Best Story cRPGs

Story Computer Role-playing Games

cRPG History overflows with story cRPGs. Story, dialogue and lore come under the cRPG Design category of writing. Ranked in order of their greatness, the best story cRPGs are as follows:

• Jagged Alliance 2 (Sir-Tech, 1999): Overall, Jagged Alliance 2 has the best writing of any cRPG. Concise, but also full of wit and charm, its writing is almost flawless.
• Fallout 1 (Interplay, 1997): See above pic
• Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (Troika, 2001): Just read the dialogue I quote in that link! Arcanum has the best dialogue writing of any cRPG.
• Baldur's Gate 1 (BioWare, 1998): [main plot BG1 + Durlag's Tower]
• Mask of the Betrayer (Obsidian, 2007): Writing style is a little too modern for my taste, but it's still superior to anything that came after.
• Planescape: Torment (Black Isle Studios, 1999): Torrential dialogue, but has moments of greatness.
• Fallout 2 (Black Isle Studios, 1998): Has its moments, too.
• Betrayal at Krondor (Dynamix, 1993): Well-written Riftwar setting.

But which cRPG has the worst story? Answer: Morrowind.

Criteria for Best Story cRPGs

Just so you know, this is what solid narrative looks like:

By best-written, I mean writing skills in general rather than just story-telling skills. Thus, lore, dialogue and technical writing (e.g, rules writing) are factored in. I'm talking overall quality of writing.

I prefer clear and concise writing that gets the point across with a bit of flavor, but not too much. I especially penalize long-winded writing and purple prose. If the writing often employs big or rare words in place of common ones which get the point across better or more clearly, then it gets penalized for being pretentious.

Faddist Language in cRPGs Ruins the Writing

The English Language is important to the cRPG Blog. You may have realized that while reading my article on Classic Computer Game Language.

If cRPG writing employs faddist vocab and expressions that won't stand the test of time, it is written off immediately; likewise if it celebrates stupidity, frivolity or mediocrity and ignores grace, dignity and greatness.

Note that, unless it is approved by embedded lore to the point of familiarity (but even then, I don't like this), the deliberate misspelling of words and the butchering of the English language is not cool. Instead, it makes the writer look like a complete and utter idiot. And this doesn't mean I think language is static and never changes: it just means I don't like reading stupid stuff.

Evidence of Life Experience in cRPG Story-telling is Favored

Writing that exhibits life experience is favored. You can tell if writers have lived some life and drawn from their experience or if they have barely ever travelled, talked to different types of people, read books (but not too many), and so on. It's as clear as day and can't be faked. Affectation is so easy to detect and is always despised when detected.

I place great emphasis on wit, which also can't be faked. (I am not witty, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate wit).

The sad truth is that some cRPG writers should never have put pen to paper; they shouldn't have inflicted their twaddle on the public. Instead, they should have gone and flipped burgers for a living.

The World of the cRPG is more important than its Story

Blatant, in-our-face storytelling is not as important as it is made out to be by "narrative designers" who are trying to validate their unneeded "profession". This is because players can craft their own story by role-playing their character and adventuring in the gameworld. If the world is interesting to adventure in there is no need for the twaddlings of third-rate writers to lead us by the nose and spell everything out lest, god forbid, we miss any of their third-rate content.

And this brings us to the bottom line, which was expressed by me in cRPG Definition:

The best cRPGs write themselves. They are not about, or ideally should not be about being led by the nose through driving narratives and their accompanying cutscenes, but are rather about OUR player-generated stories that evolve within the framework of potentialities presented.

There we have a diametric opposition to being led by the nose or LARPing in one's head: every axe swing, every blow dodged and every square explored becomes the story; that is, the story of the cRPG is a series of MECHANICAL OUTCOMES, be they successes or failures.

Voiceacting is to be Avoided

Reading is faster than listening to disinterested actors who often botch linguistic stress through their mechanical delivery; laughable, because it shows they don't even understand or care about what they are reading aloud in the recording studio. And who can blame them:

Most cRPG writing is enough to put anyone to sleep, even if they are being paid to stay awake.

A Lead Writer Results in Superior cRPG Stories

cRPGs that have a Lead Writer are better than ones that rely on several narrative designers one of which writes this quest and the other that one. Such collaborative efforts often amount to naught but narrative hotch-potches and stand out like a sore thumb especially if the writers are of differing skill levels and write in different styles, which is also often the case. A real writer can write in many different voices while maintaining a consistent quality. Proof: read any good novel.

Moreover, the best cRPGs of all-time were made by small teams: too many cooks spoil the broth.

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