The writing in this game is average

[SerratedBiz]

I see what thou didst thither.

Fix'st.

 

[Ulminati]

As a whole it's quite forgettable I guess, so far I didn't encounter anything that would make me say "woah now that's something I will remember in 5 years still"

This coming from someone who enjoyed the writing in NWN OC and THI4F :3

 

[Angthoron]

As a whole it's quite forgettable I guess, so far I didn't encounter anything that would make me say "woah now that's something I will remember in 5 years still"

This coming from someone who enjoyed the writing in NWN OC and THI4F :3

Damned by faint praise.

 

[Ulminati]

Damned by faint praise.

Personally I like how this was a day 1 mod for the game: http://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity/mods/4/?
I can finally play it the way Josh intended!

 

[Scroo]

As a whole it's quite forgettable I guess, so far I didn't encounter anything that would make me say "woah now that's something I will remember in 5 years still"

This coming from someone who enjoyed the writing in NWN OC and THI4F :3

Nah I enjoyed NWN OC for it's gameplay mechanics more than it's plot. Not sure if that makes it any better ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Ulminati]

On PoE:

Yet it's the story that keeps me going because the combat is making me insane.

On NWN:

Nah I enjoyed NWN OC for it's gameplay mechanics more than it's plot. Not sure if that makes it any better ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Look what you did. You monster.

 

[Aenra]

...

...

And third, you don't even know what you don't know

why, hoarder of wisdom, weilder of the Hueg
either then enlighten me, or leave me to my fate. Or you risk falling into a category yourself, that of thinking of knowing, while not.
was showcasing his error of over-generalising, error that he further demonstrated by posting back only to 'show me' how indeed, there are exceptions. Hence my finding no need to continue ^^

edit: cultural differences alert! Over. I think i get you now..possibly..i blame work. Really. And distance. Mostly gravity though. A terrible thing to experience, honest.

 

[Jools]

I dunno, I think it is enjoyable as in entertaining read. There's a lot of cliched fantasy namedropping but all in all I like the writing style. As a whole it's quite forgettable I guess, so far I didn't encounter anything that would make me say "woah now that's something I will remember in 5 years still". Yet it's the story that keeps me going because the combat is making me insane.

Actually I'm finding the writing not that entertaining, after some more consideration. It feels like it's just flavour, with little depth and little connection to the actual game itself. As I mentioned, the plot hasn't sucked me in (YET, I hope), and it feel like a rather slow and un-epic start (which would be just stereotypical, after all). And to be fair, I didn't even encounter any writing that made me think "woah now that's something I will remember in 5 hours". The overall writing feels really average (and yeah, apparently average is the new awesome, as far as videogames are concerned). I do appreciate the amount of it, and the fact that it's not actual crap, obviously. But I cannot help thinking that, just to name one, SITS has a better writing style, more fitting and better "connected" to the game. For example, and I'm not sure this will make what I'm meaning to say any clearer, D:OS' writing is worse if we consider technical quality (the style borders fan-fic, at times, and on occasions one can tell it has not been written by native English speakers, as it "feel funny". Correct, but "funny".), but it feels way more "involved" and "fitting" to the game and to the game's environment.

It's just my feeling, and I hope more hours into the game will change my mind, although reading the comments here makes it seem unlikely.

PS - Yes, combat is p. messy.

 

[Jools]

I see what thou didst thither.

Fix'st.

True dat. My bad.

 

[Scroo]

Jools I understand what you mean and it's true that it is easy to just... not care too much for the plot. And the characters. I can't even really point my finger to it, while I think it's entertainingly written it's still forgettable. Like, the NPC companions I met so far. I chuckle at that elf mage's scottish-tourette, I like Eder, I think Durance is fun enough but still it's hard to really care about them. Maybe it will come later, but so far they are just... there. Kana is really annoying tho. He honestly reminds me of the Pandaren in WoW and I don't think that's a good thing

 

[Haba]

It's quite simple really, parts of PoE are well written but the story itself is poor. The same goes with the characters. Unless there are some massive reveal(s) at the end, which I seriously doubt.

I'd much rather take a good story written poorly than the other way around.

 

[Jools]

Jools I understand what you mean and it's true that it is easy to just... not care too much for the plot. And the characters. I can't even really point my finger to it, while I think it's entertainingly written it's still forgettable. Like, the NPC companions I met so far. I chuckle at that elf mage's scottish-tourette, I like Eder, I think Durance is fun enough but still it's hard to really care about them. Maybe it will come later, but so far they are just... there. Kana is really annoying tho. He honestly reminds me of the Pandaren in WoW and I don't think that's a good thing

Similarly, I just couldn't bring myself to care about any of them. Aloth's "funny" lasted about 35 seconds, Durance' ramblings got trite quite soon, and Eder was just forgettable. For some reason, I hated Kana from the minute I met him and can't wait to replace him with someone else.

 

[vorvek]

Edgy, oh so edgy. If you can't explain your point without resorting to some fanboy-like hyperbole-filled passive aggression, perhaps you ought to mingle on the Bioboards instead?

See, I can do edgy too.

Yes, the writing is okay (more than okay, actually) for a videogame, but it's ultimately shallow and fleeting. Not in the sense of the writing itself lacking depth, though, perhaps, rather, quite literally so - the dialogues are just too short. Just as you think you are getting to the good part, it's over. Perhaps this is what it feels like to be a woman. Perhaps this game's writing is an allegory to womanhood.

Can you pinpoint exactly the expected quality of writing that would make this game better than "average" while still being accessible, since I don't exactly know when does your appetite for literature get satiated. A couple of examples of above average writing in games from the last 10 years, for example, would suffice, where the narrative directly derived from the writing pushed the preconceived boundaries of the medium.

 

[Delterius]

As things stand, the setting is essentially a competently written info dump, not a properly deep and interactive RPG setting. Durance (and possibly Eder and Grieving Mother) being the only exception.

That's an interesting way of putting it since this is the game which is introducing us to the setting. For what it is worth, we might get more in a sequel.

Introduction doesn't equal info dump; it can be made involving too. There's no need to excuse the weak way the game introduces its setting by saying "duh, it's an introduction."

No need to confuse it with the weakness of the setting either. Like I said, I think the setting itself has a much greater potential than the simplistic way PoE introduces it. See also Angthoron's post above.

Hmm? I did not mean to excuse anything. I agree that the setting has unfulfilled potential, in fact, I sort of expected that. This is the game which estabilishes that potential and it must do so in multiple fronts. There's a lot of history and different places to introduce before you can really look at anything in depht, which is when things can get really engaging.

Anything different would require a radical downsizing of the scope, which I think would be unnacceptable for most people.

Nah I enjoyed NWN OC for it's gameplay mechanics more than it's plot. Not sure if that makes it any better ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Spoiler

The story is still there. It was not worth it.

 

[Jools]

Can you pinpoint exactly the expected quality of writing that would make this game better than "average" while still being accessible

Not sure about Angthoron preferences, but personally, I wish the writing was a bit more "lively", or a bit more "intertwined" with what's going on in the game, and slightly less "banal". Games whose writing I found to be better overall (either better written from a stylistic standpoint, or better "integrated" with the game's world and setting, or a bit of both) are D:OS, SITS, MotB, Gemini Rue (yeah, not an RPG, but very well written nonetheless), Shadowrun/Dragonfall.

Now, in these games, I'm not sure if, and to what extent, "the narrative directly derived from the writing pushed the preconceived boundaries of the medium" (cit. you), but I clearly remember appreciating how their writing was, effectively, better than the average game's.

 

[Angthoron]

Edgy, oh so edgy. If you can't explain your point without resorting to some fanboy-like hyperbole-filled passive aggression, perhaps you ought to mingle on the Bioboards instead?

See, I can do edgy too.

Yes, the writing is okay (more than okay, actually) for a videogame, but it's ultimately shallow and fleeting. Not in the sense of the writing itself lacking depth, though, perhaps, rather, quite literally so - the dialogues are just too short. Just as you think you are getting to the good part, it's over. Perhaps this is what it feels like to be a woman. Perhaps this game's writing is an allegory to womanhood.

Can you pinpoint exactly the expected quality of writing that would make this game better than "average" while still being accessible, since I don't exactly know when does your appetite for literature get satiated. A couple of examples of above average writing in games from the last 10 years, for example, would suffice, where the narrative directly derived from the writing pushed the preconceived boundaries of the medium.

Friend, do you even read what others write? Or does it have to be blended with a different medium to sink in? Allow me to reiterate: the dialogues are too short. They end before they start to get properly interesting in the vast majority of the cases. They don't reach their potential. They don't reach the general expectation set towards Obsidian's writing, and this was supposed to be Obsidian's love letter to the "golden age of RPGs". Quite a few of Obsidian's own RPGs within the last decade did better in this respect - Mask of the Betrayer, for example. Besides that namedrop, I won't pinpoint anything to one that misses every point by a mile.

I've not seen any posts - including my own - that are calling for anything special. Can you pinpoint exactly where people have asked for the medium to be pushed someplace? All I seem to see is some people wanting more in-game discussions regarding the setting itself. Lengthier conversations on more topics that aren't directly related to fetching this or saving that. If this is inaccessible, complex or ground-breaking, then of course I agree that people are simply asking too much and maybe should make their own game if they dare criticize and have different expectations.

Furthermore, I should clarify that I find the game quite enjoyable, once the story kicks in, it is interesting to at the very least find out where it's going; some of the characters do develop and/or gain depth through exposition. It's good, solid writing. However, you're acting like it shouldn't be criticized because apparently nobody does better - or, for that matter, that it can't be done better because otherwise it would be too complex.

 

[dragonul09]

Obsidian knew what people lingered for years,they knew people wanted something like Planescape in terms of dialogue ,full of intrigue and mistery ,sadly this game doesn't have any.Most of the dialogue is 40% descriptive ,a ridiculous amount of wasted dialogue for telling me that he has a black tooth and a few pieces of hair left.To make the problem even worse ,they went with a linguistic aproach ,it feels like they tried so much to make the descriptive text to sound deep and interesting,but in the end it fell flat and borderline annoying sometimes.

The lore feels so forced on you ,the moment you start playing ,the game is bombarding you with a huge amount of informations about wars,gods,leaders that could have been easly included in books.I understand that they wanted to show us ''Look at the world we created ,it's huge dude,here take some more'' but Planescape,Baldurs,Neverwinter never tried to overwhelm you with the lore,they tried to be subtle and let you find those informations on your own through books and other means.

The quests were garbage ,poorly designed and written,most of them consisting of ''Find me that'' ''Bring me that'' ''Kill that for me'' ''Save my child'' ,where is the creativity? What happened in the quest department? They wasted their time filling this game with useless dialogue that they forgot how to make a good rpg.

The storyline is typical fantasy garbage,oh save the people and yourself from madness.

I'm losing faith here boys,as well as my wallet.

 

[Angthoron]

The lore feels so forced on you ,the moment you start playing ,the game is bombarding you with a huge amount of informations about wars,gods,leaders that could have been easly included in books.I understand that they wanted to show us ''Look at the world we created ,it's huge dude,here take some more'' but Planescape,Baldurs,Neverwinter never tried to overwhelm you with the lore,they tried to be subtle and let you find those informations on your own through books and other means.

I guess Obsidian caught the bug of "We gotta introduce this new setting!" that seems to be typical to both new IPs and even remakes these days. And introduce it they do, with no effort spared, really - although if you think about it, what for? There's so much that PoE world shares with hundreds of other modern Fantasy worlds, it's still the same old High Fantasy (but with a grim and somewhat realistic undertone!), it's still got the same major traits that need no introduction to anyone at this point. Instead, they should have focused on what's important to this setting, the thing that makes it unique.

What's that? Well - that's all the things that have to do with the soul manipulations. Animancy, ciphers, watchers, weapons that can kill a god - these things need to be in the spotlight far more. Sure, it's a good thing to keep them from pulling the blanket, but these are your unique features! Showcase them! Hell - Watcher's abilities, Cipher's abilities - why can't we use them more in other dialogues? If it's too imbalanced compared to other skills, make it a [Skillcheck] too, that grows as you use it, or have it expend a resource, perhaps a kind of a resource that you need to buy. Or XPs, like in DKS.

This is one of the reasons why I like GM - she actually does Ciphery stuff. Actually showcases the setting.

 

[Nael]

The backstories you can sense behind random NPCs are the worst case of tl;dr I've ever seen in a game, they are just irrelevant and boring.

Just to point out - This is backer reward fanfic crap, not Obsidian writing.

And I've been reading them all in pain assuming there is purpose behind such. Oh God

 

[roshan]

One thing I missed in the couple of dungeons I've cleared was the lack of unique enemies. Hopefully this improves? I mean would be a waste of storytelling potential if all dungeons only had monsters, but no villains or antagonists with personality and uniqueness. Even "kings" turned out to just be stronger versions of the mobs.

 

[Brayko]

While I'm not a JRPG fag or anything, I always use Suikoden 2 as a good example of outstanding narrative without cramming lore into your face. Somehow you can play that game and get locked into the story w/o barely knowing anything and "if you want to know more" there's plenty of lorehunting to be had which makes it all the better. Not to mention a lot of the 108 characters are interesting without cramming their life story in your face, plenty of blanks you can fill on your own. I haven't played it in about 15 years so I don't know how well it holds up now but that is what I remember.

 

[Karwelas]

This is one of the reasons why I like GM - she actually does Ciphery stuff. Actually showcases the setting.

GM?

 

[Irenaeus]

This is one of the reasons why I like GM - she actually does Ciphery stuff. Actually showcases the setting.

GM?

Grieving Mother companion.

 

[dragonul09]

This is one of the reasons why I like GM - she actually does Ciphery stuff. Actually showcases the setting.

GM?

Grieving mother

 

[TheEntitledOne]

Average by Obsidian standards maybe. Needed more MCA.

Backer NPCs and combat pathfinding are the only things I dislike from this game.