Gamifying Dialogue - Analyzing the Best Conversation Systems in Games

>drops the best video essay in the history of youtube >disappears for a year >refuses to elaborate Thank you for the content, I love it.

I just wanted to add that the Inspiration Dice in BG3 (and D&D) is a great way to tip the RNG in your favour for important dialogue checks. You have a limited number of them, so you have to decide when to make use of them, and you get them as a reward for roleplaying your character according to his personality and background.

disco elysium soundtrack always gets me in the right mood, nice video bro!

Ohhhhhhh shit the king has returned! 🙌🏻🙌🏻

GAHHHHHH, I love this video essay!!! I cannot put in words how much a single watch of it helped me in terms of inspiration and figuring out the logistics of my dialogue-based game! I am VERY surprised this doesn't have more views Certainly gonna recommend this video to my gamedev friends and will give it another watch myself!

It's the best essay on games dialogue I ever seen.

One aspect of RPGs like BG3 and others like it, is that while the randomness to the dialogue check may seem unfair, it's not really your only option. Quite often you can use magic or items to improve your chances, or you can use stealth, or some kind of non-charisma based skill to find a way an alternative solution, or you can fight your way through. So it doesn't need to be fair compared to games where you have to succeed in a dialogue check to proceed.

Yooo I didn't expect the Visual Novel vs Kinetic Novels differentiation! Really well done video in general, great work. Subscribe well earned

HELL YEAH couldnt wait for another vid broooo

I love action but games that focus on dialogue will always be my favorite

My favorite of your videos so far! Well done and thanks!

This is one of the best essays ive seen on here! Im really hoping you post more!

I saw the video, knew it would be good. Then saw the channel doing it and knew it would be awesome. Take care of yourself and keep up the good work!

4:43 also Alpha Protocol by Obsidian Entertainment, dialogue choices pop up before the npc finishes his/her dialogue that the player character is conversing with.

I adore Griftlands, and one of the big reasons why is you have to balance both your combat and negotiation decks. While you can talk your way out of several conflicts, it shouldn't be your go to option since there are forced fights, and ignoring the chance to level up your combat deck only makes boss fights harder. At the same time, neglecting to engage in conversations means you may be unprepared for some of the harder negotiations, which can lead to failing a mission or making combat more difficult. It's a balancing act, and it also applies to your deckbuilding in general, since card bloat is an easy problem to run into if you're not careful. I personally didn't mind the gameplay being abstract, because I love the dialogue, writing and story, but I can see why you didn't enjoy it. The reason I bring this up is so often conversation systems in games either skip combat or make it easier, which while appealing can mean that the actual fighting mechanics can be neglected. I enjoyed my time with Fallout: New Vegas, but mostly because of the story and conversations. I disliked the actual gunplay, and stuck with speech in part because it got around the unfun combat. It came off as the "better" option than "an" option most of the time.

Omg, yes ! Not only are you back but this topic is sooo cool (and wow, where you took it !!!)

honestly, detroit: become human deserves its own video just because of how immersive the gameplay can be

this guy is actually underrated as hell, wtf

Another amazing essay! blessings for the algorithm

the system of the bar game reminds me of a old detective game with a similar element for a more modern one would be Obra Dinn which also separates dialogue in parts technically Obra Dinn while having no characters to talk to still is about that dialogue and moral conundrums