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.
"Trapped in an asylum the Joker has seized control of, the Dark Knight faces his entire rogues' gallery in a single night. The tale distils a remarkable psychological tension, down to nightmarish plunges into the hero's own mind. This mature writing, faithful to the myth, at last gave the vigilante a great game worthy of him."
"Betrayed and left for dead, a silent criminal climbs the ladder of crime in a metropolis riddled with corruption. A pioneer of the narrative open world, the tale distils revenge and mob ascent with unheard-of bite. The founder of a whole genre, it redefined the way stories are told in video games."
"Unjustly cast out, a high schooler joins a band of phantom thieves who strike at the corrupt hearts of adults. Beneath its flamboyant style, the tale mounts a sharp critique of society and the abuse of power. Carried by magnetic characters, this cry of youthful revolt became a phenomenon."
"An amnesiac detective, a city gnawed by politics and an inner dialogue where your very skills argue inside your skull. This sprawling investigation trades combat for mountains of text of staggering literary richness, where every line sculpts who you become."
"Infiltrating an isolated nuclear base becomes the pretext for a breathless espionage thriller, where betrayal lurks behind every codec call. Cloning, deterrence and the burden of heredity feed a surprisingly grave reflection. Cinematic staging and finely honed dialogue made it a monument of video games."
"A ghost ship, sixty vanished souls and a single tool: a watch that replays the moment of each death. Piecing this maritime tragedy together by pure deduction is a rare intellectual thrill, where every name you place drags a chilling truth to the surface."
"The autobiographical narrative turns a tiny detail, a ball kicked through the streets of Quito, into the thread of a meditation on childhood, memory and belonging. With no classical dramatic arc, the writing moves through sensations and fragments of life, moving you by its disarming sincerity more than by plot."
"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."
"Older, alcoholic and gnawed by remorse, Max takes a bodyguard job in São Paulo that turns into carnage. The tale moves its noir-novel fatalism to the tropics, between corruption, ruin and impossible redemption. Its feverish narration and sincere darkness worthily extend the character's legend."
"A plunge into the origins of the Cold War, this espionage tragedy follows an agent forced to gun down the woman who was his master and his model. Loyalty, duty and love tear at each other here, up to a shattering denouement. A peak of the series' writing, its tale of sacrifice and patriotism haunts you long after."
"Witness to the murder of his family, a young Renaissance Florentine embraces the way of the Assassins to slake his revenge. Blending real history, Templar conspiracy and apprenticeship, the tale lends its hero a striking humanity. This vibrant fresco, carried by an unforgettable Ezio, redefined the narrative ambition of the series."
"To bring a young girl back to life, a lone rider agrees to bring down sixteen colossi that asked for nothing. Almost wordless, the tale questions sacrifice, love and the price of despair with unheard-of tragic force. A peak of environmental storytelling, this melancholy epic haunts you long after the credits."
"Haunted by his father's murder, a young man walks the Yokosuka of the 1980s in an investigation where every passerby and every shop seems to live its own life. The tale, slow and melancholy, blends revenge, grief and coming of age with rare precision. This pioneering narrative ambition still fascinates today."
"Haunted by his father's murder, a young man walks the Yokosuka of the 1980s in an investigation where every passerby and every shop seems to live its own life. The tale, slow and melancholy, blends revenge, grief and coming of age with rare precision. This pioneering narrative ambition still fascinates today."
"Caught up by his past and a romance doomed to fail, Max plunges back into the spiral of grief and betrayal. More intimate and disenchanted, the tale pushes its noir-novel fatalism further still, between impossible love and refused redemption. An urban tragedy of dark elegance, magnified by its storytelling."
"Two nations locked in eternal war, soldiers who die at ten: this is the soil of a stirring fable about life, death and the right to exist. The bond between Noah and Mio gives flesh to a meditation that reaches past mere conflict toward something universal."
"A plunge into the origins of the Cold War, this espionage tragedy follows an agent forced to gun down the woman who was his master and his model. Loyalty, duty and love tear at each other here, up to a shattering denouement. A peak of the series' writing, its tale of sacrifice and patriotism haunts you long after."
"Sent into a cursed city on the trail of a cult leader, an elite agent unravels a plot tangling magic, power and sin. Carried by a theatrical pen of unheard-of richness, the tale chisels every line like a piece of tragic dialogue. This rare literary ambition makes it one of the most admired scenarios on the console."
"Witness to the murder of his family, a young Renaissance Florentine embraces the way of the Assassins to slake his revenge. Blending real history, Templar conspiracy and apprenticeship, the tale lends its hero a striking humanity. This vibrant fresco, carried by an unforgettable Ezio, redefined the narrative ambition of the series."
"At the heart of a desperate war against a subterranean horde, soldiers descend to the source of the evil to save humanity. Beneath the testosterone and the din, the tale makes room for an unexpected sadness, carried by a comrade's heartrending quest. This emotion beneath the brutality surprised and marked players."
