Games That Skyrocketed in Writing Quality After A Previous Entry
Nothing here!
10 Games
Has the eternal buff of not being Tales of Zestiria.
It's funny how one-note No More Heroes 2 is both on the surface and on a deeper level, yet TSA has so much nuance to it. It almost feels like 2 different series.
This is more in comparison to Secret Rings than Unleashed, because while I cannot remember Secret Rings' story despite just seeing a full playthrough of it mere days ago, Black Knight is a game I think about constantly with what it's trying to convey and its messages. Easily the gold standard of the series in this regard.
Even with me being more generous and finding more to appreciate in the writing of the KH series over time, I still do not like BbS' writing. Even though I still think KH3 is the best in the series on a thematic and writing level, DDD is still very stellar in those regards, and definitely in the upper half when it comes to character writing.
Much like how I feel about Black Knight, I don't remember much of what came before in X3, but 4 remains very fresh in my mind because there are a lot of great character moments sprinkled throughout this game, specifically in regards to Zero and how he came to be.
The vocal themes do a lot of the heavy lifting, but I still think this is the best a GG game has been with its writing.
This is in comparison to Crisis Core, because while I still like the ending of that game, I could absolutely go without the rest of it. FFVIIR is substantially better, it's not even funny. I keep thinking about what this game and its themes are and how expertly they're pulled off here.
DMC2 was absolutely a nothing game in terms of story, but goddamn, 3's is fantastic, with some really well-done character writing.
Genuinely the peak of action game writing. The gap in quality between this and DmC is the biggest I've ever seen.
Despite my issues with how the game is presented in terms of themes and some questionable dialogue, it's leaps and bounds better than Forces and its nonexistent writing.
FrozenRoy
1 year ago