Omitting a single word from a statement can change a lot. On paper, this sounds harmless, but vocabulary is a very complicated machine. Some also impose strict time limits on player responses to keep the dialogue flowing smoothly and impose tension during what is otherwise a multiple-choice question. In response, most writers designed more compact dialogue prompts that only reveal full responses after being chosen (with some exceptions, such as the above Pillars of Eternity 2that draws inspiration from older RPGs). But as the games industry matured, streamlined and simple user interfaces became the new ideal. It just seemed like the most natural thing to do, to write out entire responses when the player chooses them. Previously, most RPGs and adventure games presented lengthy dialogue options that mirrored the protagonist’s words one-to-one. Because nothing pulls me out of a story-based game more easily than short and vague prompts for dialogue choices. This is so annoying that I want to explore why it’s become prevalent purely so I can deconstruct it further. Yet I keep seeing games build poor dialogue systems that needlessly risk shattering everything they stand for.Įven if you’re not into 100% cinematic games like Until Dawn, if you’ve played any recent AAA WRPG, you might have chosen a dialogue option you regretted the instant your character opened their mouth. ![]() And as production values continue to rise, games get better at pulling us in… or, they should. ![]() If you’re looking for something unusual out of games like I often am, that can even be great! I get attached to the characters and stories in games more easily than any book or movie because the controller in my hand becomes a bridge that pulls me deeper into its world. ![]() Provided they’re written well, that’s fine. More and more games want to be interactive stories (even if only kinda sorta interactive) more than they want to be games.
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