Do narrative heavy games make anyone else sleepy?

Specifically narrative heavy games with a lot of active reading and no voice acting? Been trying to get into Norco and i just cannot sit there and read constant slow moving dialogue on the tv.

Same with Citizen Sleeper, I tried playing it on switch thinking it'd be easier to digest sitting back but i slowly just feel my grip on the switch slowly loosening as time goes on. Its not even that the story or games are bad i just can't be assed to constantly read on my screen anymore.

Games like this need voice acting even if i skip huge parts of it. I didn't have the same issue Disco Elysium for that very reason
 
Not usually. I prefer reading to voice acting a lot of the time. Just a different vibe. You've got to be in the right mood.

Citizen Sleeper has the best OST of the year. Play it on a Sunday morning with a cup of coffee and just chill.
 
Yeah, I get sleepy too, sometimes even when voice acting is available haha

But honestly I don't mind it- I've fallen asleep to games like Ace Attorney and Zero Escape series plenty of times, but I heavily enjoy them

...I've learned to use my TV timer/automatic turn-off setting on more often because of this though, lol
 
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I love playing Norcos for an hour at a time...its not a game i can play for 4-5 hour binges but I put in an hour here...30 minutes there.
 
Both those games are also purposefully alienating at the beginning. It feels difficult to get your bearings. Once a few of the story hooks set in you feel a lot more momentum.
 
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I have a bad memory, and can't retain anything in written text, so it's pointless reading anything. That's why I had to just give up on the Talos Principle, since that game has a million text logs. Same with Control. I'd rather see a cutscenes than read dialog any day. Audio logs are also a bore fest. Sorry Returnal and MGS V.
 
I have a bad memory, and can't retain anything in written text, so it's pointless reading anything. That's why I had to just give up on the Talos Principle, since that game has a million text logs. Same with Control. I'd rather see a cutscenes than read dialog any day. Audio logs are also a bore fest. Sorry Returnal and MGS V.

I
Loved control and I don't think I read one piece of lore in that game
 
narrative is fine,
but i can't really manage visual novel type games,
feels like an endless cutscene i cant skip. suffocating.
 
I skip all text and most dialogue. I don't have time for this $H1t.

GOW is how it should be done. conversations triggered in traverse moments and stopped and continued where they left off. characters know what they mentioned so don't go into a loop. The game had written lore but I didn't bother with it.
 
I can't really confirm (because i've never played one), but this is how I think narrative-heavy Japanese games are like. Just a cringey story with a tonne of dialog.

It's why I feel like games like The Witcher 3 are amazing. Engaging narrative that takes risks and often pays off.
 
Not too keen on heavy narrative driven games with little to no interactivity. If that's the case I prefer reading books. I think games in general have too much dialogue, cut scenes and story, with player agency often taking a backseat. I'd prefer if they scaled it back and concentrated more on the gaming side of things.
 
Specifically narrative heavy games with a lot of active reading and no voice acting? Been trying to get into Norco and i just cannot sit there and read constant slow moving dialogue on the tv.

Same with Citizen Sleeper, I tried playing it on switch thinking it'd be easier to digest sitting back but i slowly just feel my grip on the switch slowly loosening as time goes on. Its not even that the story or games are bad i just can't be assed to constantly read on my screen anymore.

Games like this need voice acting even if i skip huge parts of it. I didn't have the same issue Disco Elysium for that very reason

I managed to get through Norco. It just reinforced that text based games are not for me. I tried Citizen Sleeper for like an hour and quit. Both have super duper high meta scores, yet both were a snooze fest 90% of the time.
 
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Yup, you're not alone OP. Narrative driven games and other modern gaming tropes put me to sleep. That includes boring walking section, long tutorials, excessive hand holding, unnecessary and overdone dialogue, trailing missions, etc.

Relevant (watch starting at 3:05):
 
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Western AAA cinematic games put me to sleep for sure. If the gameplay is constantly getting interrupted for cutscenes and I'm shimmying through cracks I'm going straight to sleep.
 
Only if thers too much reading involved like visual novels. I loved 13 Sentinels, but the game is very narrative heavy with alot of reading, and playing late at night i found myself falling asleep multiple times. Story was great though. Same happened with Ace Attourney games.
 
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I have. Fell asleep during Xenogears. I stay up all night grinding levels, deathblows, money etc. When I get to the story parts I get drowsy. I've had to restart my saves a couple of times because I've skipped texts by accident without reading them. Me falling asleep has more to do with staying up too long. I've even fallen asleep in the middle of hunts playing monster hunter multi-player.
 
There was a game I fell asleep playing but I don't remember what it was. I knew I was done with it though.


It was Dragon Quest 12 or whatever the newest one was. Loved the aesthetic, but man it put me to sleep.
 
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Any game that is poorly written and paced will put you to sleep. God of War Ragnarok, TLOU2, Assassin's Creed Odyssey/Valhalla - all snoozefests.

But when you have stories that are well-paced with excellent writing? Pentiment, Disco Elysium, To The Moon - all fantastic.
 
Not really. I play a lot of Visual Novels and read, so if the scenario is good, then I'm there. Obviously, if it isn't then, yeah.
 
as someone who played & enjoyed everything infocom ever published back in the day? yes! i can no longer do reading games. no problems with subtitled games/movies, but excessive text narrative/dialogue? can't do it anymore. instant yawning material...
 
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