Deano’s answer to: “What video game displays the best example of storytelling?”

Far and away the best example of storytelling in a videogame is:

(Okay boys, now show me… Blue Steel! Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/brn…)

Why MGS IV? It’s simple, really… But in order to fully understand, we need to head to our Magic Dictionary[*], and look up the definition of “storytelling”:

Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment.

So, basically, storytelling is the act of… Er… Telling Stories.

Show me another videogame that has a 1604 word plot synopsis on Wikipedia.

Or how about one that includes 9 hours of CGI cut scenes, or roughly an hour or two longer than the time required to play the game? Finish that last boss off? Nothing like kicking back for… a 90 minute cut scene! Hope you went to the bathroom during the gameplay mode.

(How’d I get the name ‘Liquid Ocelot’? Now That’s a story… Image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/326…)

In short, because Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots tells, rather than shows or has the player play through that much of the story, it is necessarily the best example of storytelling in a videogame.

Now, if you meant the exact opposite – which video game is best at revealing the story through gameplay, then I’d have to go with the still-unsurpassed Out of This World, aka Another World:

(The re-release has updated graphics, too! Image courtesy http://www.anotherworld.fr)

This game has no dialogue, and no real instructions. Cut scenes are brief, and mostly act as thematic transitions from one level to the next. Learn by doing/experiencing the world itself, and experimenting with different solutions, not all of which work as expected in this utterly alien environment. What could be better? How about a Javascript port of one of the game levels? Okay, here you go: http://www.megidish.net/awjs/

[* Hey Wikipedia, I will sell this name to you for $10,000, and I guarantee it’ll make you rich like bankers! ]

This answer originally appeared on Quora: What video game displays the best example of storytelling?