Video games with incredibly long scripts

Writing a video game is a huge undertaking. It requires the same planning and creativity as any other medium, but has the added challenge of allowing for player selection and branching dialogue trees. Video game scripts vary widely in length. For example, visual novels can be notoriously wordy, especially if they decide not to spend money on voice acting. For action-based games with limited NPC interaction, there may be few script words.​

RPGs with a lot of long dialogue are also strong contenders for longest script. Conflicting reports, language differences, and games constantly expanding their content make it very difficult to determine an exact ranking of the longest video game scripts. But we've compiled a long list of the most notable video game scripts and explained why they're so amazing.

Note: I have decided not to include any eroge or erotica scripts. These can be very long, especially like the Rance series.

Dragon Age: Origins or Veilguard?

Let's discuss internet urban legends

can't deny it Dragon Age: Origins It's a very long game. Not only can it absorb hours of the player's life, but the extensive voice-acted dialogue has been translated into multiple languages. 144 voice actors participated, and it is loved by many for its dense and colorful narrative. For years, rumors have circulated as follows: Dragon Age: Origins The script has “742,000 words of dialogue.”

Sources of this information include gaming media websites and Reddit users. However, research has shown that it has been difficult to independently verify this information. There are certainly fan transcriptions of the game, but I haven't been able to find an official script or statement from the developer to confirm this word count. However, in comparison, here is the developer's statement: Dragon Age: Veilguard Performance director Ashley Barlow may be a better fit for this list, as she mentioned in an interview that 140,000 voice lines had to be recorded for the game.

star field

According to Todd

In 2022, Todd Howard will be working on Bethesda's upcoming title, star fieldIt has already exceeded 250,000 lines of dialogue. He said this while revealing the game's dialogue mechanics at the 2022 Summer Games Festival. This may cause it to take longer than many of the scripts on this list.

Considering the expansive scope of the game and the openness of play that Bethesda wanted to achieve, it's not surprising that the script was so long. star field. The sheer amount of interactable characters and the variety of side missions alone require a huge amount of voice acting.

Disco Elysium

Invest in an encyclopedia

Harry in a complex and narrative RPG Disco ElysiumThere isn't just one intrusive internal monologue. In his head he has a whole ensemble with different voices providing input at any time. The game's branching narrative paths are rooted in deep philosophical and sociopolitical themes. A first-person philosophical debate is going on in Harry's mind. Additionally, he frequently engages in investigation and questioning by NPCs who may waste time, withhold information, or require specific attributes to unlock the next lengthy stage of the conversation.

final cut edition Disco Elysium It reportedly has over 1.2 million words, which translates into approximately 40 hours of gameplay. Especially if you're like me, on your first playthrough, when you're trying to get past the striking workers, you may spend a lot more time repeating the same dialogue over and over again to avoid internalizing racism as a mechanic.

Girls' Frontline

But what about gacha games?

Mobile games and gacha games are often overlooked when discussing script length, but games like Girls' Frontline The script grows dramatically by receiving frequent updates. According to X users Ciesta and Rita, here's the follow-up discussion about X: Girls' Frontline reddit, Girls' Frontline There are over 1.11 million Japanese characters. However, reports vary. I find it difficult to find direct verification of this claim.

Rather than being a specific record, this shows undocumented writing related to the chaotic spread of mobile games and gacha games. Girls' Frontline is a tactical strategy game not unlike many hero army building strategy games on mobile. However, instead of controlling a variety of wizards, creatures, and more, players will control an army of sentient female androids known as Tactical Dolls.

Fate/Grand Order

Another incredibly long mobile game

Speaking of mobile games, Fate/Grand Order It has been known as one of the longest video game scripts in existence. Through regular updates, the number of Japanese characters in the game script has reached 13.5 million. Updates often include entire storylines, increasing their length considerably each time.

As Tumblr user tainbocuailnge points out, misunderstandings about Japanese characters and English words, which are not always complete words, can lead to misunderstandings about exactly how long a script is. However, the game's English word count is still 6.7 million words, which is still enormous.

until dawn

The route has been updated.

Despite the Guinness World Records verification, there has been some drama (or online 'discourse') about the longevity of the Supermassive. until dawn. There have been conflicting reports about the time period. until dawn The script after the game's creators said the script would be 10,000 pages long.

However, in an interview with Kotaku, creators Graham Reznick and Larry Fessenden noted that Sony didn't believe them and only stated that the game's behind-the-scenes content included a 1000-page script. This was later confirmed by Guinness World Records as 'the longest script for a graphic adventure video game'.

Kingdom Come Salvation 2

Henry is such a stalker

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 It is considered the longest-tested fully voiced video game script, consisting of over 2.2 million words. This narrative-heavy RPG includes numerous choices and optional activities, which add significantly to the length of the script. Henry is quite a talkative gentleman who always seems to be talking to many of the NPCs that appear in the game.

Warhorse Studios posted photos of ESO Danny along with a script of approximately 11,000 pages, mostly dialogue from protagonist Henry. Voice actor Tom McKay discussed the intense process of recording a script of this length in an interview with the BBC. This large-scale undertaking is not unique to developers. Kingdom Come: Salvation Plus, it's unusually long.

Baldur's Gate 3

previous record holder

before Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 was released, Baldur's Gate 3 It holds the record for longest video game script, as recognized by Guinness World Records. Based on decades of wealth dungeons and dragons It is no surprise that we can draw from publications and knowledge. baldur's gate The series has the longest script in video game history.

Baldur's Gate 3 There is a script consisting of over 2 million lines of dialogue consisting of over 2.1 million words. This means that the average player barely scratched the surface of the script during their 75 hours of play. Baldur's Gate 2 It was a contender for the record even before the sequel was released.

Clannad

get ready to cry

As mentioned in the introduction, visual novels are full of dialogue and narrative. Most of them are not voice-acted. This means that these games can include a lot more text without breaking the bank. but Clannad This is an interesting case in that a full-voice version was released that included voice actors for all characters except the player character. Clannad's visual novel script consists of 1.3 million words, equivalent to over 100 hours of gameplay to experience all possible paths.

Clannad It is loved among visual novel fans for its detailed story and touching storytelling. Through the relationship between Tomoya Okazaki and Nagisa Furukawa, it tells the story of the emotional roller coaster of growing up and the heartbreak of trauma and illness.