I am no writer, but even I could feel that maybe these came from a weaker page that could have appreciated a little more workshopping. A gag will seep into a moment and undermine something far greater that was occurring, or a character will drop a quip that just quite fit their characterisation at that point of the story. In a game with a monstrous amount of writing and dialogue, I don’t put a lot of weight into this as a proper negative within the game, but it’s impossible to ignore that rarely you will raise an eyebrow on how the narrative rhythm hiccups on its usual beat. Even the overall plot had a modicum of surprise on offer once you tapped into the clear destination it was heading towards.īeyond this, there are a small handful of written interactions that fall very, very flat. Important characters are fleshed out and remain true to self throughout their arc, with interactions evolving and growing in a believable way. I am happy to say that I found the writing quite competent, as generally the first real criticism leveraged against a Borderlands game will be squarely on the writing. The fourth wall will be broken, deep moments will be lightened by a character injecting a quip, and some gags will happily sprout legs and run through the entire game. ![]() Meta humour is always appreciated.Īnd humour you shall have over the many hours that make up NTftB – some of it puerile and insipid, some of it worth a snort and a generous portion of genuine giggles. One well placed gag featured a character that absolutely mentioned that they were happy to ‘awkwardly stare at me’ until I was ready to retort. I actually found myself pausing on selections for a beat or two more than necessary just to drink in whatever additional dialogue may have been added to cover the unpleasant pause. Gone are the awkward moments where a character will eyeball you silently while you select a witty retort. The conversation technology is also a great deal more modern than the game of old – obviously with the use of a more modern engine and building systems to support how interactions will work. ![]() Thank Christ the team behind NTftB are more mindful of this, firstly adding better options to make the selection less of a panic-driven moment – but also taking care to make sure your options are clearly defined prior to selection. ‘Greg the Librarian will remember what an arsehole you are.’ Hope you weren’t expecting Greg to help out in that critical climactic moment. But you are a fart face and I hate your mother.” Bam. Say for example, you approach a query with a response of ‘Yes’ from the menu, only to have the active character say “Yes, I agree. ![]() In some TT games, it was shockingly annoying to select an option based on your understanding of it, only to see your character define it in an entirely different way. Like the Telltale games of old, you will partake in conversations and select from an array of options as to how you want to shape the conversation. It is a dialogue-heavy game, but that is kind of the point. You will explore past tragedies that have eroded a very human need to be heard and understood – with the odd fart joke punctuating the heavier moments. A tapestry of interactions throughout your journey will clearly define and develop everything from a layer of trust, right down to sexual tension and a desire to perform mouth-to-mouth at any given opportunity. I’ll get it out of the way nice and early – NTftB is a story about relationships.
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