20 Best Video Game Storylines Of The Decade (So Far)

20. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Perhaps a controversial way to start this list, considering that Metal Gear Solid V was almost certainly rushed out in an unfinished state in order to get it on shelves last year. But even factoring in all those problems, the final (probably) game in the MGS series also boasts the best story.

Going down a slightly darker and more surreal route than other games in the franchise, MGSV perfectly blended heavy themes with the campy MGS humour. Skipping in a heartbeat from contemplations about the importance of language as a political tool to 20 foot tall mechs with guns for penises sounds ridiculous on paper, but it worked so well in practice.

But it's the final twist that really cemented MGSV as a modern classic. Although everyone assumed they were playing as the series' protagonist (and sometimes antagonist) Big Boss, the final mission reveals that you've been nothing but a body double the whole time; a brainwashed pawn sold out to be a proxy while the real Big Boss worked from the shadows.

Sure, people guessed a twist like this would be coming at some point, but the problems that come with that predictability and the fact that this final mission comes out of nowhere don't matter once that final twist is revealed and the opening bars of "The Man Who Sold The World" kick in.