10 Dialogue Choices That Were Devastatingly Different From What Your Character Actually Said
8. "Good Cop, Bad Cop" - L.A. Noire
Nobody can deny the impressively innovative technology behind L.A. Noire, a game which placed a huge emphasis on players reading the photorealistic facial expressions of the suspects and witnesses they interrogate.
Except, the game's original release was hobbled by Team Bondi's peculiar decision to give the player three vague tonal dialogue responses - "truth", "doubt", and "lie."
The main issue was with the doubt option, which would too often result in protagonist Detective Cole Phelps angrily shouting at sometimes vulnerable witnesses despite that not in any way being the player's intent.
Ultimately, it made Phelps look like not only a poor detective but, frankly, a bit of a psychopath.
Though the recent remaster did try to clarify these options by altering them to "good cop," "bad cop," and "accuse," it arguably only made things more ambiguous and confusing.
Clearly, the game needed more specific lines of dialogue for the player to choose from, because many were left sitting through hilariously uncomfortable scenarios where Phelps would bully sobbing witnesses who clearly didn't do anything wrong.
Given that we're supposed to actually feel sad when Phelps dies at the end of the game, the dialogue system didn't help endear players to him in any way whatsoever.