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5 Best Video Game Narrators of All Time

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If you've ever played Biomutant, then you'll likely know what it takes to produce quality narration when it comes to video games. Basically, it's doing everything in your power to assure it's nothing at all like Biomutant. Instead, it's being able to wrap your head around the balance of such a thing, knowing that too much of it can lead to the rest of the game being overshadowed. Biomutant, on the other hand, tries to cram 99.9% narration over 0.01% gameplay. So, like I said — balance. Nobody likes a narrator that waffles on.

Understanding narration can be a pretty complex thing if you're new to the industry. It's incredibly easy to get lost in telling the story that, unfortunately, developers can often forget to give the player time to actually experience it for themselves. Some devs, however, have managed to crack the formula and litter games with iconic monologues and well-crafted scripts. Just take these five as an example. Here lies a spool of golden voices that I, personally, think characterised a generation. But that's just one guy's opinion, of course.

 

5. Max Payne 3

Some might say that Max Payne “peaked in high school”, shortly before returning to the spotlight for a third and final instalment before returning to the dark. Some would also say that the franchise wasn't one of Rockstar's finest creations and that milking the cash cow past the first two games was only destined to fail. However, with the negative comments aside, Max Payne 3 did, in fact, have a pretty phenomenal narration style behind it.

Like hearing a woeful tale spill from a recovering addict's lips during an intervention, we're invited to hear a story swarming with violent encounters and near-death experiences, all whilst sitting at the front row with the pad resting between our palms. Max himself makes up for a fantastic narrator and quite easily tells the story without losing sight of the tasks at hand. Every spoken word and monologue, in all honesty, amounts to a finely tuned story that's well worth sticking around for.

 

4. Alan Wake

Being a storyteller by trade, it only made sense for Alan Wake himself to narrate over his own anthology of horrors. But boy, we weren't expecting the narration to be one of the best parts of the game overall. And yet, there we were, playing a character in a story of his own making, acting out the chapters as they were poured from the book, word by word, passage by passage.

Alan Wake tells a cold and chilling tale that quite simply manages to keep players teetering on the brink of intrigue from the moment the book opens to the second it closes. With enough twists, turns and curveballs to keep the chapters flowing, the journey itself feels like an unravelling movie in motion, with Alan himself being the perfect host to keep you company along the way.

 

3. The Stanley Parable

When we think of some of the best narrators in gaming — we can't help but draw a big circle around The Stanley Parable. Although the gameplay itself is just walking through various doors and defying a thread of mundane instructions, the narrator, on the other hand, is what, for lack of a better word, makes the experience as a whole.

The smooth-spoken narrator that tells your story is perhaps one of the most patronising voices you'll ever have the pleasure of hearing. Why? Because should you choose to ignore the narrator's instructions and go AWOL at any point, then you're basically given an unfriendly debriefing and showered with off-the-cuff remarks before being made to restart the game altogether. Between that, you'll have to endure witty comments about your progress, as well as tongue-in-cheek monologues about some of the strangest subjects known to mankind.

 

2. What Remains of Edith Finch

narrator

As far as story-driven walking simulators go — What Remains of Edith Finch is still, in my eyes, one of the greatest achievements in the genre, and an absolute staple in the gaming industry. It's rich in emotion, beautifully constructed, and compelling enough to want to round back to time and time again. It's a perfect mixture of exploration and storytelling, with its tale containing some of the most captivating and original characters ever seen in the genre.

It doesn't matter if you're glossing over an old teacup in a tattered kitchen or reminiscing over a family heirloom in the library, because when it comes to the Finch's heartwarming tale — everything has a side story and a much, much deeper meaning. It's a labyrinth of core memories that possesses the ability to transport you into a winding world of fascinating origin stories. It's narration at its best, plain and simple.

 

1. Gone Home

Narrator

Like What Remains of Edith Finch, Gone Home sews its narration over a series of well-paced events, in which you the player have to piece together by wandering through a home buried in trinkets and lost memories. By interacting with the world around you, you're able to draw your own conclusion and construct an everlasting picture. Along the way, of course, you'll find floods of old memorabilia, all of which plays a small part in a much, much bigger story.

To be fair, you could probably complete Gone Home in just a couple of hours. In no way is it challenging, or even remotely demanding for that matter. But should you wish to immerse in its heart-wrenching tale, then you'll more than likely end up sticking around post-credits. Or, like me, rounding back to the beginning just to experience it all over again. It's a story worth listening to — and a fine piece of narration that's definitely deserving of reaping all the relevant awards.

 

So, what's your take? Is there a certain video game narrator we should've included in this list? What are your thoughts on the above five? Let us know over on our socials here.

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Jord is acting Team Leader at gaming.net. If he isn't blabbering on in his daily listicles, then he's probably out writing fantasy novels or scraping Game Pass of all its slept on indies.