While I am tempted to say Red Dead Redemption, I will say Super Paper Mario has some excellent story and brilliant dialogue.
Games that have outstanding writing
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Some of the best writing I've seen in games is iFiction - Andrew Plotkin and Emily Short stuff is very good in general. Shade is probably my favorite out of those. Also Tim Schafer and Planescape: Torment, ofc.
Let me be the first one in the thread to say Planescape Tormahhhhhh fuck Kahunaburger! Damn it! Do you just sit in here hitting refresh page all day long? Bah!
The Longest Journey as well as quite a few other point & click adventures. For some reason the entire genre tends to get overlooked a lot by people seeking a good story, when games like Broken Sword or Gabriel Knight were almost entirely created as a good story-telling experience.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines also comes to mind. As far as rpg go I'd say it has the absolute best dialogue in the genre, yes even better than Planescape. Planescape had a damned good story and the premise and characters were all brilliant, but the dialogue was often touch and go. Oftentimes the conversations come across as more of a lecture than an actual talk between two people, making some of the characters and encounters while interesting also come across as pretty stiff and dry. By contrast that's Bloodlines greatest strength, that the dialogue is so sharp and the voice acting so spot on that even the minor characters seem alive and real, even the insane evil monstrous ones.
Compelling characters and fluid dialogue are, in my mind at least, the most important part of telling an interactive story. If a game lacks those two elements it doesn't matter how labyrinth the plot or how many clever twists there are, I just wont give a damn.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines also comes to mind. As far as rpg go I'd say it has the absolute best dialogue in the genre, yes even better than Planescape. Planescape had a damned good story and the premise and characters were all brilliant, but the dialogue was often touch and go. Oftentimes the conversations come across as more of a lecture than an actual talk between two people, making some of the characters and encounters while interesting also come across as pretty stiff and dry. By contrast that's Bloodlines greatest strength, that the dialogue is so sharp and the voice acting so spot on that even the minor characters seem alive and real, even the insane evil monstrous ones.
Compelling characters and fluid dialogue are, in my mind at least, the most important part of telling an interactive story. If a game lacks those two elements it doesn't matter how labyrinth the plot or how many clever twists there are, I just wont give a damn.
Bioware is an interesting case when it comes to writing quality. The overarching plot tends to be extremely juvenile, and there's often a lot of bad characterization or plot holes to agonize over. But there are moments here and there...a particular quest, a turn of phrase...that is really sharp and funny and thought provoking. It's evident they've got some really good writers on staff. They just end up serving a thin soup more often than not.j-e-f-f-e-r-s said:
Halo games are a definite step in terms of writing. It's not Green Mile but it's moments tend to give the whole reason behind things.
There is better though:
Bioshock comes to mind from the values it has set in its tone
Portal 1 and 2 are definitly hilarious and well toned, same goes for Saints Row 3
Here is a game thats breath taking when it comes to writing:
No trolling either, seriously.
There is better though:
Bioshock comes to mind from the values it has set in its tone
Portal 1 and 2 are definitly hilarious and well toned, same goes for Saints Row 3
Here is a game thats breath taking when it comes to writing:
No trolling either, seriously.
Rockstar's games usually have awesome writing. Every story based Rockstar game I played comes to mind.
Mafia 1 is pretty great.
Deus Ex obviously and Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
KoTOR 1 and 2
Dragon Age: Origins
Portal
Baldur's Gate 1 and 2
Bioshock (those audio logs were awesome)
Mafia 1 is pretty great.
Deus Ex obviously and Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
KoTOR 1 and 2
Dragon Age: Origins
Portal
Baldur's Gate 1 and 2
Bioshock (those audio logs were awesome)
Anything by Ken Levine of Bioshock and System Shock 2 fame
Mass Effect series of course. /rolls eyes
Also the Secret World actually. The best story I have come across in a long while from what I've played of the beta.
Mass Effect series of course. /rolls eyes
Also the Secret World actually. The best story I have come across in a long while from what I've played of the beta.
Planescape: Torment has been mentioned but it hasn't been mentioned enough so I'm gonna mention it again: Planescape: Torment. This game (which is one of my all-time favourites) did have some serious problems, but the writing wasn't one of them. It's the best.
Halo did have its moments, it's true.
I would like to mention the Thief games. As well as No One Lives Forever.
As for Mass Effect, I'll give you this beauty: "You survived because you were lazy?!" Actually, Guppy sums it up quite well. It doesn't work in the series' favour though. It had some quality lines tucked away, but overall, it was kind of embarassing.
Halo did have its moments, it's true.
I would like to mention the Thief games. As well as No One Lives Forever.
As for Mass Effect, I'll give you this beauty: "You survived because you were lazy?!" Actually, Guppy sums it up quite well. It doesn't work in the series' favour though. It had some quality lines tucked away, but overall, it was kind of embarassing.
Planescape Torment is worth mentioning, even if others have mentioned it before me.
Knights of the Old Republic 2, albeit broken and incomplete, generally has some incredible writing.
I still find the first Bioshock to be very well written and well delivered (Atmosphere, narrative and such), no matter what others may think.
The first Metal Gear Solid is the first game that hit me hard on an emotional level, so I believe it deserves a spot here as well.
There are tons of others really, but I'm just going to stop there. Haven't really encountered a lot of games this gen with outstanding writing though, which is a shame.
Knights of the Old Republic 2, albeit broken and incomplete, generally has some incredible writing.
I still find the first Bioshock to be very well written and well delivered (Atmosphere, narrative and such), no matter what others may think.
The first Metal Gear Solid is the first game that hit me hard on an emotional level, so I believe it deserves a spot here as well.
There are tons of others really, but I'm just going to stop there. Haven't really encountered a lot of games this gen with outstanding writing though, which is a shame.
