Conversations can be hard, and indie gameWe Should Talkbreaks this down to highlight all the different ways one can go. By using a dynamic dialogue mechanic, players can construct the perfect sentence to best get their point across to several different characters.
Video games offer an opportunity to experience things that sometimes players may not normally be able to. Conversing with others is something many people find difficult, let alone do well. So developers at Insatiable Cycle made agame about this potentially scary activity.We Should Talkis a game where the player fills the boots of someone on a night out with their partner contacting them from home. From the bar where the game takes place, the player interacts with 4 characters total; a flirty bartender, the ex, a stranger and the current partner. With each of these characters the player can carefully construct their sentences to deal and receive unique responses.
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The basis of this game comes from the multi-facet sentence building mechanic. Rather than choosing one option and waiting for a response, the player can actually select individual parts of a sentence and piece together a variety of options, enabling them to most closely achieve their intent.
Long gone are the days of games likeSkyrimwhere players select something like ‘How’s the weather?’ and end up insulting the entire race of vampires. This RPG instead allows for a much more refined dialogue that allows players to range from inquiring about the weather to insulting someone, and be in full control when they do.
Only set at about 15 minutes playthrough time,We Should Talkhas incrediblereplay-value. Because each interaction is uniquely crafted, gamers can play around with different playstyles, choosing to go all-out aggressive for no reason, or choosing to be understanding and comforting. This customization means there are up to 9 different endings that can be achieved.
Although the range of options can sometimes seem only subtly different, it is this subtlety that makes the game brilliant. Choice of words is something that is so important in relaying a specific message, the distinction between ‘I’d like to be alone’ and ‘Leave me alone’ one that the developers certainly recognized.
Although this entire game is based around dialogue, it would be interesting to see other games incorporate this component in the future.Indie games often provide some cheeky ingenuity, and whileWe Should Talkis a brilliant stand-alone, it would be nice to see some other games take note.
We Should Talkis available now on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC and Mac.
