Narration mixed with dialogue

[jackyjackyjackychan]

I have noticed in a lot of screenshots of the game that there is often narration in the text window rather than just dialogue. Like from the first line in this screenshot:

http://media.obsidian.net/eternity/media/updates/0062/pe-conversation-inn.jpg

I think it is awkward and, from looking at other screenshots, overused. I would prefer to have just the dialogue or at least an option to turn off this narration (Is there one? I haven't actually played the beta).

While these descriptions are natural in a book, with a visual medium like a video game it feels tedious to me. I get that in an isometric game without full voiced characters that it is hard to be detailed, but I still would prefer less detail to reading narration in nearly every npc conversation.

What do the rest of you think?

[Lord of Riva]

nope i love that, i dont need the costly animations for something like that if the writing conveys the situation way better.

[Leferd]

It worked very well in Planescape: Torment and these descriptors provide nuance and tone that you otherwise wouldn't have from straight prose only --let alone from awkwardly animated cutscenes.

 

Plus I like reading film screenplays, and it gives off nearly the same type of aesthetic.

[GreyFox]

I think you'll find yourself alone in this opinion as it harkens back to PnP where all you have is descriptions and your imagination. This, along with the scripted encounters should go along way to making this feel like an actual RPG that most of us are used to. 

 

Also almost always you hear people say "the book was better than the movie"....there's a reason for that ya know....give me those descriptions over crappy cut scenes and turble 3D.

[pswendel]

Complete disagreement, for various similar reasons as already stated above as well as:

 

The entire point of my interest in these games is story, character development, theme and context. All things that are enhanced by narration. Even if there was unlimited budget for animations and even if you could see them on a tiny character in an isometric game - I have never seen a universal animation that conveys the depth that the writing in PoE does. Keep in mind that this game is being sold to the world. Not just your culture.

[mute688]

 I would prefer to have just the dialogue or at least an option to turn off this narration (Is there one? I haven't actually played the beta).

 

There is an option, your option to not read any line you choose.  Personally, the more writing the better.

[dorkboy]

It's a text-heavy cRPG. I think the devs have been pretty clear about this on several occasions. 

[Quadrone]

What do the rest of you think?

 

I think you are completely wrong and have bad taste.

Descriptive text like that sets up the entire scene in your mind and provides detailed information that would be insanely expensive to animate ingame.

Like already mentioned, PS:T used this as well and is widely loved for it's narrative.

[jackyjackyjackychan]

When I played BG1 and BG2 I would always imagine myself as my character during the conversations, reacting to the npcs dialogue. I guess the extra narration just takes away that immersion since it is more like reading a book than just me being in a conversation. I liked to use my imagination and infer from the dialogue when it came to behavioral details. I can understand people liking the extra text though...I do enjoy reading in general myself.

 

 

There is an option, your option to not read any line you choose.  Personally, the more writing the better.

 

Well since the narration is mixed with dialogue that isn't really the case. You can't distinguish it from dialogue without reading it in the first place.

[Tartantyco]

It's color coded.

[Leferd]

Moving from BG to PST took some initial adjustment for me as the presentation of narrative text was certainly different. When you sit down and really immerse yourself to this style, you'll get used to it and I imagine you'll appreciate the extra writing.

[Sedrefilos]

I'm mixed about this, but it's not that big of a problem. I could do with or without it.

[Sonntam]

The narration in PS:T was one of the things I liked the most about the game. It described the appearance of the characters better than any cutscene could. Smells, unique appearances for every NPC, their single move was described with a lot of detail. 

 

Here in POE you can still imagine a lot what concerns the delivery of your character's lines. It's just what the NPCs say (or how they say it) is not up to debate. 

 

I'm really okay with that, because I don't see why your character would butt while the NPC says their few lines. 

[Voss]

I have noticed in a lot of screenshots of the game that there is often narration in the text window rather than just dialogue. Like from the first line in this screenshot:

 

http://media.obsidian.net/eternity/media/updates/0062/pe-conversation-inn.jpg

 

I think it is awkward and, from looking at other screenshots, overused. I would prefer to have just the dialogue or at least an option to turn off this narration (Is there one? I haven't actually played the beta).

 

While these descriptions are natural in a book, with a visual medium like a video game it feels tedious to me. I get that in an isometric game without full voiced characters that it is hard to be detailed, but I still would prefer less detail to reading narration in nearly every npc conversation.

 

What do the rest of you think?

The opposite.

 

Having context and description is amazing and vastly superior than listening to a voice actor drone on for several minutes after I finished reading the same thing for myself.  

 

Full voice is an (expensive) ship that sailed to the overwhelming detriment to games.  The detail and description isn't kept in modern games (in either animation, cut scenes or full voice acting)... instead it has simply been abandoned, leaving a lot of what is going on left lacking any sort of coherence or direction.  Which makes them feel either trivial or horrendously dumbed down for an illiterate audience. 

Edited March 18, 2015 by Voss

[grumpymoose]

Narration and Dialogue go hand in hand as anyone that reads a book might tell you, but even in games this works quite well. For instance Quest for Glory IV had a narrator, but also had speaking characters with dialogue. The game seamlessly went from the narrator to the speaking dialogue and back, and it offered the game a lasting auditory flavor. Like most things, however, such an approach is all about how it's handled, so whether PoE has handled it in an awkward manner, an average manner or an exceptional manner is not something I'd know yet.

 

I only know it is not something that automatically results in bad or awkward, as I've seen it done well.

Edited March 18, 2015 by grumpymoose

[Grivenger]

Although I understand that it could be considered distracting, I really do enjoy the narration mixed in with the dialogue. It gives me the impression I'm reading a book accompanied with interactive visuals. 

[Night Stalker]

I quite like the narration.

[jackyjackyjackychan]

I never played PS:T, just the BG games. Maybe that is part of the reason it seems weird to me.

 

If the color of the text is really different maybe it won't be so bad, but in that screenshot I linked in the OP it is all the same color. I hope its just because that was an early build.

[teknoman2]

When I played BG1 and BG2 I would always imagine myself as my character during the conversations, reacting to the npcs dialogue. I guess the extra narration just takes away that immersion since it is more like reading a book than just me being in a conversation. I liked to use my imagination and infer from the dialogue when it came to behavioral details. I can understand people liking the extra text though...I do enjoy reading in general myself.

 

 

There is an option, your option to not read any line you choose.  Personally, the more writing the better.

 

Well since the narration is mixed with dialogue that isn't really the case. You can't distinguish it from dialogue without reading it in the first place.

the naration is about what the npc looks like and what he does while he talks to you, not what you do while you talk to him if that is your concern.