to fly through confederate(?) systems aplenty to catch the rampaging starship of uberdeath. Same for the ending of Righteous Fire story where you had to get the confederacy to mission you off to find the Retro home base.
The second one was kind of...bleh. You could never ingratiate yourself with the pirates as far as I could see. Even if you played a good guy the entire way through you killed your brother and took control of the l33t pirate forces (who kept attacking you anyway if you chose to continue playing)