Being reminded once more of the opening of Soul Reaver, I feel a bit sad that my little Godot game with no voice acting and no writing experience could never have such a dramatic story.
But even with purely text based dialog, I could still have characters talk like Raziel:
"An eternity passed, and my torment receded, bringing me back from the precipice of madness. The descent had destroyed me... and yet.
I lived."
😎
Now that I think of it, even the high fantasy games originally written in English that I have played over the years mostly just have everyone talk into contemporary American.
And I can understand why that choice would be made. There's a major risk of the whole game sounding like Ultima and thou dost embark on a quest most noble.
But if it aligns with the overall tone of the game, elevated language could probably work and doesn't have to sound like the King James Bible.
@yora I also feel that there are some levels to this. Even if the language is contemporary, things like, say, most Final Fantasies, end up feeling pretty neutral in this aspect. The language is invisible most of the time.
But I remember being in a bit of a shock the last time I played Prince of Persia (the PS3 one with the shiny girlfriend) and the way the main duo of that game talks is just so insufferably USian. It REALLY jumps out
@VileLasagna It's rarely inappropriate as long as it avoids "Ye-haw, all y'all!"
But the register of the character lines (and item descriptions) is a pretty major tool in the worldbuilding toolbox that I a rarely see being used. "Public casual" always works, which makes it safe. But especially for indie games that go for memorable rather than corporate safe, I think there's a lot of potential in that regard.
And it's very cheap.
Having all the dialog in #IridiumMoons be slightly theatrical and dramatic could be a fun way to make it both not feel just like Star Wars, and also help with creating a more mystical Space Fantasy tone than generic sci-fi.
Certainly something I want to try now when I get to writing character lines. 😄
Yora
Vile Lasagna
Gawain(DarkGriffin)