AS MUCH DIALOGUE AS POSSIBLE

I'm sad that it's not in my DS version of DQIV. :(

I have DQIV DS too. I feel your pain...

When playing Paper Mario TTYD, I'd alway have Goombella as my active partner and I'd alway tattle the NP Cs before speaking to them, tattle every single room when entering them, go back and tattle-talk to the NPCS if plot events changed their appearance or dialogue, waste a turn tattling easy midbosses and one-time encounters, ect because I wanted to "experience" everything in the game or something. oh, and did I mention tattling.

The amusing dialogue was almost kind of worth it the first time, but it also made actually playing the game about 97% more boring.

edited 12th Jun '11 2:51:48 PM by Glowsquid

In any RPG I play I always make sure to chat up as many NP Cs as I possibly can over the course of the game. In addition to the flavor text there's lots of little goodies to find that you wouldn't get otherwise.

Some of Goombella's remarks about the entries in her encyclopedia chronicling the enemies (such as lampshading) the mooks of Bowser's army; i.e. Goombas and Koopas) were humorous too.

This my main issue with Mass Effect (well one of them) , You never feel like a TEAM, if you are lucky you may get little quips about something together, but usually its just Shepard talking with one of the party members and the whole while everyone stays in their little area waiting for YOU and JUST you to talk to them.

edited 12th Jun '11 4:09:06 PM by Thorn14

I have to come in on the opposite side and say I hate talking to NP Cs. Yet I feel I have to, because I might miss something if I don't. And if you have to talk to them more than once each, or do something special to change their dialog... Let's just say that I loathe getting to new towns.

I don't mind dialog or even long cutscenes, I just hate the process of running around town over and over and over again just to talk to everyone in the vain hope that maybe one of them will say something important or funny. It feels like busywork.

Of course, some games streamline the process, so that's okay, but the standard "walk around talking to people in town" thing is my least favorite part of any game that includes it.

The reason we don't have so much dialog now days is voice acting takes too much time, space, and is prohibitive to changing anything.

It's sad.

Not every new game has full voice acting though. Especially not for the random NP Cs.

Give me more/better dialogue choices than voice acting any day. Another thing I have against modern bioware.

So many people treat nonexistent or partial voice acting as a major strike against a game, though.

Unfortunately.

People dont realize how much time and effort voice work takes.

Because the modern console gamer is functionally illiterate it seems (or at least very very lazy).

edited 12th Jun '11 4:50:00 PM by deuxhero

Yeah, if voicing the protagonist is the reason we lack more dialogue options in rpgs nowadays then tell them to shut up.

Lack of Party Chat is pretty much the only reason why I haven't bought DQ IV.

Fuck yeah.

Compare Dragonage 1 and 2.

Good lord I cant stand the dialogue wheel.

Clearly a menu is too hard for joysticks...

Psychonauts.

Every time I play it, I have to hear every last dialogue tree, even the hints from Ford that I already know. I have to explore each and every last place in the camp to hear the kids' conversations. I have to use everything on every NPC to hear their reactiosn.

Why? Because they're so much fun to listen to.

I quite enjoy having lots of dialogue. Tells me more about the world, gives random NP Cs a semblance of a personality, helps with the immersion.

@Glowsquid: YES. THAT IS ME. Hence why I love Goombella and Goombario so much. I also found out recently that one of my best friends does this too, which filled me with joy.

However, I am proud of my habit of talking to OH MY GOD EVERYONE, for it has lead to me finding some unexpected crowning moments, especially in the department of unexpected hilarity. I remember playing the original Robopon, going into a totally pointless house, and discovering that the NPC there actually had a lengthy conversation programmed about how it is A-OK in the Robopon universe to basically break, enter, and rob your neighbors blind.

In RP Gs, I have a tendency to talk to every person. I personally enjoy it.

All this makes me wonder... how much raw volume of dialogue must a game have for phone-ins to be excusable?

GRATUITOUS AMOUNTS OF DIALOGUE.

I disagree about the choice-wheel, but think Bio Ware should have avoided voicing the codex in Mass Effect; it was just taking up sound-file space that could have gone elsewhere. (Although it was very handy back when I didn't have an HD TV, so I had to squint to read the words.)

I waste so much time in Pokemon just trying to talk to every NPC, even though most of them have nothing interesting to say.

Another reason why camps in Dynasty Warriors are a welcome addition!