Games

Currently playing a second Fallout 4 play through so that will color my view but honestly, all the fallout games.

Not the main story necessarily but all the smaller stories you find absolutely everywhere in those games are magical, piecing together what happens with a family who’s been dead for 200 years through terminals and notes or going through a vault slowly realizing what horrors have taken place keeps me pushing to exploring!

Kingdom Come Deliverance

If you can deal with dated graphics 100% the original DeusEx.

And DeusEx Human Revolution still looks splendid and also has damn great story.

The Hex, Inscryption

Homeworld

Hotel Dusk and Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney if you want something with a slower pace.

Oh thanks for this list, I wish there were more that weren't scary. I'm a total coward.

The first three Metal Gear Solid games have fascinating stories. They're not the most logically sound stories and they have a lot of weird elements that make them hard to follow. At the micro scale they're not the most comprehensive. On the macro scale they're not hard to get into at all. When the story hooks you it really hooks you.

I was a child when I completed the first two MHS games. I never finished MGS3 because the disk got smashed to pieces. I do remember liking it a lot though. MGS2 is my favorite of the bunch. It was a good mix of old characters and new that carried the story in a satisfying way.

The absolute best story in video games(IMO) is the Mass Effect trilogy. For the longest time those games set the bar for video game story telling to me. Every character was so easy to get invested in. I cared for all of them and deciding who completed the journey or not was a series of deeply personal tough choices that carried across three games. Did the ending suck? Absolutely. Do not let that last 0.1% mar what is easily %99.9 one of the best space scifi stories in any medium.

Torment: Tides of Numenera, Disco Elysium, Age of Decadence, Shadowrun: Dragonfall, Shadowrun: Hong Kong, Tyranny, Fallout: New Vegas, Planescape: Torment

Subnautica
Oxenfree

I definitely get your concern with BG3 as Lariat had a pretty lousy story in both DoS and DoS2. In both games they tried to be serious and funny without doing a good job at either.

Quantic Dream makes pretty good story-driven games. People have recommended Detroit, but earlier games are also worth checking out, like Beyond: Two Souls

Metro series. It is not a horror game but have a nice story. Also, Astroneer is good. I didn't give any change to these two games in the past, but now I regret my decision.

Conversation that could go a few different ways. Are you looking for games with massive lore and world building? Dark Souls, Destiny, Nier, FFXIV.
Are you looking for something short and sweet that keeps you engaged with story the entire time? Bioshock, Horizon, Last of Us

I would recommend trying FFXIV if you liked XVI. Same team (Creative Business Unit III) worked on both games. They have done a lot of work so that even tho it is an online game, mass majority of the story elements can be finished solo. And then there's the joke about the free trial....which expands this October to not only include the base game + The full first expansion Heavensward...they are also adding in the second expansion Stormblood for absolutely free.

Also, if you want a mecha sci-fi game, play 13 sentinels. It is an fantastic unique storytelling experience.

Mass Effect and Borderlands

Sure, I could get started on Baldurs Gate 3, I’ve heard great things. But is the story great? Will I be able to say “oh that chapter/fight/act is awesome!” To other people looking for game experiences?

I can only speak for the first 1,5 acts (I think I'm getting closer to finishing act 2). The main story is good so far, but perhaps not the best. There are loads of great side quests, fights and even choices though. And you can complete most tasks in a myriad of different ways.

Spider-man is something that isnt mentioned here yet. It has amazing setpieces and a good story.

I'll throw my hat in the ring and say - the newer Wolfenstein series.

Incredible story, Incredible gameplay with choices that matter, and a lot of content to occupy your time across the like 3-4 games.

God of War 2018 & God of War: Ragnarök. I would recommend this first on PS5.

Next I would say is 100% worth the time investment: Final Fantasy XIV. It’s an MMO, but the story is amazing. You can play 99% of the story with NPCs easily. They made it so easy to pay older dungeons with the new NPC system to keep players going. It starts off very slow and just bleh (war story with light fantasy), but it gets better and better. I’ve played the 3rd expansion twice and plan on playing the 4th expansion again soon. I’ve cried so much. Even the side stories have great stories as the writers get their footing after the first bit. You’ll recognize several of the fantasy elements from FF16. I’ve only every played 15 before 14, so it’s not like I’ve spent a a lot of time in the series.