When you think ofthe best story-based games, you likely think of ones that include plenty of cutscenes. After all, the likes of Metal Gear Solid, The Last of Us, and modern Final Fantasy titles rely heavily on cutscenes to tell their great tales. There is nothing wrong with that, and cinematics can be very entertaining.
Yet, they aren’t required for a video game story to be good. There are other storytelling methods out there that allow writers to get their narrative across. Perhaps they use audio logs, in-game text, or dialogue delivered during gameplay. Whatever method they use, the following games tell great stories without the need for fancy cutscenes.
Some of these games aren’t completely devoid of cutscenes, but they only have one or two small ones, typically at the start and end of the story.
In Firewatch, you control a guy named Henry, who starts a job as a fire lookout in the Shoshone National Forest. So, your job is to roam the surrounding area, making sure nothing fishy is going on. You spend most of your time on your own. Yet, you aren’t lonely, as your supervisor, Delilah, is in constant contact through a walkie-talkie.
The conversations between the two drive the narrative and typically happen as you’re walking from place to place. The story isn’t immediately intriguing, but it slowly gets more interesting over time as the two main characters begin to grow closer, and there are hints that someone else may be in the area.
Silent protagonist Chell is the main character of Portal 2. She is a test subject at the Aperture Science Facility. In the early stages of the game, she and her new robotic friend Wheatley are trying to stop the AI GlaDOS, who is running the entire facility and forcing Chell to do tests. The game doesn’t offer an incredibly deep story, but it’s an enjoyable one.
This is mainly due to the likes of GlaDOS and Wheatley, who are hilarious characters that deliver some very well-written dialogue. Also, when you reach the lower part of the facility, you learn more information about the place and GlaDOS, which results in some interesting revelations.
Braid is a charming puzzle game where you use your jumping skills and various time-altering mechanics to get past any obstacle in your path. Much of the story is told through text passages that you come across during the game. At the start, it’s made clear that the protagonist, Tim, wants to save the Princess from an evil monster. That may sound very generic, but there is more to it.
The game alludes to the fact that the sharp-dressed protagonist has some history with the Princess and has made mistakes in the past. Over the course of the game, you learn more about Tim and his relationship with the Princess. However, the game is a bit vague about some things and doesn’t put everything into context. This makes the final stages all the more compelling.
At the start of 2017’s Prey, you attempt to take a test but are quickly interrupted by alien creatures that have escaped. You then learn that you’re actually on a space station that the creatures have taken over, and you must figure out how to fix the situation. What is more interesting than that, though, is piecing together how this happened in the first place and what they’re doing on this station.
You learn all this stuff by reading emails, finding notes, and listening to audio tapes. Another fascinating wrinkle in the story is that while learning about the alien force, you also learn about the character you’re controlling, Morgan Yu.
Half-Life is set within the Black Mesa Facility, and you play as one of the scientists who work there, Gordon Freeman. Near the start of the game, you participate in a science experiment that goes incredibly wrong, and alien creatures teleport into the facility. You now need to figure out how to get out of there alive.
The game is often known for being agenre-defining title. Part of the reason for this is how it tells its story. There is dialogue, but it isn’t like people talk in long exposition monologues. A few lines here and there help tell the tale, as do your own observations of what’s happening.
In Oxenfree, you assume the role of a teenage girl named Alex. She and her friends go on a weekend trip to a mysterious island. The idea is that they’re going there to party. However, you don’t get much time to do that since, shortly after arriving, you discover some supernatural elements at play. So, investigating them becomes the main focus.
Instead of cutscenes, a big part of the game is walking and talking. You spend plenty of the game strolling around with people and selecting dialogue options. It’s mainly during these conversations that the captivating story gets told.
Fallout 3 takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, set way in the future. The game begins with you slowly growing up in an underground vault designed to protect people from the war that took place in the outside world. Up to this point, you’d spent your entire life in this vault. However, some things go down, and your father leaves the place.
Shortly after finding this out, you break out of the vault to find him. So, the story initially begins with you trying to find your dad, but you soon get involved in plenty of other things involving the Wasteland. While the game doesn’t really contain cutscenes, there are a lot of conversations in both the main tale and side content. The narrative is revealed through these discussions.
Time isn’t on your side in The Outer Wilds, as you’re in a planetary system that is about to be wiped out in 22 minutes when the sun goes Supernova. Don’t worry too much, though, because when that happens, everything will be reset. This is because the game contains an endless time loop.
The game gives players freedom and allows them to work things out for themselves, and this includes the narrative. In each 22-minute spell of life, you must explore as much as possible. Through thisrewarding exploration, you uncover the story and learn a lot about the world and the time loops.
