Board 8 > What games do dialogue and VA as good as or better than Naughty Dog?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I feel like they're the grand masters of it, but I can't honestly say I play as many games as I used to.

I ask because I just started playing Life Is Strange, and it seems pretty good, but man am I pining for ND's dialogue and voice-acting quality there. But then it feels unfair to expect that standard everywhere when I consider them kind of a cut above everyone else. But are they a cut above everyone else? I guess GTA is pretty good.
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Metal Gear Solid and Mass Effect. Persona's usually pretty good, too.
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Legacy of Kain
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MGS doesn't. And you know how much I love MGS. But it doesn't.
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Not sure why you seem to think MGS hasn't had good dialogue and voice work from the start because it has.
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Oh, it has. I've never been dissatisfied with it. It's very good, sometimes great. And it was certainly light years ahead of its time for a while there in terms of quality, I think. It's just that Naughty Dog is better.

There are loads of games with good or very good VA and dialogue.
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Uncharted is better, but not much is better than Uncharted.

The radio dialogue in MGS3 is some of the best stuff out there. I can just sit there and listen to radio conversations for hours in that game.
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Resident Evil
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Uncharted is better, but not much is better than Uncharted.

Well... yeah. Hence the topic >_>

(TLOU is also better)

The radio dialogue in MGS3 is some of the best stuff out there. I can just sit there and listen to radio conversations for hours in that game.

That would be the "sometimes great" I mentioned. Love that stuff so much
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then just say Uncharted

because I'm not going to say Jak & Daxter or Crash Bandicoot has some of the best voice work in the business
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Oh jesus. Fine. PS3/4 era Naughty Dog.
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I don't know that I ever felt like Last of Us really wowed me. It's good, but I never got the same feeling of amazement at how good it was that I got with Uncharted. Nolan North in particular is one of the best in the business at banter.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OVv-J-LXQU
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Now I see Neil Druckmann's true inspiration
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"There's a guy above you, there's a guy above you! ..........There's a guy below you, there's a guy below you!"

is still my favorite bit in a game ever.
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Saints Row series. Seriously. Great voice acting in those games. In terms of comedic VA, nothing tops it.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FJTK_iNA5s&feature=youtu.be&t=0
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It's very minimal but I've always found the Souls games and Bloodborne had voice work that was perfect for the feeling they were trying go convey.

But yeah, Naughty Dog reigns at the top
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scarletspeed7 posted...

Saints Row series. Seriously. Great voice acting in those games. In terms of comedic VA, nothing tops it.

You know, this actually crossed my mind but I only played 4 (I know).
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Two and three have great acting as well. One is hard to gauge with a weaker script. But I think as a whole, that series consistently improved until the voice acting is honestly a big selling point of the series.
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Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
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BowserCuffs posted...

Elder Scrolls Oblivion

Blessings of Akatosh upon ye.
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scarletspeed7 posted...

BowserCuffs posted...

Elder Scrolls Oblivion

Blessings of Akatosh upon ye.

STOP TALKING ALREADY
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BowserCuffs posted...

scarletspeed7 posted...

BowserCuffs posted...

Elder Scrolls Oblivion

Blessings of Akatosh upon ye.

STOP TALKING ALREADY

"I heard a rumor that you're an idiot. Any truth to that?"

How can you deny this line?
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scarletspeed7 posted...

Two and three have great acting as well. One is hard to gauge with a weaker script. But I think as a whole, that series consistently improved until the voice acting is honestly a big selling point of the series.

The final mission of 4 is pretty great honestly.

Also Keith David
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The Arkham games are up there
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Blizzard games tend to have great voice work. Rockstar, as you mentioned with GTA, has probably been the leader in this stuff since Vice City (not saying that Vice City holds up particularly well now, but at the time it was top tier).

Nobody else really comes to mind as being better than Naughty Dog
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Oxenfree has some incredible writing and VA, if you don't mind what's basically a suspense horror VN.
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Namco with Tales games
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tazzyboyishere posted...

Namco with Tales games

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2EenrtwJtc

Seriously?
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I like MGS games a lot more than Uncharted, but Uncharted actually manages to feel like a movie. MGS tried but doesn't succeed.
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MGS pulled it off when it was released because our standards for cinematic videogames were lower.

Like if you go back and watch a movie from 10 years ago now, the CG looks dated and obvious. (Iron Man suiting up in the first movie is probably the first obvious example that comes to mind) But I was so into it at the time and suspended my disbelief I guess. MGS is the same - at the time it felt very Hollywood. But other games, not just UC, have captured that feeling much better since then so MGS doesn't.

But cinematically it was way ahead of its time, I think.
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Uncharted's appearance of seamless transitions and banter (assuming you don't deliberately try to stop or slow down to suspend the illusion of the setpieces) is as good as anything I've seen. It's definitely a cinematic type of experience if you play it the "right way" because you're meant to go from one thing to the next in a very rapid fashion. You're not really meant to do that in MGS because of the stealth and the constant enemy presence, which makes the pace more plodding.
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XIII_rocks posted...

tazzyboyishere posted...

Namco with Tales games

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2EenrtwJtc

Seriously?

Your point?
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the hot coffee scene is one of the seminal experiences of our time
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MrGreenonion posted...

Legacy of Kain

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tazzyboyishere posted...

XIII_rocks posted...

tazzyboyishere posted...

Namco with Tales games

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2EenrtwJtc

Seriously?

Your point?

I mean, I've certainly seen worse, but that absolutely isn't VA or dialogue even in the same league as Uncharted or TLOU.
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Bible Black
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VeryInsane posted...

The Arkham games are up there

I was going to mention this too. Can't beat the Conroy/Hammil duo.

also maybe not as good as ND, but up there is modern Wolfenstein. I have high hopes for the Old Colossus.
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I think you're unfairly mashing the MGS Series because of style

In general though MGS is good for what it is, as good as Uncharted games. It just lacks the off the cuff banter that Uncharted does because that's really not the flavor of the game. You really only get it in codec, which is well, in a codec conversation, and so it's sorta in a vacuum to begin with due to being in a codec conversation.
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MGS4 has the scene where Naomi dies.

I'm a fan of Christopher Randolph generally in the games he is in, but there is nothing in any ND game anywhere near as bad as he is there. It's the scene I always want to skip. Seriously bad.

Sure that's one scene of a million, and yeah MGS is generally excellent, but it's a real sticking point for me.
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I feel like the original Uncharted has a few bad moments-- I honestly kinda disliked the series till finally caving and trying Uncharted 2, but yeah probably nothing nearly that bad I'll give you.
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Hogs of War.

I also feel like GTA has amazing voice acting too considering all the craziness involved.
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Altered Beast
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XIII_rocks posted...

tazzyboyishere posted...

XIII_rocks posted...

tazzyboyishere posted...

Namco with Tales games

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2EenrtwJtc

Seriously?

Your point?

I mean, I've certainly seen worse, but that absolutely isn't VA or dialogue even in the same league as Uncharted or TLOU.

troll
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Alright
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Jak has really freakin good dialogue. Uncharted definitely didn't get it from nowhere.

But yeah Oxenfree has UC style dialogue kinda.
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I can't understand how anyone would think that mgs belongs in the discussion. There is nothing in that game that even remotely resembles real dialogue. It's 95% plot/gameplay exposition with some of the hammiest acting I've ever seen.

It might be fun but it's in no way authentic.
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the slide is polished to a mirror sheen tho
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