Let's start with ME1. We could:
-Revisit any location that was not closed off by main plot developments
-Change our companions' armor
-Explore many locations (planets) freely at any time.
-Talk to our companions at any time (DAO did this better, but for the sake of the argument I'll start here)
-do sidequests at almost any time after you've talked to the quest-giver
Then came DAO. With DAO, Bioware started to close off sidequest locations after the side quest playing out there was done. This was annoying, but didn't make a big impression because the game world was big enough without these locations. Why this is undesirable nonetheless I'll explain later.
With ME2, we lost the ability to change our companions' armor. We all know the reasons put forward for that, but my claim is that this was not done for the benefit of the player, but for the benefit of the character designers who did not want to see "their" character in generic armor, and to save resources by designing characters and their outfits in one piece.
In ME2, again "used" locations were closed off after the missions there were done, only this time it did impact the overall feel of the game world, making it appear small and fragmented. In a thread about that topic, I summarized that feeling as "ME1 had locations, ME2 had game levels".
ME2 also started the regrettable tendency of teleporting the player where they "needed to be" (after one such occurrence in ME1 and one on in DAO) and teleporting them away from side quest locations after they were supposedly done. Another element of constraint. I'll come to why this is important later.
Now comes DA2. We have now lost the ability to talk to our companions at any time. Even worse than that, when we CAN talk with them, it happens we also MUST talk with them. We can neither delay the talk nor do it earlier than we're told by our journal.
We can also don't do sidequests any more at any time. While this is well-grounded in the time frame of the events, it is, however, an added constraint that adds to the general feeling of cumulative constraint I'm trying to illustrate here.
I will now get to why these elements we have lost are important for the playing experience.
(Reasonably) free exploration and revisiting locations:
Now, I hear the developers asking "What is the point of revisiting locations where there is nothing more to do". Well, I could mention being able to collect stuff we've missed, such as companion armors in DA2's Act II which were inconveniently located in caves accessible only once. But that's not the point. The point is, yes there may not be a reason to actually revisit those locations, but the knowledge that we could do that if we wanted makes the world feel bigger. This is the main reason why ME2 feels fragmented and small compared to ME1.
Yes, the planet exploration in ME1 was generic, but the locations were unique enough. Put me down on any planet in ME1, at any outdoors location, and I can tell you on which planet I am. Thus the generic locations contributed to the size of the game world. Compare this with DA2, where not only were those locations closed off after being "used" for their respective quests, but in many cases there was also no way, if you were in one cave or house, to tell the difference to the next one.
Companion armor:
To be honest, I am one of those players who often uses less effective armor and clothing just because it looks better. So I do, in fact, appreciate the less generic looks of characters in the newer games. What I do not like - and what many players do not like who happen to see things the same way - is that I am restricted to the character designers' opinion of what looks good. The most annoying example is ME2's Miranda Lawson. A classy woman by her background, her default outfit looks like the cheaply thrilling stuff I feel a woman like her would never wear. That there are so widely differring opinions about this just proves my point. DA2's outfits are far less annoying, which may be, in part, due to fantasy being given more leeway than SF.
An additional effect this "one-piece design" has, i.e. characters and their outfits being designed as one, is the inflation of WTF moments because characters can't take off their armor where they should, for instance when Fenris drinks some wine and grips his glass with an armored glove. Sometime, it extends even to the protagonists, as in ME2's Shepard, who will drink stuff through his helmet when wearing certain armors.
I've often heard developers talk about "artistic choices". Well, it is their game, they may, of course, do what they want with it. But I wonder why they wouldn't want to avoid players go "Gah. Character X looks ugly in that outfit" by giving them a choice of two or three different outfits of differring styles. And a non-mission outfit for non-mission/civilian situations if neccessary. Is it that the character designers are too enamored of their work, that they must force players to look at things they might not like all the time, is it a matter of resources, that developers don't want to spend just for something the player may *not* look at all the time? I can only say that if I dislike a character's outfit enough, I won't take him or her with me regardless of her efficiency, unless I like other aspects of them enough to make up for it. So, game developers, if you want me to look at your characters, give me some way to change their outfits.
As they say, there is no accounting for taste. Please, game developers, don't force your artistic taste on me. It will only backfire. And if you create increasingly detailed interactive scenes - which I appreciate very much, btw - it will become ever more important that characters don't do stuff like drinking wine in armored gloves. Or through helmets.
Talking to companions at any time:
OK. I get it. If you want to have a meaningful conversation with your companions about current events and their current problems, you cannot talk with them about them at any time. There is, however, absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be able to talk with them about aspects of their personal background or backstory at any time. Those parts they choose to reveal at that point, anyway.
I don't know how other players feel, but the forced talks that I can neither delay nor move forward contribute more to the feeling that I am not acting in DA2, but that I am acted upon, than any other of the constraints mentioned in this post. They also contribute to DA2's characters feeling less complete, because those elements I could talk about at any time, such as characters' backstories, are increasingly not present. I know almost nothing about Varric's backstory or about Anders' backstory, compared to Leliana's and Morrigan's in DAO, or Mordin's or Miranda's in ME2. Even in ME2, with considerably less dialogue than DA2, I know more about the events that made the team members what they are than in DA2 with the exception of Fenris. I feel that the absence of free talks contributes to this effect.
I think that ME2 did things mostly right. We had a limited set of free talks plut a set of talks about the characters' current problems, mostly related to their missions.
The cumulative effect:
This is what makes me feel increasingly unfree in Bioware's games. I could, perhaps, live with one or the other added constraint, though, especially in the case of free exploration, not without complaining. But together, they add up. I increasingly feel: The world is small. I cannot do anything in my personal life. This is not my story. I am not creating my story. This is not my character.
Please note: I am not complaining about plot constraints. I happen to like the way Hawke has limited influence on the big picture in DA2, even if the execution is lacking in some places. I am talking about small things I should be able to do freely like talking with my companions, visiting the locations of the game world and have some influence on the looks of my companions. This becomes even more important as the plot becomes more restrictive.
I know every aspect of this has been talked about ad infinitum. If you feel this is all superfluous, I cannot change that. But I do think that the cumulative effect of all these constraints affects the way DA2 feels much more than any single one of them. The whole, as they say, is greater than the sum of its parts. That also applies to DA2's constraints: the whole of the constraints feels greater than the sum of them. And to a certain extent to ME2's.
Modifié par Ieldra2, 05 avril 2011 - 09:15 .
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