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[Unknown Soldier]

FFXVI had the best writing and story since FFXII too bad it was so heavily attacked on GAF for being a PS5 exclusive

 

[semiconscious]

I tend to lump cultural with historical, but not shoehorned current year revisionism.

The examples you provided were the positive and sound sides, the one that was quoted prior, waste of money.

yeah, there's historical/cultural accuracy. & then there's current day ideological accuracy, presided over & decided by a group of self-anointed 'experts' at a company that's only been around for 5 years. very much apples & oranges...

 

[The Fuzz damn you!]

it has good writing.

I agree (despite some clunkiness - it’s certainly not a patch on 2018). I (and Adam, if I may speak on his behalf) was referring to the mess this whole thread became in an attempt to answer that very question).

 

[The Fuzz damn you!]

FFXVI had the best writing and story since FFXII too bad it was so heavily attacked on GAF for being a PS5 exclusive

I don’t recall it being attacked for being an exclusive, nor really for its writing. There were other issues that were more prominently criticised.

 

[DrFigs]

Spiderman 2 had bad writing?

edit: I had to vote Gow Ragnarok. I think they tried to pack too much into this one game. Characters were underdeveloped and Ragnarok ends up feeling very small as a result. It's not like TOTK tried that hard to tell a story really.

 

[Pimpbaa]

I almost stopped playing SM2 a few times due to horrible writing. They fucked up the venom arc more than Sam Raimi or the 2 Venom movies with Tom Hardy.

 

[adamsapple]

FFXVI had the best writing and story since FFXII too bad it was so heavily attacked on GAF for being a PS5 exclusive

You have enough posts and replies in the FF16 OT to know that what you've written here is horseshit.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

You are a total moron if you think that Ragnarok or Spidey 2 had bad writing, like you need to get tested because you might be eligible for disability moronic.

 

[geary]

On the other hand, Phantom liberty had one of the best story and dialogue from last years.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

FFXVI had the best writing and story since FFXII too

Yeah the writing and voice acting are largely excellent in FF16, should not be on this topic at all

 

[Barakov]

He’s 100% right. Playing the dlc confirmed this. These writers threw away all the character development of the 2018 game as tyr and mimir guide kratos through a therapy session where they justify all his bloodthirsty murders against the greek gods and people as self defense and noble acts of a Spartan lord simply protecting his people.

The game is insanely preachy with everyone giving each other lectures on how to behave as if they are in 21st century college campuses. It is some of the worst writing I’ve ever seen. Spider-Man 2 is like citizen Kane in comparison.

Sheesh. I guess I won't even bother playing it then. Crazy that Insomniac and Sony Santa Monica had their mask off moment this year as far as writing goes.

 

[sigmaZ]

A lot, actually. There are books in many houses and long dialogues with NPCs. What would you call it if not writing?

Way too much of it imo. 10 textboxes of dialogue at times betraying all norms.

 

[Pimpbaa]

You are a total moron if you think that Ragnarok or Spidey 2 had bad writing, like you need to get tested because you might be eligible for disability moronic.

The same could be said for those that think Spiderman 2 had good writing. Although personally I refrain from questioning the mental well-being of someone who disagrees with me.

 

[Perfo]

Spider-Man 2 easily… every line is cringe af

 

[Nickolaidas]

I just wanted to discuss games...

Fuck that, this is way more entertaining.

 

[simpatico]

Making people pick between Starfield and Spiderman 2 isn't fair. Both sides of the console fanboy spectrum kinda got pwned this year.

 

[GymWolf]

Starfield was dull and boring, ff16 starts well then descend into pure cringe, zelda wasn't bad, just extremely simple and sometimes childish (dah), nobody play zelda for the writing.
Spiderman was downright insulting with all the pander and pussyfication of peter, hilariously bad.

Gow biggest problem was the pace and how ALL the kids talk, they sound like fucking zoomers

Overall spidey 2 and starfield are my choices.

 

[Boss Mog]

Out of those, Starfield, but as others have mentioned if Spider-man 2 was in the mix, I would definitely go with Spider-man 2.

 

[EviLore]

Fact - Starfield is one of the worst written RPGs of all time

Good writing in an RPG means different things to different people. You might appreciate meaningful choices. You might appreciate deep conversations with realistic characters. You might appreciate an epic adventure full of memorable twists and turns. You might appreciate years spent on developing...

www.neogaf.com

 

[The Fuzz damn you!]

Out of those, Starfield, but as others have mentioned if Spider-man 2 was in the mix, I would definitely go with Spider-man 2.

Uhhh… it is. It’s right there in the list.

You know, somehow I find myself questioning your ability to judge writing.

 

[balls of snow]

FF16 does not belong in this list. It started out strong and turned into JRPG fate trash towards the end, but like you said the characters were the highlight and remained strong all the way till the end. Clive and Jill are easily the best couple on screen in years. Both immensely likeable despite carrying a lot of trauma. Note to Neil Druckman, you dont have to make your characters a cunt just to show PTSD. Clive, Jill, and even Dion show resolve, grit and the ability to grow from their past trauma instead of letting it envelop them like Abby and Ellie. Maybe thats the story Neil was trying to tell, but it fell flat for me whereas it was refreshing to see these larger than life characters consistently try to do the right and honorable thing.

P.S Any game with Sid, the best side character this year, should not even be included in a poll like this. He was charming, charismatic, pragmatic, witty, and honorable like a fucking game of thrones character. He carried the first half of the game. Hell, even the villains aside from the main baddie were excellent. Its just that last act with fantasy fate of the world crap that lets the story down but WORST writing? come on.

Yep im approaching the endgame of xvi and the cast has been the main driving force me putting close to 90 hours into the game doing the most mundane of side quests. Clive, Jill and most of the hideaway in general are just likeable enough for me to see the journey through. And Cid is the best. Legit made me stop playing xvi for 5 months after his part of the story was done.

 

[SpokkX]

Starfield hade a good premise but it is so safe written it is boring. Everything, especially companions, are bland (and non-offensive).

Spiderman was worse though imo. While parts were quote good (venom, kraven, parker) other parts were embarrassing and clearly pandering to certain people (miles side missions, blind girl etc)

 

[geary]

Let's face it, AAA games usually have shit writing because they need to appeal the masses.
This year crpgs/tbrpgs like BG3, WH40K: RT or Sea of Stars shit on any AAA writing (maybe excluding CP77: PL)

 

[gaming_again]

Some people want GAF to be the Anti-ResetERA so bad, without realizing that they only want to be JUST LIKE ResetERA. Just with the opposing politics of it all.

Well I don't see anybody asking for you to be banned...

i like seeing the two different viewpoints. Agreement is boring.

 

[gaming_again]

You are a total moron if you think that Ragnarok or Spidey 2 had bad writing, like you need to get tested because you might be eligible for disability moronic.

I don't understand how your avatar can display some of the greatest modern TV writing, yet you think those two games has good writing. It just doesn't make sense.

 

[RagnarokIV]

It's Spider-Man 2 without a doubt.

 

[Morrie’s wig shop]

They are all not that great but at the same time it’s a video game. So I’m never mad or angry (lol) about a story in a video game. I’m not sure what everyone wants out of these game stories.
Write me something better then these stories that were presented in these games.

Write me a kratos story where he has a kid 1500 years after the height of the Greek empire?
Write me a space opera story on whatever you want and we’ll see if it’s better then Starfield?
Final Fantasy and Zelda, two games that have been around now going on 4, that’s four decades. That’s older then half the people posting here. They all feel like the same story told in different ways with each installment, some are better then others.
And finally Spider-Man, a comic book hero created in the early 1960s for children, if your complaining and crying about Spider-Man story as a grownup. It’s time to move on to more adult-themed comic dudes if that’s your thing.

Now remember your story will not be the story in the game upon release.
It will get butchered, murdered and stitched together in a boardroom filled with Sweet Baby Inc. employee’s… enjoy lol….

 

[RoadHazard]

The lore is where the contradictions occur, mostly when trying to reconcile the Zonai with the Sheikah, and Calamity Ganon with Ganondorf especially what we know of the final dragon form he was keeping as his endgame. The nature of TOTK being the kind of story it is also causes causality consistency issues between BOTW and TOTK for the master sword

My interpretation of the Ganondorf stuff is that he was always down there, but during the Calamity he wasn't yet strong enough to take physical form. It doesn't necessarily contradict anything in TOTK.

The master sword and Zelda, yes, but basically that timeline hadn't happened "yet" in BOTW, it was created by the events in TOTK.

Edit: Or there were actually two swords existing simultaneously during BOTW. The one in the forest, and the one Zelda brought back. Yeah, it doesn't really make sense, but that's time travel for you I guess.

 

[Camreezie]

Spiderman 2 and Ragnarok were written by people embarassed to have genitals. Havent played FF or Starfield yet to compare but the previous two were incredibly whiny and preachy

 

[Morrie’s wig shop]

My interpretation of the Ganondorf stuff is that he was always down there, but during the Calamity he wasn't yet strong enough to take physical form. It doesn't necessarily contradict anything in TOTK.

The master sword and Zelda, yes, but basically that timeline hadn't happened "yet" in BOTW, it was created by the events in TOTK. Yeah, it doesn't make sense, but that's time travel for you I guess.

You said the magic word, it’s your interpretation of the story that was presented to you and that’s all what should matter.

It starts to become an issue when people want to start attaching awards and accolades to these video games, thats when the arguments and in fighting begins which imo is the lamest thing in this industry.

 

[Roufianos]

Ragnarok has some cringe dialogue, especially from Atreus.

But, Starfield is easily one of the worst stories I've ever experienced. 80 hours with that game and I couldn't tell you one character's name.

Worst offender is Ryujin Industries where you're meant to side with one of them, like I give a shit about any of you when you're all so half baked.

 

[Nickolaidas]

Spiderman 2 and Ragnarok were written by people embarassed to have genitals. Havent played FF or Starfield yet to compare but the previous two were incredibly whiny and preachy

Yeah, at this point, every western Sony game should begin with this:

Screen is pitch black.

A question appears with a Yes/No answer.

"Are you white?"
- Yes.

"Are you male?"
- Yes.

"Are you straight?"
- Yes.

"Then prepare to feel bad about it."

Letters fade away. Two seconds pass.

"Sony Entertainment Presents"

 

[Hugare]

To me its GOW Ragnarok, by far

It's written like a teen Marvel movie. Just terrible. 2018 had a much better tone and writting, so naturally you would expect an even more serious tone for freaking Ragnarok, right? The war that ends norse mythology and all that.

Nah, here's a game with teen romance, Marvel quips and no sense of urgency. Ragnarok? Oh yeah, its there, for the last 20 minutes of this 40h long game.

I felt so much cringe at the dialogue when I wasnt playing as Kratos.

Spider-man 2 was also bad, but I didnt feel as much cringe as I felt with Ragnarok

 

[kunonabi]

Totk also retells the Imprisoning war and the creation of hyrule. Sadly it does them worse than the previous versions. Of course, the the plot structure is lifted straight from botw and handled worse as well so I guess that's just totk being consistent.

You could argue with that these are a second founding of hyrule and Imprisoning war but then one wonders why they went through all the trouble to set things up in the future so they didn't have to worry about the timeline just to retell old stories anyway.

 

[lucius]

Starfield writing is really bad but still the game couldn’t be fixed with better dialogue or story, sure it would make it more tolerable though. Starfield is a mostly boring and a forgettable game, I tried going back to it again but I rather play The Outer Worlds, Fallout 4 or New Vegas again .

 

[Jormatar]

Starfield sucks but honestly does anyone actually care about the story in Zelda games?

 

[The Fuzz damn you!]

Yeah, at this point, every western Sony game should begin with this:

Screen is pitch black.

A question appears with a Yes/No answer.

"Are you white?"
- Yes.

"Are you male?"
- Yes.

"Are you straight?"
- Yes.

"Then prepare to feel bad about it."

Letters fade away. Two seconds pass.

"Sony Entertainment Presents"

I am white.

I am male.

I am straight.

I have played through all of the Sony game you are referencing here.

At no point have I ever felt bad about myself, my identity, my history, my culture, my heritage or my values. Not even once.

Maybe there’s something else going on here…?

 

[Deleted member 848825]

A lot of the writing in this thread is far more interesting and entertaining than anything I had to endure in Starfield. So Starfield easily wins my vote.

 

[DrFigs]

I see what's happening. when you guys say bad writing, you mean political.

 

[Gen.Grievous]

I only play on PC so I don't have much of a choice. But Bethesda writing is always bad, they make up for it in environmental story telling most of the time.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

Some of you really need to play some games with truly awful writing. Sheesh.

 

[Nickolaidas]

Maybe there’s something else going on here…?

Yes.

You lack perception.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Yes.

You lack perception.

I've felt perceptionless for most of my life

But then I was given an historical lesson on african american musicians and was taught an important lesson. Do not trust the white guy with money. He probably wants to steal your trambone

 

[Nickolaidas]

I've felt perceptionless for most of my life

But then I was given an historical lesson on african american musicians and was taught an important lesson. Do not trust the white guy with money. He probably wants to steal your trambone

I missed that class and now I don't have a single musical instrument in my house.

 

[Bernardougf]

They were all mediocre.

But God Of War Ragnarok's Kratos is so pathetic, and based on the wishful thinking of a very specific kind of American left wing undergraduate, where his real function is to repent for his errant masculinity over and over and over again, that I can barely tolerate playing it.

It is a worldview of, frankly, lesbian feminists and the pink haired, polyamorous, impotent child molesters who enable them. Kratos was to me, a far healthier, more well rounded, and better character when he existed to fuck bitches, kill things with chains, and be a man.

And his kid is a piece of shit who should be summarily executed.

Pretty much spot on ... and thats why playing this games are becoming harder and harder ... I went back to 2d jap rpgs and wont be back soon to this bullshit

 

[adamsapple]

I've felt perceptionless for most of my life

But then I was given an historical lesson on african american musicians and was taught an important lesson. Do not trust the white guy with money. He probably wants to steal your trambone

Your African American music history may end up saving your life one day.

 

[Flutta]

I don’t recall it being attacked for being an exclusive, nor really for its writing. There were other issues that were more prominently criticised.

People usually don’t reveal their intention when hating on things. Most 3party games that gets moneyhatted by either PS and Xbox gets alot of hate not for what the game offers but rather what box it’s associated with.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

i too am a navy seal

I'm SAS

Saturdays and Sundays.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Here's the thing with Spider-Man 2, comic book writing has been just as bad, well actually worse the past 10+ years. The mind virus was to be expected. Outside of Deadpool and Logan, it's all shite.

GoW would not be so bad, if they did not include the 4th wall dialogue word choices like a wanna-be Marvel movie. The same thing Star Wars suffered from with the insufferable "please hold" call from Poe to the destroyer in TLJ vomit.

Zelda, well, it's Zelda, just like Mario. You play it for the gameplay. Only uberdorks go virgin-deep into fleshing out lore for that shit.

FF has always had a sheen of cringe, don't let your nostalgia muddy that. They are written like young adult novels.

Starfield, it came "from the studio that brought you Skyrim and FO4" and was going up against the prior released Witcher 3 or Cyberpunk for RPG novella. Let that sink in.

 

[mckmas8808]

Wtf is Ragnarok doing on this list?

Haters gonna hate. Nothing else to say. That's why it's on the list.