ZEUS' DIALOGUE *

The earlier Animal Crossing games, namely the first

game of the same name and Wild World,

can be charactised by the mean dialogue. I grew up playing Wild World,

where it was toned down - but in Animal Forest villagers would

insult you just because you felt like it.

For example "Why, you little, sniveling... It's [player name]!

You utter waste! You fat, bloated idiot!"

Or "If I looked like that, I wouldn't leave the house all day.".

This was dramatically reeled back in both New Leaf and New

Horizons to appeal more to younger audiences.

My other inspiration was the more unheard of Sims 2 game for the

Nintendo DS. It differed from the typical format by focusing on a

narrative and having the player as the only character controlled.

The basic narrative follows the player having to run a hotel in the

middle of nowhere to pay back a debt and return home.

Sims is characterised by character creation, building homes and

then controlling your characters - so this was a departure.

One of my favourite aspects of the game, other than fighting

aliens, becoming a rat themed superhero and Bigfoot just being in a room,

is the rude and strange conversations with Non Player Characters (NPC).

Some of my favourite conversations include the first talk with

the hotel's architect 'Tristan Legend' who starts with

"You ever caught a meteor with your bare hands? It takes time

to get used to the heat and the pain, but it's a good cure for

loneliness" and tells the player that

"It ain't easy to see the woman you love carried off by a pack

of giant scorpions."

I also enjoy that random NPCs will call you unprompted to berate

you as the hotel manager for not being able to tell them

the meaning of life. Brilliant.

I used some of the quirks of the dialogue, such as capitalizing words

to emphasize them, using ellipsis and hiding threats through

casual suggestions.