Idle Chatter Builds Character

[Altered Nova]

I think the lack of speech for Corvo probably has something to do with freedom of action you are given for completing the game. It would be exceedingly difficult to write lines for the guy that would still make sense regardless of whether he'd been sneaky pacifist who showed mercy on all his targets or a raging berserker who kicked in the front door and murdered everyone who moved, including helpless civilians.

You'd have to record like 3 or 4 versions of each line of his dialogue to cover each of the different emergent personalities he could have based on your actions. That's a lot of work and money to do, it's a lot easier to just make him silent and let the player imagine an appropriate response that fits their play style.

 

[sageoftruth]

At least Samuel had some kind of personality in Dishonored.

Meanwhile all the guards have died of lung cancer from all the cigar's they've been having....

I was thinking: It's very true that the guards in Thief 2 had far more personality. Still, the executions in Dishonored were far more brutal. If the guards in Dishonored had more personality, I wonder if I'd still feel comfortable sneaking up on them and shoving a sword through their necks, instead of just bashing them with my sword/blackjack and watching them fall over.

 

[sageoftruth]

I think the lack of speech for Corvo probably has something to do with freedom of action you are given for completing the game. It would be exceedingly difficult to write lines for the guy that would still make sense regardless of whether he'd been sneaky pacifist who showed mercy on all his targets or a raging berserker who kicked in the front door and murdered everyone who moved, including helpless civilians.

You'd have to record like 3 or 4 versions of each line of his dialogue to cover each of the different emergent personalities he could have based on your actions. That's a lot of work and money to do, it's a lot easier to just make him silent and let the player imagine an appropriate response that fits their play style.

I preferred to think of him as conflicted. Thinking about it that way, just about anything he said would have made sense. I must admit though, it would have been pretty cool to have his side comments vary depending on which ending he's headed towards.

 

[CleverNickname]

good lord

I truly did not notice any of this in my 3 consecutive playthroughs and even now that it was pointed out I don't care in the slightest.

Dishonored is a splendid piece of gaming. That it happens to have subpar writing and delivery doesn't even count as a blemish.

Especially since the world-building is excellent, and that is all the character a good game needs. You spend 90% of the time running (or in this case Blinking) around in the world, every time. It has to be a good one for that. All the talking just gets in the way. Even in games where the dialogue matters one tends to skip the familiar bits really quickly.

A silent protagonist isn't the problem, the problem is everyone else talking. Dialogue? How original. What's next, games set in the real world with realistic weapons and histor- oh you gotta be kidding me! Really?

 

[Brownie101]

Maybe every Dialogue Writer should have to DM a few sessions of D&D with a proper RP group to get the hang of how to drop plot points in actual conversation. Sure, you can be, as Yahtzee put it, A rhino on a sled. But if you're playing with a group who wants a half-decent experience, they're going to get quite annoyed that you're just saying "ALSO DID I MENTION THERE'S AN OLD HAUNTED BUILDING AND I WANT YOU TO GO KILL THINGS."

Maybe something more along the lines of;
"Around here? Nothing's really been happening much. The crops have been growing a bit slow of late and people have been steering clear of the Old Quarter. Word is, there's a haunted house around there. Sure would explain my Farm Tools ending up buried in the wood of my house. That or my wife's angry again."

 

[kensai]

INDEED, I BELIEVE SO



...I hope that goes in the bad gaming dialogue hall of fame, along with "I said come in, don't stand there!" from STALKER.

 

[Lazule]

This is why Toon Link from Wind Walker works so well. He never says a word except for "come on" and "yay" but the facial expressions he does pretty much show his emotions and that's why he is the best Link with most built in character.