Wrath of the cringefinder compilation thread

[mondblut]

Everything feels so low energy and depressing. Every character seems to be suffering from one or more neurosis. There isn't even one normal masculine character in the entire story. Both the demon lords and the crusaders feel completely dysfunctional and incompetent and the entire story seems to be a result of random chance rather than anyone doing anything correctly. I don't really care about combat and build because in the hindsight I don't want to immerse myself in the pile of garbage that is WoTR. There isn't one antagonist I want to beat again, one location I want to return to, the only NPC I liked was Regill, I don't want to redo any of the quests etc. Sure making a wacky build and getting crazy damage or becoming a lich sounds fun but when I remember what content I'd have to go through I lose interest. The problem isn't just the fact that you meet whores made of literal faces but that there isn't enough of a good stuff.

Damn, and I thought the literal demon-infested hell the game is set in is supposed to be a joyful and exciting place! What do you mean, there is no disneyland in hell? I want to speak to the manager and have a portal opened to heaven free of charge, nao!

 

[luj1]

Which ones have worse writing than Shitfinder

That's easy, Pillars

 

[Sunri]

cheer up! things might change! Owlcat actually hired a new writer for their next game:
https://imgur.com/a/UBy8eJH

No wonder people on codex can't appreciate jokes in pathfinder their pinnacle of humor, is laughing at women and minorities.

 

[dacencora]

Which ones have worse writing than Shitfinder

That's easy, Pillars

No. Pillars 1 is head and shoulders above both Pathfinders. It has some dull stuff and is a bit overwritten, but both Pathfinders have all of the weaknesses of Pillars’ writing, with none of its strengths.
Deadfire is a different story.

Where Pathfinder excels above Pillars is in the mechanics and class/character building. Both of them are far superior to either of the Pillars games (goes for Tyranny, too), but Pillars 1 has the better/more memorable encounters, imo. I quite liked Pillars 1, despite its flaws. Couldn’t motivate myself to finish either of the Pathfinders. KOTC 1/2 puts all of these games to shame when it comes to RPG mechanics and encounter design, without a doubt.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

Everything feels so low energy and depressing. Every character seems to be suffering from one or more neurosis. There isn't even one normal masculine character in the entire story. Both the demon lords and the crusaders feel completely dysfunctional and incompetent and the entire story seems to be a result of random chance rather than anyone doing anything correctly. I don't really care about combat and build because in the hindsight I don't want to immerse myself in the pile of garbage that is WoTR. There isn't one antagonist I want to beat again, one location I want to return to, the only NPC I liked was Regill, I don't want to redo any of the quests etc. Sure making a wacky build and getting crazy damage or becoming a lich sounds fun but when I remember what content I'd have to go through I lose interest. The problem isn't just the fact that you meet whores made of literal faces but that there isn't enough of a good stuff.

Damn, and I thought the literal demon-infested hell the game is set in is supposed to be a joyful and exciting place! What do you mean, there is no disneyland in hell? I want to speak to the manager and have a portal opened to heaven free of charge, nao!

Hell actually is more joyful than the capital city. They actually have a gladiator arena instead of worst street theater ever.

 

[mondblut]

their pinnacle of humor, is laughing at women and minorities.

 

[ga♥]

Which ones have worse writing than Shitfinder

That's easy, Pillars

No. Pillars 1 is head and shoulders above both Pathfinders. It has some dull stuff and is a bit overwritten, but both Pathfinders have all of the weaknesses of Pillars’ writing, with none of its strengths.
Deadfire is a different story.

pillars1 starts with you having diarrhea, half of the game you have no idea why and what you are doing, and on top of that the world lore is mix a of boring and plain horrible.
Kingmaker and even Wrath are so much better that what you wrote is a joke.
Sorry but you have shit tastes.

 

[Sunri]

Which ones have worse writing than Shitfinder

That's easy, Pillars

No. Pillars 1 is head and shoulders above both Pathfinders. It has some dull stuff and is a bit overwritten, but both Pathfinders have all of the weaknesses of Pillars’ writing, with none of its strengths.
Deadfire is a different story.

Where Pathfinder excels above Pillars is in the mechanics and class/character building. Both of them are far superior to either of the Pillars games (goes for Tyranny, too), but Pillars 1 has the better/more memorable encounters, imo. I quite liked Pillars 1, despite its flaws. Couldn’t motivate myself to finish either of the Pathfinders. KOTC 1/2 puts all of these games to shame when it comes to RPG mechanics and encounter design, without a doubt.

The only good thing about Pillars I was story and companions sadly they released Deadfire and fucked everything up so theres nothing left.

 

[Skdursh]

cheer up! things might change! Owlcat actually hired a new writer for their next game:
https://imgur.com/a/UBy8eJH

No wonder people on codex can't appreciate jokes in pathfinder their pinnacle of humor, is laughing at women and minorities.

All Progressives are pedophiles. Change my mind.

 

[Sunri]

cheer up! things might change! Owlcat actually hired a new writer for their next game:
https://imgur.com/a/UBy8eJH

No wonder people on codex can't appreciate jokes in pathfinder their pinnacle of humor, is laughing at women and minorities.

All Progressives are pedophiles. Change my mind.

Why would I change your mind, you are entitled to your opinion.

 

[Nano]

pillars1 starts with you having diarrhea.
Sorry but you have shit tastes.

It's not actually diarrhea. The game doesn't clarify it after you get attacked, but the game encyclopedia does.

 

[ga♥]

ga♥
The fact that something is bad doesn't mean that the other thing isn't.
As to the answer. Pathfinder: Kingmaker (bad and certainly too verbose with limited amount of ideological shit - but still better according to almost everyone here). Disco Elysium (if considered a crpg, verbose but no doubt better writing). Colony Ship (if you include early access). And more.

The real question is. Which ones have worse writing than Shitfinder (I am sorry, can't resist), according to you?
I'm waiting for an answer.

Disco elysium is a different kind of game, some would agree is not even a RPG. I did not play it but that was what I read. So not really comparable.

Colon ship has not yet been released.

So basically, you agree with me that it has the best RPG writing of the last years (exept kingmaker, which I agree was better). Cool.

 

[dacencora]

Which ones have worse writing than Shitfinder

That's easy, Pillars

No. Pillars 1 is head and shoulders above both Pathfinders. It has some dull stuff and is a bit overwritten, but both Pathfinders have all of the weaknesses of Pillars’ writing, with none of its strengths.
Deadfire is a different story.

pillars1 starts with you having diarrhea, half of the game you have no idea why and what you are doing, and on top of that the world lore is mix a of boring and plain horrible.
Kingmaker and even Wrath are so much better that what you wrote is a joke.
Sorry but you have shit tastes.

I do enjoy shitty games for sure. The aforementioned Pillars is not really excellent at anything. It being better than Pathfinder is not an endorsement of quality, not really. I think pretty much every game I’ve played has better writing than the Pathfinders, they’re pretty bad. Golarion is a far more bland setting than any I’ve seen so far. They took the kitchen-sink of Forgotten Realms and diluted it to be the most forgettable fantasy world ever. That is not Owlcat’s fault, but the companions they wrote are certainly their fault. Again, the pathfinders have much better character building, but their writing is probably one of the worst.

 

[ga♥]

Even if Golarion is worse than Forgotten realms, it's so much better than whatever-the-world-of-pillars-is-called that I do not even know what to reply (oh btw this is including the companions, exept maybe Durance. All POE1 companions are horrible and bland). It's like trying to discuss with an alien mind, like you and me are different species. Carry on.

 

[Sunri]

Even if Golarion is worse than Forgotten realms, it's so much better than whatever-the-world-of-pillars-is-called that I do not even know what to reply (oh btw this is including the companions, exept maybe Durance. All POE1 companions are horrible and bland). It's like trying to discuss with an alien mind, like you and me are different species. Carry on.

Grieving Mother was cool companion.

 

[dacencora]

Even if Golarion is worse than Forgotten realms, it's so much better than whatever-the-world-of-pillars-is-called that I do not even know what to reply (oh btw this is including the companions, exept maybe Durance. All POE1 companions are horrible and bland). It's like trying to discuss with an alien mind, like you and me are different species. Carry on.

Fair enough! I think Eora is far more interesting than Golarion, and I liked all of Pillars’ companions more than the ones in the Pathfinders. Deadfire and the Pathfinders are more comparable, as far as text goes. Similarly bad writing and extremely forgettable/boring companions. Also didn’t like the pirate setting of Deadfire much. But it’s cool, everyone has their own likes and dislikes. I personally wouldn’t place any of the Pillars companions at the top of a “Best RPG Party Members” list, but I would place almost all of the Pathfinder ones at the top of a “Worst RPG Party Members” list. The blue furry from Deadfire goes there too.

 

[Rincewind]

Just skimmed this thread, give me the TL;DR version: the sexual degeneracy is indeed disgusting, but even if we look past that, the writing seems to be quite boring and uninteresting (judging only by the text on the posted screenshots). Is that indeed so? I have practically zero tolerance for games wasting my time with loredumps and elementary school tier writing these days, so in that case I'll need to make a note to avoid this at all costs.

What's wrong with people these days? The dialogues in the Colony Ship screenshots gave me an instant hardon, while in this... it's actually depressing if they honestly thought this was fine.

Tolkien would be quite appalled to witness what fantasy writing has degenerated into.

 

[perfectslumbers]

Just skimmed this thread, give me the TL;DR version: the sexual degeneracy is indeed disgusting, but even if we look past that, the writing seems to be quite boring and uninteresting (judging only by the text on the posted screenshots). Is that indeed so? I have practically zero tolerance for games wasting my time with loredumps and elementary school tier writing these days, so in that case I'll need to make a note to avoid this at all costs.

The sexual degeneracy is completely ignorable, as long as you don't flirt with companions. The only "sexual degeneracy," that is not easily ignorable would be two lesbians hugging, and succubi being well, succubi.

The writing is very sincere and emotional. It reminds me of the sort of tumblresque writing you find in games like Undertale. Most of the companions are written as characters who are actively developing emotionally and companion quests are about you guiding them on their emotional journey. The writing is not subtle, if you prize subtlety in writing you will not enjoy it.

There are few loredumps imo. This isn't like Pillars of Eternity where they introduce a 100 strange terms that you have to figure out as you go along. The game utilises heavily archetypal modern D&Desque writing to easily introduce lore concepts. Whether this appeals to you will depend on how much you enjoy the sort of kitchen sink approach that modern D&D/Pathfinder has to lore.

 

[luj1]

Even if Golarion is worse than Forgotten realms, it's so much better than whatever-the-world-of-pillars-is-called

Pillars has one of the worst lore and worldbuilding, ever, and I don't even like Pathfinder to begin with.

Naming conventions are ripped off hard from Welsh / Irish Gaelic. Then you have Harry Potter-level worldbuilding...

fampyrs = vampires
gûls = ghouls
xaurips = kobolds
vithracks = illithid
godlikes = planetouched

Wow, so original. Literally talentless copy paste / banal shite.

Now couple that with bad delivery (text dumps) and you get a creative disaster.

 

[ga♥]

Godlike... i completely forgot about those. I remember thinking when seeing those that they must have been created by some edgy teen.

 

[Nano]

Both the Pillars games and the Pathfinder games are filled with insufferable lore dumps and walls of text. Imagine how narcissistic these "writers" have to be to think anyone finds their word vomit interesting.

 

[perfectslumbers]

What RPGS (not Disco Elysium,) nowadays have better writing than Pillars? The Witcher 3? Sure the writing is bad compared to most books, it has mediocre prose and boring loredumps and a garbage plot twist, but it at least has some core ideas to it's world and plot. It certainly has better writing than Bioware or Larian or Owlcat or Bethesda games imo.

 

[Rincewind]

Just skimmed this thread, give me the TL;DR version: the sexual degeneracy is indeed disgusting, but even if we look past that, the writing seems to be quite boring and uninteresting (judging only by the text on the posted screenshots). Is that indeed so? I have practically zero tolerance for games wasting my time with loredumps and elementary school tier writing these days, so in that case I'll need to make a note to avoid this at all costs.

The sexual degeneracy is completely ignorable, as long as you don't flirt with companions. The only "sexual degeneracy," that is not easily ignorable would be two lesbians hugging, and succubi being well, succubi.

The writing is very sincere and emotional. It reminds me of the sort of tumblresque writing you find in games like Undertale. Most of the companions are written as characters who are actively developing emotionally and companion quests are about you guiding them on their emotional journey. The writing is not subtle, if you prize subtlety in writing you will not enjoy it.

There are few loredumps imo. This isn't like Pillars of Eternity where they introduce a 100 strange terms that you have to figure out as you go along. The game utilises heavily archetypal modern D&Desque writing to easily introduce lore concepts. Whether this appeals to you will depend on how much you enjoy the sort of kitchen sink approach that modern D&D/Pathfinder has to lore.

Thanks, that was quite informative.

I haven't played any Kickstarer isometric RPGs, neither Undertale. I don't know what "tumblresque" is. I don't think I'm a loredump person, but I kinda enjoy games with a good story sometime, but not too much drivel. I liked the Witcher 1, Baldur's Gate 1 was OK in terms of writing too, but couldn't stomach Planescape Torment... it was a torment to read through that much bad to average prose, indeed (and I love reading books, otherwise... well written ones ). However, I mostly enjoyed Disco Elysium (as an adventure game), although the amount of self-important ramblings was pushing my limits at times.

Best writing I've encountered in a game so far was in Age of Decadence. Then I like to-the-point, no bullshit writing in ELEX, Fallout 1, Gothics, etc.

So I'm not actually sure what the answer is, I might cautiously give it a try one day and ignore the romances bullshit.

 

[Rincewind]

What RPGS (not Disco Elysium,) nowadays have better writing than Pillars? The Witcher 3? Sure the writing is bad compared to most books, it has mediocre prose and boring loredumps and a garbage plot twist, but it at least has some core ideas to it's world and plot.

Yeah I guess that's my issue with bad writing in games. If it was a book, I'd just stop after 10 pages. But I hate it when a game interrupts me with badly written prose that I have to read in a shitty little scrolling box. So I prefer them to keep it succint and short and to the point. Actually, I liked the lore/story in Banner Saga too, but that game wasn't too lore-dumpy either.

I don't really get it why it has to be this way; e.g. many graphic adventures from the 90s had no world-shattering stories, but the dialogue was fun (think of LucasArts games). And, most of all, no boring loredumps in adventure games.

 

[perfectslumbers]

it was a torment to read through that much bad to average prose, indeed

Pathfinder does have some prose, so you might not like it. It has a lot less writing than Planescape though, as it's mostly focused on combat and dungeon crawling.