Gaming's most ludicrous storylines

ETERNAL SONATA | Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Roleplaying games regularly visit worlds of fantasy, but Eternal Sonata is the only game we know based on a fantasy world supposedly created by a famous real-world composer in the moments before his death.

The short version
19th Century piano composer Frederic Chopin is dying of tuberculosis. In his final hours, he conceives of a fantastical land where himself and other characters with terminal illnesses posses powers of sorcery.

Flitting in and out between his deathbed and his dreamworld, Chopin gathers a party of fellow sufferers together. In a battle between the vying political forces of Baroque and Forte, Chopin and his gang of sickly magicians must combat the evil Count Waltz, and ensure peace triumphs in Chopin's fairyland. Is it just fantasy? Or could there be more to this wondrous world?

The short version, shortened
Dying composer has fevered dream, inspired by his own life and passion for music. Dies.

MICHIGAN: REPORT FROM HELL | PlayStation 2
This Suda 51-directed survival horror posed a nightmarish adventure with a difference - you spent the whole time holding a camera, and never touched a weapon.

The short version
In the fictional city of Michigan, an unnatural fog hangs ominously overhead. Where has it come from? As a news cameraman with Zaka TV, you're given the dubious honour of scoring a scoop on the mysterious fog, and exposing the events behind the disappearance of your 'sexy news team', the corpses littering the streets and the appearance of vicious monsters that threaten to murder you and your trio of impossibly pretty (and short-hemmed) reporters. Can you survive the horror, while filming the explosive truth for the public, and sneak in a few clips of the presenter's arse?

The short version, shortened
Zombie apocalypse strikes city. Fight against the terror by filming up your reporter's skirt.

Ben Richardson is a former Staff Writer for Official PlayStation 2 magazine and a former Content Editor of GamesRadar+. In the years since Ben left GR, he has worked as a columnist, communications officer, charity coach, and podcast host – but we still look back to his news stories from time to time, they are a window into a different era of video games. 

Latest in Games
Assassin's Creed Shadows Yaya shouting at Tetsuo
How to recruit Yaya in Assassin's Creed Shadows
A large, muscly bloke eating noodles at a bar while two people point pistols at him from behind in Cyberpunk 2077.
The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 developer enters into partnership with Pokemon Go owner to create a new game "set within one of CD Projekt's IPs"
Assassin's Creed Shadows screenshot showing Yasuke kneeling and praying while wearing a traditional purple robe
Assassin's Creed Shadows is shown running on a Nintendo 3DS in an impressive bit of fan homebrew
Mario racing on a desert track during the Switch 2 reveal trailer.
Porting Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to the Nintendo Switch was "kind of an afterthought," and now it's so popular that getting fans to switch could be a challenge
Donkey Kong in newly shared gameplay of what seems to be mario kart 9
"This is unlike Nintendo": Former marketer thinks Mario Kart being a Switch 2 launch game isn't as ideal as OG Switch's Breath of the Wild combo
The Witcher 4 screenshot with Ciri using sword and sorcery to fight an ancient monster
The Witcher 4 and Naughty Dog's Intergalactic are reportedly skipping 2026 and won't be ready until at least the year after
Latest in News
The T6 Power Armor
I'm about to spend over $400 on this iconic T60 Power Armor figurine because "Communism is the very definition of failure"
A large, muscly bloke eating noodles at a bar while two people point pistols at him from behind in Cyberpunk 2077.
The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 developer enters into partnership with Pokemon Go owner to create a new game "set within one of CD Projekt's IPs"
Owen Cooper in Adolescence
Sorry, Adolescence season 2 isn't happening, despite its 99% Rotten Tomatoes score and record-breaking Netflix audience
Daredevil: Born Again episode 6
Daredevil: Born Again's long-awaited moment has been called "pure cinema" featuring one of the "best lines in comic book movie history"
Daredevil looking mean and moody.
Daredevil: Born Again episode 5 just nodded to Thanos and the Avengers movies in the most obscure way
The Fantastic Four: First Steps cast assemble
Fantastic Four star says the Marvel movie "will go down in history" for rejuvenating the MCU, "in the same way the Guardians of the Galaxy and Black Panther hit"