328 réponses à ce sujet

[wright1978]

i'm not sure i'm i fan of extra modes degrading the combat when there's already difficulty levels and i'm definitely not a fan of modes that degrade the dialogue.

I'd be all for ways to avoid combat in the narrative though.

[SwobyJ]

i'm not sure i'm i fan of extra modes degrading the combat when there's already difficulty levels and i'm definitely not a fan of modes that degrade the dialogue.

I'd be all for ways to avoid combat in the narrative though.

 

Narrative Mode = Super Easy Mode

 

That's all it really is.

[Realmzmaster]

@SwobyJ:
I think if combat weren't regarded like "what you do" in a crpg, comments like Hepler's wouldn't exist. In my tabletop rpg campaigns, a physical fight to the death is always an exceptional event, because people actually act sensibly and only go into physical combat once all other options are exhausted. My players go to extreme lengths to find ways around having to fight, because it's usually the riskier path. I find that very realistic, and scenarios like DA2's, where you kill enough people over the course of the game to depopulate Kirkwall twice over, have always bothered me. I think evolving beyond combat as the standard way to resolve things is long overdue for crpgs, and as long as we don't have that, we'll see comments like Hepler's, and justifiedly so. Until that evolution takes place, the "narrative difficulty" is, among other things, one way to reduce the adverse effect this nonsensical overabundance of combat has on how we experience the story.

@AlanC9:
I do not agree. Play the DN origin as a warrior, or the endgame without a mage. It's all doable, but it's definitely no "snooze". DAO has a chance of becoming easy, but that depends 100% on the presence of a mage (preferably two or three). Which is in part what triggered this topic.

 

There must be a balance between combat and non-combat options. I believe that if a gamer wants to roleplay combat as the primary option for their party the game should be able to do so. If the gamer wants to pursue non-violent options that should also be possible.

 

The DN and final battle is most doable with out a mage. In all my playthroughs of DAO I used mages in the final battle twice out of seventeen. My favorite party was one warrior (or dog) with three rangers. That was much harder to do in DA2. DA2 was the more balanced of the two in my humble estimation.

[jncicesp]

They also had the option that let the game auto-choose all the dialogue in ME3. in the options menu it wasn't an actual mode.

 

I wish they had a narrative mode in the first two Mass Effect games, even though Ive beaten them on the hardest difficulty before most of the time when I want to replay them now I'm Really only doing it for the story.

[Deviija]

I think it is a fine idea to want implemented.  Jennifer Hepler touched on 'skip combat' options years back (and received a terrible backlash for it, among other things).  But I don't see why a Narrative/Story Mode or a skip combat capability would ruin anything, it'd merely be another option for easier replayability for those of us that like to get to the narrative and choices over hours of enemy grinding.  I'd support it.  

[Eveangaline]

I admit I don't see much of a point of a game like this without fighting, but if others would like it enough to see it implemented, I don't see why not.

[The Antagonist]

It's called 'casual'

[Ryzaki]

Easy = You can still die if you don't may minimal attention and keep moving

"Narrative" = Lol next to God Mode, where you'll have to stand right in the open for a while and do little, to have any real chance of losing

 

At least that's how it was for the (more shooter) ME3. If I was playing on Casual, I still had to be an 'active player'. On Narrative, I only had to point and shoot..in any way..with anything.

In fact, squadmates easily took down all minor enemies if I let them.

 

Don't mistake it for God Mode though. You can still lose, but you have to be doing veryyyy little in order for that to happen.

 

I normally play on Veteran (when it exists), Hardcore (my default), Insanity (only NG+) in Mass Effect games, but for Dragon Age, I'm just not as interested. I once tried Nightmare for DA:O but eventually got stuck. I'm more interested in Easy to Medium difficulty for this series instead

 

 

EDIT: I can find a Narrative mode to be particularly useful in recording game/cutscene footage too. One could replay sections of the games over and over without having to put more thought into the combat than they have to.

 

It's troubling when I see someone like Jennifer Hepler, technically a developer for a video game and not just a writer, outright saying that she wishes she could skip all combat, but I at least understand the sentiment. Some people really do buy and play roleplaying/cinematic video games just to have a movie/visual book/tv show/etc that they can interact with, and I don't begrudge them for it.

 

I always drop the difficulty to narrative for that damn Reaper on Rannoch. Screw that rolling minigame. Least on narrative he usually doesn't even fire in your general direction.

[BlueMagitek]

Sure.

 

I mean, I never found the normal or casual setting too hard that would warrant a lower setting.  I mean, unless you're just horribly mismanaging your characters it shouldn't be a problem, but if you want a slider that, idk, sets all enemy health to 1 or something, go ahead.

 

Better yet, ctrl-Y it.

[Stelae]

Sure.

 

I mean, I never found the normal or casual setting too hard that would warrant a lower setting.  I mean, unless you're just horribly mismanaging your characters it shouldn't be a problem, but if you want a slider that, idk, sets all enemy health to 1 or something, go ahead.

 

Better yet, ctrl-Y it.

Well, you wouldn't have to use it; it's not like the OP wants people to be obliged to play it on lower levels before Hard and Nightmare unlock.  (A happily disappearing habit which annoys the living daylights out of me). 

 

But if you only have a limited time to game, and you're more interested in story than combat, or if you aren't experienced enough or familiar enough with tactics that you find yourself endlessly reloading some boring-ass conflict instead of getting to the good stuff, why not have a narrative mode?

 

ETA: another reason for narrative mode is, once you've played through at your desired level of pain, you might want to see alternative dialogues, factional choices and whatall.  Especially if all the talk about having multiple choices for each region and Keep holds true. 

[SwobyJ]

lol me too, when not looking for the achievement for Insanity Ryz.

 

 

Anyway, when it comes to a GAME MECHANIC to avoid conflict, I'd prefer that the spectrum of possibilities be opened up over time. These games gotta evolve

 

Red - Varied results from combat, from taking too long/doing it badly, to doing it perfectly. Not just win/lose. Heck, at least sometimes, some 'failure' results against very hard fights might be cool.

 

Blue - If you have certain requirements set up, you can either avoid combat, change the circumstances of it, or weaken the enemy, or even do things like talk down the additional forces of an enemy group. Only significant downside of taking this approach is that it may keep you from getting that 'awesome Red' violent emotional catharsis . Sometimes you just want to face the enemy horde and emerge triumphant, you know?

 

Green - If you have VERY SPECIFIC requirements set up, you can either totally avoid combat, or manipulate the circumstances of the conflict to outright work in your favor. However, the very specific requirements may involve messing up at the Red/Blue route stuff, so you have to be very deliberate to attempt this path. It's also the most talky talky though, overall (except when its not, in which case its a direct combat that you have altered significantly).

 

 

I'd love this in my RPG. Of course, my list up there has more to do with boss/story encounters, but if the same philosophy was applied to everything else, I'd love that too

[Ryzaki]

Heh I'm wondering if we do get narrative mode would we also get Action Mode and what choices would Action Mode pick...

[Giggles_Manically]

I actually support having a wide variety of difficulties.

 

Having a narrative difficulty would be pretty interesting actually. Allowing people to skip combat a lot to get to story sections they want to exploe.

Surprised this did not devolve into a Dark Souls level rage fest. 

 

Nothing offends certain gamers like the mere thought of an easy mode in a game.

[Zelanthair]

I'm one of those who plays the game just for the story, so I always have it set on the easiest mode. It is ridiculously easy. No strategy required. I can read and just mash x until the battles are over, including most boss fights. The most difficult fight I have ever fought on this setting was the Arishok, which I was ill-prepared for. (as it was my first playthrough.)

 

There doesn't need to be a narrative setting. I would rather have their time focusing on the content than developing a 'narrative' difficulty setting.

[Bob from Accounting]

I fully support such a thing.

 

I'm glad to see anything that diminishes the notion that success and competence of the protagonist is 'earned' by the player. That's unfortunately all too common amongst 'hardcore' gamers, (and perhaps just as much for professionals in the industry) and stories suffer for it.

 

It's therefore always good to have the option for the protagonist to be as canonically successful and powerful as ever even if the player isn't all that good at the game. At least for heavily story-based games, anyway.

[Darth Krytie]

I love when games are accessible. I probably wouldn't choose it, but I know people that would.

 

irt the Arishok battle. God, that was a pain in the ass.  The very first time I ended up on the balcony and had to do it again. That was the unsexiest bit of relentless impaling I've ever lived through. Though, now I've got it all down pat. As a rogue, I can beat him in under two minutes: dog, decoy, relentless strikes, assassinate, twin fangs, backstab. That's it. And he's dead without me getting hit once.

[TurretSyndrome]

Gaming is ultimately a medium for entertainment. What's "fun" is pretty subjective and changes with the gamer. Unfortunately, people forget that fact all too often. Just the other day there was this thread where people were dictating how the game is meant to be played with a four-member party. No.

 

So If someone wants to play the game just for the story and wish to have to deal with minimal battles, that's their choice, they bought the game. Unless the game is online and involves multiple gamers, there's no such thing as "X game should be played the Y way". 

[J-Reyno]

I'm all for this.  I mean, If it can help people enjoy the game more that's great.

 

I'd also like a Dark Souls Mode where any and every enemy is a serious threat and you can easily die in three hits. 

[MassivelyEffective0730]

I see the point as long as there is some kind of extra bonus to playing and beating the game on the hardest difficulty. Sort of like how Halo did it with the Legendary difficulty. An extra cut scene in the ending, etc.

[Bob from Accounting]

That really depends very heavily on the nature of the 'bonus.'

 

For example, if the player only received the 'breathe scene' in ME 3 after playing on the hardest difficulty, that would be absolutely unacceptable.

 

What Halo does is more okay since the player can reasonably guess it's happening whether the player sees it or not. But something important happening only if the plays on harder levels (such as Shepard surviving) is repulsive.

 

But really, such things shouldn't be necessary at all. An achievement and the satisfaction of playing the game should be plenty reward.

[TurretSyndrome]

Not to mention uploading the proof of you killing the dragon single-handedly on nightmare on youtube. 

[Nayawk]

Yes please.  I loved this feature in ME3.  Yes the first couple of play throughs are at normal settings.. but seriously if you play a lot of character to see the different outcomes the combat stops being that interesting and just starts getting in the way of the story. 

[JimboGee]

Maybe they should add an option to cut the combat out altogether /sarcasm

[Ryzaki]

One would think it's significantly easier to simply have a difficulty that gives the PC a damage boost and NPCs a damage reduction than it would be completely dropping combat from the game.