GW2: Tyria's Undead Are Lonely and Other Adventures in Video Game Writing

Guild Wars 2 does not have the best voice acting. It doesn't have the greatest writing. Many gamers have criticized its strange, Mortal Kombat-like cutscenes, which the devs then cut in favor of chat bubbles so small that you might miss key story components while fighting, spacing out, or just not looking at that part of your screen. However, the game does one aspect of writing and development very well, and that's what I'd like to focus on today--the random enemies you fight out in the world enhance the world and its narrative arc. 

Tyria's undead have a very specific set of call-outs when they engage with you, and when they die. (And props to the writing team for including male and female undead, something that many games neglect).

On engage:

"More, come here!"
"Everyone, come!"
"Death...good!"
"Here! Over here!"

On death:

"The light...fades."
"Rest..."
"At last."

Even without me telling you the details of the story, you get the sense that Tyria's undead speak to the dual instincts of their situation: these were once people who have been raised by unholy powers, and yet, at the same time, they're enemies of living creatures and they want to survive themselves. The first set of lines describes the excitement of finding the enemy, and a human-like desire for other people. The second imparts the tragedy and ambivalence of the end of their existence, which comes long after their existences should have ended. 

Likewise, the GW2 voice actors do a good job of sounding serious and not cartoon-y with these lines. My heart hurt the first time, and even subsequent times, that I heard "the light...fades," despite the fact that my achievements tell me I've killed over a thousand undead thus far.

Another case which illustrates this thoughtfulness is the harpy race. Although their call-outs go deeper into the 'cartoon-y' realm, there's something fun about mimicking the way a harpy calls, "Flock to meeeeeeeee!" when you engage it in a fight. Their characteristic death line, "Matriarch take you!" imparts key information about their race, as does the engage line "Die, groundlings!" It's these details that make a game unique, and keep players immersed in the world.

No harpies...okay, a lot of harpies...died to make this screenshot.