Agreed with that 100%. I don't mind if there's some slight variation between the two but it seems that there's a lot more variation now.
When I played ME1 and encountered the Rachni Queen, I was given a dialogue choice that went something like this:
Rachni Queen: Don't kill me pls I'll be good
((
Shepard: SCREW YOU DIE IN FIRE!!!/SORRY I CAN'T DO THIS!/smth else
I interpreted the second reply as "I'm sorry, I understand you want to live but I can't be held responsible for another Starship Troopers war should you change you mind and turn on humanity in the future, so you'll have to be killed. Love kisses!". So I chose this reply and what I got was "I can't have poor innocent Rchni blood on my hands! Fly away, little queen, fly away and live a happy life at the edge of space!"
That's one of the more outrageous examples, but that disconnect between what you are prompted the character will say and what they actually say is characteristic to the ME1 dialogue system. I'd hate it if Witcher 3 went the same way.
Rachni Queen: Don't kill me pls I'll be good
((Shepard: SCREW YOU DIE IN FIRE!!!/SORRY I CAN'T DO THIS!/smth else
I interpreted the second reply as "I'm sorry, I understand you want to live but I can't be held responsible for another Starship Troopers war should you change you mind and turn on humanity in the future, so you'll have to be killed. Love kisses!". So I chose this reply and what I got was "I can't have poor innocent Rchni blood on my hands! Fly away, little queen, fly away and live a happy life at the edge of space!"
That's one of the more outrageous examples, but that disconnect between what you are prompted the character will say and what they actually say is characteristic to the ME1 dialogue system. I'd hate it if Witcher 3 went the same way.
I want text of the dialogues to be exactly what Geralt says, like it had been done in the Witcher 1.
I disagree.
I actually like that what Geralt ends up saying is not an exact match. Dialogue options should be a summary - that allows for faster paced choosing without sacrificing the literary quality of the lines themselves. It also avoids the awkward redundancy of having Geralt say lines you already know.
So thanks, but no thanks. This way is much better.
I've never thought exact word for word is necessary, as long as the text phrase conveys the meaning. I certainly wouldn't want the narrative to be in any way constrained to fit the needs of text. I also don't think its an endemic problem in rpgs, its only on peoples minds because of a few fairly recent high profile examples that were so bad we can't forget !
I don't really have a preference. Replaying TW1 now and it is nice 100% knowing exactly what you're going to say and not having any chance at all of picking a response that turns out unlike you expect - no matter how small. There were a few times this happened in TW2, but it was never enough to annoy me, and for the most part they did it well.
So I don't mind when they paraphrase, it also leaves a little bit of the dialogue unknown, so you don't know exactly what's about to come next and no dialogue is ever "ruined" though pre-reading...
But examples like this:
That line of dialogue matches perfectly with what the Crone last said, but it doesn't match the words you picked. So even though the scene still flows fine, Geralt isn't saying what you expect him to say, and that can be a little jarring (I would have assumed that line would have come from the other "I don't believe you" option).
Hopefully for the most part it's fine, just like TW2, but care for these sorts of situations is required.
So I don't mind when they paraphrase, it also leaves a little bit of the dialogue unknown, so you don't know exactly what's about to come next and no dialogue is ever "ruined" though pre-reading...
But examples like this:
Is odd.
That line of dialogue matches perfectly with what the Crone last said, but it doesn't match the words you picked. So even though the scene still flows fine, Geralt isn't saying what you expect him to say, and that can be a little jarring (I would have assumed that line would have come from the other "I don't believe you" option).
Hopefully for the most part it's fine, just like TW2, but care for these sorts of situations is required.
Why instead of a perfectly neutral question "Where is she now?" I get a phrase that clearly leads to a conflict? Moreover, this option was already in the dialogue window, but I've selected other one, and still got the second option! Just like it happens in Mass Effect.
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Every dialogue tells it own story and you really cant get enough of it... especially now in this huge open world.... where those dialogues might lead to all kinds of stuff...
I get it that this can annoy ppl who dont care much for the background and world or every npcs life story... but on the other hand you dont need to engage every dialogue option... so in that sense its up to you if you get more or less dialogue ... maybe I just dont get what youre trying to say... i think this game allows you to choose in which way you want to approach it.. no one forces you to listen to every npc ... just skimm through stuff if it isnt worth your or geralts time... but keep an eye open for the exciting bits... maybe you need to learn that you can skip a page or 2 but still see the whole picture... speed up the boring parts if need be...
Have to admit though that in w1 I fast forwarded alot of stuff... in w2 almost nothing... so yeah ... you have a point... but as of now im kinda excited to read through everything in w3.. theres a curve for me.. since the whole world is growing on me... . not really a matter of the game... maybe its about you finding your way in and how deep you decide to go into the game
I get it that this can annoy ppl who dont care much for the background and world or every npcs life story... but on the other hand you dont need to engage every dialogue option... so in that sense its up to you if you get more or less dialogue ... maybe I just dont get what youre trying to say... i think this game allows you to choose in which way you want to approach it.. no one forces you to listen to every npc ... just skimm through stuff if it isnt worth your or geralts time... but keep an eye open for the exciting bits... maybe you need to learn that you can skip a page or 2 but still see the whole picture... speed up the boring parts if need be...
Have to admit though that in w1 I fast forwarded alot of stuff... in w2 almost nothing... so yeah ... you have a point... but as of now im kinda excited to read through everything in w3.. theres a curve for me.. since the whole world is growing on me... . not really a matter of the game... maybe its about you finding your way in and how deep you decide to go into the game
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An exact match isn't necessary, I agree, but the two examples @Yarsek posted showcase a pretty annoying issue IMO. They're not really a good summary of what I'd expect Geralt to say when picking said option (especially the second example).
I noticed that watching myself, and it could simply be a few frames lost in making the video.
It is useful to have summaries as options in dialogue in some ways, but it can also take allot for the experience. It is understandable that the options for Dialogue should be a summery for the sake of being manageable and allow for easier decision making, but I think it over simplifies the process and actually removes some of the uncertainty of knowing how a character will react to what you know will be your exact words. What I mean is that some of the enjoyment in dialogue is in the play, it is not about navigating choices so much as it is about engaging in a task that requires meaningful thought and consideration in order to be successful, its a kind of puzzle, which is part of the fun of Dialogue because when dialogue is complex we are forced to consider the motives of characters we interact with, it is important to our relation to characters that don't exist who are also part of a world that does not exist. dragon age origins was a game that had great dialogue. at times it actually made you carefully consider and even worry about what each option meant, and when those options are simplified, you become disconnected from allot of that sensation because you are less concerned about the meaning of your words and how they can be interpreted. it is because we have to think about interpretation that we think about characters in more detail than we would otherwise, which in turn makes them believable, so long as nothing else is taking from the sense of immersion and fragile sense of reality we can be experiencing from it. that said in real conversations we are not always so thoughtful, and so I think to some extent the game needs to reflect that too, and that is what I find interesting about the way in which shorter dialogue options are used, because in interactions we don't have enough time to process everything we say so there is also an argument for shorter dialogue options not only for convenience or easy management of your options. Geralt cant process everything in a split second although in the game we can sit around all day deciding on an option even in situations where you wouldn't have a few seconds to make a careful choice. So you can use simplified dialogue options to represent the intention of what you are looking to communicate when your role has little time to think about it. I think a balance needs to be met between short unrefined options and long accurate ones, and it should depend on the situation and what it demands from the character you are playing e.g.
1. when Geralt's having a dangerous or precarious conversation with someone in a situation that could be volatile, with a person who is also thinking of how they might use Geralt or is in any way trying to achieve something through the interaction, and Geralt himself knows it, than dialogue options should be long and accurate, because Geralt himself would be thinking intently about the conversation, and that means you should because you are playing a role playing game.
2. when Geralt is relaxed and with friends, does he need to think too much about what he needs to say? maybe not and so the dialogue options should reflect that he trusts those he is speaking to. and so he can make casual conversation without thinking too much into what he is saying. but in these situations at times maybe he doses need to think, and you need to serve the function of realizing it in some cases when for example, approaching a sensitive subject, you have short dialogue options that recognize the presence of something that may have consequences if ignoring or approached, and it is enjoyable to have to take that into account and make a choice whether to risk it or not based on your knowledge of the character and your interpretation of what you have recognized in the conversation and with that dialogue option.
the best dialogue I have ever seen was in Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic 2, And I think It kind of demonstrates what I am talking about.
hope my opinion adds to the discussion and I hope I make some sense with my ideas.
Well, let's be honest, in that case I think everybody was expecting to have to slay a few Nilfgaardian's to find Triss, I doubt they were just going to hand her over. Also there wasn't really a second dialogue option to get "fooled" by, there was really only one choice and whatever CDPR determined that choice would go.
There's definitely a few examples, there's so much dialogue in TW2 I can't think of one off the top of my head. However as said, for the most part they did it fine, just look at every other dialogue option in that 10 minute video, the rest are totally spot on. I think you simply cannot avoid a few of those missteps when you're doing paraphrased choices, so we just have to hope that for the most part they get it right in TW3. Although there was already a few in the 35 minute Demo, hopefully it's not as common of an occurrence and I guess we only got to see single dialogue options, they didn't pick any of the others and perhaps all the others were fine - just have to wait I guess.
Also is it just me or did Triss's VA like drastically improve during that sequence? I dunno, she just absolutely nails that entire sequence, every line, whereas the rest of the game she's just "Good". Providing the VA stays the same in TW3, I really hope she can perform like that for the entire game.
There's definitely a few examples, there's so much dialogue in TW2 I can't think of one off the top of my head. However as said, for the most part they did it fine, just look at every other dialogue option in that 10 minute video, the rest are totally spot on. I think you simply cannot avoid a few of those missteps when you're doing paraphrased choices, so we just have to hope that for the most part they get it right in TW3. Although there was already a few in the 35 minute Demo, hopefully it's not as common of an occurrence and I guess we only got to see single dialogue options, they didn't pick any of the others and perhaps all the others were fine - just have to wait I guess.
Also is it just me or did Triss's VA like drastically improve during that sequence? I dunno, she just absolutely nails that entire sequence, every line, whereas the rest of the game she's just "Good". Providing the VA stays the same in TW3, I really hope she can perform like that for the entire game.