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.
"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."
"In a small town drowned in fog, a string of murders pushes a group of high schoolers to hunt for the truth inside a televised world. Beneath the investigation hides a luminous point about self-acceptance and the courage to face one's shadows. Warm and clever, this tale of friendship remains one of the most beloved of the genre."
"Haunted by an obsession inherited from his mentor, Nathan Drake hunts a lost city in the Arabian desert against a secret society. This time the tale digs into the hero's past and his filial bond with his old partner. Between breathless chases and more intimate emotion, this flamboyant entry extends Drake's legend with panache."
"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."
"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."
"Transformed into a wolf and swept into a world of shadows, a young man must free Hyrule from a spreading twilight. Darker and more adult than previous entries, the tale combines melancholy, metamorphosis and an unforgettable companionship. This grave tone, carried by Midna, makes it one of the most striking Zeldas."
"Across two millennia and a dozen protagonists, the writing weaves a fresco of cosmic horror in which each era illuminates the next. Fates interlock around a cursed tome, and madness gnaws at the tale as much as at its characters. This narrative ambition, long unmatched, lingers with the player for good."
"By giving voice to a fallen enemy as much as to its hero, this entry complicates its galactic conflict with a real look at faith and betrayal. More ambitious and nuanced, the tale pushes its mythology toward a tragedy in two voices. Its abrupt finale, long debated, only stoked the passion of players."
"Emerging from a vault to find his vanished father, a young man discovers the irradiated ruins of old America. Between retrofuturist nostalgia and stark moral choices, the tale turns exploration into a succession of striking human stories. Its freedom and disenchanted tone revived a cult saga."
"Bringing together several Valve gems, this collection gathers some of the most striking writing in the shooter. From resistance against an alien regime to the caustic humour of a booby-trapped lab, each tale innovates in its own way. A concentrate of narrative inventions that lastingly influenced the medium."
"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."
"Emerging from a vault to find his vanished father, a young man discovers the irradiated ruins of old America. Between retrofuturist nostalgia and stark moral choices, the tale turns exploration into a succession of striking human stories. Its freedom and disenchanted tone revived a cult saga."
"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."
"Famed for its river-deep writing, the Trails saga opens here with a patient coming-of-age tale: every town, every side figure is sketched with a care that makes the world believable. The slow build toward a resounding finale rewards attention, laying the foundations of a sprawling epic."
"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."
"Choosing a house means choosing friends the coming war may turn into enemies. Beneath the polish of school life simmer politics, faith and betrayal, and each route reveals another face of a continent on the verge of catching fire."
"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."
"On a planet doomed to fall, an elite squad wages a battle lost before it begins to buy humanity a reprieve. A prequel whose ending is known in advance, the tale draws its strength from the inevitable and from anonymous sacrifice. This heroic tragedy, with no false hope, is one of the series' emotional peaks."
"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."
