What is "peak fiction" to you?

[Grushi]

I see this term get thrown around sometimes and I honestly really like it.

What's peak fiction to you? A story that made you go "oh, this is as good as it gets". It can be because it moved you in some way, was brilliantly told, holds some special meaning to you as a person, or even was straight up hype. Any medium too, so it could be a game, book, movie, play, anime... anything!
For games, just keep in mind I'm talking about the story in particular, the gameplay is secondary, unless it serves that story in some way.

I'm curious to see what you all consider the best story you've ever seen.

 

[Hokuto]

Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors is what I call peak fiction. It's a visual novel that does an excellent job subverting the reader's/player's expectations and (everything is a spoiler when discussing the series) uses its medium as a key part of the story. I picked up 999 just before reaching one of the lowest points in my life. The plot and the puzzles occupied my addled mind despite not having stable housing at the time; if I wasn't playing from a family friend's guest bed, I would have been at the edge of my seat the whole time. Even when I returned to my own bed, I couldn't sleep after reaching the Safe End, and if I hadn't spoiled the true ending with unfettered hyperfixation, I think it would have blown my mind.

 

[RetroShark]

Peak fiction? Gotta hand it to Roadside Picnic (look it up)

 

[Masked_Katz]

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream (the story and the game).

I have a weird relationship with horror media. I'm too much of a scaredy-cat to experience scary movies or games, but I have the guilty pleasure of doing second-hand research on them. Its like spicy food, but instead of burning my tongue, I stay up at night rethinking my existence, which is something not even the most fun games I've otherwise played can do. No Mouth was probably the first piece of media that I appreciated like that - it made me question and think about things I didn't realize I was capable of - which is all the more interesting when you learn it was written overnight on a whim by a particularly crazy author.

 

[isaac4]

One of the first things that comes to mind for me as "peak fiction" would be Breath of the Wild.
It isn't because I truly believe that no other Zelda game could ever be better than it in terms of both story and gameplay though.
In fact, I believe that Totk had an amazing opportunity to be even better without giving much of an argument for Botw but my definition of "peak fiction" seems to be more personal and centered around how that piece of fiction made me feel.

Breath of the Wild gave me the ability to explore freely in a land that seemed to always have something I haven't seen before in a story that's a lot more bold than I think most people give it credit for.
Starting off the game with Link coming out of the Shrine of Resurrection after failing to defend Hyrule as well as waking up in a world that has moved on without him and the Champions? I loved it then and I still love it now.
The ending also feels very bittersweet since beating Ganon won't bring that period of time and those who died back, all that can be done is to move forward.

 

[Neko :D]

One of the first things that comes to mind for me as "peak fiction" would be Breath of the Wild.
It isn't because I truly believe that no other Zelda game could ever be better than it in terms of both story and gameplay though.
In fact, I believe that Totk had an amazing opportunity to be even better without giving much of an argument for Botw but my definition of "peak fiction" seems to be more personal and centered around how that piece of fiction made me feel.

Breath of the Wild gave me the ability to explore freely in a land that seemed to always have something I haven't seen before in a story that's a lot more bold than I think most people give it credit for.
Starting off the game with Link coming out of the Shrine of Resurrection after failing to defend Hyrule as well as waking up in a world that has moved on without him and the Champions? I loved it then and I still love it now.
The ending also feels very bittersweet since beating Ganon won't bring that period of time and those who died back, all that can be done is to move forward.

BoTW is literally the peakest of fictions. For me, it's one of those games where you start off strong and then almost give up (that's just me ) and then restart awhile later, only making the experience better.

 

[C-53]

I tend to re-read my favorite novels a lot. Maybe too much. The one(s) that feel new every single time are The Kingkiller Chronicles by Pat Rothfus. Especially the novella: The Slow Regard of Silent Things. It speaks directly to my soul, which is really saying something for a story with no true dialogue.

 

[solz]

DND It's a lot of fun and it's literally based off what you want It to be.

 

[missingno]

CrossCode.

Lea wakes up inside a VRMMO with a terrible case of JRPG Protagonist Amnesia. She's trapped in the game and can't log out. And her character's speech module is broken, preventing her from communicating with anyone else about her predicament.

I know the premise sounds tropey, and I don't want to spoil too much. But what I will say is that what really elevates this game's story to me is Lea herself, and how the game handles her mutism.

Silent protagonists are a dime a dozen. Usually, they don't even have a reason to be silent, and it plays no role in the story. Hell, oftentimes the silent protagonist themself plays no real role in the story. Like I love Chrono Trigger, but you could remove Crono from that game and it would be the exact same story without him. Crono is barely even a character at all.

CrossCode does not do this. Lea is not merely silent, she is mute, and I draw this distinction because CrossCode puts this trait front and center to tell a story about disability. Lea is not a blank slate with no personality, she's animated and expressive, exaggeratedly so in order to compensate. Her story is intertwined with how she has to deal with this communication barrier.

Play CrossCode, it's peak.

 

[Catloafman]

I am a big Narnia fan but my favorite book out of all of them is the Silver chair
I love EVERYTHING about this book from the new characters to the tightly knit story and the shocking twists throughout the story and even the allegories are all fantastic