SnakeTrousers said:
My issue with text/talk heavy RPG's is that much of the dialogue winds up being exposition, and the setting is rarely interesting enough to justify it. I really don't care about the mountains of backstory behind Middle Earth Knockoff 5467 and dry, lifeless presentation does nothing to help.
Realitycrash said:
I agree fully. I'm enjoying the game so, so much..But I know it was going to be narrative poison the very moment I started it, because honestly, have you read the introduction the game throws at you? I counted almost twenty cliches within those two or three dialogues. "Ooh, is the dark evil energy called THE TAINT? Damn, I'm impressed!".
I agree with both these sentiments. I'm still not sure whether the story of this game is supposed to be a parody, one that just doesn't really click with me, or not - it's just so incredibly cliché that I have a hard time believing it is serious. Well, actually not just cliché - Like, when I was told within the first hour that I AM SPECIAL and that I am expected to literally save the world from ceasing to exist, without even having been given the chance to care about this world or any of its inhabitants, I just wanted to throw my keyboard away and stop playing. Well, at least I could adjust my expectations properly right from the get-go...
Which is a pity, for I find the actual gameplay quite enjoyable too. And I'm still playing it, haven't finished it yet, but the urge to skip all dialoge is becoming more and more powerful.
And I know I shouldn't care about review scores and metacritic and all that... gameplay might be fine but a metascore of 87 for a classic RPG with such a story and such weak characters baffles me.
I mean, comparisons to the old Infinity engine titles get thrown around a lot, but do people really remember Baldur's Gate II (for example) because it was so awesome to be the spawn of Bhaal and safe the tree of life (or whatever)? I think not. They remember Minsk, Jaheira, Aerie & Co and the more personal parts about revenge and saving your sister. Well, I do anyway.