| « Best Story |
Best Dialogue |
Most Original » |
First Place
Second Place
Third Place
Part of what makes the Legend of Heroes series unique is its sheer loquacity. The series is legendary for the size of its scripts as NPCs have new things to say after every story beat. While this is a different way of making the world feel real and alive, it wouldn’t work if the massive quantity wasn’t matched with quality. The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero manages to live up to this daunting task by providing constantly entertaining and moving dialogue to keep the player entertained.
Nihon Falcom’s writing is top-notch, and the banter between the main cast makes it easy to love them, especially Randy with his irreverent personality. The NPCs are all delightfully fleshed out as well, including some series regulars who receive entertaining character arcs of their own. However, the most impressive feat is the heartfelt and moving way Renne’s difficult, troubled story is wrapped up. Considering the scope of the challenge that Falcom sets for themselves with these games, it’s all the more impressive how outstanding the writing is throughout.
Being one of the most emotion-packed games out there, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 breathes life into its characters with its well-written dialogue. The banter between the hot-headed Lanz and foul-mouthed Eunie often lightens the dark mood prevailing over the party. Just as the heartfelt speeches given by Noah or Mio help make their side all the more compelling. There are many lines that just radiate characters’ suffering. The numerous conversations in this game cover the nature of love, loss, and even the purpose of life to such a profound degree that it leaves players something to ponder beyond the story.
Ask any Zeboyd fan why they enjoy its games and two things frequently come up: great pixel art and hilarious writing. This Way Madness Lies is the newest game in the Zeboyd catalog, and it continues the developer’s excellence. The dialogue between the high school magical girls is hilarious in its quippiness and their never-ending string of substitute teachers, with varying personalities, are all written beautifully. But where the game truly shines is its portrayal of Shakespearean dialogue. Not only will the lines be reminiscent of players’ English classes, but Zeboyd’s “New English” translations of any line presented in “Olde English” are a delight to read, simultaneously explaining and modernly contextualizing the dialogue in hilarious manners.
by Joshua Carpenter, Elmon Dean Todd, and Matt Masem
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