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I can provide 2 examples of text in games that I've never been tired of reading: - OSRS quests: Even though the "press spacebar in quests" meme still applies,

I can provide 2 examples of text in games that I've never been tired of reading: - OSRS quests: Even though the "press spacebar in quests" meme still applies, the quest dialogue box is small enough - with a decent sized font [1]- that I don't feel tired reading through the tidbits one box at a time - Control: I'm a big fan of SCP so I have an _incentive_ to go through all of the collectible files, then read through them. In this instance, having optional incentivized reads massively boost my enjoyment of the game. [1]: https://oldschool.runescape.wiki/images/Monkey_Madness_II_-_ending_cutscene.png?2f5f9 https://oldschool.runescape.wiki/images/Monkey_Madness_II_-_...

nullify88 5y ago
I've just started Control and I'm really enjoying the game. Naturally I too am listening, watching and reading all collectables. Its a beautiful game and its art direction very unique. Doom Eternal was another game I was interested in reading the lore and text. It offers a nice pause from the action.
crdrost 5y ago
Another game worth mentioning here is Cultist Simulator. Usually the text is not directly informative but atmospheric, nevertheless it is the point of the playing... it is where the listlessness and excitement and Lovecraftian grossness is communicated and those are kind of the only reason to play. Now, this is atypical from the other examples in the OP. You will read the same piece of text many times, it's just the flavor on a card that you are trying to activate, or maybe it's the outcome. But it has some similar aspects, like that every card is identified by one word, you get the remaining info in sort single paragraphs when you focus the card, etc.
- SommaRaikkonen 5y ago
  I've played Cultist Simulator too! I remember winning (ascending) just once after quite a few hours. The aesthetics and sound design in that game fit together real nicely, and I always suggest to my friends to play that game blind
  - jon-wood 5y ago
    Does it ever become clearer? I've tried playing it a few times and never managed to get anywhere, like I'd maybe acquire a single follower, and then shortly afterwards die of malnutrition or something. Its a game that feels like its probably got some amazing depth to it which I'm not quite reaching.
    - lmkg 5y ago
      Do you mean mechanically or the setting? Mechanics-wise, a big part of the gameplay is figuring out for yourself what to do. Everything is discoverable, but you have to be willing to take a few jumps without seeing where you'll land. The early experience feels like you're just trying to keep a bunch of plates spinning; with some practice, that gets comfortable enough that you have bandwidth to also make forward progress. Settings-wise, yes but also no. You find out more, which all seem to be part of a coherent whole, but the entire whole is not revealed.
Fire-Dragon-DoL 5y ago
Even if it was interesting, I found incredibly frustrating reading in Control. In general, interrupted reading is annoying, in videogames this is a hard requirement, so it makes it annoying by default. To me if there is text in a videogame to narrate stuff, wrong medium is being used. Small reading rarely is ok of course. Portal 1 has a good example of not needing reading and still telling interesting an interesting story
- oneoff786 5y ago
  Agreed. I enjoyed control’s aesthetic but I didn’t want to read dozens of files at a time. And I didn’t want to open up my inventory to read it. If text must be there I prefer it to be more like resident evil style. Brief collectibles, read on the spot. All of them tending to be plot specific and relevant. Typically each “page” is just a few sentences. Little in the way of open world building with an expectation that you know who all these people are. Discussions of gods in games irks me the most. Oh my god how I hate reading religious lore in every game.
  - lostphilosopher 5y ago
    If I have the opportunity to use my gaming machine - I want to spend it playing a game, not reading lore. But I really appreciate good lore if it's made available elsewhere (books, apps, websites, etc.). If lore is going to only be available in game I think audio logs ( albeit with optional subtitles) are a better solution than walls of text.
  - Fire-Dragon-DoL 5y ago
    I'm on the exact same boat. Thank you for expressing my thoughts
bpicolo 5y ago
RS in general has uniquely good questing (RS3 has made some truly great experiences). They go so far past "collect 10 bear butts" in a way no other game I've encountered does (though one could argue that story-driven games similarly don't _need_ questing in the same sense). Some of them are frustratingly slow, but overall it's a compelling system.
LandR 5y ago
I loved Control, I played it knowing nothing about it. I wasn't even sure if it was first or third person. Didn't know if it was a shooter or anything. It's one of those games I wish I could forget and play all over again from the start, anew.
hinkley 5y ago
While quest text in Skyrim always felt a bit flat, there are little bits of lore hidden in all of the books you find. And a few jokes.
- dont__panic 5y ago
  I have to give Bethesda credit for "The Lusty Argonian Maid" (https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/The_Lusty_Argonian_Maid_Vol_1 https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/The_Lusty_Argonian_Maid...), which always gives me a laugh when I stumble upon it in a bandit cave. There are some genuinely good short stories in books scattered about the game, too.

nullify88 5y ago

I've just started Control and I'm really enjoying the game. Naturally I too am listening, watching and reading all collectables. Its a beautiful game and its art direction very unique. Doom Eternal was another game I was interested in reading the lore and text. It offers a nice pause from the action.

crdrost 5y ago

Another game worth mentioning here is Cultist Simulator. Usually the text is not directly informative but atmospheric, nevertheless it is the point of the playing... it is where the listlessness and excitement and Lovecraftian grossness is communicated and those are kind of the only reason to play. Now, this is atypical from the other examples in the OP. You will read the same piece of text many times, it's just the flavor on a card that you are trying to activate, or maybe it's the outcome. But it has some similar aspects, like that every card is identified by one word, you get the remaining info in sort single paragraphs when you focus the card, etc.

SommaRaikkonen 5y ago
I've played Cultist Simulator too! I remember winning (ascending) just once after quite a few hours. The aesthetics and sound design in that game fit together real nicely, and I always suggest to my friends to play that game blind
- jon-wood 5y ago
  Does it ever become clearer? I've tried playing it a few times and never managed to get anywhere, like I'd maybe acquire a single follower, and then shortly afterwards die of malnutrition or something. Its a game that feels like its probably got some amazing depth to it which I'm not quite reaching.
  - lmkg 5y ago
    Do you mean mechanically or the setting? Mechanics-wise, a big part of the gameplay is figuring out for yourself what to do. Everything is discoverable, but you have to be willing to take a few jumps without seeing where you'll land. The early experience feels like you're just trying to keep a bunch of plates spinning; with some practice, that gets comfortable enough that you have bandwidth to also make forward progress. Settings-wise, yes but also no. You find out more, which all seem to be part of a coherent whole, but the entire whole is not revealed.

Fire-Dragon-DoL 5y ago

Even if it was interesting, I found incredibly frustrating reading in Control. In general, interrupted reading is annoying, in videogames this is a hard requirement, so it makes it annoying by default. To me if there is text in a videogame to narrate stuff, wrong medium is being used. Small reading rarely is ok of course. Portal 1 has a good example of not needing reading and still telling interesting an interesting story

oneoff786 5y ago
Agreed. I enjoyed control’s aesthetic but I didn’t want to read dozens of files at a time. And I didn’t want to open up my inventory to read it. If text must be there I prefer it to be more like resident evil style. Brief collectibles, read on the spot. All of them tending to be plot specific and relevant. Typically each “page” is just a few sentences. Little in the way of open world building with an expectation that you know who all these people are. Discussions of gods in games irks me the most. Oh my god how I hate reading religious lore in every game.
- lostphilosopher 5y ago
  If I have the opportunity to use my gaming machine - I want to spend it playing a game, not reading lore. But I really appreciate good lore if it's made available elsewhere (books, apps, websites, etc.). If lore is going to only be available in game I think audio logs ( albeit with optional subtitles) are a better solution than walls of text.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 5y ago
  I'm on the exact same boat. Thank you for expressing my thoughts

bpicolo 5y ago

RS in general has uniquely good questing (RS3 has made some truly great experiences). They go so far past "collect 10 bear butts" in a way no other game I've encountered does (though one could argue that story-driven games similarly don't _need_ questing in the same sense). Some of them are frustratingly slow, but overall it's a compelling system.

LandR 5y ago

I loved Control, I played it knowing nothing about it. I wasn't even sure if it was first or third person. Didn't know if it was a shooter or anything. It's one of those games I wish I could forget and play all over again from the start, anew.

hinkley 5y ago

While quest text in Skyrim always felt a bit flat, there are little bits of lore hidden in all of the books you find. And a few jokes.

dont__panic 5y ago
I have to give Bethesda credit for "The Lusty Argonian Maid" (https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/The_Lusty_Argonian_Maid_Vol_1 https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/The_Lusty_Argonian_Maid...), which always gives me a laugh when I stumble upon it in a bandit cave. There are some genuinely good short stories in books scattered about the game, too.