Narration in Games

[Gamerforlife]

Is it just me, or are we seeing a lot of this lately? The Castle of Illusion remake has a narrator. Puppeteer has one. Thomas was Alone had one. Dragon's Crown has one. Bastion had one. I think Trine did too. Then you have Deadpool, where the main character provides commentary on his own game, breaking the fourth wall entirely.

How do you guys feels about this? Is it a passing trend? Or something we will see in a lot of games going forward. Do you like it? Is it being overused. Do you find it annoying? I feel like I'm seeing this a lot more this past gen than previous ones. And I see an interesting parallel to those omnipresent, mysterious voices we used to hear in arcade games years ago. I mean who the heck was it telling us things like, "Fatality!" or "Red Wizard needs food badly!"

Thoughts.

[AppleQueso]

I mean who the heck was it telling us things like, "Fatality!"

That would be Shao Khan /smartass

[Hazerd]

Dawn of Mana on PS2 has Narration, the voice acting is pretty good, but too bad the gameplay sucks.

[MrEco]

I like narration, and I hope to see it in more games in the future. Obviously I don't want it in everything, but where it fits well with the story.

[Hobie-wan]

Narration on Bastion was cool. Too bad I lost interest in the game.

[HCK]

The Castle of Illusion narration went on and on...

Also, I understand why Dragon's Crown had narration, but it got annoying after a while.

I think Little Big Planet may have hit the sweet spot when it comes to narration, for me, at least.

[Menegrothx]

Narration on Bastion was cool. Too bad I lost interest in the game.

+Alan Wake. While not maybe narrated the same these other games are, Thief games had great narration: the main character would sarcastically comment things you saw on the game world, and during the stylish "cutscenes" between levels, he'd comment on what was happening. Example:

[BogusMeatFactory]

Narration on Bastion was cool. Too bad I lost interest in the game.

I know it gets kinda rough in the middle, but the game is pretty short...the ending is most definitely worth it.

As for narration in games, I think games like Bastion really pushed it. I don't mind have a narrator if it fits the theme and feeling of the game. I would be fine with a fantasy setting narrator if the game has a storybook feel or goes along the D&D route... I wouldn't mind a narrator playing Dungeon Master.

It all has to fit the feeling of the game. I think that it has the potential to be overused, but that won't change the fact that if it works for the game, it works.

[noiseredux]

Also, I understand why Dragon's Crown had narration, but it got annoying after a while.

I think Little Big Planet may have hit the sweet spot when it comes to narration, for me, at least.

I found most things about Dragon's Crown annoying after a while.

But good call on LBL... the narration (like everything else in that game) was just totally charming.

[Luke]

As long as the narration isn't all tutorial based, it doesn't bother me a bit.

But I hate, hate games where your character spouts out hints over and over.

"I think I should go through that door".
"I should probably go through that door".
"I have a key for that door, I should use it".