Because right now the bar is set with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Hearts of Stone, and Blood and Wine.
After playing Blood and Wine, its crazy to think about how Bioware got so soundly thrashed in most facets of game direction, with CD Projeckt RED also giving Bethesda a whipping as well. It is also probably the first game to not settle and have their cake and eat it too with open world design and strong RPG storytelling.
And writing too. Its quest design, its characterization, and how it implements both quest and character completely and utterly destroy Bioware's use of "talking codex entries", and how Bioware handles character quests. CD Projeckt RED's writing also takes risks, and routinely surprise the player in a way that is organic and well done, and grounds its writing in the human condition, foregoing most of the hero of destiny RPG writing. Even hilarious quests sometimes have dark or sad tones, for example "Big Game Hunter" in Blood and Wine. And the Witcher 3 organically weaves secondary and even side quests to the main plot, both weaving out and back in (although ME3 and really DA2 does this as well). In most Bioware games, the main plot and its side quests are packaged separately.
What caused CDPR to take the crown? Because they were willing to work outside of formula and take risks, and they were allowed to as well. This is the problem with Bioware (and Bethesda). They are stuck with doing the same things over and over, and when they break out and do something different, the fanbase is divided, causing them to go back to basics and do the same thing over again.
It wasn't ME3 or even DA2 that caused them to lose the crown, but DAI. DAI played it safe, because Bioware was too scared to keep evolving in fear of its fanbase. In fact DAI is a step back in story and quest implementation, of originality, of characters taking part of the plot, and the return of those god awful talking codex entries. With that and its clear main plot and exploration segregation, its no wonder CD Projeckt RED dethroned them.
Look at Telltale. They released The Walking Dead to many awards and acclaim as well as sales. In reality, it was a deeply flawed game with weak mechanics and dumbed down gameplay, as well as with glaring technical issues. Instead of the gaming press pointing these flaws out and telling them that they need improvement, they were showered with GOTY awards. So Telltale kept doing the same thing, making the same game, using the same engine. Result: Their sales decline. Enter DONTNOD Entertainment. A near bankrupt company expanded on Telltales formula while adding elements from other successful games, and made a very risky story that dealt with real world issues. Result: This original IP, Life is Strange, outsold Telltales games for Borderlands, Game of Thrones, and Minecraft COMBINED, while being awarded (they even a somewhat of a Peabody Award). The king was dethroned by DONTNOD. How? By evolving the genre and tackling issues games rarely tackle while the "king" did the same thing over and over.
This is what CDPR has done to Bioware. DAO and ME2 were overpraised. The case though is that Bioware did not ignore the flaws, the fans did for the most part. DA2 may have fixed some of DAO's problems but it being rushed out caused new ones. ME3 from top to bottom fixed ME2's problems, but an underdeveloped ending and its risky storytelling caused a backlash (backlash for the former needed to be addressed and was, while the latter, Bioware should have ignored). The reaction to these two games lead Bioware to make DAI, which shared DAO and ME2's problems. And guess what? They are less forgiven now, and will be even less forgiven after The Witcher 3.
What Bioware needs to do is improve side quest integration with the main quest, have characters work organically and not separate from the story, have more info about them come from action and even environmental storytelling instead of the 20 question talking codex entry, have storytelling that takes risks and not try to please everybody. Bioware will regain the throne by going outside its formula because now, the formula is outdated. Its so 2003.
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. Besides the flaws the game was great. But no go ahead and have your opinion but keep it to yourself. Let's keep things positive.
