Examples of Great Writing in CRPGs

[Aram]

A lot of the writing in the Fallout games was pretty terrible.

[Pop]

For the most part, I think you're right, but I still liked the presentation (the "package", if you will) of the Master and the straight-faced lunacy of the President. I also really liked ZAX, for some reason. Still, there are parts of Fallout 2 that are definitely undercooked, to say the least.

[Istima Loke]

One part I enjoy a lot in Torment is the stone where you experience Deionarra's memory of meeting you from her and your perspective. But then, most (or maybe all) things in torment are very well written. I also enjoy the conversation between Irenicus and Ellesime near the end of BG2.

 

There must be others but I can't recall any for the time...

Edited August 9, 2007 by Istima Loke

[Guard Dog]

Also worth mentioning was the whole Sleeping Man subplot in the last chapter of HotU. On the whole NWN writing was so vanilla it really was forgettable. The coldwood quest in the OC was an exception. But with HotU is was pretty obvious that each chapter had a different writer. And chapter 3 was far and away the best of the NWN official material.

[St_Jimmy]

<troll post>

Fable!

</troll post>

 

Did you read Molyneux's comments? (Obviously you did if that is your sig)

 

I really believe he has stooped to a new low. He is now not only blatantly exaggerating claims on his own games; he is insulting game developers that have put out multiple titles that are BETTER than ANYTHING he has ever done in his pitiful life.

 

Fable was a joke. Fable 2 will be a longer joke with a one button combat system.... That isn't really different from the first's.

[Jinx]

The first 2/3 of Indigo Prophecy.

Then I realized that a video game could never have a story as good as a movie or a book, because the plot completely dies once the police are chasing you.

 

To be fair it was originally going to be *much* longer, more well rounded and was supposed to be delivered in (IIRC) 13 episodes. I think without the major cuts it would have been solid competition for any book or movie.

 

Sorry for disrupting the topic, I'd add some games to the list but all of the rpg's I would mention already have been .

Edited August 10, 2007 by Jinx

[Starwars]

This is a nice topic (and hellu to everyone here on the OE forums).

 

Something that struck me as far as writing goes was in (surprise) Ps:T as well. When you exit the Mortuary, you can run into a NPC called Ingress who have lost her way from her homeplane, and now she can't find a portal back. I think she had tried in the past but something awful had happened (can't remember the details).

Anyways, when I ran upon that quest, that was when I knew Torment would be a special game. I actually felt genuinely sorry for this NPC, and I really wanted to help her out. It was a fairly simple quest, but I was really satisfied with myself that I had been able to help poor Ingress at the end.

 

Lots of it had to do with the great descriptions when talking to her. A really wonderful moment.

[Guard Dog]

This is a nice topic (and hellu to everyone here on the OE forums).

 

Something that struck me as far as writing goes was in (surprise) Ps:T as well. When you exit the Mortuary, you can run into a NPC called Ingress who have lost her way from her homeplane, and now she can't find a portal back. I think she had tried in the past but something awful had happened (can't remember the details).

Anyways, when I ran upon that quest, that was when I knew Torment would be a special game. I actually felt genuinely sorry for this NPC, and I really wanted to help her out. It was a fairly simple quest, but I was really satisfied with myself that I had been able to help poor Ingress at the end.

 

Lots of it had to do with the great descriptions when talking to her. A really wonderful moment.

Woah...I must have missed something here. You were able to help her? How?

 

It just goes to show, you can play Torment a dozen times and still miss a detail here and there.

[Istima Loke]

You go to that guy who knows of the planes and has travelled in them (in the smothering corpse bar that gives you the negative plane token) and you tell him of Ingress.

Then he asks you to go back to her and tell her to wait for him. Then you go back in the bar and he says that she found her way home and gives you her teeth which upgrade as an item as Morte gains level.

Edited August 17, 2007 by Istima Loke

[Starwars]

Yeah, what Istima Loke said.

 

A very strange reward (like many things in Torment), but it certainly warmed my heart. Hehe.

 

Torment is filled with those small things that really get to me for some reason. I have to assume it's do with the great writing. Another small quest is that girl you run into at the market in the Lower Ward (I think it's in the Lower Ward anyway). The girl that talks to much, I really enjoyed first becoming her friend, and then hooking her up with the guard. It's the small things.

[Starwars]

This is a great topic, and I was reminded of it since I'm now replaying PS:T, hah.

 

But, I also replayed MotB not to long ago, which is also a game with some great writing. Something I think works great in MotB is motivation. I actually played a character that "fell to evil" through NWN2 and MotB, and that is something I've never done in another game as far as I can remember. I've never done that kind of character arc, but it just really worked in MotB. After saving Faerun in NWN2, only to be repaid by dead companions, and this *new* problem... This curse that has now been forcibly pushed upon you by another. It just works so well.

The main moment that stands out in MotB is the conversation with Myrkul. What a delighful moment that is. Not only is the dialogue wonderful in itself, but the other elements come together. A unique and great voice, a *wonderful* setting for the whole conversation (speaking with a dead god upon his own corpse while floating through the Astral Plane, great stuff) and a haunting soundtrack.

I admire Obsidian for having the guts to put such a huge conversation in the game. It really is quite lengthy, especially if you have Kaelyn with you. Like the guy who did the famous KOTOR2 LP said, most developers would not put such huge emphasis on a conversation in the story, instead putting a boss encounter of some kind. But Obsidian trusts in its great writing here, and it pays off so well.

 

PS:T has once again drawn me in, despite me having replayed it quite a few times. In combination with the absolutely awesome writing, it really is the breaking of clich

[Xard]

This is a great topic, and I was reminded of it since I'm now replaying PS:T, hah.

 

You too? I'm currently replaying both PS:T and MotB (plus Boodlines, though these two titles stole the spotlight from it and Arcanum)

 

For me hook PS:T came BEFORE the game started. You might've read my rant on game cinematics. I came off as somewhat too harsh compared to my real stand, but even if I was as angry towards game cutscenes as that post showcases I would've loved PS:T's opening as much as I now do

 

It is BRILLIANT in every meaning of word. There's all these kinds of small things in it (camera doing quick focus on the rat in the ceiling, the sudden change of the mood with woman's disappearance, way it was cut etc.) that elevates it to higher planes than any other CRPG cutscene (apart from Fallout openings, heh).

 

That alone hooked me. The change from melancholy to horror alone took me by surprise but what then followed - TNO's transformation to his ugly self and that last glimpse of this ghostly figure... my jaw dropped. I NEED TO KNOW MORE.

 

And of course when the game starts what else would happen than frickin' skull floating towards me and starting to chat? then came the whole bit about not hurting female zombies plus the talk with scribe... and then came the Deionarra.

 

------------------------------------------

 

MotB similarly hooked me from the beginning too. The dancing runes in the walls, awesome narrator... wow

 

As for Myrkul... well, it's one of my all time favourite moments in games.

 

Here I was after making leap to the unknown. The incredible, beautiful music and atmosphere. I had character camera on and I kept watching the massive rocks floating around, wondering how I'd get there... Then I noticed there was this huge skeleton just next to me, but I thought nothing of it, thinking it was remains of some dragon. Then I bumped into death knights. Idea hit me and I slowly brought camera angle up and OH GOD, there was this gigantic, freaky skull staring at me with blazing eyes.

 

The way my character had to run up Myrkul's spine in front of his face... wow

 

And then rolled in the fantastic conversation that was one of the best I had ever witnessed. I had Kaelyn AND high WIS which made it all the richer.

 

True kodak moment that was.

[Maria Caliban]

I loved Anachronox. Along with Chrono Trigger, it was the only Japenese style RPG that really hooked my interest with great areas, music, fun characters and stories that didn't take themselves seriously. I found myself actually lol multiple times during cutscenes and the characters were all so unique and enjoyable. My only complaint was the 'to be continued' ending that, obviously, wont be continued.

 

I suddenly have the strangest desire, HOPING Obsidian would buy the Anachronox IP from Eidos.

 

Are you serious? Have you played Obsidian's games? Obsidian could no more do Anachronox than Lion's Head could do KotOR 3.

[Pidesco]

Personally, I'd like to see Obsidian make an RPG with an emphasis on humour.

[Nick_i_am]

WHO THE CRAP CALLED ANACRANOX JAPANESE?!

[Diogo Ribeiro]

I'd just be repeating what others have said if I go mentioning good examples of writing in CRPGs (Torment), but I'd also stand opposite of some opinions. In particular, I never could get into Minsc as he was terribly cartoonish and HK-47 just seemed like a laundry list of predictable gags. Although Jan Jansen's surreal tirades had some charm to them. I'm weird in that regard, I guess.

 

Been playing the Icewind Dale games recently. Actually replaying the first for the expansion which I had never bothered with in the past, I was surprised with the Gloomfrost Seer. Well written, and much more interesting than the expansion's villainess. On the other hand, Poquelin was so one dimensional that it really threw me off the desire to finish the game once again. As for Icewind Dale 2, I'm taking my time with it. I never went very far but am loving the depth of some dialogues and the small dialogue variations with different party members.

 

While looking for humor in Arcanum is like trying to find a good lay in a leper colony, some dialogues managed to fit the mood of the setting. Bloodlines also did something well - some characters were well written, and managed to do so without huge lines of dialogue. Not that I mind extensive dialogue lines but I'd rather read the short quips of someone like LaCroix and Nines than reading through most of Baldur's Gate's dialogue (Irenicus being pretty much the only exception).

[Aristes]

Would the me of today love PST as much as my younger self did? I dunno. I do know that it's still my favorite computer game.

 

I played the game multiple times. Then I hacked my stats to max to ensure I could get all the dialogue options. Then I downloaded an editor to go through the dialogue and game info to ensure I didn't miss anything. I don't care what I would think of it if I played it for the first time today. I'll never forget playing it for the first time then. Great stuff. No savior of the universe for me. I just want to find out who I am.

[Maria Caliban]

It is not complete, they did cut out a few good scenes... like the sock eating prophet.

 

"It's the sock that eats like a meal!"

[Hiver]

How to number all the excellent moments of Planescape Torment?

So many...

Ravel didnt get her mention and she was so good. One of best NPCs ever made. And her voicing was superb. Ignus and his story and how it empowers you in return. Ingres and her teath. Morte getting insults upgrades from Hive harlots and secrets he caries.

Fall From Grace and all the stories you can trade and hear in her brothel of slaking intellectual lusts. Deionarra and Vhaillor. Mordon and his sad little insanity and Dakkon and his loss of knowing.

And the main question of what can change the nature of the man.

Just...Marvelous... many splintered thing it was. Is.