Board 8 > Top 35 Stories in Fiction

(+) Yeah! (+)

What makes a good story? A compelling narrative? Interesting and/or relatable characters? The emotional high it gives you?

Fuck if I know, I am not qualified to answer that question, but I'm going to make a list anyway because I'm a member of B8 and if I don't make a list every 6 months or so I go into withdrawal.

The main criteria for this list is "how compelling I found the story", which can mean any number of contradictory things. Do not expect consistency or objectivity here here. It's my list and I do what I want.

I'll be ranking the stories by Tier - Tier 4 being the lowest, and Tier 1 being the highest. I considered calling it 'Low Tier', 'High Tier' ect., but I still love all the stories in Tier 4 so the naming wouldn't have been accurate.

As a sneak peak into what's to come, I've sorted out the 35 stories on the list into categories and listed out how many there are in each category. Feel free to ponder what trash I'm about to write about!

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9 Video Games

6 Books / Book Series

3 Movies
3 Manga Series
3 Anime Series
3 Comic Series

2 Web Serials

1 TV Series
1 Visual Novel
1 Fanfiction
1 Light Novel Series
1 Cartoon Series
1 Manhwa

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1. Kingdom Hearts

But for real, tag.
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Tag
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Hot damn. My kind of list.

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Congratulations to House in Fata Morgana
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Anagram posted...

Tag

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Tag
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This oughta be fun.
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Yeah, even if I find myself disagreeing a ton I'm always interested in reading folks' takes on storytelling.

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I don't even know what I should realistically be rooting for because our taste in video game plots is pretty different!
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And before delving into the list proper, here are the honorable mentions. These are not included in the previous category count.

A Series of Unfortunate Events
Book Series / TV Series
A charmingly bleak tale of three relatable orphans being repeatedly traumatized. Combines darker and lighter elements better than maybe any story I've experienced, but at the end of the day the formula is too repetitive for me to put it higher. Can't go wrong with either adaptation.

The Godfather
Movie
I don't actually enjoy this movie that much, and out of everything here it's probably the thing I least have an emotional attachment to, but it's so well-crafted I can't not put it here. It's interesting to watch just because of how well put-together it is. There's a reason it's consistently mentioned in every Best Movie discussion.

My Hero Academia
Manga Series
Probably the most I will ever enjoy a shonen manga. Like some other stories in the honorable mentions, it's too simplistic for me to put it higher, but it's just so wholesome and positive. Deku is a fantastic shonen protagonist and a few of the fights like All Might vs. All For One have an incredible amount of emotional weight behind them.

20th Century Boys
Manga Series
My main issue with this story is that it's too long and slow-paced. I like slow burns but this is pushing it. Regardless, the story is very well-done and the way it unfolds is fascinating to read. It's hard to describe why this story is good because the appeal comes from how each and every scene is executed perfectly.

Fullmetal Alchemist
Manga Series
I think this story is 'objectively' the best shonen manga out there. The world, characters, and plot are all extremely solid, and while I was never able to 100% invest myself into it like I was able to for My Hero Academia, overall it's a story that is very easy to get behind and enjoy.

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Unordinary
Webtoon
A story about a superhero high school with an unpowered main character slowly unfolds and evolves into a story about revenge, government conspiracies, and a dystopian society. The way it balances these disparate elements is very well-executed (I'll be using that phrase a lot). It doesn't beat you over the head with anything, preferring to slowly reveal how messed up things are behind the scenes.

Drakengard
Video Game
Drakengard is a waking nightmare in video game form. There's not much of an overarching narrative, and sometimes it can get a bit *too* edgelordy, but the presentation (helped greatly by the music and insane characters) gives it an atmosphere unlike anything else in media. The gameplay works well with the themes of the game too...in theory. Shame it's so bad to actually play.

Xenoblade Chronicles
Video Game
The quintessential JRPG storyline. Very simple and shonen-y but so well-done for what it is. All of the characters are extremely likable and some of the scenes are still burnt into my brain. Special mention goes out to Adam Howden's performance as Shulk, who ties everything together by helping create my favorite JRPG protagonist, one that is both very likable and easy to root for.

The Last of Us
Video Game
The Last of Us's story is held back by its first half - after a fantastic intro, it sort of putters around for a while. Thankfully, it eventually it hits a point where the emotional rollercoaster never stops, finishing with one of the best endings in gaming. Joel and Ellie are very compelling characters and the cutscenes are movie/TV quality. As far as I'm concerned, it's the definitive Zombie Apocalypse story and it's hard to imagine it being topped.

Pyre
Video Game
Pyre's story isn't complex at all, but it's memorable due to how personal it feels. The choices you make don't change the world THAT much but you feel the weight of each one due to how they affect the characters you've come to care about. Who knew that fantasy basketball could be so tense?

Tales from the Borderlands
Video Game
This one was a major surprise for me. Borderlands writing sucks, and Telltale has a spotty track record, so obviously combining the two produces a consistently enjoyable experience with extremely likable characters, right? Definitely recommend this to anyone who even slightly likes the Telltale formula.

Doki Doki Literature Club
Video Game
It's hard to forget this story. I can't put it higher, because it often puts aside characterization in favor of shock factor (barring one notable exception), but the shock factor is really memorable regardless and the ending is wild. There's a reason it blew up so much despite belonging to a genre that is often dismissed by people who play games.

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Mehhh

At least DDLC got a mention I guess
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Oh wow, that was a lot of tags while I was writing out the Honorable Mentions. Thanks for the interest, guys!

Leonhart4 posted...

I don't even know what I should realistically be rooting for because our taste in video game plots is pretty different!

There will be a few things here that I know you'd agree with. Overall...not so sure.

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Yeah, I'd agree that those are worth mentioning, out of those I'm familiar with. I think TLOU has just as many problems with its ending as its beginning. Fall and Winter are where it's at.

Oh wait, I know what I can root for that I know we are of like mind on

ya go my Nier
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My experience with DDLC is unfortunately that I would have had to not know the big spoiler beforehand in order to care about its story, excepting one particular character.

I'm also hoping NITW makes this list, though I have no idea if you've even played let alone liked it.
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1. Umineko
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Drakengard is an experience, lol.
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MetalmindStats posted...

I'm also hoping NITW makes this list, though I have no idea if you've even played let alone liked it.

I have not played Night in the Woods. I've seen it described often as "millenial depression simulator" and I'm usually not in a headspace where playing that would be good for me. Have heard nothing but good things about it, though.

Leonhart4 posted...

Yeah, I'd agree that those are worth mentioning, out of those I'm familiar with. I think TLOU has just as many problems with its ending as its beginning.

I've seen your perspective on this before, and while I don't agree with the interpretation I can see where you're coming from.

Drakeryn posted...

1. Umineko

Here's one list spoiler, free of charge: Umineko didn't make the cut. Episode 1-4 had issues I was willing to ignore due to how exciting it was to read, but 5-8 soured me on the whole experience. A lot. Episode 8 in specific is one of my least-favorite things I've ever read and it retroactively hurt everything else.

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Yeah, Episode 8 did a lot to undermine the whole experience.
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I actually feel the exact same way about Umineko 8 but didn't realize you agreed. what a tire fire that was
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KamikazePotato posted...

I have not played Night in the Woods. I've seen it described often as "millenial depression simulator" and I'm usually not in a headspace where playing that would be good for me. Have heard nothing but good things about it, though.

I've posted before about how much it resonated with me. That being said, without spoiling it further, I'll just say that if you feel like playing it wouldn't be good for you, I would recommend following that intuition.
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When Episode 8 came out me and Haguile spent like, a few hours a day for a full week just trashing it over AIM. It almost made me feel that my time with the series was entirely wasted, which is impressive considering Episode 7 was maybe my favorite of them all and was on its way to salvaging Chiru for me. The zeitgeist experience can't be taken away but good grief was Episode 8 insulting.

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Tier 4

Harry Potter
Book Series

"You're a wizard, Harry."

Absolutely one of the most charming stories in existence. The worldbuilding and way it combines classic magic with modern-day sensibilities was very unique at the time, and the allure has somehow not been eroded by the litany of copycats that followed. There's just something intrinsically entertaining about watching students complain over writing essays about trolls. Hogwarts is a setting full of mystery, and every time you uncover another one of its weird secret rooms or hidden passages it feels like discovering buried treasure. The cast of characters as a whole are very entertaining, but I'm going to give a shoutout to Harry himself as the glue that ties everything together. He gets dismissed a lot because he's surrounded by a lot of eccentric weirdos, but the older I get the more I appreciate his straight man act. He's relatable despite being the chosen one, because his life sucks regardless.

The main reason it's not higher are kind of major: I don't like the last two books, and the in-universe consistency of the mechanics of magic is nonexistent. How are spells made? Why did they give a time machine to a 13-year old? The list of things that don't make sense or are never answered is...kind of long. Still, it's an issue I can excuse (usually) because it's evident that J.K. Rowling never meant for the series to be so long and had no idea it was going to become as big as it did. Audience expectations can majorly shape a story, and while it overall made for a better series (Book 4 and 5 in particular are not only ambitious but very good), the author wasn't able to transition the expanding scope into a satisfactory ending. Book 6 feels like filler outside of the one big spoiler at the end, and while Book 7 tries to do something different, it just doesn't..do it well? There's a lot of complaints about the epilogue but that's easily the least of Book 7's problems. Harry's average-ness as a wizard made him very relatable for most of the story but also made it difficult to resolve the conflict in a way that didn't involve railroading the plot into a victory.

Even with those flaws, I still really like this series. I actually reread it recently and was pleasantly surprised at how well it held up. The best way I can describe the series is as a modern-day fairy tale, and it's going to be remembered for decades.

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I haven't reread Harry Potter in way too long, should probably find the time for that.

I agree about book 6 feeling like filler but I thought it was fun enough regardless. Book 7... exists? I dunno, I never got much of an impression from it like I did with the others.
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Tag
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Bastard
Manhwa

"The days my father went on business trips...they're also the days...that someone went missing in this neighborhood."

A thriller that takes its interesting plot hook and runs with it. Bastard is a story about a teenager named Jin Seon, currently living with his single dad who just so happens to be a serial killer. Of all the rotten luck, eh? The son is incapable of doing anything to change his situation, as the father is abusing him both physically and emotionally so that he keeps the secret, as well as involving him in the crimes to make him complicit. One of my favorite little details in the story is that Jin Seon is banned from physically exercising to ensure that he'll never be able to overpower his father in a fight - the extent that his life is controlled is oppressive and makes you really root for him to escape the prison he's been in all his life.

It's an exciting tale of a broken kid fighting tooth and nail to escape his situation and re-learn how to be a person. It's held back because one twist at the ending is really dumb and makes no sense, but that's a sadly common occurrence in stories that try to do something different. I can't discuss it at length because, well, spoilers (which is another phrase you'll be seeing a lot, this is a topic about stories), suffice to say it's one I can recommend to anyone who likes thrillers and even if you don't really care for them.

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Shonen_Bat posted...

Book 7... exists? I dunno, I never got much of an impression from it like I did with the others.

Book 7 is often described as an extended camping trip. It's an exaggeration, but not by that much. The magic (heh) definitely isn't there compared to the rest of the series.

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Oh hey, I watched the Harry Potter movies for the first time this year, and I enjoyed them a good bit.
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It's funny to read all that about Umineko, because I read that VN this year and I was left disappointed by Episode 7, and ultimately Episode 8 save the answer arc for me a bit.
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I think Episode 7 is a bit overrated myself. I loved Episodes 5 and 6 though.

Episode 8 is just a mess.
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Black Lagoon
Anime Series

"It's not an obligation and it's got nothing to do with justice. The only reason I want to do it is because - it's my hobby."

Black Lagoon is an entry that snuck onto the list by virtue of everything but the story. There's no main narrative to speak of; the episodes are more like self-contained stories, but the setting and atmosphere are top notch. Roanupur is my favorite depiction of a wretched hive of scum and villainy in fiction. All the characters have this cheerful attitude while also being able to kill at the drop of a hat, and the contrast is always entertaining to watch. And man is the entire show quotable. I can't think of a scene that isn't good.

The real star of the show, however, are its two main leads - Rock and Revy. Rock is the perfect straight man, Revy is a one-liner machine, and the way the two bounce off of each other is great. If that was all there was to them, they would already be a cut above most other anime characters, but what really makes them memorable is how they change over the course of the series. Both of them have hidden depths that become apparent as time passes, and the way they develop in opposite direction is both fascinating and a little depressing.

Black Lagoon has no ending to speak of, and it doesn't really need one. Life goes on. Eventually the cast will meet a grisly end. Maybe not at the same time or the same way, but it's inevitable. It's the path they chose for themselves when they became outlaws living in a city where life is cheaper than booze. But it's the way that life affects them that makes Black Lagoon so compelling despite how wacky it can get at times. Definitely one of my favorite (if not my all-time favorite) anime series.

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LeonhartFour posted...

Oh hey, I watched the Harry Potter movies for the first time this year, and I enjoyed them a good bit.

The movies are good, yeah. I prefer the books because they go into more detail, but you can't go wrong with the movies either. The main trio are perfectly cast.

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Harry Potter really suffers in later entries because of JKR being a really lousy writer. As a worldbuilder, she's obviously incredible, but the woman can't right for shit.

I love the series because I grew up with it, but it certainly shows its warts as you get older and start to look back at more of the nuts and bolts.
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Yeah, my girlfriend is a humongous Harry Potter fan, so when she found out I'd never read or seen them, we had to remedy that this year. Snape ended up being my favorite character overall, but Hermione is my favorite of the big three.

In the interest of fairness, I've been introducing her to Star Wars since she hasn't watched all of them.
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I think Prisoner of Azkaban and Half-Blood Prince are my favorite HP books. I remember liking Goblet of Fire too.
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NBIceman posted...

Harry Potter really suffers in later entries because of JKR being a really lousy writer. As a worldbuilder, she's obviously incredible, but the woman can't right for shit.

I think this is unfair to her. She's overall a good writer, she just had no plan for the series going on and it showed once it came time to drop the curtain.

LeonhartFour posted...

Yeah, my girlfriend is a humongous Harry Potter fan, so when she found out I'd never read or seen them, we had to remedy that this year. Snape ended up being my favorite character overall, but Hermione is my favorite of the big three.

Snape kind of sucks in the books (good character, but still sucks), but it's hard not to like him in the movies when Alan Rickman plays him so well.

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Re:Zero
Anime Series

All I do is talk a big game, and make myself sound like a big shot, when I cant do anything! I never do anything yet I can complain like a pro. Who do I think I am?! Its amazing that I can live like this and not feel ashamed!

I don't think I've ever gotten as much as an emotional rush in an anime series as much Re:Zero gave me. The groundhog day premise is hardly unique but the way the show executes it goes farther than any other version of the premise I've seen. Partially because it's not really a classic groundhog day situation - time will pass normally as long as you don't die, but that turns into a nightmare when you're repeatedly put into unavoidable situations where you WILL die. The pain of failure and death is prominently displayed and not at all downplayed, and it makes you feel invested in the protagonist even though he, objectively speaking, sucks. Actually, the fact that he sucks is a key part of the plot and maybe the best part of it. The way it plays into the groundhog day situation is very interesting, and I don't want to spoil too much of it.

If Re:Zero had kept up the same level of quality in its last 1/3 as it did as it did in the first 2/3, it would be much higher on this list. Unfortunately, the ending is....eeeh. At a certain point the plot just gets less interesting, and worse, the main character's development starts to feel at odds with itself. I won't get into details but a certain thing he did set the internet on fire for a week or so. It's not terrible near the end, but it definitely limps to the finish line when before that it was sprinting full blast.

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I think this is unfair to her. She's overall a good writer, she just had no plan for the series going on and it showed once it came time to drop the curtain.

This is interesting, because I feel like she had the opposite problem. It seems like she had a very firm idea of the big story beats, particularly the closer the series got to its end, but wasn't really sure how to get there in a compelling way in a narrative context.
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NBIceman posted...

This is interesting, because I feel like she had the opposite problem. It seems like she had a very firm idea of the big story beats, particularly the closer the series got to its end, but wasn't really sure how to get there in a compelling way in a narrative context.

Eh, I find it hard to believe that the whole Elder Wand situation was anything but something she made at the last second when writing Book 6 because she realized she had no way to end the series without making something convoluted.

Neville was the best part of Book 7 though. What a badass.

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Tag. Very interested to see which comic series make your list.
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Undertale
Video Game

"no matter what, you'll just keep going. not out of any desire for good or evil... but just because you think you can. and because you can... you have to."

I'm lukewarm on some parts of Undertale. The character writing and humor is mostly great, but when it misses it can feel like a bit of a slog. The Mettaton arc especially is really long and not that interesting. When I played the game for the first time and was mostly done with it, I was actually wondering what the big deal was.

Here's the thing - the highs of Undertale are VERY high. It has two final bosses that are maybe the best ever, and phenomenal endings, which counts for a lot. It's also a story that gets better and better the more you uncover. I didn't put a lot of thought into my decisions the first time I played and boy oh boy did I feel like an asshole at the end. Undertale does player choice better than any other game in existence, simply because of how much the world can change based on what you do. The contrast between Pacifist and Genocide is wild, and the insight the game gives you on player choice in games and what it means is something I still think about to this day. By the time I'd finished my Pacifist route, I genuinely cared for all the characters and wanted to give them the best ending possible, which isn't something that most games can say. I couldn't even bring myself to do the Genocide route...so I watched it on youtube...and felt like an asshole afterwards anyway, thanks Undertale.

It's a shame that so much of the game has been spoiled through cultural osmosis, because some of the surprises it throws at you are crazy if you don't see them coming. Undertale is a very personal experience that definitely isn't for everyone, but if you 'get it', you really, really get it.

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Was hoping to get through all of Tier 4 tonight, but my fingers are cramping a bit so that's all for now! More to come tomorrow.

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shoutout to HGR who managed to accidentally get the genocide route on his first playthrough
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KamikazePotato posted...

Undertale is a very personal experience that definitely isn't for everyone, but if you 'get it', you really, really get it.

This sounds a lot like Night in the Woods, actually. Unfortunately, Undertale is a miss for me personally - an objectively good game that didn't resonate with me whatsoever.
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I read the first few posts, but am going to skip the rest because i will want to experience them first hand!
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I will say that I thought DDLC was absolutely brilliant for about 10 minutes in the middle, right about when things first started getting weird. I thought this because it was so obviously based on someone's real voice.

I'm not sure it was worth the 2 hours of awkward dating sim leading up to it, though

And the subsequent hour (or whatever) if nonsense afterwards could have been much shorter
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1. Steins;Gate
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Drakeryn posted...

shoutout to HGR who managed to accidentally get the genocide route on his first playthrough

How do you accidentally get genocide?
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Anagram posted...

Drakeryn posted...

shoutout to HGR who managed to accidentally get the genocide route on his first playthrough

How do you accidentally get genocide?

He was killing all the encounters because that's what you do with enemies, you kill them. Then he was grinding for cash for the spider bake sale, and accidentally killed all the enemies in the area. After that, every area had a counter of remaining enemies to kill, and he's a completionist so he had to do it.
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