Games with great banter between characters.

[NewYork_Comedian]

So I delved into Fallout New Vegas again over the break and have enjoyed the hell out of it now that I am going through it for the first time heavily modded. However, despite the companions being far more interesting than the boring karmatic people you traveled with in Three, I felt that there could always be more for them to say and do. I kept thinking how great it would be for Boone and Cass or Veronica and Arcade to get into some hilarious argument on the road.

The best banter I've seen in a game has been from Bioware, a close call between the conversations in Origins and the talks on the ship in Mass Effect 3 and its amazing Citadel DLC.

So I want to ask you guys what is some of the best and banter between characters you have seen in a video game? Note that it does not necessarily have to be an RPG, those are just the best examples that came to mind.

 

[lee1287]

Jak and Daxter instantly springs to mind, though Jak doesn't talk, so I guess it's not really banter and more of Dax mocking him. Still hilarious though.

 

[The Madman]

I still think Baldur's Gate 2 is Bioware's best work in that regard, with a large cast of characters that banter between one another regularly and have ongoing relationships independent of the player. It always annoyed me how in Mass Effect every companion tends to stay tucked away in their own little corner of the Normandy, only really interacting with one another when there's a moral dilemma that Shepard needs to make. That's one thing Mass Effect 3 got right at least.

RPG aside, I always loved the banter between the Prince and Farah in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

The best banter I've seen in a game has been from Bioware...

I'm going to have to agree with you here, especially in the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic games. I love having HK around specifically for his snide remarks while you're talking to NPCs. Jolee Bindo is also pretty funny to have along depending on who you're talking to. I also loved having Shale hang around with my party in Dragon Age Origins but it's a shame there isn't a good, strong, misanthrope in the Mass Effect trilogy. Though speaking of Mass Effect I liked the elevator conversations from the first.

Based on the gameplay videos I've seen from Thi4f: The New One it looks like there's some funny dialog bits there but based on the Thief II ZP episode it sounds like the older games are the same in that there have always been funny bits of dialog that happen between guards.

 

[Barbas]

Put me down for a BioWare too, this time Dragon Age: Origins - the little background repartee was pleasant listening whenever I was running around the Circle Tower or Denerim in search of something or someone.

Then again, I've never played any of the Baldur's Gate series, which they get a lot of praise for. I do wonder if that is one of its stronger points.

The dialogue in the Left 4 Dead series has gotten a few laughs out of me as well, mainly Francis and Bill's stuff.

 

[Exhuminator]

I think the party chat in some of the Dragon Quest games is pretty good. It's even useful when you don't know where to go.

I'm pretty sure the Tales Of _______ series is partly famous for having copious amounts of party chat.

 

[Artina89]

I find myself really enjoying the interactions between the characters in Psychonauts. I think it really helps that each character has their own little quirks, and their own background stories which are hinted about the more you interact with them. I also really like the in car conversations between York and George/Emily/Thomas etc in Deadly premonition. I even like that York talks to his imaginary friend Zach about 80's B-movies and classic punk rock.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

"Which one do you want?"
"I'll take the idiot who decided to threaten us first instead of just shooting us."

Or something like that. I always liked that line in Knights of the Old Republic II.

Yeah, I think BioWare probably has the best banter between characters. The Citadel DLC was simply insane. "Oooooh, that is NOT okay. She messed with my hamster, guys. Guys? Aren't you going to say anything? No, no, I understand. It's hard to even find the words..."

 

[TaboriHK]

If you download a multiple follower mod for FNV, you'll find that they do occasionally banter with one another.

 

[Lilikins]

I found the whole dialogue from the Disgaea series to be quite hilarious tbh. Not really 'banter' per say, but nevertheless, the main characters arguing often...and I shall never...ever forget...the prism ranger scene in Disgaea 1 for PS2 haha, that is still, one of my favorite moments ever in gaming.

 

[Adeptus Aspartem]

Lucas Arts Adventures. Doesn't matter which. Loom, Zakk, Monkey Island, Maniac Mansion or Indy all have great banter both inside and outside the storyline.

Not really suprising in games heavily revolving around conversations

 

[cikame]

Prince of Persia (2008), the banter between the Prince and Elika is a huge part of why i enjoyed that game so much.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Ratchet and Clank has some really good banter between them.

I really like the banter between Nathan Drake and Sully because Sully is awesome and his character really compliments Nathan's. Among Thieves had some great dialogue between the two, and Elena had her moments as well in the series.

 

[DementedSheep]

Well there is the obvious bioware rpgs past the first BG. Its worth playing evil just to have Edwin, Korgan and Veronica especially after Edwins accident with the scroll.

Been playing GW2 lately and will the actually main plot writing is....not the best I actually like a lot of the background banter around the place.
Although I've been spending time in grove and one of the background conversations there is:

sylvari A :*laugh* Wait, wait, Stop. If you are going to kill me, let me fix my hair. I want to leave a handsome corpse.
sylvari B : It wont matter. The worms will still crawl in and out, in and out.
*both laugh*

Yeah...those plant people are a bit strange.

 

[Shdwrnr]

"I'm going to the bear pits tomorra'. Wanna come with?"

I shouldn't have to say more than that.

 

[Zipa]

The legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver games had amazing dialogue between Raziel and Kain as well as the supporting characters.

 

[RheynbowDash]

I gotta go with Uncharted. Nate and Sully had that rapport that only two guys that have gone through what they did can pull off, even when randomly exploring an area and Sully goes off into a story about a barmaid he met in Burma, then Nate comes back with a nice one liner. Made me crack a smile more than a few times over Uncharted 1, 2, and 3.

 

[Anthony Corrigan]

Bioware gamesa (all of them) have great banter and so do the Ultima games. Ultima was especially good for the relationships which flowed through especially in 7 and SI. They were brilliant

 

[busterkeatonrules]

Jak and Daxter instantly springs to mind, though Jak doesn't talk, so I guess it's not really banter and more of Dax mocking him. Still hilarious though.

Seconded. One of many things I loved about the first game, was that dying never really got frustrating because Daxter would ALWAYS crack me up with his countless witty comments. Just the sheer number of them was impressive. I was almost at the end of the game before he finally started delivering lines I had heard before!

Also, the Ratchet & Clank series - though damn near anything ever said by anyone in any of those games is insanely funny!

Oh, and if you don't mind a more old-school example: The original Grandia had an occasional scene where the characters would have dinner together, and you had the option of going through their entire conversation - or simply skip ahead to the next morning. These conversations were usually worth watching, though.

A memorable example involves the two main protagonists discussing a very serious matter which is troubling the heroine greatly - while the two supporting characters, having mistaken her pained expression for a sign of indigestion, end up arguing among themselves over whose (completely absurd) cure for constipation is the most effective!

 

[RandV80]

More recently The Last Story did a very good job with this. Another JRPG that probably won't get mentioned which comes to mind is Suikoden 3 with coincidentally another mercenary group's storyline.

Bioware banter is typically good, but I liked those ones better because rather than random conversations that characters can start up at any odd moment it's actually written directly into the story. For me it really adds personality and creates an atmosphere of camaraderie where these people know and trust each other, that they've been through shit together before the events of the game and they'll go through more of it when it's over.