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Post by eatersthemanfool on Apr 27, 2018 20:21:24 GMT -5
Branching off from a discussion in the general games thread, I'd like us to talk about games with exceptional writing. There is a stereotype (one which I've fallen into from time to time as well) that game writing necessarily will be a lower priority in development than pretty much anything else. I.E. 'good' writing is only good 'for a game'. I want us to talk about some games that are better than that. Games that have genuinely good writing as opposed to 'good for a game.'
And yes, IF is included. I don't have a lot of experience with it myself but IF and visual novels are as much games as some of my favorite entries. That said, I really want to hear about ones that go above and beyond.
To start off, because it's fresh in my mind and I'm still pretty infatuated with it:
Night in the Woods
I'm told that there are a couple different editions of this game, and I don't know exactly what's different between them. I played the 'weird autumn' edition. This game really clicked with me. To the point that I almost had to stop playing it because it hit too close to home. It's about a vaguely middle class girl who grew up in a small town that's been hard hit by economic downturn. The game deals with themes of depression, regret, existential dread, and corporate capitalism. Dialogue feels natural and realistic, and the characters are all fleshed out and believable. I will say that the tone of the ending was very different for my play-through than for another play-through I watched on Youtube. I don't know if this is because we were playing different versions or because I did more exploring and spent more time with different characters, but my ending was much less hopeless and had more closure than the one I saw on YT.
Oxenfree
Still working on this one, but the dialogue so far is great. It's one of the few times where teenage characters actually feel like teenagers and not like cutouts.
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Post by GamerL on Apr 27, 2018 20:34:25 GMT -5
Silent Hill 2
"I got a letter.
The name on the envelope said 'Mary.'
My wife's name...
It's ridiculous, couldn't possibly be true...
That's what I keep telling myself...
A dead person can't write a letter.
Mary died of that damn disease three years ago.
So then why am I looking for her'
Our 'special place'...
What could she mean'
This whole town was our special place.
Does she mean the park on the lake'
We spent the whole day there.
Just the two of us, staring at the water.
Could Mary really be there'
Is she really alive... waiting for me?"
Tell me that's not some great shit, perfectly sets up the story of the game and the eerie tone.
While Silent Hill 2's voice acting can be inconsistent, some of it is quite good, some of it is on the cheesy side, that doesn't change the fact that the writing itself is very good.
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Post by eatersthemanfool on Apr 27, 2018 20:50:29 GMT -5
Silent Hill 2 is still the best example of its genre, but I feel like it has some stilted translations. In a way that kind of contributes to its dreamlike quality but I don't know that it's intentional.
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Post by GamerL on Apr 27, 2018 21:05:02 GMT -5
Silent Hill 2 is still the best example of its genre, but I feel like it has some stilted translations. In a way that kind of contributes to its dreamlike quality but I don't know that it's intentional. It's the same with the voice acting, I wouldn't call it bad since even at its weirdest it adds to the surreal Lynchian vibe. |
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Post by wyrdwad on Apr 27, 2018 22:45:42 GMT -5
Two of my favorite indie games of all time are my favorites partially for this very reason: Owlboy, and La-Mulana. Owlboy is just... perfection, as far as I'm concerned. I know there are a lot of people on here who weren't as impressed with it as I was, but man... I was pretty blown away by it. There's such a SINCERITY to the writing, and everything feels very genuine and natural, and well thought-out. And when you seek out optional content toward the end, the writing just gets even better. In particular: If you return to the ruins of Advent during the endgame, you'll find an NPC there who's been missing for most of the game, and hear a unique piece of music (played nowhere else in the entire game) called "Such Perfect Peace":
The NPC in question (pictured in the video) just has permanent tear tracks running down his face, and when you speak with him, he talks about the death of his wife, and how there's nothing left for him since the destruction of Advent, and no one left to miss him anywhere else... so, he's decided to return to the ruins, and reminisce about the good times in his life, before everything went to hell. And he's chosen to just basically stay there until he dies, more or less counting the seconds until he can be with his wife once more.
It's intensely moving, and the writing and music really drive home the emotion behind the scene. And it's just one example of the game's absolutely stellar writing.
EDIT: One of the commenters posted the exact quote. Just... read this, and you'll have an idea what I'm talking about here:
If that's not heartwrenching, I don't know what is! As for La-Mulana, the writing itself is more or less just "functional," but the story it tells is... amazing. La-Mulana is a game with a tremendous amount of history, and it's up to you to slowly and methodically piece that history together, just as an actual archaeologist might (except, there are monsters, and you're descended from ninja... but that's beside the point!). And once you start to put the pieces together, it's kind of remarkable how well they all fit, and the story that begins to take shape is... ambitious, to say the least. I would put La-Mulana on this list not for the sentence-to-sentence writing, but for the "big picture" -- the end result. You really get a sense from this game that you're involved in something larger than life, more so than in almost any other game I've ever played, and I absolutely love how exciting that makes everything feel once it all starts falling into place. -Tom |
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Post by eatersthemanfool on Apr 28, 2018 1:03:53 GMT -5
I really need to play La-Mulana. I love it when a game nails that feeling of being a real, living place with a history.
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Post by ResidentTsundere on Apr 28, 2018 2:24:49 GMT -5
Silent Hill 2 "I got a letter. The name on the envelope said 'Mary.' My wife's name... It's ridiculous, couldn't possibly be true... That's what I keep telling myself... A dead person can't write a letter. Mary died of that damn disease three years ago. So then why am I looking for her' Our 'special place'... What could she mean' This whole town was our special place. Does she mean the park on the lake' We spent the whole day there. Just the two of us, staring at the water. Could Mary really be there' Is she really alive... waiting for me?" Tell me that's not some great shit, perfectly sets up the story of the game and the eerie tone. While Silent Hill 2's voice acting can be inconsistent, some of it is quite good, some of it is on the cheesy side, that doesn't change the fact that the writing itself is very good. You beat me to it.  Should we consider separate examples for exceptional dramatic and comedic writing? |
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Post by X-pert74 on Apr 28, 2018 3:01:11 GMT -5
I might come up with other examples later, but for now, I want to point out the Legend of Heroes series, particularly the Trails in the Sky trilogy, as having really good writing. The Cold Steel games are also good (though I think their writing is slightly less up to par), but Trails in the Sky in particular, really blew me away. It does a good job of slowly building up a world, the characters that inhabit said world, its politics/religion/history/etc., and does a great job of subtly foreshadowing significant plot developments before they happen, in a way that catches the player by surprise, yet makes sense when thinking back on the events leading up to them. They're fun games in general, but the writing is one of the main reasons why I consider Trails in the Sky my favorite JRPG.
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Post by 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 on Apr 28, 2018 5:12:51 GMT -5
I don't play that many games that focus on story, but I'd say that I always enjoy the writing in the Mario RPG series a lot. TTYD especially is very well done. It helps that Nintendo usually has pretty stellar localizations.
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Post by kaoru on Apr 28, 2018 5:16:01 GMT -5
The two Soul Reaver games. And Planescape: Torment.
There's also I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, but that might be cheating, since the outstanding lines are ad verbum from the novella I think.
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Post by spanky on Apr 28, 2018 7:46:51 GMT -5
I don't play that many games that focus on story, but I'd say that I always enjoy the writing in the Mario RPG series a lot. TTYD especially is very well done. It helps that Nintendo usually has pretty stellar localizations. Agree with this though I would consider some of the more recent games a bit...overwritten if anything. The characters never seem to shut up! |
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Post by Snake on Apr 28, 2018 10:04:32 GMT -5
Resident Evil 1.
"Blood? I hope this isn't Chris' blood..."
"You were almost a Jill sandwich!"
“Jill, here's a lockpick. It might come in handy if you, the master of unlocking, take it with you.”
Best writing ever!!!!
And who can forget Zero Wing?
"We get signal."
"How are you gentleman. All your base are belong to us. You are on the way to destruction!"
"What you say?!"
"You have no chance to survive make your time. Ha. Ha. Ha."
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Post by Snake on Apr 28, 2018 10:07:53 GMT -5
And I'll add King's Quest V. I like how all the various fairytale characters are tied together into the plot. And the narrator's vocal sarcasm and puns, during death scenes, are fantastic.
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Apr 28, 2018 10:23:04 GMT -5
Mother 3 and the first half or so of FF9.
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Post by KGRAMR on Apr 28, 2018 10:46:27 GMT -5
I really need to play La-Mulana. I love it when a game nails that feeling of being a real, living place with a history. Play either the original freeware version or the remake but be warned: It will kick your ass HARD! |
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