Playing as a Malkavians in Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines. The player is partially insane, and the dialogue options reflect that. Some of them are hilarious.
Best Dialogue Options in Games
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I disagree with the assertion you have full control in Dragon Age or Mass Effect. Basically you have three or four general directions of how your character acts and are given dialogue options adhering to those directions. You can pretty much predict what your character is going to say next if he goes in either direction, but that's because each of them makes him a walking cliche. My choices would have usually been a bit more in-between those directions on the spectrum.
Also, why were so many people pissed about the three-choice ending in Mass Effect 3. Making three way choices is what they've been doing for most of the trilogy, it's basically what this game is all about.
OT: Morrowind and Laura Bow 2 because my conversations with people tend to cycle through wide variety of very tangentially related topics picked up from other conversations. Sometimes I even think I could make a job of writing new twists on the tired "What do you know about ?" line.
Also, why were so many people pissed about the three-choice ending in Mass Effect 3. Making three way choices is what they've been doing for most of the trilogy, it's basically what this game is all about.
OT: Morrowind and Laura Bow 2 because my conversations with people tend to cycle through wide variety of very tangentially related topics picked up from other conversations. Sometimes I even think I could make a job of writing new twists on the tired "What do you know about ?" line.
I'm saying no such thing, I think the romances in all Bioware games are nothing more than shallow busy work that leads to some vanilla pay-off. What I meant was I'd rather have a well written game with no romance options than one with tons yet they're all a bit stupid. I can understand the appeal, because it's fun to be the hero with the love interest, I do it myself whenever I play a Bioware game, but in the end it's just a silly love side quest.ecoho said:
And Tali, eh... That would've been an interesting romance had Bioware not given you the ability to bone her, because for her character that's just stupid.
Good! I'm not the only one who was going to say it! XDThreeName said:
Playing a malkavian in that game is some of the most fun I've ever had with dialogue options, mostly because the traditional "good/neutral/jackass" choices are never a choice for me anyway. I don't consider being nice to people a chore, and thus don't have any escapist desire to be an asshole in a gaming world, so all I ever pick is nice or neutral.
"YOU HAVE MADE A POWERFUL ENEMY TONIGHT, SIGN!"
From the old-school games it's definitely Planescape Torment. Baldur's Gate 2 had some nice dialogs as well, but nothing comes close to the complexity of PsT's dialog trees, with the added layer of skill-checked lines that became a staple of Obsidian RPGs later on.
Speaking of Obsidian, the other two games I can think of would be Fallout New Vegas and the recent Pillars of Eternity, though in the case of the latter it is more about the sheer number and variety of dialog options than their actual depth.
Also an honorary mention goes to Skyrim with the Khajiit Speach mod. Look it up, it is awesome and hilarious.
Speaking of Obsidian, the other two games I can think of would be Fallout New Vegas and the recent Pillars of Eternity, though in the case of the latter it is more about the sheer number and variety of dialog options than their actual depth.
Also an honorary mention goes to Skyrim with the Khajiit Speach mod. Look it up, it is awesome and hilarious.
I like playing Arcanum as a low intelligence character (or as an idiot savant). Even your quest journal is written in "stupid speak".
Yeah, that bothers me a lot. Replaying The Witcher 2 atm in preparation for The Wild Hunt and in the very first option, when you got your hands cuffed behind your back, Roche greets you by wanting to shake your hand. The options were "I'd shake your hand if I could" and "Very funny". I went with the latter because I figured that would be more entertaining and Geralt proceeds to splurt out an awkward "Fuck you". Had another option later on where none felt right, so I just went with one and he said exactly what I wanted...DrownedAmmet said:
OT: Fallout New Vegas has altered dialogue choices when you play with low intelligence. Haven't tried it myself, but after seeing some pictures I really feel like trying it.
I have to say, it's difficult to play Bloodlines once you roll a Malk. Once you go insane, you never go back.
Fallout NV has to be my vote, simply because they do what they say. Not like Telltale or Mass Effect games where the text is TOTALLY different than what you actually say. I've been snippy with a lot of people on accident. And then there's no button for "I'm sorry I didn't mean to yell."
Fallout NV has to be my vote, simply because they do what they say. Not like Telltale or Mass Effect games where the text is TOTALLY different than what you actually say. I've been snippy with a lot of people on accident. And then there's no button for "I'm sorry I didn't mean to yell."
An excellent point, and something that really should be a feature in more RPGs. Weirdly, I was just thinking about this on a train ride the other day, trying to come up with another game that did it. Maybe some do, but I couldn't recall any with certainty.Knight Captain Kerr said:
So Torment it is.
In Fallout 1 and 2 you could go all hog and play a barely understandable low intelligence character, which would make some characters attack you on sight for being so stupid and block off so many quests as people couldn't understand you. ALL dialogue was changed to reflect this, not just a few choice encounters like Vegas. There is one person who understands you perfectly though, in a rather hilarious exchange with translation:DanielBrown said:
I did appreciate that Mass Effect 2 started giving dialogue options that weren't actually dialogue options. Though frankly, I'd like to see that idea go further.
(Let's face it... If every villager/civilian thought it was a good idea to give the armed-to-the-gills guy/gal in glowing magical/power armor a grocery list before they'd agree to do something trivial towards a minor goal called "saving the world", there wouldn't be a lot of villagers left un-punched.)
(Let's face it... If every villager/civilian thought it was a good idea to give the armed-to-the-gills guy/gal in glowing magical/power armor a grocery list before they'd agree to do something trivial towards a minor goal called "saving the world", there wouldn't be a lot of villagers left un-punched.)
Well there are many good ones, but I'll go for two new improvements in the field.
Divinity: Original Sin, mostly ye olde CRPG system but now you have a co-op partner that weighs in on the decision making and any decision that gets contested is actually worked out in a game of rock/paper/scissors. With higher stats towards a certain action you get a head start in points, but so does the other guy depending on his stats.
Pillars of Eternity is the other one, again predominantly old CRPG but your stats have a greater range of options, not a big improvement and I don't like that the options you don't have still pop in with numeric limits of all things, but it is an improvement. Choices also apply to some scene change actions, breaking down walls with strength, tools, your weapons,... depending on what you choose things will turn out differently.
Divinity: Original Sin, mostly ye olde CRPG system but now you have a co-op partner that weighs in on the decision making and any decision that gets contested is actually worked out in a game of rock/paper/scissors. With higher stats towards a certain action you get a head start in points, but so does the other guy depending on his stats.
Pillars of Eternity is the other one, again predominantly old CRPG but your stats have a greater range of options, not a big improvement and I don't like that the options you don't have still pop in with numeric limits of all things, but it is an improvement. Choices also apply to some scene change actions, breaking down walls with strength, tools, your weapons,... depending on what you choose things will turn out differently.
Well, two more recent examples;ecoho said:
Wolfenstein: The New Order - It's a silly story about robot Nazis on the frikking Moon, but the character dialoge is so terrific that it makes you buy into its ludicrous concept. You can have the most complex and intricate story, but if the characters are flat and dull it really won't matter.
The Last of Us - Yes, I know, the most overrated anything that ever existed. It does however have one of the most subtle character arcs I think I've ever witnessed in a game. And it's nothing to do with the cutscenes, since I know people like to criticize the game's story for only taking place in the cutscenes, but that's far from the truth. The best writing can be found in the in-game dialoge, and it's there that you truly see Joel and his relationship with Ellie change gradually as the game progresses. And it's done almost pitch perfectly.
Id have to agree with the bloodlines people. The regular dialogue is good and the malkavian is brilliant, saying things id wished id had thought of. Possibly the best part though is that several characters will state, in various ways, "o fuck, youre a malkavian arent you?" And malkavians talking to malkavians is beautiful.