Bioware is lost for the RPG community

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Try Dragon Age Inquistion. It has a Dragon Age Origin and Baldur's Gate feeling to it....

 

And last time I tried it, it also had a very "consoley" feel to it, which isn't good when you're playing with a mouse and keyboard. Not sure if patching has improved on this since.

 

The game is a disgrace. It is dumbed down. Clearly designed with a controller in mind, and with instant access to every ability (hence the 8 ablity limitation and the removal of the radial menu). It has a very poor villain. He is pretty much as passive as he can be. He sits there and lets you pick apart each and every one of his plans, and does nothing to retaliate.

The combat is arguably the worst. Rotten AI. the removal of the tactical menus. And the game is so easy that all you really need is the Barrier spell. Nothing else. People have beaten the game on Nightmare simply by casting Barrier and button mashing through every fight.

Enemies don't have access to the abilities you and your party has either. they have 2-3 attacks and a block of HP. That's it. Its like playing a Shooter where only the player gets to have a gun.

The game actually reminds me of how EA ended the Ultima series. By removing more and more RPG elements, and adding more and more action elements. Button mashing, jumping puzzles and so on. More action less thinking.

Bioware isn't Bioware anymore. The people who gave us the BG games, Neverwinter Nights etc have all left the company.

 

Got dragon age inq. Stopped playing it quick. (See Rawgrims remarks)

 

sometimes I wonder if we expect to much.

 

Maybe we do. On the other hand, the only thing that Bioware does well consistently is good companions. Gameplay is usually mediocre at best, except perhaps where the D&D license dictated the game mechanics. Story is usually nothing special either. Choice is usually no more than which reaction you would like to give to a given set of events - it has no impact either way.

So perhaps we're looking at it through rose tinted glasses and just not seeing the realities?

By the time Mass Effect came out it was clear that this was just a not very good over-the-shoulder shooter with some excessive dialogue that doesn't lead to any choice and a few RPG elements.

 

Bioware isn't lost! One day they will see the light, drop the MMO crap, and make a Jade Empire 2.

One day...

 

Any day now...

But in all seriousness, I think someone else should buy the IP and make the sequel.

 

I don't mind someone else taking the license provided they don't MMO it and especially don't turn the Closed Fist into an evil path.

I guess I don't mind action elements in RPG games. The biggest rule for me is that they don't come at the expense of RPG elements. I mentioned Jade Empire not just because it's one of my favorite Bioware games but because it's an example of action not interfering with classic RPG improvement, customization, and tactics. There are many distinct builds that can be made depending on how you level up your many fighting/weapon/magic styles and the action part doesn't make it feel watered down one bit.

When they went full blown action game like DA2 and forgot all depth they truly went to EA-level dark side.

 

I always thought the action in Jade Empire was a bit clunky, especially in the beginning when you didn't have so many styles to use. There are definitely some skills (builds, I suppose) that are stronger than others.

The special combo attacks were a nice touch, even though the one with the shocking area attack was a bit game breaking. Or maybe because of the fact that they were game breaking it was a nice touch It allows you to completely breeze through the cannibals and bandits, which I find pleasant because I don't have to put too much effort in those encounters.

And then you get the Jade Golem form and then everything is a breeze. I don't mind, it's part of the fun of Jade Empire for me.

But I really feel that Bioware outdid themselves on the story and pacing in Jade Empire. It flows well and naturally. Not the standard cliched stories and plot drivers (go there, collect/kill/complete the four quests, proceed to end game or repeat until one can proceed to end game) that Bioware mostly has been using ever since then (and indeed sometimes before then as well).

It was also un-Bioware-like in that the good and evil choices were not the black and white choices that generally is considered good vs bad in games. Of course they messed it up in the end when all your choices for iron fist or open palm were rendered moot by one final decission, but while it lasted it was not that bad.

 

Storm Dragon was indeed laughably game breaking. Even on the hardest difficulty I defeated the final boss without being hit once by using it in an extended combo with thousand cuts

But if you WEREN'T abusing the most OP style, it was fun to try different characters with very different tactics. I played through twice on both paths using a large character who focused on switching from tiger style to dual axes and then going elephant demon form in a pinch.

Then I did a short character who specialized in wind magic, staves, spirit thief, and muskets. Jade Golem also just because.

I enjoyed how in every closed fist action you took there was always an option to try to morally justify your actions rather than just being the stereotypical greedy brute or sociopath most games are known for.

The gameplay felt smooth enough to me, but it's been awhile. I feel like it had some great basic concepts and it's a shame it wasn't expanded upon.

 

The gameplay, or more specifically, the combat, felt a bit clunky to me in the beginning, mostly because the light attack is always the same three hits (ok, a few more for the thousand hits style) and the heavy attack is always the same punch / kick. It seems too simplistic. I would've liked to have seen more combo's of light and heavy attacks or at least a few different possible animations.

Also most of the martial styles are fairly static. It's entirely possible to start a light attack and only hit on the first hit because that hit pushed the enemy out of range. I'd say it's mostly an issue in the beginning of the game, but since there are some enemy types that you can only beat with martial styles, it does come back throughout the game. (Leaping tiger gives you a bit of extra range on the last attack that most other styles do not have, but to play the same style for every playthrough is even more boring.)

Closed fist was a refreshing change (within the Bioware universe, that is), in that the options revolve about having the personal strength to solve your own problems, and not sociapathy (pretty much all their D&D games) or simply being an *sshole (ME).