In 1986, my parents gave me Dragon Warrior as a Christmas gift. It was the top item on my wish list, yet I knew nothing about it. I was one of those dumb kids who would open up catalogues, and jot down gift ideas as I leafed through the pages. I thought Dragon Warrior's box art looked amazing, thinking at the time that it would be an action game.
When I opened the gift – the only one that was shaped like a NES game – I was disappointed. I didn't voice my disapproval of the game choice, and instead thanked them. I was more so upset with myself for making a lengthy list with a bunch of stuff I didn't want. I learned a lesson that year.
When we were done opening gifts, I brought the game downstairs and popped it into my NES. After just a few minutes of play, I deemed it the worst game I had ever played. That didn't stop me from playing more of it, however. After another 20 to 30 minutes, I finally started to understand what the game was about. An hour later and my tune changed from"disaster" to "the best gift ever." Although the game's story was hardly present, I rushed upstairs to tell my mom and dad about the amazing adventure I was on. I was blown away by the game's immersion, the size of the world, and the story.
From that day forward, I flocked to video games for the stories they could tell. The Super Nintendo opened that door further for me, and the rest is history. This entertainment medium is capable of telling amazing stories.
When I was asked to reflect on the last generation of games, my immediate thought was that it was the generation of first-person shooters. I thought my list would be comprised of Call of Duty games and titles that helped define that genre. As you'll soon see, however, part of that statement is true, but the real hook of the game of note is the story it tells.
For me, this generation was dominated by storytellers. From Ken Levine to the scribes at BioWare and Rockstar, my list celebrates the accomplishments of video games' best storytellers.
I didn't go into this list with the intent of picking just story-driven experiences. They stood out among the pack of great games, and were, quite frankly, easy selections.
Read on, play these games if you haven't already, and before you venture forth to another website or article, leave your list of top five games in the comments section below. I always enjoy seeing how your lists stack up with ours.
Coming up next: A science fiction soap opera...