Pretty much the reason I couldn't get through it as well, Dragon Fire Heart (I don't remember who this is except this shitty user name... yeah I don't remember who I am and my shitty user name either so fuck it). Narrative is bad, but what is has going on for it is that it plainly accepts its own superficiality. This is not something that pretends being very deep. You might say otherwise - the story has dramatic tones - but eh, these tones are all based off tropes. You just expect them, you're not meant to invest in them or question them. It's all bullshit and having a good time, pretty much. It can still be unnerving, no doubt, but again, at least it doesn't really pretend being more. There is no depth to be found, no coherent social forces, no psychological, moral or religious conflicts, no detailed history. I'm hoping the second game will go KoTOR2 on all of this and deconstruct that shit to no end. Depth can come out of breaking down superficiality, perhaps. If only through pain - the writing has to suffer, and you too have to suffer, you little shit
It is as it should be. A story and writing behind an RPG. Emphasis on *behind*. It's true that a few games have managed to build story & characters that were memorable, and made games greater. But once writing becomes relevant, the dangers of taking yourself too seriously are infamous... I'd rather have a light-hearted story that I can pretty much ignore than risk turning a good RPG into yet another lacrimogen pseudo-novel with scripted-romance lurking behind every corner.
My only two real problems with this (otherwise excellent) game are:
Pacing: 2-3 fights, then fucking HOURS of walking around and talking because trying to fight anything out of town is impossible. "Okay" I think. "Let's put aside fighting for a while and let's focus into this murder mystery thingie, it should be fun". But no. I suddenly find myself teleported to the end of time dimension to find out I'm Jesus and must avoid creation itself from being retroactively unmade. Still once I'm back to the normal world, can't defeat 3 skeletons. Confusing, to say the least. Other "broken" pacing times that made the game boring happened in Hiberheim and in the mines.
The thing here is that DOS' pacing problems follow directly from its narrative problems.
The simple fact that you're spending a lot of time NOT braining cultists, undead, ORKZ and all sorts of wildlife or setting them on fire forces you to become invested in the story, it's themes, etc. just to follow the plot and do the quests, so the story, and themes, etc. - which as we have already have established are kind of crap and nauseatingly infantile at times - come to the front and become blockers of gameplay you want. Even though structurally, on purely abstract level most quests are expertly crafted (let's just never speak of two guys one stone, though, especially when you can get two stones at this point), you are not playing abstract structures, you're playing very concrete quests using those structures and if you can't care for the content due to its quality, it becomes the time you are forced to waste before you can teleport ooze barrels on top of guys you've set aflame again.
*IF* DOS story was engrossing, its pacing would be near perfect.
If.
The "suddenly the End of Time" twist was actually VERY welcome as it broke the monotony and introduced some story elements that weren't worn out cliches or saccharine overdoses.
I wouldn't say that DOS took itself too seriously as opposed to being more humorous, nor would I claim the opposite.
No - sadly, it somehow managed to do both at the same time, with wit and drama mutually diluting each other into irrelevance.
Compare Divinity 2 which provided both more poignant (if hammy) story and drama:
AND far stronger humour:
(Not to mention art direction and such).
It doesn't matter whether you're aiming for comedy, drama or just dispensing phat lewt - you need contrast (and thus moderation) in what you're trying to do. Valve understood this (albeit in the context of launching headcrabs at crowbar wielding physicists out of various dark openings), Larian managed to fail consistently on all three fronts in DOS.
It makes it just plain difficult to keep playing and finish DOS, despite it's numerous highlights including various mechanics, beyond awesome music (as usual) and so on.
Can you provide an example of RPGs which take themselves too seriously in the writing department and become drab because of it? I see this argument very often but I haven't seen any examples.
I wouldn't say that seriousness in and of itself is a problem, however, when combined with mediocrity and blandness of story elements it can nuke an otherwise perfectly salvageable or even great game.