80 réponses à ce sujet

[Majestic Jazz]

Ah yes, the famous Bioware story cliche chart that shows how Bioware games from Baldur's  Gate to Mass Effect has all followed the same "Formula". Well, lets see how DA:I stacks up to this chart as of now:

 

 

(1) You hail from humble origins - Does not fit the cliche at all. From what I know, all races have a background of "importance".

 

(2) A devastating battle sends your quiet life spinning out of balance - Loosely fits the cliche. There isn't a "battle" but there is an event at the very beginning that really heats things up.

 

(3) The attack leaves you alone with two companions, of magical and martial prowess - Not Enough Information thus far. We know that you come out alone as the survivor of this even and Cassandra (martial prowess) might "join" you at this point, but nothing more.

 

(4) Undaunted by the attack, you recover and are swiftly invited into an elite order that places you in a position of power or authority over the rest of humanity - Strongly fits the cliche. You become the leader of the Inquisition.

 

(5) You discover that you must travel to four main locations in order to save the world/galaxy - Not Enough Information thus far.

 

(6) With your mission well under way, your every effort is thwarted by any evil or sinister organization - Not Enough Information thus far. However, could the Elder One play this part? Red Templars? Group of rogue/evil Mages?

 

(7) At some point you fall asleep and there is a dream sequence - Not Enough Information thus far.

 

(8) Further along in your journeys, you discover the ruins of a sprawling ancient civilization - Not Enough Information thus far. However, perhaps there will be some ruins of the ancient Dalish clans somewhere that perhaps plays a key point in the plot.

[wolfhowwl]

It always annoyed me how the Cerberus entry under ME1 is an outright lie.

[EnduinRaylene]

I never liked this chart, it's so skewed and meaningless, but your assessment pretty much fits the criteria, not that we know much.

 

I would say #4 is wrong though. From all we've heard the Inquisition isn't anything at the start of the game, most of it will be us doing things in order to gain power and authority, so I would say DAI only loosely follows the formula in that regard since they do have a historical significance but at the present no know who they are or what authority they really hold. We have to fight for that.

[SerCambria358]

These "cliches" are way too vague to conclude this game as cliche.

[Dabrikishaw]

I think your assessment is pretty spot on.

[MarchWaltz]

I think you START the Inquisition, not get invited into it. That's what one of the devs said; unlike every other Bio game where you get accepted into the badass group, you start it.

[ghostzodd]

[Killdren88]

Everything is a Cliche at this point. It is really hard to create a original story idea. These days it is all about how the cliches are executed. If they are done well or done poorly.

[drake heath]

Yeah, but this is about BioWare specific cliches.

 

If they did a cliche non-specific to BioWare it wouldn't be a BioWare story cliche.

[Devtek]

I never liked this chart, it's so skewed and meaningless, but your assessment pretty much fits the criteria, not that we know much.

 

I would say #4 is wrong though. From all we've heard the Inquisition isn't anything at the start of the game, most of it will be us doing things in order to gain power and authority, so I would say DAI only loosely follows the formula in that regard since they do have a historical significance but at the present no know who they are or what authority they really hold. We have to fight for that.

 

It is also wrong in places.  You are hardly from humble origins in KotoR, you are one of the strongest people in the galaxy who controlled a galaxy spanning empire...with amnesia.

[meganbytez]

I've never heard of this cliche chart. i agree the points are pretty vague, but i have heard people the main plot idea, as it looks so far, of DAI is kinda cliche in a way. something evil is destroying everything and you are this kinda chosen one because you are the only one capable of closing the things the evil is coming out of. theres a lot of stories out there with loosely the same idea, but i think Bioware are amazing story tellers and i think they add something special to it. i think they really go in depth and the relationships you have especially add to it. The way they deal with social issues and grey areas i think is pretty brilliant. sometimes i think taking a classic idea and twisting it in a variety of ways can lead to a great story. But that is just my opinion. 

[robertthebard]

It is also wrong in places.  You are hardly from humble origins in KotoR, you are one of the strongest people in the galaxy who controlled a galaxy spanning empire...with amnesia.

It's also wrong on the ME entry, since, at the beginning, Commander Shepard is second in command of the Normandy. It also ignores Red Shirt Jenkins, who, along with Kaidan, went to the planet with you. But hey, it gets people to click the link, I guess...

[DarkKnightHolmes]

Couldn't care less if it's cliche or not. After DA2, I've learned that I enjoy the cliche Bioware story of saving the world/galaxy.

[St. Victorious]

I think there's a lot of games, not just Bioware games, that would fit this bill.

Furthermore you've so far only proved we don't have enough info to draw any conclusions. And that's the way Bioware likes it.

[BabyFratelli]

Hm, I'm not sure about a Bioware specific chart. Most video games and books follow a make up like that or something similar. It's like my favourite story tool, the hero's journey.

 

People seem to believe that if stories follow a formula or are cliched, that somehow makes them bad or unworthy (don't know if this is OP's implication), but the fact of the matter is these definitions are often so loose every single story under the sun could be applied to them. Being cliched doesn't necessarily make something bad anyway. You can take the same sentence and say it in millions of different unique ways. As long as your cliche is dressed in it's finest, I don't think it's a bad thing. 

[katerinafm]

Who cares if it fits the cliches if it's done well? They're cliches for a reason; they work well.

[Nefla]

Maybe all of them, maybe none. I don't care either way as long as it's well done.

[frylock23]

I've read hundreds of books in my life, not an exaggeration at all, and I only wish I could have a dollar for all of them that followed this cliché chart that somehow is only exclusive to BioWare.

 

I mean, really, this is Star Wars, Eragon, Harry Potter, Star Gate, Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit, The Wheel of Time ... I could keep going on.

[movieguyabw]

I've actually always loved the "cliche" Bioware story, personally.  There's a reason cliche's exist, after all - they work.  And in Bioware's case, they always worked *really* well.

 

 

 

I've read hundreds of books in my life, not an exaggeration at all, and I only wish I could have a dollar for all of them that followed this cliché chart that somehow is only exclusive to BioWare.

 

I mean, really, this is Star Wars, Eragon, Harry Potter, Star Gate, Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit, The Wheel of Time ... I could keep going on.

 

Yeah, it's the 'Hero With a Thousand Faces' story structure.  You can argue every story ever written follows this; it's not Bioware exclusive in the slightest.

 

However, older Bioware games (really, going all the way up to Origins) had a specific way of adhering to this structure (starting party consists of one character with military prowess, another with magical talents; join an order/group who is "above the law"; you are set loose with 4 main missions; right before the fourth one you are captured/attacked/lose a party member; after the fourth mission, you start your final run, which typically ends with a good/evil decision) - at least in the ones I've played.

[NewBlue]

I think you START the Inquisition, not get invited into it. That's what one of the devs said; unlike every other Bio game where you get accepted into the badass group, you start it.

Aaaaactuallyyyy...... Apparently at the end of DA2 when you see Leliana and cassandra speaking about the disappearances, they are actually the start of the inquisition. The inquisition is in it's planning stages as it was the "plan B" of the Divine.

 

I have no source to back me up on this however, I heard it somewhere but completely forgot where soooo...... Might as well disregard what i've said lol

[Han Shot First]

It always annoyed me how the Cerberus entry under ME1 is an outright lie.

 

Yeah, what's that about? Cerberus were only enemies on a few optional side quests in the first game and at that they pretty much just mook level goons. Whoever created that chart greatly exaggerated their role in the first game. It is only in Mass Effect 2 that Cerberus plays a prominent role in the story.

[deuce985]

We don't have enough information. That being said, almost every story follows "cliches". I can name you 10 of the most popular fantasy stories and I'll bet you can rip them all apart with "cliches". That does not make them bad stories. It's all on how they're used that matters. All genres follow tropes and cliches, imagine that.

[Han Shot First]

We don't have enough information. That being said, almost every story follows "cliches". I can name you 10 of the most popular fantasy stories and I'll bet you can rip them all apart with "cliches". That does not make them bad stories. It's all on how they're used that matters. All genres follow tropes and cliches, imagine that.

 

Agreed.

 

Modern humans have been around for at least 200,000 years, and we've likely been telling stories for just as long. Originality in a work of fiction does not exist. Its all been done before. 

[Zatche]

Aaaaactuallyyyy...... Apparently at the end of DA2 when you see Leliana and cassandra speaking about the disappearances, they are actually the start of the inquisition. The inquisition is in it's planning stages as it was the "plan B" of the Divine.

 

I have no source to back me up on this however, I heard it somewhere but completely forgot where soooo...... Might as well disregard what i've said lol

 

One of the major talking points from the devs to describe DAI as unique is: not only are you part of the Rebel Alliance, you help found it. But, maybe a dev said the idea of the restarting the Inquisition was beginning to be thrown around at that time? (But if not, brains are imperfect computers that fill gaps in our memories by making crap up. It happens to the best of us.) Still, though, it's enough of a difference to not be conforming with this silly chart.