Narrator Comments Too Long?

[StingingVelvet]

I've played a good bit of it now and I really do like it, but I feel the narrator comments are too long.  They were always short and pithy in the old games, and there's reason for that.

Anyone agree?

[wilco64256]

I can still read them pretty quickly, so it doesn't make a whole lot of difference to me.  Some of them were pretty short in past games, but I remember some of them being fairly lengthy in KQ6 and the later Space Quest games.  There are a few narrator comments that are particularly long in this game that still work out to be totally hilarious - try opening the chest in front of the Pawn Shop.

[Snowmation]

They were pretty long, but since they had a good Narrator the length of the comments didn't really bother me.  I also think the game developers wanted to give the user the impression the characters had been living their lives before the day the game starts on by giving more detailed comments from the narrator.

[hobbitsubculture]

Agreed.  I don't enjoy when narrator comments are so long that I feel like I have to turn on the text so I can read and get through them faster.  I was impatient to play, and the narrator just kept going.

But for the most part, the long comments had to do with Graham's memories, feelings, and opinions.  I'm always a fan of character development, and those comments fleshed out Graham's relationship with his family while immersing me in his emotional state at the same time.  Though I did catch a long bit about a rock, and one about a tree.

So I guess have mixed feelings about the comments.  Nice additions to the story, nice voice work, but still too long.  

[tessspoon]

I didn't mind them at all, I like that the offer a way to get extra details or funny stories.

[Davidtry]

First off I love the game, great job! I've been waiting a long time.  I too thought they were a little long at some parts I remembered them from older games being a little quicker.

[B'rrr]

Some might be long, but they can only be too long when they are annoying (which I didn't experienced them as, so far). Personally I like to hear the comments about everything at least once, you can always skip through them if you get the same comment about something for the second time.

[Kimmie]

Some might be long, but they can only be too long when they are annoying (which I didn't experienced them as, so far). Personally I like to hear the comments about everything at least once, you can always skip through them if you get the same comment about something for the second time.

I agree! You have to hear them first time around to get the whole feel of the game! If you've heard it before, just click and the problem goes away!

You can't say that there aren't some hilarious narrator comments that pop up quite frequently, I for one wouldnt want to miss any of that comedy gold just so I can get through the game faster!

[StingingVelvet]

I just know when I click on a flower and I get three paragraphs, it feels a little overdone.  It's nothing against the game, and the info is well done, but I just think for future episodes it could be condensed to get across the same point with less voice.

[GwydionAE]

I found a few a bit on the long side, but mostly they seemed to do a pretty good job of immersing you in the lives of the characters previous to that day.  I liked the ones where they would talk about how people felt about certain things or why something was the way it was or when Graham was fondly remembering a place, but every once in a while it did seem a bit much.  I mean, that's a LOT of vases Cassima's grandfather must have brought with him as a gift!

But overall, I thought the lengthy narration was a nice touch to really bring you into their world.

[B'rrr]

I mean, that's a LOT of vases Cassima's grandfather must have brought with him as a gift!

why break up a set? 

[kindofdoon]

I agree. The narrator felt rambly and irrelevant.

[Ebenezer]

Absolutely have to agree.  I thought the voice and tone were fine, but the comments went on and on and on.  And then frequently I would click to skip through the comment, only to click one extra time and have another slew of comments start up.

I shudder at how if there were text you could quickly read old school style and no voice acting how much shorter it would have been.  It's short as it is, and a good portion of that I spent standing still just listening to the narrations.

[redflagkid]

I think the thing that annoyed me the most was that I had to stand there motionless and listen to it.  Maybe if i could have continued walking while the narrator went on and on about an empty chest, I would have been ok with it.

[Shmargin]

Nah, you guys either didn't really play that many old Sierra games, or just forgot. I remember narrator rants where the grey box with the text took up a 4th of the screen, none in this game were that long.

As for being irrelevant, thats kinda what happens when you look at every object in a room, you can either get information that you should have known wouldn't be necessary. It wouldn't be much better if you say "look at flower" and the narrator just said "It's a flower".

The point is to give you more information other than what your eyeballs already tell you. Just my opinion I suppose, but I actually liked the narration and thought it reminded me a lot of Sierras writing style back in the day.

[wilco64256]

I actually think that would be funny if they did that - had a room somewhere in this game where everything you looked at you just got the most obvious explanation.  "Graham sees a bed."  "Graham sees a door."  etc.

[Flubly]

The profound amount of psychological insight was very unlike King's Quest to me.  I think the drama factor is steering the game away from the original implicative atmosphere of the games and tending towards over explanation.  There is a common methodology to the first six games that is consistently retained in world immersion when it relates to writing.  Don't be afraid to draw out the characters more through ambiguous means, everything doesn't have to be straight related to the tension at hand and you can reveal stuff about the character by more natural means I think.  

Sorry if I'm off the mark here but I don't think that my perception in a clear basic difference from this game and the other original six that I've played many times is merely an illusion that I conjured out of nothingness.

Reading through the explanation given for why the episode was so short, may also apply to this aspect too.

[nathanb]

I too wouldn't mind the long comments if only I could just keep moving while they are being narrated...

[Curiousriz]

I actually enjoy her commentary but I would also like if there was text to read too. I don't really like staring into space while she's giving a long winded speech. lol

So is there a way to turn on the text in this game or is there just voice overs and nothing more?

[nathanb]

I actually enjoy her commentary but I would also like if there was text to read too. I don't really like staring into space while she's giving a long winded speech. lol

So is there a way to turn on the text in this game or is there just voice overs and nothing more?

You can turn on subtitles in the Audio options I believe.