Alt Tab – Thinking Out Loud.....

I love RPG’s…maybe too much. Whenever I am not writing here, or doing other worldly tasks, you are likely to find me with some music in the background reading text on the screen to follow an interactive story that generally entertains me. In spite of that, there is one pet peeve that is quick to make me shake my head. Its irritating, unnecessary and when you go through your first play through, you cannot skip because you fear you will actually miss something.

I am talking about the pork in dialogue.

Some of you may wonder what I am talking about. One of my favorite RPG’s that I played last year happened to be Eternal Sonata. The intrusive combat along with the beautiful music made me enjoy myself most of the time. But the game’s dialogue must have added an extra 2 hours to the game! There wasn’t a single thought that these characters could keep to themselves. Another experience that makes me shake my head is Final Fantasy 12. Yes, the same game you either love to hate or hate to love, is another chronic offender. It is enough to make me cynical, especially when I have heard the same directions for the 20^th time, which isn’t necessary when the directions are on the map.

I understand that the game needs to give out information to flesh out the experience. I often enjoy finding out what the game characters are thinking, especially when it adds to the story and thus the experience. It just doesn’t need to be over intrusive to the point to where the same things are repeated to characters that are supposedly talking to themselves. It slows down the pace in an already slowed down genre, and that’s me thinking out loud.