I've been collecting on Steam old games that (supposedly) have well written/executed stories, but I've yet to play them. I've seen a lot games in which that aspect just isn't the focus, at best, or worse just made with the left hand. By now I have played some games where the game play and story work together harmoniously, but it has left me with an itch to be scratched and increased expectations, too.
So what do you have to recommend? I'm (still) playing Max Payne and everyone knows about Undertale, but what else?
neku wrote
if you want old games in particular the first deus ex game is great.
looking through my steam library other games that jump out at me are:
dishonoured
the new wolfenstein trilogy
the skyrim mod Enderal (its not really a mod but rather a game built out of skyrims engine and stuff idk how it works)
fallout new vegas
the geneforge series? it gets better as it goes on. not sure i'd recommend any spiderweb software game unreservedly but the overall narrative to geneforge i quite liked
the half life and portal series are good.
the new hitman series has a neat story but idk if i'd recommend it solely for its narrative.
hollow knight has a great story but its not particularly explicit and you have to piece things together on your own a little.
i liked l.a. noire but it probably hasnt aged so well.
the mass effect games are kinda cringe in 2022 but still fun.
i have completed 32 nancy drew games and the stories are kind of repetitive but the characters and settings are fun.
people really liked nier automata but i dont really remember much of it to be honest
night in the woods doesnt have the greatest story arc but the character writing and world is really nice.
psychonauts might be hard to go back to but the character writing is fun and quirky.
pyre is my favourite supergiant game (i havent played hades tho)
if you like western RPGs the shadowrun series is really good (although the first in the series, shadowrun returns, is kinda so-so).
a short hike is mostly gameplay but again the characters and world are well written
these are all steam games though. there might be stuff on consoles that im not thinking of.
right now im playing murder by numbers, which is a murder mystery mixed with picross, and i'm enjoying that, too. i'm not sure the storyline is like, Good in the traditional sense, but its got intrigue and mystery and a fun gay best friend character so i'm having fun for now