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Tabris praises the worst dialogue in the industry

E

Evlar

Banned
XHitoshuraX said:
/slap.gif

I did the official thread silly thing.

And yes, bioshock did have fantastic lines but I'm talking about the quality of delivered lines, the pacing timing and actual acting of the lines...
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Well then. You obviously haven't played Grim Fandango.
 
X

XHitoshuraX

Banned
Evil Lore you bring up a fantastic point. I cannot help but wonder how XII's story would have come across had its localization not been given an archaic sweep. And FFT:TWOTL, is even more....well "ye olde".

Localization makes and breaks a JRPGs story...I cannot fathom however the love for BG II. It's a fantastic game but....
 
X

XHitoshuraX

Banned
The Sphinx said:
Well then. You obviously haven't played Grim Fandango.
Click to expand...

A fantastic game indeed....


But I am speaking of tonal quality!!!

Of how the actors played the lines written for them!


EDIT: FUCK double P
 
karasu

karasu

Member
"How did you end up serving on an Alliance ship?"
"I enlisted right out of med school. Earth always seemed boring to me. Too safe, too secure. I figured the colonies were teaming with exotic adventure. I wanted to travel the stars, tending the wounds of tough soldiers with piercing eyes and sensitive souls."
Click to expand...

hahahaha :lol

Oblivion has some horrible dialogue too.
 
S

Slavik81

Member
jet1911 said:
Wow... you should not play Gears of War then.
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Why? Gears of War had great dialogue. No story, but great dialogue...
The fact that it was composed almost entirely of short conversations or one-liners helped immensely.
 
D

Duke Togo

Member
Slavik81 said:
Why? Gears of War had great dialogue. No story, but great dialogue...
The fact that it was composed almost entirely of short conversations or one-liners helped immensely.
Click to expand...
"Look at all that juice"
 
C

chaff.g

Member
Slavik81 said:
Why? Gears of War had great dialogue. No story, but great dialogue...
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agreed. i don't understand the hate for gears' dialogue. as locker room banter, it was very serviceable, and the voice actors' delivery was top notch
 
Tieno

Tieno

Member
Slavik81 said:
Why? Gears of War had great dialogue. No story, but great dialogue...
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Agree. It worked very well for what they set out to do: a big macho blockbuster action game.

Augustus Cole: [under fire] Yeah! Wooo! Bring it on, sucka! This is my kinda shit!
 
E

Enk

makes good threads.
EviLore said:
While Baldur's Gate II is clearly the best rpg ever, and has top class writing, it's not exactly fair to let them ride on that credibility for seven years. Of Bioware's other RPGs, the only one with tolerable writing is KOTOR, and it has its sour aspects like the entire carth character (and kotor 2's writing is better). Baldur's Gate 1's writing is legitimately terrible generic fantasy drivel (but at least the passages are short, so it doesn't really grate on me), NWN1's campaign writing is even worse because it's filled with LONG and painful expository garbage rather than short and to the point garbage, and jade empire, eh well, the writing itself is usually not puke-bad except that it completely fails to capture the essence of its setting.

JRPGs largely fail, I'd wager, by inadequate translation jobs and horrendous voice acting. FFXII's great localization made for a pretty compelling story (well, from the 20 or so hours I played). If other games had that treatment the frequent awkwardness english speakers encounter would probably be addressed to some extent, although it wouldn't save generic effeminate teenager saves the world storylines.
Click to expand...


This I can agree with. When I replayed Baldur's Gate II about a year ago, it really reminded me how good both the acting and writing was (especially Minsc and Imoen). It's been longer since I've played the first one but I remember the dialogue being just as good. I'm about to replay it so I wonder if it holds up as well as I thought.

KOTOR also had some good voice acting and dialogue. It captivated me like no other Star Wars game or movie could. Can't say the same for Jade Empire as it didn't grab me like the other BioWare games. It probably was because of the writing, but I don't remember.

JRPG's don't enthraw me with their stories. It's usually the music, enviroments, gameplay, and art style which does that, and for some reason, that seems to work better for me. Maybe someday we'll be able to combine the best of both worlds and have a truly enthrawling experience.
 
F

FLEABttn

Banned
Teknopathetic said:
You could, but it's not helping your point.
Click to expand...

Goldeneye sold countless N64's and Gameshark's and Perfect Dark was THE console multiplayer of the generation.

Of course Rare was never relevant. :lol
 
B

Barnolde

Banned
Gears of War and Oblivion have great dialogue as well. Make me all fuzzy inside to know that games have reached the level of a Sci-Fi Channel original movie.

Gears of War 2: Megalodon
The Elder Scrolls V: We're Meeting G Over There

Abolisher said:
Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver series tended to have some good dialogue, of course thats just a fact.
Click to expand...
.
 
E

ElyrionX

Member
I'm a huge Bioware fan but those lines quoted in the OP are terrible.

Some of you are idiots for jumping on Gremlin before even reading what he wrote.
 
A

alistairw

Just so you know, I have the best avatars ever.
Teknopathetic said:
"That was DMA, actually. Designed by Dave Jones, of Lemmings/Grand Theft Auto/Crackdown fame."

Oh, hah. I gave Rare too much credit.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you and Microsoft both.
 
R

revolverjgw

Member
I liked the approach Gears took, with the wisecracking macho buttbuddies, but the execution sucked. A gung-ho game like Gears augmented the great script and charisma from Predator would be brilliant.
 
P

Pristine_Condition

Member
While it isn't even close to the level of bad of other games I've played in the past, and it isn't even as bad as some other AAA 360 titles (Gears...come on.) but I gotta say that this:

"You all know the mission and what is at stake. I have come to trust each of you with my life. But I've also heard murmurs of discontent. I share your concerns. We are trained for espionage. We would be legends, but the records are sealed."
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...is George Lucas-level bad sci-fi dialog.

Reminds me of Harrison Ford's classic comments to Lucas on the set of Star Wars. "You can type this shit, George, but you sure can't say it."
 
O

Open Source

Banned
The Sphinx said:
Anyway. I've definitely seen worse (yes, sometimes in jrpgs). You should see the writing in the majority of MMOs. Holy shit.
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Yep. It's what happens when you hire Dungeon Masters (D&D) and Storytellers (white Wolf) instead of proper writers and/or assume that the people you hired to do game design can also be used to write dialogue.
 
A

AtreyU

Neo Member
Real writers won't touch video games, I guess the ghost writer who wrote grim fandago must have been paid very well to keep his mouth shut, or maybe his concrete shoes did that for him.
 
S

snaildog

Member
&#1057 said:
30v2nhj.png
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:lol God, I remember puzzling over this as a little kid and thinking I wasn't clever enough to understand it properly.
 
G

Gigglepoo

Member
viakado said:
over 8million copies of goldeneye says your wrong.
Click to expand...

Just give it up. You're arguing with someone who clearly doesn't understand the difference between opinion and fact. Furthermore, the irony of the situation - vehemently arguing that a certain developer is and never was relevant - is just too ridiculous to even take seriously. Move on, it's not worth your time.
 
M

MWS Natural

Member
GremlinInTheMachine said:
It's so overwrought and facile that it sounds like it was written by a 14-year-old girl who goes to outdoor cafes and writers in her journal.

Here's a sample from the last trailer:



Piercing eyes and sensitive souls? How can they not realize their writing is atrocious? Have they never read anything besides X-Men comicbooks and D&D novels?

At least "All your base are belong to us." is unintentionally funny and therefore has a saving grace.

Fire your writers, you Canadian hicks.
Click to expand...


Wait till the Mass Effect fanboys see this shit....oh wait..I'm already posting in the thread..
 
T

Teknopathetic

Member
"Didnt chris Avellone do the writing for bgii? And he isnt doing the writing for this is he?"

Chris Avellone was at Black Isle, he worked on Planescape, Baldur's Gate 1, etc. etc. The latest thing he's worked on is the NWN2 expansion which just released and is getting really, really favorable impressions. (Like, best WRPG since the Infinity Engine era kind of impressions)

Late night grammar ftl.
 
EviLore

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Monk said:
Didnt chris Avellone do the writing for bgii? And he isnt doing the writing for this is he?
Click to expand...

Nope, not BG2 according to mobygames. And he's at Obsidian, having just finished NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer.
 
A

akachan ningen

Member
The replies here are silly. Yeah, you can name all these games that have worse writing than ME, but that doesn't make ME's writing any less atrocious. It really seems like they are deliberately targeting a younger(dumber) audience or maybe whoever is hiring the writers just doesn't know what good writing is.
 
Blackace

Blackace

if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
Teknopathetic said:
"Didnt chris Avellone do the writing for bgii? And he isnt doing the writing for this is he?"

Chris Avellone was at Black Isle, he worked on Planescape, Baldur's Gate 1, etc. etc. The latest thing he's worked on is the NWN2 expansion which just release which is getting really, really favorable impressions. (Like, best WRPG since the Infinity Engine era kind of impressions)
Click to expand...
well the core game was great just suuuuuuuper buggy...
 
D

dude

dude
EviLore said:
While Baldur's Gate II is clearly the best rpg ever, and has top class writing, it's not exactly fair to let them ride on that credibility for seven years. Of Bioware's other RPGs, the only one with tolerable writing is KOTOR, and it has its sour aspects like the entire carth character (and kotor 2's writing is better). Baldur's Gate 1's writing is legitimately terrible generic fantasy drivel (but at least the passages are short, so it doesn't really grate on me), NWN1's campaign writing is even worse because it's filled with LONG and painful expository garbage rather than short and to the point garbage, and jade empire, eh well, the writing itself is usually not puke-bad except that it completely fails to capture the essence of its setting.

JRPGs largely fail, I'd wager, by inadequate translation jobs and horrendous voice acting. FFXII's great localization made for a pretty compelling story (well, from the 20 or so hours I played). If other games had that treatment the frequent awkwardness english speakers encounter would probably be addressed to some extent, although it wouldn't save generic effeminate teenager saves the world storylines.
Click to expand...

The generic fantasy drivel is what made BG1 so awesome. What made the game rock were the fact that you felt like playing some kind of predictable Forgotten Realms book. Everything in the game just made you feel like you're the star of your own Forgotten Realms series. The writing was excellent for what it tried to be, in BG2 as well, BG2 just made it even better. Also, I don't talk about KoTOR, BioWare died after making BG2 (Which is best game ever made, tie with Planescape: Torment,) but I will say - although it had some moments, there were also some pretty bad writing.

About Mass Effect - the dialog system looks to take part of the fun from the dialogs, instead of choosing the best line, in the right place and time you have to choose the right direction, which I fear will take some of the strategy and fun out of what I liked so much in the older dialog system, you always had to know what to say to get Viconia into bed for example. It feels like they're trying to have friends down in the console front by having all those shiny graphics and a simplified, cinematic dialog system. It also doesn't help I don't trust any BioWare game to be good now, I just can't be excited about Mass Effect.

I also don't understand why is MGS so hailed, it had bad dialogs like every other game.
 
F

Furret

Banned
Father_Brain said:
The majority of "great" videogame writing is utter shit by the standards of any other medium. Surprise, surprise.

Looking at the trailers, the voice acting is pretty terrible too.
Click to expand...

This is the truth of it.

When BioWare, one of the supposed best writers in the industry, are leagues below even a daytime soap it's just embrassing for the industry.

What's even worse is that back in the LucasArts adventure days some games actually did have witty, quotable dialogue that didn't seem as if it was written by some overwrought 16 year old.

We've actually been going backwards since then.
 
P

Prime crotch

Banned
akachan ningen said:
The replies here are silly. Yeah, you can name all these games that have worse writing than ME, but that doesn't make ME's writing any less atrocious. It really seems like they are deliberately targeting a younger(dumber) audience or maybe whoever is hiring the writers just doesn't know what good writing is.
Click to expand...
Do we have a link to the scene? Cause it sounds too corny to be serious.
 
McHuj

McHuj

Member
My favorite dialogue was in the original Legacy of Kain and Soul Reaver games. I love those two games.
 
V

Vashu

Member
karasu said:
That didn't sound like sarcasm at all.
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Actually, the trailer in which it is shown cuts off the sound. I'm pretty sure she started to laugh at her own remark. Seen in context, the dialogues are pretty good. Haven't played the full game of course, but I'm sure they'll do fine.

McHuj said:
My favorite dialogue was in the original Legacy of Kain and Soul Reaver games. I love those two games.
Click to expand...

Amy Hennig! [rule]

The story and dialogue in those series are amazing.
 
K

krzy123

Member
Bioware is one of the most overrated devs. Their last good game was probably Baldur's Gate 2.

The only way to redeem themselves is to take EA's Marvel license and make an 3d isometric view RPG, ala Baldur's Gate.
 
P

Prime crotch

Banned
krzy123 said:
Bioware is one of the most overrated devs. Their last good game was probably Baldur's Gate 2.
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errrr no even Jade Empire was a good game, not at the same level of their previous games but a good game by itself
 
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