Unforgettable characters, plot twists and endings that linger long afterwards: some games tell stories worthy of the greatest novels. This Top 100 gathers the retro games with the most memorable storylines, based on RomWize's reassessed scores. For each one: its current score, its versions, their rarity and their collector value.
"Twenty years after the collapse of civilisation, a broken man escorts a teenage girl who carries a hope across a devastated America. The tale turns a survival journey into a shattering story of paternal love and indefensible choices. An absolute peak of video-game writing, its finale haunts you long after."
"Alternating between the Cold War and the near future, this entry introduces choices that genuinely bend the fate of its characters. Carried by a charismatic antagonist and unexpected dilemmas, the tale gains in depth and consequence. This narrative boldness stands clearly apart from the routine of the warfare blockbuster."
"Few games offer such narrative freedom: every origin and conversation opens paths you assumed were sealed. Companions carry their own divine tragedies, and the world answers your improvisation with the wit of a gifted tabletop dungeon master."
"Hunting for a lost child across a war-scarred world becomes a frame for hundreds of human stories, with no clean heroes or villains. Geralt moves through it as a weary mercenary forced into grey choices, where a side quest can weigh as much as the main road."
"Torn from his childhood to cross seven years in an instant, a young boy becomes the hero of a founding legend. A rite-of-passage journey, friendship and the struggle against darkness unfold with an almost mythic self-evidence. A model of timeless adventure, this tale shaped the imagination of an entire generation."
"An immigrant come to chase the American dream in Liberty City, a former soldier collides with violence and the ghosts of his past. Darker and more adult than its forebears, the tale paints disillusion and revenge with unexpected gravity. Carried by a tormented hero, this bitter portrait of a city still fascinates."
"A deliberate return to medieval-fantasy roots, the adventure of a big-hearted thief hides a bittersweet meditation on mortality and the meaning of existence. Warm characters and baroque pageantry serve an emotion of rare sincerity. Long underrated, this tender tale is now reclaimed as a high point."
"Washed up in an underwater city given over to the madness of a libertarian dream, a man discovers the underside of a utopia turned nightmare. The tale questions free will and ideology up to a twist that became legendary. A political critique disguised as an FPS, its writing proved that the genre could think as much as it shoots."
"The first entry to leave the Second World War behind, this military thriller plunges into a modern conflict where bold strikes and betrayals follow one another. Its nervy staging and a shocking twist that became famous upended the codes of the FPS. More than a shooter, it brought genuine narrative tension to the genre."
"Beneath its warm colors, this odyssey revives the golden age of the J-RPG: a chosen hero, a cursed bloodline and companions you grow to truly love. Humor walks beside tragedy, and the tale dares a finale of a scope few modern games still attempt."
"Back among the undead of space, an engineer eaten away by dementia faces his hallucinations as much as the monsters. The tale blends science-fiction horror, madness and a fanatical cult with oppressive intensity. Its hero, at last given a voice and a broken psyche, lends the nightmare a genuine depth."
"Back home after his mother's death, a young man finds himself swept up in gang wars and police corruption. A vast fresco on family, loyalty and social ascent, the tale embraces a whole era with unprecedented scope. Funny, brutal and surprisingly sincere, it has stayed cult."
"To end a galactic war, a super-soldier wages the final confrontation against a fanatical alliance and a devouring scourge. The epic conclusion of the first trilogy, the tale combines grand spectacle with the bond between a hero and his AI. Its breadth and its farewells sealed the legendary status of the saga."
"Twenty-two minutes, a dying solar system and curiosity as your only compass. No weapons, no imposed goal: only knowledge that accrues until it changes everything. This archaeological ode to discovery delivers one of the most moving endings the medium has produced."
"Washed up in an underwater city given over to the madness of a libertarian dream, a man discovers the underside of a utopia turned nightmare. The tale questions free will and ideology up to a twist that became legendary. A political critique disguised as an FPS, its writing proved that the genre could think as much as it shoots."
"Become a Grey Warden on the eve of a monstrous invasion, a hero must rally a divided kingdom against an ancestral scourge. A dark fantasy of weighty choices, the tale weaves political betrayals, memorable companions and moral dilemmas. This dark, adult fresco revived the ambition of the Western RPG."
"Three endless days, a looming moon and a doomed world: seldom has an adventure been so anxious and melancholy. Behind each mask one senses a grief, a regret, a life on borrowed time. Strangely adult for its era, this parable of time and loss keeps haunting those who explore it."
"An elite agent thrown into a geopolitical crisis on the brink of war, Sam Fisher foils a digital conflict with global ramifications. An espionage thriller in the Tom Clancy mould, the tale wins you over with its taut realism and its hushed dilemmas. Its cold, credible tension makes it a peak of narrative stealth."
"A gallery of broken heroes, a deranged tyrant and an opera that became legend: the adventure dares a choral tale of rare scope, to the end of the world and beyond. The writing fuses despair and hope with a maturity striking for its time. Often cited among the genre's finest stories, it has not aged."
"Against a backdrop of war between empires, a fallen princess leads a resistance where reasons of state, revenge and a quest for legitimacy intertwine. More political and adult than its forebears, the tale embraces a near-geopolitical scope. This narrative ambition, long debated, today wins over with its maturity and coherence."
