Originally Posted by Etruscan
the dialogue is full of wise-cracks and has an OTT comical flavour which I just found a bit immature and not very believable. For whatever reason I found much of the BG dialogue reminiscent of this particular style and it's just not for me. Some people like it, that's fine but as I have said before, it feels different from the overall tone of previous BG games.

I must admit, it always puzzles me when folk say stuff like this … not that folk prefer their fantasy to be more serious, which is of course perfectly fine, but when they see BG1 & 2 as a contrast to BG3 in this regard. I love the original games but their tone is all over the place and they’re jam-packed with jokes, silliness, affectionate spoofs and comedy characters along with their more serious themes. Based on what we’ve seen so far, I actually find BG3 far less silly, though admittedly the silly humour it has probably hits harder when all dialogue is voiced. We can of course have different views of how successful the wise-cracking OTT comedy is, but for me its simple presence isn’t a differentiator.

Personally, I’m neutral on whether and how much comedy is part of a good RPG. I don’t believe it’s essential, though I agree with those who have said POE, for example, probably takes itself too seriously. I think I tend to prefer RPGs which send me on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, including making me laugh, making me sad, shocking me, and so on. I wouldn’t expect a consistent tone from an RPG any more than I would from real life, and I want to see all kinds of characters - and be able to be all kinds of characters - in the world they create, and have moments of fun and lightheartedness in amongst darkness and tragedy.


"You may call it 'nonsense' if you like, but I've heard nonsense, compared with which that would be as sensible as a dictionary!"