Memes

Mostly in alphabetical order going down my steam list:

Great stories great games: Tales of Symphonia and Vesperia, The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky trilogy, Metal Gear Solid, 2, and 3, Subnautica, Secret of Mana, Legend of Mana, Chrono Trigger, Hollow Knight, Spec Ops: The Line, A Hat in Time, Hades, Doom, Deus Ex, Eternal Sonata, F.E.A.R., FF6, FF13-2, Nier Replicant & Automata, Sleeping Dogs, Undertale, Valkyria Chronicles (admittedly haven't beaten it though).

Mindless fun simple stories: Ys (almost any of them), My Time at Portia or Sandrock, Resident Evil games, Rune Factory 4 and 5, Harvest Moon 64 and Friends of Mineral Town, Stray, Amnesia, Armored Core 6, Have a Nice Death, I am Setsuna, Life is Strange, Neon White, Cyberpunk 2077.

If you had to twist my arm I'd give you these variations of top recommendations.

Best typical JRPG: Tales of Symphonia

Best Metroidvania: Hollow Knight

Best where choices matter: Undertale

Best fps: Spec Ops: The Line

Best comfy story: My Time at Portia

Best environmental storytelling: Subnautica

Best simple stories in stories: A Hat in Time

Best story with a bajillion endings and things to keep playing for: Nier Automata (play Replicant too!)