List of narrative firsts

Colossal Cave Adventure 1975/6 (First text based adventure)

Space Invaders 1978 (Expanded the video game industry)
Temple of Apshai 1979 (First game with room descriptions, seen as serious
and involving)
ARCADE Pac-Man 1980 (First Cut Scene)
Zork 1980 (Most popular text based adventure, high quality storytelling and
sophisticated text parser)
Mystery House - 1980 (Added graphics to text based adventure)
ARCADE Berzerk - 1980 (Added speech through synthesised voice)
3D Monster Maze 1981 (First 3D)
Ultima 1981 (Added overworld, first RPG)
Wizardry 1981 (Added colour to RPG, first party-based RPG)
Donkey Kong 1981 (First use of cutscenes used for narrative purpose, used to
tell a story)
Zaxxon 1982 (Isometric graphics, closest to 3D at the time)
Pole Position 1982 (Stereophonic sound, pseudo 3D, third person etc, massive
racing game)
Space Spartans 1982 (Added human speech)
Dragons Lair 1983 (Added quicktime events)
Begas Battle 1983 (Full-motion video with voice acting for narrative in between
levels becomes standard)
The Portopia Serial Murder Case -1983 (First with multiple endings, featured
multiple ways to achieve goals)
Ultima III: Exodus 1983 (Combination of previous advancements to create a
mature plot, laid the foundations for RPGs) Compare to Ultima 1 and why this
was more immersive
Kings Quest - 1984 (Most popular version + interactive animated graphics)
Hydilide 1984 (First action role-playing game and first open world)
Below the Root 1984 (Multiple protagonists, as well as a choice of gender, age,
race)
(Minor jump Enchanted Sceptres (1984) (Added a mouse pointer))
Ultima IV 1985 (Added a morality system and a narrative that allowed for
massive immersion)

The Legend of Zelda 1986 (Real time combat and more control in the open
world considered a forerunner of modern RPGs, especially non-linear ones,
added saves)
Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior) 1986 (Seen as the template for RPG games
made screenwriting important)
Manic Mansion 1987 (Overhauled core gameplay to focus on the narrative the
definitive shift towards modern adventure games became the accepted
standard for point and click, even coined the phrase cutscene)
The Secret of Monkey Island 1990 (Poster child for adventure games in the era,
used three trials structure to split up tasks so players wouldnt get stuck so
easily)
Final Fantasy IV 1991 (Character-driven plot, seen as landmark RPG for
dramatic storytelling, getting attached to characters etc.)
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss 1992 (Technological milestone, 3D world
with sloped surfaces, complex levels and immersive dungeons unparalleled)
Secret of Mana 1993 (Great combination of graphics, huge world, real time rpg
combat)
Myst 1993 (Video game narrative starting to mature, became the precursor to
narrative puzzle games)
Rise of the Robots 1994 (Motion capture)
Final Fantasy VII 1997 (Pre-rendered cutscenes)
Half-Life 1998 (No cutscenes, events play out in front of the player while they
maintain control of the character for immersion)
Planescape: Torment 1999 (Definitive narrative experience which uses
gameplay for narrative purposes)