Best story - Pillars of Eternity 2 Deadfire, Original Sin 2, or Pathfinder: Kingmaker

Regardless of combat and other elements, I was wondering which of these games has the most engaging story. Opinions? Thanks!

That's quite subjective matter…

I haven't played PoE2 but I found Kingmaker's story very engaging and enjoyable throughout the whole game, I liked it much more than D:OS2 - but then, I stopped playing D:OS2 once I got out of Fort Joy so I'm probably not the best person to answer this.

Of them 3 I'd say Eternity2 has the weakest story as it relies too much on the first game and not in a good way - it never explains why companions' skills got reset for example.
And that isn't subjective, it's visible from the moon.
This doesn't mean the game sux, it's still fun.

The better story between the other two games however is subjective as @purpleblob says. I wanted to remove weed from the equatation, so I'll let someone else to pick between the two left.

Very subjective indeed. It also depends on what you mean by "story" - just the main quest, or does that also include side quests, companion quests etc? If it's strictly the main quest, it's Kingmaker in my opinion, which is based on a massive tabletop campaign:
https://pathfinder.fandom.com/wiki/K…adventure_path)

Best is a hard thing to judge; I would say D:OS-2 has a very cohesive story but as to whether you enjoy it or not is a matter of taste. Having said that one negative of D:OS-2 is that the story is not really suspenseful so in that aspect one might say it is a bit dull. I can't really comment on the other two yet. Not really what you asked but I did't really care for the story in poe or dos. In poe it was a bit convoluted and not really well presented (imho); in ds it seemd more like an artificial vehicle to move the game forward. Btw D:OS-2 story is nothing like D:OS (I mean it center around source but it is a much darker more serious story with less divergence or morphing).

King maker has a pretty engaging story despite being fairly simplistic. Original Sin 2 probably had the weakest story for me - to be honest i barely remember it now after only playing it about 4 months ago lol. Deadfire probably has the most comprehensive story with the best writing but you have to put more of yourself into it. I'm not sure which I would choose between Kingmaker and Deadfire.

I played all three to the end. I think if I could combine the option to be POE1 and 2 combined then I would give that best overall story - and story means to me how interesting and fun the story is as well as how it meshes with overall game play and role playing. A story that is disassociated from the game, which some can be in games, would get a low score from me even if a good story. The story has to be intimately tied into the game itself.

But just POE2, DDOS2, or PK then I would go with PK. There were lots of plot twists, lots of choices and consequences, lots of history and lore, and felt the story went very hand in hand with the game play and role playing your character.

I could care less if something is simple, complex, cliche, unique as long as its fun, engaging, and interesting to me. I liked all three stories in all three games a lot. But between the three PK edges out above them because I really enjoyed it.

I've not played Pillars Two as of yet, I own it but haven't fired it up to date. Kingmaker though is head and shoulders above Original Sin two in every category, though. That much I'm sure of.

Originally Posted by wolfgrimdark
…lots of plot twists, lots of choices and consequences, lots of history and lore…

This! Thanks, everyone for your input. You're right, it's very subjective, but wolfgrimdark's description pretty much nails it for me. Of course, eventually, I plan to play all of these.

I only played DOS 2 of these ones, and as it had one of the best stories of any recent RPGs in my opinion I really doubt that the other 2 games would be a match (even though thats possible ofc).
What I liked about DOS2 was that it makes sense in itself for the very most part and it doesn't go a lot into the abstract and spiritual. And where it does that, it actually explains quite a bit and makes it even more rationaltowards the end of the game.

All had decent stories but none that is impressive or really interesting; from recent months, i liked alot the story from tower of time.

I would completely agree with Tower of Time having a great lore/back story. If you read all the literature that's scattered about, you'll have a good idea of what a rich, exciting world used to exist.