Asklemmy

def Disco Elysium

heed this warning though: after Disco, there is no going back; most storytelling might seem subpar or just of low quality afterwards

it's also soul crushing, existentialist and doesn't shy away from critiquing/ridiculing society and what it believes in (from a Marxist pov, though Communism itself isn't spaired either in the game, with a harsh critique only communists could write), but it's also one of the most hopeful games I've ever played at the same time

I would rly recommend a blind play through without cheating through quick saves! (aka. save scumming) A lot of decisions in the game succeed based on the probability of your stats accomplishing it. I made the mistake in my first play through and just forced everything I wanted by reloading over and over again -_-

Outer Wilds, if you haven't played already. Obligatory warning to avoid spoilers like your life depends on it, go in completely blind if possible.

Pretty sure Portal and Portal 2 are playable in Linux.

Baldur's Gate 3 is a recent one.

Witcher 3 has an amazing story and 2 DLCs that feel like entire games themselves. Runs great for me under Linux Mint (Steam / Proton).

Horizon Zero Dawn. I played it to completion via proton, ran great.

Firewatch, cloudpunk and Cyberpunk 2077 are some I've played recently where I was really immersed.

Disco Elysium hands-down. Has a brilliant story with a bunch of branches, it's a great way to kill 20+ hours.

A shorter experience but one still pretty fun is Thank Goodness You're Here which is a comedy with brilliant voice acting and setting. 2.5hrs ish.

If you don’t mind horror, I would definitely recommend SOMA. It’s also one of those games where it’s best to go in blind. If you are interested, do yourself a favour and do not look at any spoilers before playing.

Lots to think about.

The original BioShock is a masterpiece

Since nobody else has said it, Titanfall2. Not a long story, but it's an absolutely fantastic 6 or 7 hours. Usually it's like 5 bucks during a sale.

Borderlands 2 is great! Should work with Proton.

• Disco Elysium

• Citizen Sleeper

• 1000xRESIST

Japanese and somewhat fan servicey at times but also recommended:

• Nier: Automata

• 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim

Nier Automata. Fair warning you won't feel happy after finishing it, but it's something everyone should experience

Slay the Princess

I've been gaming on Linux exclusively for 3 years now. So. These are all proton-tested-and-approved. Though a couple (especially the old ones) require a bit of tinkering.

• Pillars of Eternity I and II -- Slow burns. cRPGs. Get very good, but take a while to get there
• Tyranny -- Same developer, also a cRPG, but gets to the point faster, and in fact can be finished in one weekend. Do note: It's an "evil campaign" type of RPG.
• Pyre -- A fantasy basketball game with a Visual Novel on the side. Very touching story, made me cry twice. And the gameplay is no slouch either, even if I kinda suck at it. (... Though when you lose the games you don't game over, the story just changes)
• Wolfenstein the New Order -- FPS set in an alternate history where the nazis won WW2, where you play a resistance fighter. Very enjoyable action, and it always feels good to blow nazis away.
• Dishonored 2 -- Stealth-FPS/Immersive Sim where you play as an assassin-princess who can turn herself into a horrid tentacle monster. Also a nice story.
• Enderal: Forgotten Stories -- Skyrim Total Conversion title. Very surreal and trippy story. Pushes the Skyrim engine to its absolute breaking point to realize the developers' vision, and doesn't always get there.
• Fallout: New Vegas -- I mean, if I didn't bring it up, someone would. New Vegas is a flawed and messy game, but it is just about competent enough that you are fine with it being less-than-ideal in the name of getting to the story.

If old games & emulation are on the cards --

• Terranigma (SNES) -- What if Legend of Zelda... But you are literally creating the world by doing your quest. It's nuts. I love it.
• Legacy of Kain series (PS1, PS2, PC) -- Very flawed gameplay on all of them (each in its own unique way)... But it is legitimately one of the greatest tales ever told through gaming. (note: It's also edgy)
• Prince of Persia Sands Trilogy (PC, PS2, GC, Xbox) -- This little trilogy of games from the sixth generation delivers in both elegant platforming gameplay and entertaining storytelling. Does suck that they are from a time that game devs thought subtitling your cutscenes would make your skin fall off (or something. No games back then had subbed cutscenes and it sucked)
• Paper Mario/Mario & Luigi series (Nintendo machines) -- Comedy RPGs about the Mario characters (duh). Very well written, especially Thousand Year Door (GC/Switch) and the original Mario & Luigi (GBA/3DS). Story is as vanilla as you'd expect, since it's Mario, but it is worth it for the comedy imho

I haven't finished it yet but celeste has a good story and works basically perfectly. It is very difficult though

The Talos Principle. It's my all time favourite game. It has a sequel too that expands on the story.

It's a puzzle game with a story that you discover while solving the puzzles. It's kinda similar to Portal in that sense but instead of a focus on comedy, there's a focus on philosophy. If you don't mind reading some philosophical texts and being asked questions that will literally make you question your own value system, then definitely give it a shot.

AoE2. I played the hell out of singleplayer back in the day, and with Remastered they both added new ones and improved the storytelling in old ones. Art of War campaign also is a good introduction to multiplayer combat.

If you like historic stuff; you'll like it. There also exists lot of community campaigns

the entire King's Quest franchise

Time to shill CrossCode again :)

I think the characters are phenomenally written and the plot is fun and has excellent ups and downs.

I love Celeste's simple, effective storytelling. Every aspect of the game ties into its own meaning--the environments, the music, the challenge. Extraordinarily well done.

Surprisingly detailed is the Horizon series. Replaying Zero Dawn and seeing just how much of the story is set up before and during the tutorial is genuinely crazy. Every event feels like an actual part of the narrative, rather than random filler.

Chrono Trigger. Timeless masterpiece. Arguably the greatest JRPG ever made, and yet another one that gets more fun the more you analyse it.

All of these were pretty good on Deck, and should work well on anything. Went for a mix of genres.

I found Spec Ops: The Line to be a good story. Starts off as a typical gears of war third person military shooter. I immediately was skeptical since I don't typically like cod like military arcade shooters. Let's just say the story gets dark. Mainly the character development. I saw the reviews and don't regret grabbing it, well worth the play in my opinion.

The games are a bit buggy but pillars of eternity and dead fire have awesome stories and characters. Then classic crpgs like bg2, planescape torment. And the reboot tides of numenera.

If you consider emulating older games a viable option, I would suggest:

• Chrono Trigger (SNES)
• Silent Hill (PS1)
• Any Legend of Zelda game (Majora's Mask is my favourite story-wise)

If you're down for a retro RPG via an emulator, Earthbound. The overarching story is about dealing with traumatic events as a child and coming of age while hitting the endearing but quirky note similar to games like Undertale that was a cult classic on the SNES. It came boxed with a full color, complete strategy guide made to look like a travel guide so it's intended not to be too difficult and really experience the story.

I found Prey to be fantastic.

Subnautica (Do not use any hint/spoiler sites, just enjoy the evolving story) Last stop Deliver us the Moon/Deliver us Mars and to a lesser extent Quantum Break (play in story mode)

• Ghost of Tsushima
• Nier Automata
• What Remains of Edith Finch
• Bioshock (quality varies as the series continues)
• Soma
• The Sexy Brutale
• Fatal Frame 2 and 3
• Fran Bow
• Telltale's Walking Dead (first one)
• First 4 Silent Hills

I don't know if any of these have native Linux versions all I know is that I played them on steamdeck with no issues:

Beacon Pines has a fucking great story and I loved it so much.

Horizon: Zero Dawn has a really cool thing going on where you're experiencing a fully compelling story unfolding in the present day, but you're also gathering up data logs and recordings that allow a story from the distant past to reveal itself at the same time. One of my favourite storytelling experiences in gaming.

Night in the Woods was just a joy. Made me miss friends and memories that I never had.

Citizen Sleeper is basically a fully fledged science fiction novel with gameplay elements attached. It takes inspiration from the excellent Wayfarer series by Becky Chambers and holy shit its just. Mm! Its cozy, its thrilling, it is beautiful, its lonely, its warm and welcoming. It has some similar elements to Disco Elysium's gameplay.

To The Moon has the wonderful voice of Laura Shigihara on the soundtrack, and a story which brought me surprises and to the point of painful, beautiful, big girl tears.

Exit/Corners is actually a free flash game but don't write it off. It's an incredibly well crafted cast of characters and a story which will keep you on the edge of your seat. I wish I could go back and play it again for the first time.

I'll add Kingdom Come: Deliverance to the list. Great story, fun (if challenging to learn) gameplay and really amazing environments.

Fallout 3, but especially New Vegas have great stories and hundreds of hours of gameplay, and work fenomenally on proton (I mean, they are equally buggy as in other versions). Fallout 4 is good as well, but I have never tested it on linux

The story in To The Moon absolutely floored me when I played it.

I can’t say as to whether it runs on Linux, but it’s pretty old at this point and was never graphically intense to begin with so should. It’s a pretty short game too, but really is worth the time you’ll spend with it.