Legacy of Kain for its overwrought high Gothic vibe. 1000xResist for revolutionary anti-fascism. Athanasy and Ceiba for Soviet biopunk VN goodness. Sweetest Monster for terrifying VN goodness.
Outer Wilds is an absolute masterclass in balancing information, player guidance, world building, character detail and humour. Kentucky Route Zero, obv - soulful, poetic, elegiac. (Eliza, which I see has been mentioned already, is fantastic, too.)
Citizen Sleeper 1 & 2, easy recommendations. Incredibly well written and, despite its sci-fi setting, remains relevant to the modern climate of relevancy and belonging.
What Remains of Edith Finch, as a story about the stories we tell ourselves to try to make sense of our place in the world/our family/the random bad shit that can happen to people for no reason, & how those stories can become self-fulfilling prophecies if we let them rule our lives.
Also, Anatomy, for a shorter experience that’s horror focused. The scripting for the audio logs and how it’s woven into your exploring the physical environment of the abandoned house is absolutely masterful.
Never heard of it but I’ll add it to the list. And I did the first few hours of Pentiment but didn’t find time for the rest (not a reflection of its quality!)
Citizen Sleeper is just always on point for tone, humour, sadness, humanity for me.
Not to mention the best mechanical depiction of being poor I've ever seen.
Slay the Princess fucked me up, it’s a powerful story about love and cycles of pain in relationships (though there’s many paths I haven’t seen so it could go differently for you)
Will second Tactical Breach Wizards - witty dialogue with some deeper character work if you do the optional stuff
Pikmin isn't really a story-focused series but if you're into reading logs and things the item, enemy, and end of day descriptions are genuinely fantastic.
Like this guy is the most well-rounded character Nintendo has ever written
Comments
Anatomy is top ten games of all time realm imo
Not to mention the best mechanical depiction of being poor I've ever seen.
Will second Tactical Breach Wizards - witty dialogue with some deeper character work if you do the optional stuff
Like this guy is the most well-rounded character Nintendo has ever written
TBW is a tactical squad/puzzle game. It's not a genre where good writing is required, making it all the more special
(Last year Harold Halibut and 1000xRESIST were big stand outs)