I got a little rushed towards the end of my initial post. I should probably recommend all 3 of the Gabriel Knight games, as they are all well-written, good stories worth playing. I only said 2 at first because that is probably the easiest to play as well as is probably the best in the series, and my favorite, but the others are definitely worth the time and effort. There are numerous adventure games that are done very well with excellent-very good stories and execution like I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, Spycraft: The Great Game, and URU. Again, they are no The Longest Journey at all by comparison, but good stories worth playing.

There are some more notable games that offer very good stories told well in a great game combined with other excellent elements, such as the game play itself, atmosphere, uniqueness of world, depth, etc. I recommend, if you don't already know at least some things about these games, giving each of them a look and seeing how they interest you. In no particular order, and without necessarily having played them in completion myself:

Pathologic - I've just tipped the surface of this game. I feel like I may have read too much about it and so am giving myself time/space from playing it more for now. There are 3 different playthroughs with 3 different characters, each one revealing different parts of the world and story about what is going on in the world. Supremely creepy and cerebral from my understanding. I think once I play it more I will love it. Check it out.

Realms of the Haunting - I played a demo of this back when it was released and I remember loving it and wanting more. I have it but have yet to play it since getting it here, but from what I've read it's a really well-told and unique story.

Clive Barker's Undying - I haven't played it at all but I am quite familiar with Clive Barker and chances are even if the execution is poor (though I don't think it is for this game) the underlying story and themes are very good and worth experiencing. For games like this (as well as games like the MDK games and the Soul Reaver games and Psychonauts) it's a matter of how much gameplay you must play vs. how much story you get, and games like these there's more play for less story, even though the stories may be very good and told very well, etc. So, yeah, best for you to look into such things.

Thief and Gothic series, - Again, falls under the "how much game vs. how much story" balance that you might not want to play, but I think it would really be worth it if you give yourself a chance and remember that all PC games can be very different from each other and so that means they can take time and patience in learning them before being fully comfortable and being able to just devour it second-natured-ly. Again, the payoff is worth it.

Also check out these games that could be special and what you're looking for, though I'm not sure: Omikron: The Nomad Soul, Outcast, Anachronox, and Deus Ex. Perhaps even look into Advent Rising, Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy), and,, Chronicles of Riddick (yes.)

Hope this serves you well!

I thought this question had already been asked? Anyway the short answer is "NO" BG and NWN do not compare to PST. They are totally different games. In fact, NWN doesn't compare to BG. NWN's campaign is a poor man's Baldur's Gate. NWN is multiplayer-centric. Biowaste really skimped on the campaign, particularly in regards to companions.

In any case, BG is a tactical RPG. PST is more of an action adventure game with RPG elements. That is to say it focuses more on a deep interactive story and less on tactical combat. And NWN is a glorified virtual construction toolset for creating DnD scenarios on your computer and playing them online.

Combat is the be-all-and-end-all of BG and NWN. It is the game and is of course unavoidable. Comprehensive understanding of DnD rules crammed into your face is unavoidable. If you despise DnD BG and NWN are not for you.

BG combat in particular is h-a-r-d like you read about. NWN's combat is sometimes broken because of the lack of direct control over a party but is mostly a breeze for that exact same reason (had to dumb it down to accommodate stupid design choices) so in that respect NWN can play a bit like a poor man's Diablo at times (NWN is a poor man's everything) so combat in NWN is more straight forward and easier.

Of the two, I would recommend Neverwinder over Baldur's. Neverwinter would be more to your tastes it seems.

Dunno much about Baldur's Gate yet. But normally I would highly to the extreme recommend Neverwinter Nights.

However if story is your primary concern in a CRPG over all else, I'd recommend Betrayal at Krondor. Like Planescape: Torment, it's among the best of all CRPGs ever in all aspects and is heavily story- AND plot-oriented, if you know what I mean by plot as differentiated from story.

I don't know that it, per se, "compares" to Planescape: Torment. But give it a try for yourself and you decide hehehehe

What was the decision on Fallout: New Vegas? F:NV it is probably my favourite game but Fallout 3 wouldn't appear in my top 50 games, the story is good but it is the environment Obisidian have built and the consequences to your actions that are enthralling. I'd recommend using a couple of mods, mainly bug fixes and such as they can fix up so of those pesky glitches, though I use a lot more than those listed below but they are enhancements while those below are fixes and restoration:

- Mission Mojave (Bug fixes with a few gameplay tweaks) - http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/45104/?
OR Yukichigai's Unofficial Patch (Pure bug fixes) - http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/51664/?
- New Vegas Anti Crash - http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/53635/?
- New Vegas Stutter Remover - http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/34832/?
- Restored content - http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/45799/?
- Restored content - http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/45886/?
- Restored content - http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/45991/?
- Restored content - http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/46048/?
- Restored content - http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/46158/?
- Restored content - http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/46574/?
- Restored content - http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/46584/?
- Restored content - http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/46585/?
- Restored content - http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/46648/?

Also don't play KotOR: SL without the mod you showed, sometimes people recommend playing a game once without mods to see how they intended it to be released. Do not with this one, the game is much better with that mod. Though playing the game with it, you will not understand why people are complaining about how unfinished the game was on release.

I loved those BG games for these reasons, I am also a fan of Divinity: Original Sin for the same reasons too. These games done well are hard to find.

BG series isn't bad, but it will feel a bit shallow compared to PST. Still worth a play through tho' IMHO. BG2 in particular is very good and has a strong story arc, and has the advantage of being a lot less buggy than PST ;)

NWN series was... disappointing, storywise. The Diamond edition stuff isn't too bad, but are very short.

NWN2, deffo MOTB stands out as the strongest in terms of story, but the NWN2 OC is fun too just for the companion banter and personalities. (I used a console hack to disable the party limit so I could have everyone in the party at once just to get all the interactions!)

I think the KOTOR series and Jade Empire are not bad too.

If we're just talking pure story, Longest Journey and Dreamfall have already been mentioned.

A couple that haven't tho' - Sanitarium has one hell of a story but as point'n'click puzzlers go can be a bit obscure at times. TIE Fighter also has a surprisingly intriguing plot progression considering it's a space shooter! (I'm slightly biased tho', got massive hype due to TF making it to GoG; It's one of my fave games of all time! :D)