There's something special about experiencing a really deep story from a first-person perspective. It really puts you into the position of the protagonist, and every moment is on your skin, intimate and fully immersive. Of course, to tell a good story, you don't have to make a first-person game. Red Dead Redemption 2 is proof that a third-person perspective is more than good most of the time.
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However, if you love the immersion that comes with first-person games, I have a few suggestions and recommendations for your next story-rich gaming experience. A lot of these are classics, some of them are underappreciated, but above all, they all come with some of the finest storytelling seen in gaming. We'll rank them loosely by how impactful the story is and the depth of immersion.
Find all 10 pairs
Find all 10 pairs
The Portal Games
A Marriage of Complex Puzzles And Environmental Storytelling
Portal's main charm and focus has always been its puzzles, but it does also come with an absolutely unforgettable story that has to be experienced to be understood. Many consider the Portal games to be a gateway to video gaming in general, and I tend to agree.
The puzzles and the manipulation of environments are the perfect way to jog anyone's mind, while you uncover the events that took place inside Aperture Science Laboratories. A strange AI is speaking to you (in both games), and the atmosphere is somewhat creepy and unsettling. It's a refreshing mystery packed with brilliant environmental storytelling that helps you piece together what happened. In the same breath, I also recommend The Talos Principle, which will appeal to players who fell in love with the Portal games.
Prey
Unravel The Lives Of Talos-I Inhabitants
If you're looking to jump into immersive sims, I recommend starting off with a more recent game, Prey, before trying old but gold titles like Deus Ex or even the System Shock Remake (or even the original). Prey is a mind-bending story of Morgan Yu, part of Talos-I's crew aboard a space station that's being overrun by Typhon enemies. Through audio logs, written clues, and even meeting a few of the remaining survivors, you start to piece together what's happened and the kind of life you led before it all went down.
Your actions actually matter, but this isn't explicitly stated, which makes things a bit exciting. The game tracks how you resolve certain situations, how you build up Morgan's skills, and what quests you complete or ignore. You roam somewhat freely through the different areas of Talos-I at some point, and it truly becomes a story that your version of Morgan Yu tells. There are countless emotional moments and characters you end up caring for, even if you never truly meet them.
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
A Spooky Mystery Walking Simulator
Walking simulators are a great place to look for great storytelling, which is why the Vanishing of Ethan Carter is here. You're a detective with a supernatural ability to see ghosts, and you've arrived in Red Creek Valley to figure out what happened to Ethan Carter. You'll piece together clues, solve puzzles, and most importantly, take in the beautiful views of the wilderness while trying to understand the details of a strange murder.
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There's a bit of mild thrill and horror mixed in, so anyone allergic to horror games, beware, but it's nothing like a classic survival horror game. It's an excellent choice if you'd like your story delivered through exploration and gathering clues—and if you happen to be a true crime fan, as well.
What Remains of Edith Finch
Uncover The Stories Of The Finch Family
Edith is the last of her family. To uncover why that is, and how everyone else came to pass, it's your job to go through your family's house and experience every member's final moments. Each family member has their own perspective and personality, which adds some color and flavor to this tragic but beautiful bouquet of stories.
If you already played The Vanishing of Ethan Carter or you're just in general a fan of walking simulators that really focus on delivering a deep, emotional narrative, What Remains of Edith Finch will be right up your alley. Without spoiling too much, the story can get incredibly emotional and sad as you uncover how each generation of the Finch family is somehow connected, so make sure to have a box of tissues nearby.
Firewatch
You're Not Alone In The Wilderness
In Firewatch, you are Henry, a man with a difficult past. You take on a job at a firewatch tower in the beautiful wilderness in the hopes of getting a fresh start and clearing your mind, but as you speak with a woman called Delilah over the radio and uncover strange happenings around the park, the past comes to stare back at you in unexpected ways.
It's a thrilling story about something moving in the wild and watching you, but it's also an emotional ride where characters explore their past and present pains. Choices matter in this walking simulator, so going back for another playthrough is absolutely recommended.
SOMA
Survive And Untangle The Gruesome Fate Of Pathos-II
Frictional Games needed to be on this list, one way or another, and SOMA is easily their best work, narratively. As Simon, you participate in a brain scan following a traumatic car crash that ended the life of your friend. But something's not right when the scan begins, and you wake up in an underwater facility, Pathos-II, that has been overrun by strange machines.
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SOMA is a survival horror game at its finest. You have no weapons or other means to protect yourself, only the guidance of one of the survivors speaking. Much of the story is told through audio recordings in the form of logs or interacting with data buffers or even written logs on terminals. Through these scattered clues, you start to understand what's happened and what remains to be done. I can't dive too deep into the specifics of the plot without giving away key details, but let's just say, your mind will be blown, and you will be deeply nostalgic and desperate for connection by the end of your adventure.
BioShock
Untangle Your Memory, And Rapture's History
I could have just as easily put System Shock here, but what can I say? I do have a bias for the underwater setting of the first BioShock and the mind-shattering twist that takes place in the middle of the story. In the aftermath of a plane crash, you end up stranded by a lighthouse that leads you down into a batysphere headed for Rapture, an underwater city. If you were expecting a warm welcome, you're mistaken. Things in Rapture have gone sideways and badly, and as the newest inhabitant of this twisted sunken dystopia, you'll start to uncover how your fate is far more intertwined with it than you'd first imagined.
BioShock's story unfolds in a linear fashion, but efficiently through voice recordings and survivors speaking to you on the radio. It's one of the finest examples of a game using these methods as a primary way of delivering its narrative. That, and the abundance of environmental storytelling. Every level has a distinct theme and shows you what went wrong when Rapture crumbled.
Cyberpunk 2077
An Emotional, Neonlit Journey To Becoming Afterlife's Legend
Despite one of the most disastrous launches in video game history, Cyberpunk 2077 brought it all back with its subsequent updates and Phantom Liberty DLC. That said, and maybe this is a hot take, the main story of the game is already a brilliant one on its own. It may not work in an open-world environment where there are distractions at every turn, but the mellow, depressing tones and the narrow glimmers of hope you cling to tooth and claw as V make you genuinely invested in the game and its characters.
A lot of games here focus on environmental storytelling, and while Cyberpunk 2077 also excels at that, it's one of the few games where the writing is actually rock-solid, punchy, and where the story hits you like a violent gut-punch that leaves you emotional for days. You end up caring about fictional characters, desperate to find a way to keep yourself and everyone alive and happy, but there's a major lesson to be learned: the city always wins in the end.
Half-Life
A Science Experiment Gone Wrong
Gordon Freeman's story is one of the most legendary ones in video game history, so not including it would have been utter blasphemy. Half-Life is oozing with that powerful show-don't-tell that's typically the mark of a great narrative. What happened and what's going on isn't thrown in your face in the form of elaborate quest summaries or journal entries.
The story is also relatively simple and tropey, with a science experiment going sideways that leads to a sudden invasion of alien creatures and the arrival of hostile military forces, but because it delivers those tropes with elegance and efficiency, they never feel cringy or overused. Like with BioShock, every level and area in Half-Life has a distinct vibe and feeling, and it's that visual messaging that tells us what's going on, without spelling it out to us. A masterclass in wordless storytelling, it deserves its top spot.
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Gather up, adventurers, and pack your necessities, because 2026 is looking juicy on the exploration game front.