Current Events > video game-y video games with non terrible writing

(+) Yeah! (+)

looking for something to play. here are the requirements

i'd prefer it to be video game-y. by this i mean i do not want a giant open world or a bunch of crafting and skill trees. should be goofy or fun or fast-paced. think yakuza 0, doom, earth defense force, spelunky, rocket league, etc. only open world stuff i like is smaller stuff like yakuza 0 or the recent spiderman games really.

it cannot have dog shit writing. basically all games have bad writing. if they have next to no writing and do minimal storytelling then that is ok (journey, stray, outer wilds, mario) or if the focus isn't on story (for example most fps). examples of good writing include the aforementioned yakuza 0 and the last of us 2. think that is all i have for good examples.

also would appreciate if it were good.

misc games i like besides the ones mentioned include the witness, titanfall 2, splinter cell chaos theory, portal, half life 2, sly cooper series, shadow of the colossus, uncharted, hitman

la mulana

maybe Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


really its just the dialogue and boring characters. something like horizon zero dawn has really, really bad writing. just beat battlefield 1 and that was embarrassing. pretty sure anything with dialogue trees like mass effect or elder scrolls is bad.

i just don't want to think about this while playing a game. either be good or have next to no storytelling so i'm not rolling my eyes during cut scenes. not a lot to ask imo.

oh yea, even though it has an open-world and skill trees, I would still recommend Cyberpunk 2077.

I liked its writing, and it had a lot of "human" moments.

Tales from the Borderlands

BoomerKuwanger posted...

Each sentence sounds like you're asking for a different thing. You listed Rocket League which doesn't have dialogue at all as a good example, in which case anything that is "pure gameplay" could qualify and there are thousands of good games to choose from.

You asked for "non terrible writing" which implies you want it to have decent to good writing, but now I can't tell if you meant "doesn't have terrible writing", which is a different thing

i apologize for any confusion

doesnt have terrible writing is what i mean

Undertale fits your description if you haven't played it yet.

Hollow Knight

Katana Zero

Baron_Ox posted...

maybe Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.

This oddly enough may be the most "video game-y" game with good writing. They really nailed the humor, the game is very funny (although it unfortunately has the issue of lines being repeated in combat) Its still below average writing compared to a good book, but the writing is good for a video game.

Games with truly excellent writing are really rare, and they are usually slow paced and text based like Disco Elysium.

Zithers posted...

i do not want a giant open world
should be goofy or fun or fast-paced
if they have next to no writing and do minimal storytelling then that is ok
also would appreciate if it were good

A lot of games fit here.
- Tetris is fun and fast-paced with no writing.
- Racing games like Burnout or Mario Kart
- Fighting games like Tekken Tag Tournament or SSBU
- Shmups like Gradius
- FPS like Black
- Ton of mobile games

hi fi rush
bomb rush cyberfunk
hyper light drifter
project zomboid
risk of rain 2
castle crashers
sunset overdrive

an't forget Psychonauts 1+2

Very video gamey, EXCEPTIONAL writing for a video game.

Metal Gear Rising Revengeance

dark souls 1

is cuphead your cup of tea?

Doom 2016

even the best written videogames are full of plot holes.

"Why don't the characters just do X if there's all these resources lying around that can cure death and such?"
"why didn't she just leave?"
"If they can time travel why didn't just go back to X and "

Smashingpmkns posted...

Katana Zero

And Mark of the Ninja

Gameplay focus that has plot integrated into your actions without getting in the way.

Have you played Hades? Hades fucking rocks.

Sounds like you're looking for indie-darling style games.

Celeste
Undertale
Hyper Light Drifter
Furi
Hollow Knight

Corn Kidz 64

Beveren_Rabbit posted...

even the best written videogames are full of plot holes.

"Why don't the characters just do X if there's all these resources lying around that can cure death and such?"
"why didn't she just leave?"
"If they can time travel why didn't just go back to X and "

i dont really care about "plot holes" or, what you're really describing, plot contrivances. because every video game, book, movie, and so forth is full of those. its more dialogue and characters being bad all the time.

JKwaffle posted...

Have you played Hades? Hades fucking rocks.

i played bastion for an hour and disliked it so not sure i want to bother

Zithers posted...

i dont really care about "plot holes" or, what you're really describing, plot contrivances. because every video game, book, movie, and so forth is full of those. its more dialogue and characters being bad all the time.

i played bastion for an hour and disliked it so not sure i want to bother

They are extremely different, I couldnt get into Bastion either but absolutely love Hades

last of us does not have good writing

Baron_Ox posted...

maybe Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.

This game was both not good, and a buggy nightmare. I don't understand why people like it so much.

Portal?

Deus Ex has a fantastic story

Syphon Filter 1-2 have great stories

Shadow Man

Silent Hill 2

Legacy of Kain has a phenomenal story line in fact Amy Hennig would go onto to direct and write the Uncharted games.

PBusted posted...

Metal Gear Rising Revengeance

That games writing and story were trash. Like a lit of others said try Guardians of the Galaxy

pretzelcoatl posted...

This game was both not good, and a buggy nightmare. I don't understand why people like it so much.

maybe it's because I played it last year, but I didn't experience any bugs.

I also thought that the story and writing were pretty fun.

the gameplay took some getting used to, though, but that was mostly because I just kept thinking of it as a straight up shooter rather than an action-RPG with shooting elements.

Sea of Stars is what youre looking for.

pretzelcoatl posted...

This game was both not good, and a buggy nightmare. I don't understand why people like it so much.

I played it and ran into no major bugs. I'm sure there are some minor bugs I'm forgetting but most games have those.

Nirvanas_Nox posted...

That games writing and story were trash. Like a lit of others said try Guardians of the Galaxy

It's like the best simplest actiony video gamey plot. Someone mentioned Resident Evil and MGR's short and sweet plotline with some commentary on world events is way better than all of those. It's better than his own mentioned games.

PBusted posted...

It's like the best simplest actiony video gamey plot. Someone mentioned Resident Evil and MGR's short and sweet plotline with some commentary on world events is way better than all of those. It's better than his own mentioned games.

Maybe but s/he ( sorry dont know what tcs gender is) said good story with no terrible writing. MGSR doesn't fit with that

Zithers posted...

i played bastion for an hour and disliked it so not sure i want to bother

Bastion is kind of an oddball. I think it was their first game and it's both very rough around the edges and had a really weird control decision or two. If game feel was what turned you off Bastion, Hades is massively improved from it.

Hades is also a roguelite so you're dealing with RNG on runs and such. Not sure how much that matters to you. If you do like rogue lite or likes, there's a massive number of those.

Ultrakill seems right up your alley but is sadly in early access right now.

You might like Helldivers 2, that's very video game-y. It's got lore but not really story.

I could make other suggestions but for the most part our interests don't align too much. Most of the other ones I can think of will stray from one or two of your rules, like Hollow Knight having its Metroidvania map or Armored Core 6 having too much nitty gritty in builds.

Both Guacamelee games have pretty fun stories, witty writing, and good character development.

Nirvanas_Nox posted...

Maybe but s/he ( sorry dont know what tcs gender is) said good story with no terrible writing. MGSR doesn't fit with that

He, and thats very cap.