Dragon Age 3

[Sjofn]

Bioware goes "fuck it, importing saves, especially when there's a new generation of consoles coming out, is a pain in the ass" and decides the best way to deal with it is this:

http://blog.bioware.com/2013/08/28/the-dragon-age-keep/

I don't mind, given the issues just importing from DA:O to DA2 had. Gives 'em a chance to just start fresh with that. Plus I get to see what decisions they actually think are important.   PLUS it means if there's a certain set of decisions I didn't make in DA:O that I kinda want to see how they play out in DA:I, I don't have to go back and play it like I would've with Mass Effect (I never had a full renegade save from ME1 because I just could not go back to it after ME2, for example :P).

[K9]

Also nice for people who didn't play the previous games. This seems like a really good feature on balance.

[Sophismata]

Well, considering that in ME and DA the actions you took in previous games had no consequences, not much has been lost.

[Tebonas]

The consequences may be minimal, but me negotiating a peace between the Quarians and the Geth disagrees with there being no consequences in Mass Effect.

And the people complaining that not everybody could get that outcome may be the reason why developers would be wary about too far-reaching consequences.

[Sjofn]

Man, seriously.

NOTHING I DO MATTERS

WAIT, WHY COULDN'T I DO IT THAT WAY, WHY ARE YOU PUNISHING MEEEEE

I mean ultimately, the end of ME3 made me sort of go "so why did I even bother doing all that other bullshit?" but I don't think that means nothing I did had consequences, it just meant the ending was shitty. 

[Sophismata]

Ultimately I'm referring to the way you cannot actually change the story via player actions. You can adjust elements of the story, but the overall plot is always the same.

For example, in ME3, Shepard starts off in the same position and situation no matter WHAT he or she accomplished in the previous games. Even those choices regarding major forces in the galaxy, such as Cerberus and the Council, do not have any real narrative impact.


So, I'm glad they're ditching the bullshit of "previous player choices matter", and instead allowing you to specifically define the narrative stage. It should hopefully allow them to be more aggressive with content separation, too. Ultimately, though, I think nothing much will change. Bioware are fearful of introducing content that cannot be consumed in a single play-through. And whether that's justified or not, I still find it disappointing.

[calapine]

If I had any say I'd advise Bioware to let Dragon Age brand rest a bit and create a new IP for the next big RPG.

[Simond]

They should probably stop coming up with new IPs and go back to licensing them - maybe having someone looking over their collective shoulder going "No, that's stupid. I'm not letting you do that to my gameworld" would curb some of their more egregious excesses.

E: And take away their twitter accounts while they're at it -

[Ingmar]

He pretty much nailed all of those.

[lamaros]

As jokes, yeah. As reality? Not so much.

[rk47]

He pretty much fucked up all those in Dragon Age 2.

[Abelian75]

The deus ex machina one is actually pretty annoying, as that is basically the actual definition (aside from the "I thought it was lame" part).  Yeah, if you don't have any foreshadowing for something and it pretty much feels like something you pulled totally out of nowhere to steer the plot in some direction you wanted, then... yeah, that's kind of a deus ex machina.

[Ingmar]

The deus ex machina one is actually pretty annoying, as that is basically the actual definition (aside from the "I thought it was lame" part).  Yeah, if you don't have any foreshadowing for something and it pretty much feels like something you pulled totally out of nowhere to steer the plot in some direction you wanted, then... yeah, that's kind of a deus ex machina.

Actually, no. Not unless it actually resolves a plotline. An unforseen twist in a plot isn't one.

[Abelian75]

Fair point, although the complaints I assume he was referring to were, in fact, about resolutions to plotlines.

[calapine]

He pretty much nailed all of those.

Hah, funny how opinions can differ. It's not witty (or amusing) and makes him look like someone who is too stupid to realize that going all snarky sarcasm on your customers isn't good.

[jakonovski]

RPS did a write up on DA3, seems like I can be cautiously positive. Not that I didn't enjoy DA2 despite the derp, but one should expect better from Bioware.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/08/31/eyes-on-dragon-age-inquisition/

[Stormwaltz]

NM

[jakonovski]

I would've been ok with DA2 never releasing in favor of getting something fully realized a few more years down the line. But I guess DAO was always going to be the last of its kind.

edit: DA2 had a lot going for it. The whole idea of staying in one city was great, and I liked the new graphical style. 

  

[Simond]

edit: DA2 had a lot going for it. The whole idea of staying in one city was great, and I liked the new graphical style.

No, the idea of DA2 had a lot going for it, the actual implementation was terrible.

[MournelitheCalix]

edit: DA2 had a lot going for it. The whole idea of staying in one city was great, and I liked the new graphical style.

No, the idea of DA2 had a lot going for it, the actual implementation was terrible.

I agree with this completely.  For me DA2 was a fun game, it just wasn't up to Bioware's standards.  To me it was one more piece of evidence that something was going really wrong with the gaming company.  Almost no decision made in that game affected the storyline one iota.  The only one that seemed to have any real effect was Merril's final mission.  It was only in that mission that your choice really mattered at all.  That isn't a hallmark of a Bioware game.  The fact that maps were reused ad naseum again didn't bother me as much as the lack of meaningful choice throughout.

For my gaming dollars this is the last chance that Bioware has to restore my faith in the brand.  I really hope that this time it isn't all talk, but I am not holding my breath.


Oh and as to Gaider's comments.  I look at what he said about fanboi and fangirl and I have to scratch my head.  Bioware has had an arrogance about it since Jade Empire.  They seem to dismiss all criticism under the auspices of past success.  I like Gaider's work a lot but it seems to me he needs to take a step back from that and really look at what this company was and what it is now.  Any garden variety idiot can see that the product has been significantly diminished since the Baldur's Gate 2 Bioware offerings.  In fact no other game they have made has even been close in quality.

[jakonovski]

Some gameplay video. The game looks like Dragon's Dogma, of all things.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aK0z8xeAus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbGN7OBngCQ

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/09/01/dragon-age-inquisition-in-motion/

edit: the audience cheering in the second vid drives me crazy.

[Strazos]

I wish they would go back and explore Jade Empire more - I guess I'm one of the few folks who actually liked the game.

[Ingmar]

I really enjoyed the setting in JE but the combat was not my cup of tea at all and I really disliked how useless companions were in fights.

[lamaros]

I played 2 mins of the tutorial before I got bored of jade empire. There was nothing immediately interesting in the setting at all for me. Maybe it's less awkward and cliche in the actual game.

[jakonovski]

I remember liking Jade Empire a lot, but the graphics were ass, to the point of being a distraction (I played using backwards compatibility on the 360).  

[Ceryse]

I enjoyed Jade Empire as well. I still replay it every few years, actually. The game definitely had flaws, though.

[Phred]

From watching those videos it doesn't look like a party based game in the slightest.

[rk47]

Combat rolls etc.
If they're making a more action-oriented game like Mass Effect, I'm afraid most teammates aren't really going to do much aside from healing etc.
Camera really reminds me of Mass Effect.

[jakonovski]

It's curious how they really want to do action combat, but the mechanics lessons from the Souls series and Dragon's Dogma are nowhere to be seen. But it's still a long ways off, so never say never. I really want another fantasy world I can lose myself in.

[rk47]

I really want another fantasy world I can lose myself in.

Skyrim did it for me.
With lots of mods. I doubt Bioware can do open world right. And their non-isometric combat haven't really shown any decent melee gameplay since...Jade Empire?

[Montague]

Oh and as to Gaider's comments.  I look at what he said about fanboi and fangirl and I have to scratch my head.  Bioware has had an arrogance about it since Jade Empire.  

Since the Jennifer Hepler incident I'd call it closer to outright antagonism. I've never seen a company that has such an open level of contempt for its customers. Their condescending attitude during the entire ME3 ending saga was particularly galling.

[HaemishM]

I've never seen a company that has such an open level of contempt for its customers.

Not even the recent SimCity fiasco?

[Merusk]

On EA's side, they didn't have central staff saying things like, "My least favorite thing is <main reason lots of your customers are buying your product>"

[Ingmar]

A lot of what he's saying there is in defense of their fans (the 'pander' and 'fanboy' ones those are clearly aimed at the subset of people on their community forums who attack anyone who enjoyed the games, often using those terms), I hardly think that everything there can be described as contempt for their customers. The 'realistic' one is specifically about the shit they catch for including gay characters/relationships.

[Reg]

You mean there are people out there so obsessed with hatred for all things Bioware that they'd sign up for their forums just to endlessly whine and complain about every game they've made since Baldur's Gate 1?