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Post by Ex on Feb 15, 2019 12:50:41 GMT -5
 The question posited:What video games do you believe have high quality writing?This means a storyline that strongly captured your interest, characters you actually cared about, perhaps some plot twists you didn't see coming, and maybe even a really good ending. I don't mean for this to solely apply to RPGs; adventure games, action-adventure games, puzzlers, and visual novels are examples of other genres that can focus on plot. Edit: I'll be back later with my own suggestions. |
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Post by Sarge on Feb 15, 2019 19:12:32 GMT -5
Is it sad that nothing is coming to mind right now? I mean, there are games that are pretty fun for what they are, but great writing is hard to find. Maybe some of the BioWare games, particularly Mass Effect. I think Black Sigil had a really solid story. I'll always point to Chrono Trigger as a great game and a fun story, but does that make the writing "great"? Dunno.
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Post by Xeogred on Feb 15, 2019 20:20:53 GMT -5
Obsidian > Bioware > Bethesda How I'd rate the somewhat newer era personally, actually Bethesda shouldn't even make the cut (the writing in everything I've played by them is atrocious), but yeah just for context I guess. I like the Mass Effect games a LOT, they are completely up my alley, but I bet they would be 10x better if Obsidian did them. Which is where Star Wars KOTOR2 comes into play, a very strikingly good game with some of the best writing you'll find in Star Wars anywhere. I played KOTOR1 (Bioware) afterwards actually many years later and it's great, but definitely simpler and not as deep. I'm a sucker for everything Ken Levine does with System Shock 2 to Bioshock, etc. The original Deus Ex, certainly has its 90's X-Files cheese at times, but I think a lot of its themes and whatnot hold up very well. I've been curious about the main writers solo books, but you guys should glance over this stuff... it definitely sounds very "weird" so I haven't taken the plunge yet. Something tells me this guy is probably a good "ideas" person, but Deus Ex is the sum of all its parts that come together nicely... however this guy had no involvement in any of the sequels and there's no denying the writing quality dips a bit to me, so he probably was a big key ingredient to the first game. sheldonpacotti.com/The first two Thief games have fantastic writing and characters, even if it's all rather subtle. I still like Deadly Shadows a lot but the story fell on its face at times to me, we don't always need ALL the context and them trying to completely flesh out the Thieves Guild was a mistake. Keep that mysterious. Fallout for sure, even if I didn't like actually playing it.
Starcraft? I honestly haven't played the campaign and Brood War since the 90's, but I remember really liking its story and world a lot, even dug into the manual for extra details and whatnot.
JRPG wise, my favorites: - Xeno/Tetsuya Takahashi games - Suikoden series (1, 2 for the awesome overall story arcs and 3 for the incredible characters) - Matsuno games, though it's a huge shame FFXII had a messy development. If the story/world building was as good as Tactics Ogre, FFT, Vagrant Story, etc, it would be one of my favorite FF's without question.
- Yoko Taro for newer illegal HRG [ REDACTED] |
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Post by Ex on Feb 15, 2019 23:54:29 GMT -5
Ex's Top 10 "HRG-compliant video games with actually great writing" from great to greatest:
This well known adventure title is possibly the funniest video game ever made. While the core plot isn't anything to get overly excited about, the moment to moment dialogues are the star of the show. Taking down your sword fighting opponents solely using insults? Yeah, it takes strong writing to pull that off folks.
Snatcher is often credited as a great early '90s cyberpunk adventure game. Well personally I think Rise of the Dragon blows Snatcher away. Unlike Snatcher's copious plagiarism of famous sci-fi movies, RotD only copes one; Blade Runner. Indeed if you're a fan of Blade Runner, you'll likely enjoy helping Blade Hunter fight a Chinese mafia, as he attempts to rescue his lost love, while trying to rid the city of a dangerous new drug.
There are a lot of Japanese games starring teenagers, but only one series has made me actually care about its protagonist. This Wii title and its predecessor Trace Memory AKA Another Code: Two Memories. Help a 16-year-old Ashley as she seeks the truth behind her mother's death and her father's odd behavior. It takes a very talented writer to make amnesia seem believable, let alone coupled with déjà vu. But Rika Suzuki is no ordinary writer, and this is no ordinary tale.
This series hardly needs an introduction, as there are a tremendous amount of sequels within it. However in my experience, only the original AA is actually written well. Its immediate sequels went overly goofy, with plots too full of contrivances to be believable at all. Yet the original Ace Attorney had just the right amount of goofy, just the right amount of contrived twists, to be something absolutely unforgettable.
Creating a franchise that rests upon the merits of a singular entry title is daunting to say the least. Yet somehow Mass Effect managed to be both massive, and to have an effect on its players. A universe of aliens and technology rivaling Star Wars or Star Trek, and yet uniquely touching moments placed squarely within the volition of every player.
It takes talent to make a post-apocalyptic tale not seem cliche, but Fallout does it. Fallout's good ol' days '50s aesthetic intertwined with mutants and horror created an incredible dichotomy. This game has some of the best black humor multi-choice dialogue you'll ever see in this medium.
Immersion of the highest order, but not solely through graphics. One of the greatest localizations of all time brings this dark tale of mercenaries, sunken cities, dark cults, and a man's eternal regret starkly to life. This game was so damned good, I didn't even care that I had to see Ashley Riot's butt all the time. Aside from being the scariest video game I've ever played, this is also one of the best written ones. Nigel Danvers ends up in small town in the middle of nowhere England, Saxton in The Fens, as a side effect of running away from big legal issues. While staying at a dilapidated hovel he can barely afford, Nigel starts to see and hear things he can scarcely believe. These unnerving experiences urge Nigel to start collecting paranormal evidence, which eventually leads him into an investigation of Saxton's very haunted past... and not without dire consequences. Thief is a smart game, made by smart people, for smart players. One of its smartest tricks was to build up the backstory of every level, before unleashing the player into said level's bowels. And let's be honest, has there ever been a better anti-hero than Garrett? That'd be a no.
 Here's a tale of a down-on-his-luck alcoholic salesman. While traveling on the road for business, Mr. Kyle Hyde ends up staying at the eponymous Hotel Dusk. His room turns out to be #215, itself rumored to be able to grant wishes to those who sleep in it. Kyle's got a few wishes alright, mostly tied to regrets from back when he was a cop. Little does Kyle know how interesting his stay at Hotel Dusk shall be, as traces of his past start haunting him from every angle. Hotel Dusk has the best character dialogue I've ever seen in the medium. Folks this game made me cry when a ten year old girl told me bye for the last time. Considering I'm a grown ass man who eats dark for breakfast, it's safe to say that's not your everyday vidja writing.
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Post by Sarge on Feb 16, 2019 0:20:25 GMT -5
Yeah, Hotel Dusk definitely rates. Good stuff.
Oh, along those lines, even though it's more goofy than anything, Ghost Trick was a fantastic playthrough.
As far as Lucasarts games go, I really enjoyed Monkey Island. Another one with a troubled development cycle comes to mind as well, and that's The Dig. I still really dig the whole vibe of that game. I also tend to pair that in my head with Full Throttle, which was also fantastic.
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Post by Ex on Feb 16, 2019 1:43:03 GMT -5
This one did have highly entertaining writing as well. The moment to moment stuff anyway. The overall plot was nothing too memorable. - Since you beat the epic JRPG; how would you rate The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky's writing? |
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Post by Sarge on Feb 16, 2019 21:46:57 GMT -5
It's good. In fact, I'd say that's about the only reason to stick with it; most of the gameplay is kinda bog standard. I wouldn't say the overall plot is any great shakes, but the characterization and writing quality stands out. Maybe a bit verbose, but it feels more purpose-oriented than the similarly verbose Golden Sun, which as pointed out tends to just have text for text's sake.
I still need to finish the second game. I started it up a while back, but had burned out a bit. They're basically two parts of one long game... making it weirdly like Golden Sun in another way.
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Post by Xeogred on Feb 16, 2019 22:41:11 GMT -5
I own The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky on Steam, been meaning to check it out and some of its sequels/spinoffs. I see some of them get compared to Suikoden?
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Post by toei on Feb 16, 2019 23:10:06 GMT -5
I played Trails in the Sky around the time it came out on PSP. I thought it too verbose and pretty milquetoast; lots of nice, clean, boring people not doing much. The story did get a little more interesting towards the end, but not enough to make up for it.
I don't know which of these games draws Suikoden comparisons, but I'd bet it's not that one. They're really nothing alike.
As for the topic, I think a lot of 16-bit RPGs have nice, concise writing, though they mostly drop the ball when it comes to the late game, because it tends to refocus on the villain and the world-saving, which can get really cringeworthy. But that's not what these games are really about; they are, by and large, about the journey, and many of them handle it well. I think Phantasy Star IV's writing is great at creating a warm, lively world. Lufia 2 has a similar quality. Earthbound is absolutely a well-written game, and Mother 3 even more so (though Earthbound is still better overall).
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Post by Xeogred on Feb 17, 2019 0:09:14 GMT -5
I have to say Lufia 2 did leave a really good mark on me when I think about it, so maybe you're onto something. Sadly that's a guilty one for me though because I never finished it... not sure why. Just one of those cases. Ex: I know it's 2010, but weren't you playing ME2 recently for awhile? Feel like you posted small updates about it frequently... lol. If so, do you think the writing improved or downgraded from the first game? I still feel like the first game hit a lot of beats the best, the sequels lack an iconic antagonist like Saren who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty and the Reaper thing just really gets out of hand, then they even flesh out the Protheans too much at some point ruining that mystery too. I like how self contained and triumphant the first game is on its own too, in a A New Hope kind of way. The OST's got a bit more Hollywood-ized too. I wish the first game got defended a little more. Mechanically it's the roughest one obviously and the gameplay isn't special, but beyond that in retrospect that one has a lot of allure to me when I think back on them. |
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