What's with all the dialogue hate?

[Woem]

Don't people know that a game is full of dialogue before they buy it? The epitome of such a game is Planescape: Torment. The game has a strong and philosophical story and it has tons and tons of dialogue. In this case the dialogue makes up for a huge part of what makes the game so fantastic. The interaction with the NPCs, with Ravel, with your other incarnations and your own Mortality are so profound, so intense, that you just can't skip them. Even in the final confrontation you can get different endings based on your dialogue options, instead of just beating the hell out of the final boss.

Of course if dialogue or story is not what you're looking for, then you shouldn't play Planescape: Torment. Sometimes gameplay isn't everything [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/93222-Silicon-Knights-President-Gameplay-Isnt-Everything].

 

[Space Spoons]

I don't hate games like Mass Effect. I think the thing with that was that it was touted as a shooter type game and so some people may have bought it under the wrong pretenses.

This right here. Same thing that happened when Final Fantasy VII ran those commercials that made it look like a badass action/adventure game with "AWESOME GRAPHICS".

 

[Khryon]

Too true, Mass Effect was a great blend of dialog/FPS, however some people thinking that it was purely a Shoot 'Em Up game would be sorely disappointed. If you sat through work staring a papers all day and go back home, only to find more text to read, it would surely be disappointing. However, Mass Effects dialog added serious depth to the game, not to mention I wasn't one of the people who though of Mass Effect as a "FPS" (I had no idea what Mass Effect was). So all that's left is a physcological matter I guess; you like it or you don't.

 

[NeutralDrow]

Huh...considering I'm a fan of visual novels, I suspect I should leave before I get chased away.

 

[quack35]

I don't know, but I'm a sucker for well-written dialogue.

Whoever thinks Mass Effect has too much dialogue is a pansy.

 

[BolognaBaloney]

as long as it isnt MGS4 hangar cutscene level of dialogue i don't mind it

I loved MGS4's cutscene's they gave a lot of depth to the story.

Also it's your 666th post.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

Okay, I'll poke the hornet's nest.

A lot of the dialogue in Mass Effect is long winded and inappropriate. Not that this sort of thing doesn't have it's fans. Bioware have made their good reputation on doing this sort of thing but it does make the game seem more like pulp genre fiction than great fiction, although genre fiction has more than it's fair share of good writing. I suppose that part of their writing comes from them writing for people who are not used to reading a lot. Mass Effect was fully voice acted though so it just comes across as an unjustifiable bore to me.

The game also gets justifiably mocked, in my opinion, for having scenes like strangers mobbing you in the street and asking your opinion on whether they should have an abortion or not. I mean, really.

 

[Andy_Panthro]

I like text-heavy games.

There. I said it.

I've been a gamer for a long time, and I grew up with text-filled adventure games and RPGs.

For me, newer games appear to have less dialogue (I guess it's harder when you insist on making everything voice acted).

 

[Pendragon9]

To be honest, I can't stand games that go to either extreme, be it a Kojima production with nothing but cutscenes or a Micheal Bay production with nothing but explosions.

They need eachother to thrive and live. I don't know why people seperate them so much.

 

[Raregolddragon]

I like the back story stuff but you have to know where to place it all, make it come out mostly in side quests and make it for cast members that will last till the second or at least be in the full game.

 

[DragonsAteMyMarbles]

To parrot what others have said, there's nothing wrong with dialogue-heavy games, as long as it's well written.

A few examples:
-Meeting Atris in KOTOR2 and tearing her arguments against the Mandalorian Wars to shreds. She still doesn't admit she's wrong, though.
-KOTOR1: HK-47. Just HK-47.
-Mass Effect: Garrus is a rare example of a well-characterised, maverick cop - even coming across as somewhat likeable. And Wrex just loves those one-liners.
-Fallout 3 puts the point across that if you want to survive post-apocalypse, it's almost obligatory to be a bit of a tosser. Or a few pints short of a picnic.

 

[Julianking93]

I don't mind lots of dialog as long as its good and is interesting.

 

[scnj]

As long as it's well written and acted, I don't mind it. Sometimes it's nice to have a break from shooting everything.

 

[AlphaOmega]

I love a nice story, I didnt get sick of anything in hl2 on my 4th playthrough. Heck I still listen to all dialogue in Diablo 2.

I can understand people just want to tear shit up, but do that in games made for it and dont steal my storytelling

 

[More Fun To Compute]

I like text-heavy games.

There. I said it.

I've been a gamer for a long time, and I grew up with text-filled adventure games and RPGs.

For me, newer games appear to have less dialogue (I guess it's harder when you insist on making everything voice acted).

My perception is that Bioware games have more and less concise dialogue than old adventure games. If you play Lucasarts games then the conversations are normally snappy and to the point and come between large chunks of puzzle solving. The Infocom text adventures I have played were even less reliant on dialogue even if the world is described in text.

The RPG that is famous for having the most text is Planescape: Torment. There are some differences in the way that language was used between Mass Effect and PS:T for me though that mean that I personally don't tire of it in the same way.

 

[Mad Maniac with axe-firing chainsaw]

It can get in the way of replayability sometimes. I don't want to have to sit through reams of stuff I've heard before. This is why all dialogue scenes should be skippable if you've done them before, and some should be skippable at all times, for players who just want to get into the action. This would also force game designers to make sure their action segments were up to scratch to cater to players who just want to get into the meat of the game and also for people playing the game again.

 

[Valiance]

LOL I HATE MAKING CHOICES ^_____________^

Seriously, I love well-written dialogue. My problem is that most of the time it isn't well written. :/

(jill sandwich clause, etc)

 

[tehroc]

Just for the love of god dont open your games with 30-45 minutes of cutscene. When I press >Start, I should have control within 5 minutes, even if its only to do a training segment.