RPGenre

[PRE7ENDER]

Hello my fellow RPG fans.

Bioware has produced my favorite RPG's of all time including Baldurs Gate, KOTOR, Mass Effect, and last but certainly not least, Dragon Age. I don't blog often but with Bioware's latest blunder with the Mass Effect series I feel like the original Bioware fan base needs to speak up and get them back on track.

There are obviously alot of factors to making great games and while I don't think casting blame will help in any way, I have noticed a shift in development since EA took over Bioware politics and production and David Gaider and the original writing crew left. Having been a fan since the old school 2D DnD turnbase rolls, I've been able to witness the leap in mechanics and graphics, while the writing has faltered. The characters have become one dimensional and there is rarely any meaningful conflict and character developement apart from the Players Character. For example, I remember playing through KOTOR II Sith Lords Dozens of times not only to attempt all the different builds and alternate plot lines for my PC, but to see how those differences would affect my relationship with my companions and their abilities and their character arc resolutions. No characters were side characters, and their stories were as important as your PC's.  

With all the politics surrounding the latest Mass Effect game I feel like Bioware, or perhaps more specifically Bioware's management from EA, has been producing games with the intention to appeal and sell to the largest demographic instead of to the fans who have loved and supported all their work in the past. To be perfectly honest I'm hurt that I won't be seeing my warden in the next DA games although realize the challenges of bringing back an unvoiced PC. DA 2 and DA:I both seemed like filler; fleshing out the politics and culture of the universe. I did enjoy them both, but IMO, the real story was about the Old Gods, the Forgotten Ones, and the origin of the Darkspawn. The story that predates history and is challenged by Morrigan, and the Warden, depending on your descisions. A great story with continuity, and relatable, multidimensional companions are what has made the majority of Bioware RPG's stand out in the past and I hope Bioware returns to the fundamentals of what made their games so memorable.

[EA_Archi]

Hello @PRE7ENDER and thank you for sharing your thoughts on this subject with us here. I think it is safe to say, we all are RPG fans here, and we all share your hopes for some awesome games from our bellowed  studio. Anthem looks promising, combining some of the best elements from all the previous Bioware titles. 

Cheers,

Archi

[VladVonCastein]

I am a long time rpg fan, lol after all I did play AD&D on table top and played anything from a Paladin to a neutral evil gnome illusionist....  I loved the baldurs gate series and planescape torment.  For a long time I was annoyed with the fact that the good old isometric games seemed to have died a natural death giving way to third person hack and slash rpgs like elder scrolls and lately darksouls which I gave up after dying over 20 times within the hour.  Much later on in life I got copies of Mass Effect and omg it was so good!  Recently had plenty of time on my hands and went back to play baldurs gate, it was nostalgic to say the least, however I didnt get the same "loving feeling" as I did many years ago...  Guess as technology progresses, my expectation moves along with it and although I still enjoy Baldurs gate, I didnt have the same feeling of awe that I got when I first played it.  I am still a rpg fan, however think I would prefer something with great story telling as well as modern day graphics and combat mechanics.  The ME trilogy, Witcher 3 are some of the games I have recently fell in love with.  Now hoping that Anthem will have a good rpg sp campaign and am certainly looking forward to cyberpunk.

[DarkBanishing]

@VladVonCastein

I'm sad to hear you don't enjoy Baldur's Gate anymore like you did in the old days. I still play it from time to time and the game makes me feel young again. I sill love to stroll in the streets of Athkatla and getting lost in the Underdark.

But I also like the newer RPG's like the Witcher 3, Skyrim, the ME trilogy, Dragon Age, ...

I like to compare a good game to a masterpiece in literature.

[PRE7ENDER]

Hi guys

I guess im supposed to have an issue to be resolved with the post. Sorry im new

I am totally with you VladVonCastein. I also picked up ME and witcher series later on. Most recently started the Witcher 3 and I finally get what people mean about the side quests being meaningful.

The main reason I posted was just this feeling that RPG's are dying out. I'm worried the MMO micro transaction trend that's wormed its way into alot of the most recent games has more appeal to Devs/Producers interested in the money they generate over taking the time to write an engaging story.
I also have my eye on Anthem but to me an MMO isnt an RPG. Im open to to ideas though.

I'd have to also agree that im really looking forward to Cyberpunk 2077. I need my SciFi fix

[VladVonCastein]

@DarkBanishing

I played ME2 first then followed by ME3, realised that I cant get much war assets without playing ME1 so I went back played ME 1 then 2 then 3.  After everything I liked ME3(minus the last 15 mins of the game but the journey was great) the most, followed by ME2.  ME1 was ok but combat and graphics are dated, some parts of the game(eg mako going up a mountain) was frustrating, technologically it isnt great compared to the newer games, however I have lots of respect for the game for being the pioneer of a great series and how I wish it's upgraded, if they could do ME1 again with ME Andromeda's combat mechanics, that would be great. For me, Baldurs gate 1 is very much like Mass Effect 1, Baldurs gate is the pioneer and first of its kind and will always have a place in my heart just like Diablo 1...  However replaying it, the nostalgia is definitely there, the feel good is there, but I am just no longer awed, still enjoying it though. 

@PRE7ENDER

Have you played Divinity-Original Sin and Tyranny?  They are pretty good isometric RPGs launched in 2014 & 2016 respectively so it's still pretty recent.  As for Anthem, got to say I am impressed with the graphics but I wont buy it on day 1, will do some research before committing to the game.  

[PRE7ENDER]

Hi @DarkBanishing

I feel the same way about the ME triligy. I think the writing was best in 1. It really did have that first step for mankind kinda feeling to it but i also agree about the combat making it tough to replay. For me the payoff of 3 was all your decisions from 1 and 2 and 3 playing out in the final battle is really the most satisfying RPG experience I've had. Having consequences to your decisions is what the genre is all about IMO and i think DA:O and the ME series really nailed it.

Unlike the majority. I actually liked the original endings. I really appreciated how it wasn't so black and white. How your mentor Andersen is set up to take the renegade option for a paragons reasons while Harper is shown to take the paragon option with a renegades reasons. Being a Hero is about taking responsibility for hard decisions and i appreciated the contrast in the scene. As for the DLC ending; it was ok but too simplified (space magic) so its called. I feel like if they took the time to write a little more convincing description of what happens in synthesis it would have been the feel good happy ending everyone wanted without feeling so serviced. I was really hoping it might sort of foreshadow the rise of the Jedi, adding mid-eclorians (however you spell it ) to sentient life creating "the Force. Which would also be a nice throwback to Biowares work on KOTOR games which i also LOVE. But i digress

I do have Divinity OS. I've started playing slowly with one of my friends since its coop. It does seem fun. I just work all the time now and dont have much time for RPG's anymore so it really needs to WOW me to get me to wake up :P.

I'll get to it eventually though; and i appriciate the recommendations. It's looking like a dry spell for RPG's in the future ;c

[Straatford87]

@PRE7ENDER

I'm also a huge fan of RPG's myself. And just like you, the Baldurs Gate series is one of my absolute favorites.

I do however wonder if it's part nostalgia. Like @DarkBanishing mentioned, playing those games makes me feel young again. And its not only the enjoyment of the game in that moment, but also going back to when I was a child - it's almost like I can taste those moments so long ago, and smell my old bedroom where I felt comfortable as a child. It's a strange and bittersweet feeling to have.

Having said that, there are still plenty of RPG's that I enjoy these days. I also personally think that the RPG genre in itself has shifted somewhat from we are used to. It's not as heavily based on writing as it was back in the day. And I do have a clarification for you on that part, which I read in an interview with a developer (though I cannot remember where, so can't get you the source). Part of the shift that we've made is that graphics and gameplay technology has become more and more complicated as the years go by. They therefore take up way more development time then it did back in the day, for that reason, I can imagine that there simply less time left to spend on the writing for modern games.

Having said that, I still loved all the Dragon Age and Mass Effect games that I've played. And if the writing didn't completely do it for you, perhaps something that does give it a positive spin is that games currently look better than ever. Where before I used to listen to the music or got list in the writing, these days I sometimes stop and look around just to enjoy the incredible worlds in all their majesty that have been shaped by game developers.

It's certainly an interesting topic, so thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! As a side note: the solutions are used to mark a problem solved on the support section on our forums. They aren't really needed here in General Discussion where we just come together to have a chat

Cheers,