Summary
With many modern video games adoptingmore of a story-heavy approach, it’s easy to see a lot of titles focus on protagonists who are in the middle of a personal crisis as they try to find their way forward. This is something a lot of players can relate to, since these characters endure a ton of grief before eventually figuring out what they want.
They can either uncover things about themselves that they weren’t aware of or find a reason to keep on living, letting them experience a riveting character arc in the process. Fans can’t help but cheer these characters on as they accompany them on this journey and see how much they change, often becoming better people at the end of an amazing journey.
Spoiler Warning: Major plot elements are discussed for the following games: BioShock, Disco Elysium, Final Fantasy 7, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, Knights of the Old Republic, Silent Hill 2, and The Last of Us Part 1.
It’s hard not to assume that the amnesiac detective that players control at the start ofDisco Elysiumis a pathetic human being. He’s a self-destructive drunk who is constantly at war with his own brain, so it’s riveting when players finds out that he’s a competent detective with a heavy heart buried under bottles of booze.
By the end of the game, the heartfelt conversation he has with the mental projection of his fiancée, coupled with the discovery of his identity being that of Harrier Du Bois, helps him find his way. Players feel like they’ve helped him find his way over the course of an amazing narrative that boasts some of the strongest writing seen in a video game.
At a glance, serving as an immigration officer and checking papers may seem like the most boring task in the world. However, the political intrigue and empathetic storiespresent inPapers, Pleasemake it a riveting title where the player character must decide what to prioritize — their family, or their humanity.
By the end of this game, players will realize what kind of person they are. It’s a harrowing game full of uncomfortable moments that will force players to think twice before accepting a bribe, letting in a desperate citizen, or endangering their family when they’re desperate for money.
At the start, it’s assumed that Jack is a hapless passenger who was the victim of a mishap that led to him exploring Rapture. However, it’s not until later that he realizes that these memories are all a farce, and Jack is Andrew Ryan’s illegitimate son who was manipulated by Frank Fontaine to kill the man who made the underwater city tick.
It’s a mind-blowing revelation that shows just how masterfulBioShock’s plot is. Thankfully, the disillusioned protagonist is able to overcome his brainwashing and take out Atlas once and for all. Whether he enjoys a happy ending or not after finding the truth about himself is dependent on the player’s actions — and whether they saved or killed the Little Sisters.
Sissel is dead at the start of the tale, with most people assuming that he’s the blond man in a red suit who’s fatally shot. However, as the game progresses, some details don’t add up. Despite assuming himself to be a regular human, Sissel can’t read and can see in the dark with no problems.
The fact that he supposedly has memory loss while other ghosts don’t leads to him feeling lost for a long time before uncovering a plot twist for the ages. It turns out that Sissel was a cat all along, helping him finally understand the truth of his existence in a fun twist that cementsGhost Trickas one of thebest story-driven adventuresof all time.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republiclets players control an amnesiac who has no idea of his past as he escapes a ship full of invaders. A bunch of companions accompany him on his journey as his Jedi powers manifest, but his identity isn’t revealed until a fair way into the adventure.
It turns out that the protagonist is none other than the dreaded Darth Revan himself, who was captured and mind-wiped in a bid to rehabilitate him. It’s a compelling plot twist, and players can either join the Light Side or go back to the Dark Side once again inone of the bestStar Wars gamesof all time.
Silent Hill 2’s remake isan excellent titlethat lets a new batch of fans check out James Sunderland’s harrowing journey. This husband is on a desperate search for his wife as he explores the town of Silent Hill, encountering monsters and characters who are shrouded in mystery.
It’s not until later that James finds out about the monstrous nature of his actions. His wife, Mary, suffered from a disease that sapped away at their happiness, and he smothered her in a moment of madness. He pushed this memory to the back of his mind, with his guilt manifesting in the form of the monsters in the town and characters like Maria — who resembled Mary and died over and over again to traumatize him even more.
From the moment players leave Midgar inFinal Fantasy 7, Cloud’s retelling of the events in Nibelheim causes Tifa to doubt whether his mind is in the right state. After being manipulated to give the Black Materia to Sephiroth’s real body, Cloud falls into the Lifestream and is addled by Mako poisoning.
After Ultimate Weapon’s attack causes him to fall into the Lifestream with Tifa and go through his memories once again, Cloud learns thathe’d taken on Zack’s identityafter suffering through traumatic experiments and seeing this SOLDIER lay down his life for him. It’s a revelation that Cloud takes a while to digest before slowly assuming his identity by the end of the game.
The Last of Us Part 1is one of the greatest video games ever made, in no small part because of its story. Joel’s apathy originates from the loss of his daughter when the Cordyceps infection first spread on Outbreak Day. He shuts himself off from the rest of the world and is clearly not okay with escorting Ellie to the Fireflies.
However, over the course of this journey, he slowly connects with Ellie and begins to treat her like his own daughter. This relationship slowly repairs his list humanity, though it comes with a darker side. At the end of the game, after learning of the planned operation and how it would kill Ellie, he decides to kill all of the Fireflies in his path, choosing to sacrifice all of humanity instead of losing the one person who finally gave him back the purpose he lost in life.
