In one memorable sequence, the king (quite plainly modeled after the king in the original Dragon Warrior) gently admonishes the player for saying “no” to one of his requests, because, after all, that won’t advance the plot.

Since the game cannot move on without the approval of the player, it will not let the player out of the dialogue until the player agrees to do whatever it is that the NPC needs or wants. Obviously, it’s not much of a tree at all. The dialogue tree leading up to a side quest works as follows: Any dialogue tree that appears in the game exists merely to assign a task to the player, a quest that could either be integral to the progression of the plot or a side quest whose reward could be as inconsequential as a little gold or as important as an additional life piece (a “heart container” in the parlance of Zelda). That said, the dialogue trees (where they exist) in 3D Dot Game Heroes are structured in one of two ways. Now it’s allowing us to participate in it. Dialogue isn’t just telling us the story anymore. Dialogue trees in the modern video game can be complex, intricate things, which can increase the stress placed on the player but also improve the sense of immersion evoked by the game. If you insult someone, you can lose that character forever compliment them, and maybe you’re one step closer to starting a family.

Conversational choices made in modern games can have an effect on the entire gameplay experience to follow. Games like Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, and Fallout 3 (not to mention many, many PC games that came before them) turned dialogue into an integral part of the gameplay experience, rather than the mostly superficial, expositional role that it had played previously. Here’s what I like best about 3D Dot Game Heroes: the dialogue trees.

3d dot game heroes wiki