Buzz
Here are the 5 nominees for the 'Best Storyline in a Game' award at the prestigious The Game Awards 2023 event.
Alan Wake II
Embark on an adventure in Alan Wake II as it returns to Bright Falls, where everything began, with the parallel world beneath Cauldron Lake deemed one of the best narrative-driven games of this year.
Despite a few gameplay quirks, Alan Wake II shines as a standout title solely because of its storyline. Most importantly, compared to its predecessor released 13 years ago, Alan Wake II undergoes a complete transformation, not just in mechanics but also in narrative depth.
This is best exemplified by how both characters in the game, FBI agent Saga Anderson and writer Alan Wake, have their own mental spaces to piece everything together. For Saga, it's a room for investigation, gathering evidence, or even deduction based on suspect psychology. As for Alan, trapped in the parallel world known as The Dark Place, he has a room of his own to 'create,' to write lines that help bring him back to reality.
Baldur's Gate 3
Baldur's Gate 3 is a role-playing game (RPG) developed by Larian Studios. It's the next installment in the popular Baldur's Gate series.
The game kicks off when your group of characters gets infected by a bacterium called 'Mindflayer.' This bacterium can control minds and threatens to turn its hosts into Mindflayers, evil and dangerous creatures.
Your group coincidentally meets aboard a Mindflayer spacecraft and is forced to collaborate to survive and prevent the situation from worsening. As they investigate the origin and ways to stop the bacterium, they discover powerful evil forces at play, turning their adventure into a clash between good and evil forces in the Dungeons & Dragons universe.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is an exceptional side story intricately woven into the main storyline through powerful role-playing scenarios, additional options, and new areas to explore. This expansion doesn't completely overturn Cyberpunk 2077 but cleverly enhances it. With new mechanics and improvements over the base game, Phantom Liberty becomes an Editors' Choice RPG for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
Final Fantasy XVI
Final Fantasy XVI takes us to the world of Valisthea, where six kingdoms are locked in battle to claim power from the Mothercrystals. Each kingdom is led by Dominants—individuals linked to supernatural entities of immense power known as Eikons.
The protagonist of this game is Clive Rosfield—the eldest son of the duke of Rosaria, Elwin Rosfield. He was initially chosen to be a Dominant and inherit the flame of the Phoenix, but fate decrees it for Clive's younger brother, Joshua. Thus, Clive's duty is to ensure the absolute safety of his younger sibling.
However, during the 'Night at the Gate of the Phoenix,' the Duke is betrayed and killed by traitorous forces. Worse still, Clive loses control and transforms into an entity named Ifrit, ultimately ending his own brother's life. In an instant, Clive loses everything, from loved ones to friends.
After everything, Clive Rosfield resolves to join Sanbreque—the royal army to seek vengeance and vanquish the Dark Eikon, Ifrit.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man's Peter Parker and Miles Morales will return to the series with promised adventures that are bound to be incredibly fresh and exciting. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 will be set 9 months after the events of the Miles Morales game, giving players a glimpse into the relationship between Peter and Miles after being infected by a mysterious symbiote.
The game's storyline will revolve around Peter's friends Miles, Mary Jane, and Harry helping him rediscover himself after his personality becomes extreme due to a new symbiotic power source. Additionally, the game will introduce a new cast of challenging villains like Kraven, Lizard, Sandman, and Venom.
