Best Dialogue Options in Games

[Metalmacher]

You know that moment, when you play an RPG and you're in a dialog with someone, and then all of a sudden you think to yourself "Hmm, well if it was me I'd say this and that and this and that...", but LO AND BEHOLD! That dialog option actually exists! The protagonist is you, his dialog matches what you are thinking! And it's the greatest feeling ever, it creates so much immersion.

Basically, protagonists like The Warden from Dragon Age: Origins. In that game you really have almost full control over all of his dialog options, you can make him however you want him to be, more than just in terms of aesthetics. Psychotic alienage elf who laughs at other people's misery? No problem! Goody two-shoes noble lesbo who believes in The Maker? Hell yeah! Angry dwarf feminist princess with a heart of gold? Of course! And the possibilities are endless, it's the main reason I love replaying Origins so much, because every playthrough feels like a new story...

But I played Origins too much... Now I need a new game, and that's where I need your help guys. Give me suggestions to those type of games where you can make the protagonist whatever you want him to be, dialog-wise.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Mass Effect trilogy.
All the options of the Warden with actual voice actors. FemShep is considered the better voice, but I find that all the other voices come off as sillier. So its a trade off; a good Shepard and a silly world, or a bad Shepard and a serious world.

Honestly, any Bioware RPG would work.

Oh, Skyrim and Dragon's Dogma are amazing too!

 

[Casual Shinji]

Mass Effect trilogy.
All the options of the Warden with actual voice actors.

Not exactly. The choices always boil down to Noble, Asshole, or Indifferent/Prankster. With Mass Effect 3 not even giving you the later option. And you never know exactly what your Shep is actually going to say and how.

Oh, Skyrim and Dragon's Dogma are amazing too!

Dragon's Dogma had dialoge options?

OT: I'm not too well versed in the realm of RPGs, but I can't say I've seen any current one do it better than Origins. Inquisition was a bit of an improvement over Dragon Age 2 and certainly Mass Effect 3 in terms of dialoge options.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Mass Effect trilogy.
All the options of the Warden with actual voice actors.

Not exactly. The choices always boil down to Noble, Asshole, or Indifferent/Prankster. With Mass Effect 3 not even giving you the later option. And you never know exactly what your Shep is actually going to say and how.

To be fair, its not like Dragon Age or KOTOR were any better. Its always Nice/Neutral/Jackass.

and at least with Mass Effect, you have more than 1 romance option. Maybe cliche dialogue, but at least its there! That's more than a whole lot of "deep" games.

 

[Metalmacher]

I just wish more developers would try and do this, because it seems like Bioware is the only one who's doing it...
Out of all the JRPGS there are, not a single one gives you extensive control over dialogue... It's a shame, JRPGS have great stories and settings...
By the way, I don't have any reservations regarding when the game came out or it's graphic fidelity. Planescape: Torment for example, is another game I cherish.

 

[The Madman]

Kotor 2 is one of my favourite rpg in terms of player dialogue options. Although obviously the protagonist will have the same origin story no matter what, through dialogue you can change all the why's and how's quite substantially to make 'the Exile' feel more like a real character that reflects your thoughts than just a puppet wandering through the game as voiceless rpg protagonist tend to so often end up feeling like.

Other games with good player dialogue include Vampire: Bloodlines, Fallout 1 and 2, Pillars of Eternity, and Alpha Protocol despite it being a game that uses one of those dialogue wheels which I'm not super fond of. Actually pretty much all Obsidian rpg are good in that respect since Mask of the Betrayer was also excellent in terms of player dialogue options helping to flesh out your character and make them feel more alive.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Mass Effect trilogy.
All the options of the Warden with actual voice actors.

Not exactly. The choices always boil down to Noble, Asshole, or Indifferent/Prankster. With Mass Effect 3 not even giving you the later option. And you never know exactly what your Shep is actually going to say and how.

To be fair, its not like Dragon Age or KOTOR were any better. Its always Nice/Neutral/Jackass.

Never played KotOR, but Origins certainly was. The lack of a voiced lead meant Bioware had more time and money to put into giving your character a wider range of expressions. And they weren't framed in a manner that instantly made you see which was the Noble option and which the Evil one. They were just randomly stacked so you would choose what you wanted to say instead of what the game would want you to say.

Also, no Paragon/Renegade system forcing you to either go fully Mother Teresa or werewolf Hitler.

and at least with Mass Effect, you have more than 1 romance option. Maybe cliche dialogue, but at least its there! That's more than a whole lot of "deep" games.

Well, quantity over quality isn't always a good thing.

 

[Maximum Bert]

Im actually struggling to think of any I know Bioware do it but I have always thought they were very weak and actually taken away from the story and personality of the main lead, rather than taking part in a world and experiencing a character you have this puppet who is empty and could be anyone. I dont think a great dialog option will be around until believable AI becomes a thing and the worlds truly open up in possibility.

So I will go with Abes Odyssey loved the dialogue options in that, simple and stupid though they were.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Monkey Island has some of the best dialogue options ever, from all the filler to the flavored text to the insult swordplay.

 

[Panthera]

Fallout New Vegas is pretty good, and though it's not what you asked, the dialogue options for skill checks you don't actually meet tend to be hilarious.

 

[Nismu]

One of my most memorable and favourite dialogue options is from neverwinter nights 2.

When you enter into bard duel (you need to play same tune with lute as your opponent.) You get at one point option to set the other bard of fire!

 

[DementedSheep]

One of my most memorable and favourite dialogue options is from neverwinter nights 2.

When you enter into bard duel (you need to play same tune with lute as your opponent.) You get at one point option to set the other bard of fire!

Ha, I remember that. You can also have a companion provide fireworks and if you have a high charisma and dex you can set your own lute on fire and play like that. Rock on!

 

[ecoho]

Mass Effect trilogy.
All the options of the Warden with actual voice actors.

Not exactly. The choices always boil down to Noble, Asshole, or Indifferent/Prankster. With Mass Effect 3 not even giving you the later option. And you never know exactly what your Shep is actually going to say and how.

To be fair, its not like Dragon Age or KOTOR were any better. Its always Nice/Neutral/Jackass.

Never played KotOR, but Origins certainly was. The lack of a voiced lead meant Bioware had more time and money to put into giving your character a wider range of expressions. And they weren't framed in a manner that instantly made you see which was the Noble option and which the Evil one. They were just randomly stacked so you would choose what you wanted to say instead of what the game would want you to say.

Also, no Paragon/Renegade system forcing you to either go fully Mother Teresa or werewolf Hitler.

and at least with Mass Effect, you have more than 1 romance option. Maybe cliche dialogue, but at least its there! That's more than a whole lot of "deep" games.

Well, quantity over quality isn't always a good thing.

if you think the romances in DA:O were in any way better then the ones in the ME games then I juat have to ask you what are you drinking and were can I get some?

DA:O had basically morigan and Alister who were well written, zev was kinda middle of the road, and the rest were just forgettable or better as friends.

Now you look at ME you've got garrus, liara, tali, Ashley, kaidin and jack who all have great writing if you care to pursue it (personally I thought jacks romance was one of the best done ever) with only mirandas and cortez seeming tacked on.

 

[DrownedAmmet]

I'd say Deus Ex: HR. Not really because of the specific options, but because the text you choose is the actual lines that Jensen says
Never understood why other games didn't do that

 

[Kotaro]

I'm quite fond of the dialogue choices you get in Devil Survivor 2. For most choices, at least one response is some kind of snark, and it's amazing.
For example...

Spoiler: Spoilers for Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker

The "Triangulum Arc" takes place in a new world created after the defeat of Polaris at the end of the "Septentrione Arc." For some reason, in this world, you can't find Yamato Hotsuin, and his position in the original world is being filled by a girl nearly identical to him, Miyako Hotsuin.
For pretty much the entire arc, you can repeatedly insist that Miyako has to be just Yamato in drag.

Or for another example, and I'm going to post it out-of-context because it's funnier that way:

"Did you see anything?"
>Yes.
>No.
>The evil is among us.

 

[Godhead]

Games that don't have full voice acting I think tend to have the best dialogue in games, if for the sole reason all money that would be put into voice acting can be put back into the scripts quality and depth.

 

[ThreeName]

There is no other answer.

(Although there are some other golden Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines examples, most notably after fighting off a giant monster with a Japanese schoolgirl: "Wow... bet you're glad that thing didn't have tentacles, huh?")

Spoiler: *shakes fist*

 

[Knight Captain Kerr]

For games I've played? Planescape: Torment. There is a reason people use it for "RPGs then" which is unfair because the amount of options Planescape: Torment had was an outlier compared to other RPGs of the time. An example of something great you can do in that game, it has an alignment system like a lot of games. Now in a lot of games you might have a dialogue option like "Give me what I want or I'll kill you." and if you pick it you get bad person points. In Torment you can decide that's a lie or you telling the truth, so I might say "Give me what I want or I'll kill you." but I wouldn't actually do it. You can also use it for more evil purposes, like you can lie to someone and say you love them to get them to do what you want, in most games you could only say "I love you" if your character actually means it. It's a role playing thing and I really like it.

Fallout 1, 2 and New Vegas are also great. Most spot on option for what I wanted to say might go to New Vegas with Boone saying he hopes killing legionaries isn't a problem and I told him "That's not a problem, that's a solution."