When I think of bad video game dialogue, I think of the personality quirks as a stand-in for actual characterization. This is the way no one has spoken before.
In most video games, this is how every character comes across, like an alien trying to sound like a human.
There are games where the bad writing is not necessary. I think of two games where I loved playing them, until the time when they made me sit and listen to terrible dialogue for no reason.
Neon White is a very good game that I would recommend. A combination of readable elements and mechanics makes parkouring across the map intuitive and satisfying. The game made me shave milliseconds off of my time. I became very competitive with Jay when I saw a sneak peek of the score from my friends.
As soon as you complete each stage, everything stops. There is a lot of plot and a weird cast of characters. The dialogue is real.
Neon White: I feel the strongest connection to you...
Neon Red: ...
Neon White: [internal monologue] Dammit White! Why would you say something so lame to a girl?
The entire scene is two and a half minutes long and contains innuendo about a character's "measurements." It's odd that Neon White has a lot of between-level filler. The characters are horny and boring.
It could either be called camp or cringe.
The game is aware of what it is doing. Neon White's dialogue plays up the stereotypes of the genre, including exaggerated gestures and loud gasps. What do you think will happen? The game is meaningless. Neon White is obnoxious. It could either be called camp or cringe.
The worst thing I encountered this year was the movie. This is a game that I enjoyed when it wasn't talking to me. A remake of the XCOM formula, Midnight Suns is a blast. The precision and patience of duck-and-cover tactics have been sacrificed for the creativity and risk-taking of a deck builder. The result is a card game.
There are things in Midnight Suns that are not battles. You spend your time at home chatting with other superheros and doing small chores, while at the Abbey base. The light interactions make the characters stronger in fights. Considering you are trying to improve friendship, the mechanics are completely unintelligible. The loop is reminiscent of Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
It is hard to understate how much Midnight Suns wants to be Three Houses. The high school friendship system feels like it was put on its characters by the new combat system. It's a romance mechanic, but you won't be able to kiss the grizzled Mutant. He will thank you and give you a slight boost for the next fight.
All the dialogue is affected by what my colleague Ash described to me as "Joss Whedon mouth." The characters are piping in with unfunny jokes when they aren't detailing a broad plot. It feels like this is in line with the current universe of superhero films, which are slacker comedies broken up by big action set pieces. Midnight Suns is trying too hard if it can be defined by their effortlessness.
If there wasn't so much of it, I would be okay with it. At one point, Blade admitted to you that he has a crush on the character. He decided to start a book club because he wanted to spend more time with her. Captain America overhears and invites himself along as well.
The writing is completely different from the games themselves.
It might have been amusing if the game were a self-aware reinvention of these characters. If you play Midnight Suns, you will hear all of the characters say their feelings about the book club selection, which is Sun Tzu's The Art of War. This drags on for a long time until the day ends and you can actually play the video game you came for.
There was a lot of writing in games this year, from a quiet, somber space opera to a point-and- click adventure. The purpose of those games was the writing.
In Neon White and Midnight Suns, dialogue is treated like a waste of time. All of the writing is not related to the games themselves. The games show you how easy it is to skip it.
In Midnight Suns, Wolverine joins the book club but doesn't read. He hasn't put in the effort, that's why he's annoyed This was the most realistic character moment I've ever had: listening to people and putting up with it.
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