But you only "know" that because you're basing your opinion of BioWare on the subset of games that are tightly story based.All I know is bioware, who always identified with story, has taken a series about story and made it about fetch quests and big empty maps.
No way! ME2 was their best game. It was a masterpiece.
Ironically gameplay wise,Origins was a action RPG.It even describe itself as such back in 09.It was tactical(not really),real-time action RPG."Filler" quests are a lot better than Origins "filler" quests in my opinion.Choices were not noticed or relevant in other main quests.How did making peace with dalish & werewolves affect redcliffe.How did saving the circle affect The Alienage.There was only the epilogue slide & 2 crossovers when consequences of your choices happened.
The MMO comparison is extreme.I bet the only MMO some of these have played is SWTOR or WoW.Combat is nothing like most MMOs.Filler Quest are in all open area/open world games.
The dalish had nothing to do with Redcliff, so it shouldn't have had any affect anyway.
DA:O had non-combat skills, it required no hand to eye coordination, and it didn't rely on the player's physical reflexes. DA:I does not have any non-combat skill because the character is 100 percent about what he can do in combat. It relies 100 percent on button mashing (and the barrier spell).
The MMO comparison is spot on. The devs even said DA:I was being developed as an MMO to begin with.
It was a great story that continued to lose me every time I had to delay saving the Galaxy to police thermal clips after a battle. Personally, prefer the other titles more.
Yet you spent hours of tedious harvesting and looting in DAI, which is far more onerous than picking up thermal clips. Spending hours on useless quests for the inquisition (which had zero impact on the final battle) was fine tho. Every second I spent doing quests that did not move the story along was also delaying..saving the Galaxy (as you say). ME2 had consequences for not doing the quests. DAI had useless fluff that impacted nothing and did nothing for the final fight. Complete and utter waste of time.
But you only "know" that because you're basing your opinion of BioWare on the subset of games that are tightly story based.
Not all BioWare games have been, and DAI isn't either. And as such, it's better.
In my opinion, BioWare's most tightly focused stories have been in their weakest games. ME2. DA2. JE.
Yet you spent hours of tedious harvesting and looting in DAI, which is far more onerous than picking up thermal clips. Spending hours on useless quests for the inquisition (which had zero impact on the final battle) was fine tho. Every second I spent doing quests that did not move the story along was also delaying..saving the Galaxy (as you say). ME2 had consequences for not doing the quests. DAI had useless fluff that impacted nothing and did nothing for the final fight. Complete and utter waste of time.
I hope you get this game was a "Test Model" for a MMORPG (initally pay per month) then F2P.
The clues are all around you, like the "force".
PS. Check out they are up to 330 mods! on Nexus Mods.
ME2 is definitely my favorite Bioware game to date, but it's difficult for me to pinpoint exactly why that is.
It wasn't really the story. The story wasn't bad, but the Collector reveal never really meant much to me. The suicide mission as a concept was good and it was executed well, but I think Mass Effect 1 was much stronger and tighter on the story front. Saren is easily my favorite bioware antagonist, and the Reaper reveal was brilliant.
Similarly while I really don't like Mass Effect 3 as a whole I still see Palaven, The Genophage and Rannoch as some of the best content Bioware has ever produced. Magnitudes better than any of the missions in Mass Effect 2.
So why is Mass Effect 2 my favorite? I think it's because it's the only Bioware game that really focuses on what I care about most: the characters. The Reaper threat still feels relatively distant so the missions are more personal and let you hang out in shady clubs and peaceful cities without worrying too much about the overall story. The companion missions were what really sold it, and no companion missions prior or since have ever been as good. Speaking to Dorians dad, killing some Darkspawn with Varric and killing some... random guy with Sera just didn't have the weight of tracking down the mass-murdering serial killer Morinth, preventing Tali from being exiled for treason or infiltrating a high society party with Kasumi.
Dragon Age 2 tried the whole low stakes plot with more character focus thing but didn't have the graphic fidelity, variety of locations or interesting and compelling character drama to pull it off.
They'd probably make more if they focused on making an ARPG.
But they are making Arpgs already.
LOL at arguments about semantics. At the end of the day, does it really matter? Does it matter what classification or category DAI should or should not be slotted into? Personally, I don't think so. One thing is clear (and should really never have been a matter for debate) people have different tastes and different motivations. I can only use myself as an example, I play a variety of different games for a variety of different reasons. Which game I decide to play on any given day is 100% mood dependent; I might love it today but have 0 interest tomorrow and then craving it again 2 days down the road, and so it goes.
Frankly I am all for pushing the envelope an defining new genres and classifications, variety after all is the spice of life.
As for the OP's statement, count me in, after the glitz and glitter of DAI dulls some, there is not much depth as pertains to what I consider and expect a DA game to be. The precedent was set and further followed up with marketing hype which I personally found misleading given what I ended up purchasing. I am not harping about it, it is what it is and I vote with my wallet, to me its the only proven method that works in these situations if only for my own peace of mind.
I am playing the game albeit its a bit more of a rare evening during the week that makes me interested in slogging through virtual miles of scenery with not all that much to do that interests me. So yes, most of the time (so far) its been a bit of a borefest coupled with a struggle with controls (for me at least).
If the intent of BioWare was to try and cash in on the Skyrim craze, they really missed the mark since what has kept that game alive and making money is the Creation Kit and thousands upon thousands of user created content and mods that literally transform the game into pretty well anything you want.
For the record, I am not a BioWare fanatic nor have I diligently followed this company for years. I am a fan of DA:O as it interested me and I did find it compelling enough to devote some hours to, DAI much less at this point.
Guest_Imanol de Tafalla_*
In my honest opinion, DA:O was the most boring of the lot due to the long and drawn-out dungeon crawls that made the story seem longer than it actually was.
DA2 had repetitive environments.
At least Bioware did a good job with the environments in DA:I. Though, the encounters and little quests could have used some work. I would have loved to interact more with that Chantry Sister in the Hissing Wastes.
I hope you get this game was a "Test Model" for a MMORPG (initally pay per month) then F2P.
The clues are all around you, like the "force".
.
I've been reading through this thread, and it made me think of a few things. From Origins, I can remember encounters with Dagna, Ruck, the brother and sister in Redcliffe, the bar maid,... all of those were singular NPC encounters and yet they all felt meaningful and I hoped for the best for those specific characters. As I think about it, I can't think of one memberable NPC encounter in Inquisition that I found meaningful or hope to encounter in the future (save for companions). I'm happy I saved the town of Crestwood, but I don't care about anyone specifically in Crestwood or any other map for that matter. Anything personal between the player character and the NPCs seems to be missing from the game. There's too much focus on the bigger picture.
That said, I personally don't feel bored. I do wish they'd fix the party banter bug, as I think that would add a lot to the game. Though, I have to admit I'm using a lot of my imagination to fill in the blanks for things - like completing all the quests in the Hinterlands because I want to help the refuges go back to their lives. Also, I'll admit that the story missions on the war table are pretty... not important. I hardly read them anymore, just look up who to send that will get me the best results (more loot and what not). Also a lot of the caves - I'm going through this dungeon to get an ancient elven weapon? Umm... yeah, I could just save a lot of time and go buy something a shop or make something or wait and see if something better comes along if there's really no other point.
I do think who you take with you on some quests can be helpful. Solas has a lot to say about certain Elven ruins and Dorian, Varric, and Bull are FANTASTIC to take along in the Hissing Wastes. Cassandra and Cole LOVE the Emerald Graves (Varric and Dorian HATE them). But you have to know to take those people or you miss out on a lot of character.
Am I bored? No. Is there heart and soul missing from the game? Yes, I can see that.
I offer Scout Harding, Dagna, Mother Giselle, Fiona, Stroud, and Bianca as some of the more interesting NPC's encountered in DAI, and I am terrible at recalling names. And I also liked meeting the Rift Mage trainer for laughs.
You laughing? VIdeo or didn't happen.
Harding = Cool but shallow
Dagna = Amazing
Giselle = Boring as hell
Fiona = Stupid
Stroud = Not even an object, if he tries a little harder he could become a "thing"
Bianca = Amazing
Wait a minute -- how are we defining "tightly focused stories" for purposes of this thread?
I was thinking of games which present a clear path to follow and little possibility to define your character based on something unrelated to that. DA2 creates that restriction by not allowing you to make meaningful decisions. ME2 does it with the dialogue system and voice. JE does it by not offering anything else to do aside from the main path.
No way! ME2 was their best game. It was a masterpiece.
A game so good I abandoned the series.
ME2's entire design philosophy was anti-roleplaying. That interrupt system was a travesty.
A game so good I abandoned the series.
ME2's entire design philosophy was anti-roleplaying. That interrupt system was a travesty.
Different opinions, I guess. Nothing has topped the Suicide mission in video game history for me. The fact that Bioware actually let so many squad mate and ship crew die like flies if you made bad choice was the last time Bioware made a great choice and consequence rpg game for me.
Different opinions, I guess. Nothing has topped the Suicide mission in video game history for me. The fact that Bioware actually let so many squad mate and ship crew die like flies if you made bad choice was the last time Bioware made a great choice and consequence rpg game for me.
I was thinking of games which present a clear path to follow and little possibility to define your character based on something unrelated to that. DA2 creates that restriction by not allowing you to make meaningful decisions. ME2 does it with the dialogue system and voice. JE does it by not offering anything else to do aside from the main path.
A game so good I abandoned the series.
ME2's entire design philosophy was anti-roleplaying. That interrupt system was a travesty.
I agree with you one the roleplaying bits. But in general it was a very good game.
Not the same. In DAI, I was compelled to develop the Inq and companions as best as I could, while delaying and interfering with the plans of the opposition based on gathered knowledge from future events. In ME2, I am racing forward from room to room, then backtracking to regain clips needed for the next area. ME3 was not nearly as bad; usually had plenty of ammo available do backtracking was not required.
Only played ME2 a single time for the perfect Suicide Mission; have already invested 550+ hrs in two campaigns for DAI. Major difference.
Your Inquisition army in 300h game and someone who completed game in 20h is exactly the same, nothing in the world affect main story. You can do everything in the world or nothing, you can't lose. I play DAI for 120h expecting boring stuff I do in world to be important to story. 60h smoothh ME2 story is better than 200h boring disconnected filers.
Your Inquisition army in 300h game and someone who completed game in 20h is exactly the same, nothing in the world affect main story. You can do everything in the world or nothing, you can't lose. I play DAI for 120h expecting boring stuff I do in world to be important to story. 60h smoothh ME2 story is better than 200h boring disconnected filers.
I disagree. I think ME1 had the superior combat system, and ME2 ruined it.
Good for you.
For many others it was so bad it probably hurt the franchise's commercial viability right out the gate.
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