The writing in this game is average

[dragonul09]

For me, the final blow comes at the end of Act 2 ,i thought the story was getting pretty interesting (being quite vaque the whole time) and out nowhere the Godhammer Bumb smashes the plot away and saves the fucking day ,because having a good narrative is a heresy nowadays ,right?
I mean how the fuck can you ruin a good scene in such a manner?From there everything went from shit to exquisite shit,it felt like someone flushed the toilet because the shit was getting out of boundaries and thought ''Lets flush it all away and start from scratch'' .

Well, Act 3 seems to be starting out okay again, but I'm not very far into it, and not following the main plot. End of act 2... I don't know what to say about it. I'd REALLY like to ask Obsidian what they thought when they made it.

Prepare for more lore galore then ,act 3 felt like a new game to me ,because what happened in Defiance Bay had absolutely no repercussions and to compensate for that they kept adding and adding ,i was like the whole fucking time.

The games feels exactly like a history book,because i have never in my fucking life played a game that kept throwing something new with every npc you encounter.Planescape,Baldurs Gate,Arcanum,Ultima and many ,many more ,they keep you in the dark when it comes to lore, unless you read every book you pick up and this is how it should be.

 

[Angthoron]

For me, the final blow comes at the end of Act 2 ,i thought the story was getting pretty interesting (being quite vaque the whole time) and out nowhere the Godhammer Bumb smashes the plot away and saves the fucking day ,because having a good narrative is a heresy nowadays ,right?
I mean how the fuck can you ruin a good scene in such a manner?From there everything went from shit to exquisite shit,it felt like someone flushed the toilet because the shit was getting out of boundaries and thought ''Lets flush it all away and start from scratch'' .

Well, Act 3 seems to be starting out okay again, but I'm not very far into it, and not following the main plot. End of act 2... I don't know what to say about it. I'd REALLY like to ask Obsidian what they thought when they made it.

Prepare for more lore galore then ,act 3 felt like a new game to me ,because what happened in Defiance Bay had absolutely no repercussions and to compensate for that they kept adding and adding ,i was like the whole fucking time.

The games feels exactly like a history book,because i have never in my fucking life played a game that kept hurling something new with every npc you encounter.Planescape,Baldurs Gate,Arcanum,Ultima and many ,many more ,they keep you in the dark when it comes to lore, unless you read every book you pick up and this is how it should be.

Aw, fuck, then earlier discussion on the intro syndrome was right.

I dunno, part of the charm of Planescape to me was that I didn't know half of what was going on. It was strange, I wanted to go out and find out more. I understand that a lot of players aren't like that, and maybe the game for me will be Tides of Numanuma, but they seem to have gone overboard with introducing the new setting, and with apparently a very, very bad transition.

Spoiler

Does your ability to operate the spirit machines come into play at all in Chapter 3? I thought it was a pretty damn big thing, technically you could stop the Legacy on your own by turning the damned things off. Why doesn't this become a quest right away, anyway? I know we're supposed to chase the bad guy but since everyone will run off and do sidequests instead anyway...

 

[Stefan Vujovic]

Well writing is above average, but not even close to being in league with PST. That being said PST had much much more interesting setting and world to begin with, compared to generic fantasy of POE. Its still decent game, but its just made me wanna replay PST for the 10th time. I just got into Defiance Bay hope it gets better from there on, so far i am not even mildly interested in the main story witch is kinda sad...

 

[agris]

Sawyer has said in multiple interviews (fuck me, I'm not looking up refs) that he prefers drier writing in games and for NPCs. The subtext is, as compared to the High Fantasy of the Baldur's Gate games and IWD. I think we're seeing the other end of that spectrum. Something between PoE's Arizona summer dryness and BG's theatrical stage-play writing would be perfect.... imo.

 

[dragonul09]

Spoiler

Does your ability to operate the spirit machines come into play at all in Chapter 3? I thought it was a pretty damn big thing, technically you could stop the Legacy on your own by turning the damned things off. Why doesn't this become a quest right away, anyway? I know we're supposed to chase the bad guy but since everyone will run off and do sidequests instead anyway...

Spoiler

No,not until act 4 but the way they did it ,was horrible.You remember the Mass Effect 3 ending choices ,blue,green,shit?Then come and meet his little brother.Just don't go into act 4 with high expectations,because it will crush your very soul.

 

[Brotherman Bill]

Mind the goddamn spoilers dragonul09. Almost everyone ITT has managed, except for you.

 

[Shadenuat]

So I've decided to check on what is ending is actualy all about, since bugs prevented me playing more of mega dungeon. I thought it wasn't bad but it felt like a part of a different game, with suddenly protagonist's past becoming the core of the narrative. As someone here put it well, most of the game felt like BG or IWD, yet the ending suddenly pulls PST. It's like a different game. For all the Obsidian's mastery, I didn't feel that what was happening was personal to me more than cheesy bhaal prophecy. I wonder if other people feel that way too.

And there's a hint for expansion in last slides, woo.

Repeated fights with shadows in the end dungeon and things like "press 2 objects twice to fight same encounter twice", as well as final boss and his minions laying on the ground from knockdowns cemented my opinion on enemy encounters however.

 

[Stainless Veteran]

Late to the party, but just wanted to say that I find writing ranging from average to good, but never great. Right now I'm at the second act, found most of the companions (excluding Grieving Mother, Pallegina and that Orlan).

I won't even start bitching about backer NPCs (although they could at least give me XP for reading most of that inane shit), and those ridiculous tombstones. I have some beef with both writing in general, and quests and companions in particular.

General writing is, for some reason, has this rookie mistake - authors for some reason think that we are as appreciative and interested in their setting and its details as they are. So they aren't trying to introduce these elements with interesting characters, colorful descriptions and situations (after all, it's all so awesome, why bother!). They reference them in conversations without much details, but do this constantly. For example, I've heard about Aedyr Empire for a hundred times now, but from dialogues only I could gather only that it's the land of vaguely British elves, stiff upper lip and general snobbery. So mysterious and exciting... not. If I want to know more, I need to consult ingame encyclopedia (which is both really dry and overly verbose). But here's the thing - it's only vibrant and memorable descriptions in conversations, quests and colorful NPCs from some ingame culture that can get me interested enough to try to dig deeper. And I rarely see them in this game. tl;dr Too much bland and dry tell about lore, not enough show.

I dislike that dialogue trees are short as fuck and not very reactive. Often quest givers aren't even acknowledging what I've done for them after I completed their quests.

I expected companions to be BG2-like, but got BG1 type instead. They have too few interjections, and almost none when they disagree with each other or even aknowledge each other existence. Banter is uninspired and infrequent. All and all, they integrated with each other worse then even many fanmade BG2 NPCs, who, at least, often have cross-banter and various interjections and other interparty conversations. For example, I thought that Eder and Durance will at least be like Monataron and Xzar VS Khalid and Jaheira, given clashing of their faiths and Durance demeanor. Instead I get nothing.

Writing isn't bad, but it is very dry and utilitarian, not on par with even New Vegas and Alpha Protocol, not to mention KOTOR2 or MOTB.

 

[Ivan]

Usually, if a game has a line that I can hold on to and reflect upon it, I consider it's writing worthwhile. This game has done that. Following is my favorite piece of prose from the game:

there is an absence in your hands

you'd never find that kind of writing in any other rpg made nowadays.

 

[Irenaeus]

Like I said, the writing in this game is awesome.

 

[dragonul09]

Usually, if a game has a line that I can hold on to and reflect upon it, I consider it's writing worthwhile. This game has done that. Following is my favorite piece of prose from the game:

there is an absence in your hands

you'd never find that kind of writing in any other rpg made nowadays.

And that's what is wrong with the writting in general,too verbose and flamboyant ,everything in this game is over explained.

Take a peek at some of Planescape writting:

The difference is like day and night.In Planescape the dialogue is simple,yet beautiful and it never fails to captivate you.In PoE everything feels exactly like a book ,everything is over explained that it gets tedious after you encounter a few npcs.

 

[Irenaeus]

I like books.

 

[dragonul09]

I like books.

You have terrible taste in books then.

 

[Ellef]

I like using *these* to emphasise words.

 

[Commissar Draco]

I wish the game would be in places such as Aedyr Empire or Old Valia instead of this Kwa like Dyrwood; would make writing less modern and pleb like for sure. And Yes lack of clashings between Durance and Eder over their faiths and Durance with Aloth over muh FreeDOOM is lacking aspect of the game. Kommissar loved when bro Paladin and Viconia could virtually kill one another cause of arguments started in banter if PC was not quick to separate them. Still writing is least problem of this game the atrocious path finding and teleporting enemies in RTWP is the worst offender.

 

[Rostere]

I like books.

I can only second this.

 

[Angthoron]

I expected companions to be BG2-like, but got BG1 type instead. They have too few interjections, and almost none when they disagree with each other or even aknowledge each other existence. Banter is uninspired and infrequent. All and all, they integrated with each other worse then even many fanmade BG2 NPCs, who, at least, often have cross-banter and various interjections and other interparty conversations. For example, I thought that Eder and Durance will at least be like Monataron and Xzar VS Khalid and Jaheira, given clashing of their faiths and Durance demeanor. Instead I get nothing.

Take a quick trip to Dyrford and grab Grieving Mother. She actually does a lot of interjections, appropriate albeit short. Her voice actress is a little annoying with sharp S sounds, but other than that, you'll probably appreciate having her in the party early on.

 

[One-and-a-half-Ivan]

I expected companions to be BG2-like, but got BG1 type instead. They have too few interjections, and almost none when they disagree with each other or even aknowledge each other existence. Banter is uninspired and infrequent. All and all, they integrated with each other worse then even many fanmade BG2 NPCs, who, at least, often have cross-banter and various interjections and other interparty conversations. For example, I thought that Eder and Durance will at least be like Monataron and Xzar VS Khalid and Jaheira, given clashing of their faiths and Durance demeanor. Instead I get nothing.

Take a quick trip to Dyrford and grab Grieving Mother. She actually does a lot of interjections, appropriate albeit short. Her voice actress is a little annoying with sharp S sounds, but other than that, you'll probably appreciate having her in the party early on.

I've got A LOT of interjections from my companions. Every second dialogue probably (I'm at the beginnig of Act 2 at the moment, before that there were very few of them).

 

[Angthoron]

I expected companions to be BG2-like, but got BG1 type instead. They have too few interjections, and almost none when they disagree with each other or even aknowledge each other existence. Banter is uninspired and infrequent. All and all, they integrated with each other worse then even many fanmade BG2 NPCs, who, at least, often have cross-banter and various interjections and other interparty conversations. For example, I thought that Eder and Durance will at least be like Monataron and Xzar VS Khalid and Jaheira, given clashing of their faiths and Durance demeanor. Instead I get nothing.

Take a quick trip to Dyrford and grab Grieving Mother. She actually does a lot of interjections, appropriate albeit short. Her voice actress is a little annoying with sharp S sounds, but other than that, you'll probably appreciate having her in the party early on.

I've got A LOT of interjections from my companions. Every second dialogue probably (I'm at the beginnig of Act 2 at the moment, before that there were very few of them).

Interjectioning does intensify in Act 2, yeah, but there is THAT ONE COMPANION whose interjections are best, won't spoil which one but I might've mentioned it.

One thing that I find lacking with interjections is the lack of reaction from NPCs to them (except in one case), and interjections to interjections from other party members.

 

[One-and-a-half-Ivan]

I expected companions to be BG2-like, but got BG1 type instead. They have too few interjections, and almost none when they disagree with each other or even aknowledge each other existence. Banter is uninspired and infrequent. All and all, they integrated with each other worse then even many fanmade BG2 NPCs, who, at least, often have cross-banter and various interjections and other interparty conversations. For example, I thought that Eder and Durance will at least be like Monataron and Xzar VS Khalid and Jaheira, given clashing of their faiths and Durance demeanor. Instead I get nothing.

Take a quick trip to Dyrford and grab Grieving Mother. She actually does a lot of interjections, appropriate albeit short. Her voice actress is a little annoying with sharp S sounds, but other than that, you'll probably appreciate having her in the party early on.

I've got A LOT of interjections from my companions. Every second dialogue probably (I'm at the beginnig of Act 2 at the moment, before that there were very few of them).

Interjectioning does intensify in Act 2, yeah, but there is THAT ONE COMPANION whose interjections are best, won't spoil which one but I might've mentioned it.

One thing that I find lacking with interjections is the lack of reaction from NPCs to them (except in one case), and interjections to interjections from other party members.

If you're talking about GM, I know. I went all the way to Dyrford only to recruit her. She's one of the best companions in RPGs I played. Simply awesome.
Also, that sound of chimes when you select her
Regarding interjections of interjections and reactions - yeah, there's definitely a room for improvement. But I still think that that's not 'average' RPG level, it's better.

 

[Chateaubryan]

The difference is like day and night.In Planescape the dialogue is simple,yet beautiful and it never fails to captivate you.In PoE everything feels exactly like a book ,everything is over explained that it gets tedious after you encounter a few npcs.

I kind of agree with you. though I like Grieving Mother (she's a bro) and Durance (he's a bro), I find both of their writing guilty of what you describe. I felt about the same way about Ulysses in Lonesome Road. Convoluted. I like what those characters are about, what they convey, but I think that MCA could've been a little more straightforward. Nowadays, he likes writing quirky characters who developed their own langage and vocabulary.

(In that sense, bringing up Planescape as an example to detract PoE's writing is quite the irony.)

Other NPCs in PoE are quite more factual than those two. I find Eder's inner conflict just as potent as Grieving Mother's and Durance's, even if it is more grounded and less philosophical.
But well, the fact that both of those NPCs doesn't wear their true name hints that from a narrative point of view that we're dealing with ideas and concepts rather than usual characters.
Well, both of them clearly states that they're having a back-and-forth relation of mutual enlightment with the player. Shit's got a name : it's dialectics.

So yeah, interaction with those two NPC are a little more demanding from the player (especially for those miserable non-native English speaker, but fuck, the French translation is horrible and misleading) but it's also because they are illustrating something more than lore and personal dilemmas.

Keep in mind that I'm far from having finished the game and didn't complete any NPCs personal arc. Take all this with the mandatory grain of salt.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Grieving Mother is fantastic. All hail MCA.

 

[Haba]

MCA NPCs have an actual personality and are interesting. Instead of becoming your new best friend instantly, they actually seem like a challenge. Durance can even be intimidating in his introduction. Other NPCs just let you walk over them without as much as whimpering. I guess it can be a good thing that not everyone is so complicated, but I would've really wished to see a bit more depth.

 

[Bleed the Man]

Usually, if a game has a line that I can hold on to and reflect upon it, I consider it's writing worthwhile. This game has done that. Following is my favorite piece of prose from the game:


there is an absence in your hands

you'd never find that kind of writing in any other rpg made nowadays.

And that's what is wrong with the writting in general,too verbose and flamboyant ,everything in this game is over explained.

Take a peek at some of Planescape writting:

The difference is like day and night.In Planescape the dialogue is simple,yet beautiful and it never fails to captivate you.In PoE everything feels exactly like a book ,everything is over explained that it gets tedious after you encounter a few npcs.

Dude, Planescape is the father of verbose games. Far, far more than anything I have seen so far from PoE.

And I don't think it's a bad thing, considering the narrative style of both games.

 

[MrMarbles]

I was wondering why the dialogue sometimes sounds half-assed, even though it's fairly well written. My theory: American voice actors. No offense to the muricans out there, but there is a reason why so many villains/interesting chars in popular culture are cast as English.

Sure it's a fantasy trope that everyone speaks British English, but I don't see the problem. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I don't want my caster to sound like some yokel redneck dipshit from Oklahoma.