Yrkoon wrote...
What you're describing here (in fact, every single one of your examples), are not instances of "dumbing down", they're examples of the move towards more "action-y" gameplay. (BG2 had AUTOMATIC RESSURECTIONS too. It's call the rod of ressurection, available at a magic shop near you)
Baldur's Gate 2 also permanently killed a party member if they sustained over -10 HP worth of damage from a killing blow. They blew up in a pleasant shower of gory giblets. Ressurrection did not cure that. Now, if one is the type of player that resets after every setback, that feature is no longer impactful. Doing so is an active choice to ease the difficulty, and not a proper measure of those games' challenge.
Yrkoon wrote...
The two are not synonymous. An example of dumbed down would be something like the removal of Multiple endings. (because you don't have to think about how you want to 'solve" the story) or, gameplay-wise, the removal of a combat stat system, or the move from Dice rolls determining combat succes to, say, the player's button-pushing skills determining combat success
Personally, I thought DA:O had a much steeper learning curve than any of the BG games (some of the behind the scenes mathamatics to determine spell power or defense vs. Attack in DA:O was nigh impossible to figure out without extensive study of the system). But the fact that BG1 & 2 were easier for me to master may have something to do with my previous knowledge of the D&D ruleset. But its hard to say.
Total disagreement with the bolded part. Personally, I subscribe to the idea that freedom of choice does not necessarily equate control over destiny. An RPG with fewer final outcomes is not "dumbed down". It is merely another narrative approach; which under certain circumstances, can be just as valid.
"Dumbed down" to me is a loss of mechanical complexity with the intention of making a game more accessible to a wider variety of players. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Complexity for its own sake can be a serious detriment.
That said, I found DAO vastly easier than Baldur's Gate. As someone that had no prior experience with D&D beforehand, that manual may as well have been written in Mandarin Chinese. It took me over a year before I finished Baldur's Gate without cheating. It was an easy game once I did understand D&D rules, however.
DAO was exactly the opposite. Combat was based around standard MMO fare. The only mechanical challenge came from a lack of documentation on how certain abilities actually worked. That led to my making quite a few mediocre builds early on. During my first DAO game, which I played on hard mode off the bat, I got through every encounter doing nothing but having Alistair taunt and directing my Warden to heal as needed. Once I got Wynne my party was invincible. No one could smack down my warriors faster than I could heal them. I killed Flemeth and the high dragon on my first try. It was a joke.
Nowadays the game is a cakewalk on nightmare no matter what my party composition. In short, it is no harder than Baldur's Gate.
What differs about DAO and the Baldur's Gate games is their approach to challenge; and that is all. Baldur's Gate front loads all its difficulty on strategy and system mastery. Once one understand D&D's mechanics, the only trick is in learning from each defeat and preparing the party accordingly for next time. Every seemingly difficult combat is like a puzzle that needs solving. Once the mystery is gone, there is no challenge. Some people see it as harder because they equate challenge to death. It takes them more tries to solve the puzzle.
DAO's difficulty is all in the moment. As long as the player has a basic understanding of their party's capabilities and knows when to activate abilities, it is very easy. Unlike Baldur's Gate, it is possible to turn around a beatdown with prudent use of crowd control abilities and healing spam--whether through magic or poultices. Whereas in Baldur's Gate, a battle going south usually means a reload looming.
Yrkoon wrote...
I've yet to even attempt such a thing in DA:O, as I suspect I'd get my ass handed to me if I tried.
It is very doable as a mage or rogue. I have no idea about warriors based on personal experience. Party members for mages in particular may as well be glorified cheerleaders. They add to the experience, but ultimately have no impact on the outcome.
Let's face it folks: BioWare games are just not that difficult.
Modifié par Seagloom, 02 avril 2012 - 02:23 .
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