Decline [Poll] Cinematic dialogue in RPGs: Yay or nay?

[alyvain]

Video games aren't movies.

On the other hand, they aren't books either.

This thread is a weird attempt to bash decline design philosophy all over again.

 

[Silly Germans]

I think cinematic dialogue gets a bad reputation for the wrong reasons. It somewhat amplifies the quality of the dialogue, meaning poor dialogue looks even worse while good dialogue can be made even better. The problem is most dialogue is simply not well written and the voice actors are often bland. This is why it is a good idea to limit the use for certain key characters where you make sure that the lines/actors are good. But there are some examples where it improves the game.
The German versions of Gothic 1/2 were fully voiced and it worked well. The Witcher 3 was fully voiced and it was good, likewise Mass Effect. The German version of Drakensang The River of Time also had alot of voiced dialogue and great voice actors. I think the atmosphere of these games was improved by including fully voiced dialogue and close ups during dialogue. But these are also games that had their dialogue written in a way that goes along with that style and sported generally a decent level of writing overall.

 

[Turuko]

When they released the first D:OS, not all dialogues had voice acting. But as they had a success far above what they have expected (and had money to burn), they decided to make the new version with 100% of the dialogues using voice, including narration. Go figure that one.

streamers hate to read
you're welcome

 

[Sweeper]

I just skip all dialogue to get to the combat faster anyway, so don't really care either way.
Although it can be pretty jarring if it jumps from one bit of animated dialogue to another.
If you're gonna include cinematic dialogue, make sure to include a skip all dialogue function.

 

[luj1]

Nice sig bro

 

[Marat]

Who cares? Just do it right. It's clear to see both can be quite amusing.

 

[Alex]

But then, apparently, quite a lot of people do...

I'm not sure this is true. What's more likely is the majority of players skip dialogue and cutscenes wherever they can rather than break the action. This isn't one of those times a feature stuck because people loved it but because its expected.

Well, we know people want voice acting. They whine and cry and stomp their feet every time they don't get it, in large numbers. Perhaps that doesn't extend to "cinematic" dialogue?

Voice action has no place on RPGs.

 

[Kalin]

Figured I'd share some top of the line cinematic dialogue:

 

[Ivan]

Nay, I'd prefer JUST quality voiceacting over talking heads (even Fallout 1)

 

[eli]

why there is no Baldur's Gate 2 irenicus mage battles?

 

[Ulysa]

Nooo... In theory it tries to makes you feel more immersed but for me, it takes you constantly from the world you are in, even if its a fast transition, you are exploring and next time you are watching a movie. Not to mention akward bugs and expressions.

 

[Nifft Batuff]

Games are bad movies, in the same way that movies are bad games.