Narration in Games

[Gamerforlife]

The narration in Bastion is cool because it is triggered by what you are actually doing. It adds some weight to your actions.

This happens sometimes in Puppeteer as well, which is kind of cool. Not just the narrator, but your sidekick character will comment when you do certain things...course she tends to comment on everything. Pikarina is one of the chattiest characters I've ever seen in a game. So much so that the game even points it out and pokes fun at her for it sometimes.

[Gunstar Green]

I also hate games where you're in a boss fight and they keep repeating to you the weakness the whole time, something like:

"Shoot the enemy's eye when it opens!" every five seconds.

I won't be seeing you play Salamander/Life Force anytime soon then

That's not the same and you know it.

[ExedExes]

I also hate games where you're in a boss fight and they keep repeating to you the weakness the whole time, something like:

"Shoot the enemy's eye when it opens!" every five seconds.

I won't be seeing you play Salamander/Life Force anytime soon then

That's not the same and you know it.

Yeah, yeah. It's just the first thing I thought of.

SHOOT THE CORE!

[Hatta]

When I think of good narration in games, I think of John Rhys Davies in Quest for Glory IV. Just a wonderful performance. Of course, adventure games descended from interactive fiction which descended from novels, so it figures that a narrator would work well. But seriously, play Quest for Glory IV. All the voice work is fantastic.

[BogusMeatFactory]

When I think of good narration in games, I think of John Rhys Davies in Quest for Glory IV. Just a wonderful performance. Of course, adventure games descended from interactive fiction which descended from novels, so it figures that a narrator would work well. But seriously, play Quest for Glory IV. All the voice work is fantastic.

That whole game had great voice-over work. You had John Rhys Davies who really committed himself to the role, probably one of the best narrators in an adventure game, let alone any game. That was what made that game so special was the sheer level of emotion he brought to every single description. Tons of things to look at and interact with and tons of things for him to say. For a voice that you hear more than anything else in the game, I'm glad it was him.

They also had Jennifer Hale, in her first work. For those that do not know, she is best known as the voice of the Female Shepard in Mass Effect.

Oh man such a great game.

That got me thinking though about narration in games and how it was really lost after the downfall of the modern adventure game genre. There, narration was rampant, because it was an extension of text-based interactive fiction. I am glad to see people starting to utilize narration in new and different ways to revive it as a tool.

[Stark]

You're making me want to play Quest for Glory IV now ... I don't have time for this crap.

[insanecow0]

I like how the Max Payne series handles this, it enhances the atmosphere quite nicely and really helps to drop you into the story.

[Pulsar_t]

In a neat twist the narrator in this game is influenced by the player's choices.