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Best Dialogue
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Localising Final Fantasy XIV sounds like a daunting task. Nevertheless, the team of Square Enix has done an incredible job in not only ensuring that everything is always ready to go on a global level, but also making sure that the writing is excellent down to the smallest detail. Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker’s dialogue is testament to that since nothing is wasted. From the key players to even those otherwise unimportant NPCs whose comments still play a key role in bringing the world and its story to life, all of the individual lines come together magnificently to make the writing one of gaming’s shining beacons.
While the story covers some narrative themes that have been seen throughout storytelling before, the way in which it is written and how it communicates these themes and ideas never feel like it’s retreading old ground, retaining all of its emotional impact. The Scions of the Seventh Dawn provide more than Endwalker’s fair share of heartwarming and heartwrenching moments, as their conversations show the bonds that have grown between them, the player character, and the rest of Eorzea. It wouldn’t be fair to not mention the dividends that the interactions of a certain group upon a particular set of floating islands pay towards setting up the magnificent finale. All of the character growth and depth of their relationships is on full display thanks to the fantastic writing all around.
What often separates a good comic book from a great one is the dialogue. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy takes this to heart and cranks it up to eleven. While the gameplay is fun, it would be just another generic action game without its bombastic characters and their conversations. The banter between them during levels builds up the universe of the comics, helping to explain past events as well as describing their worlds. The chatter also does an excellent job of capturing each character’s personality flawlessly, while some truly laugh-out-loud moments during the action sections have necessitated RPGamers pausing the game to collect themselves. When a game’s dialogue can make you forget that the characters on screen are just that, that is something special.
Love Conquers All Games has been crafting some of the most thoughtful and insightful visual novels for years so it’s no surprise that once it turned its sights to RPGs with Get in the Car, Loser! the dialogue would make it stand out from the crowd. The banter between the cast while traveling down the highway towards their ultimate date with the Machine Devil provided more funny moments than one can count. However, the way the crew supports one another and helps Sam overcome her insecurities also manages to be heartwarming. It’s impressive how Get in the Car, Loser! can marry entertaining storytelling while also managing to craft thought-provoking dialogue. It stands as an outstanding achievement in video game writing.
by Alex Fuller, Kelley Ryan, and Joshua Carpenter
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