licketysplit

Oh well now that we're going there... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzC4hFK5P3g

Meh. Give me Divinity: original sin. Blizzard's writing is so silly I can't help but laugh at all the DARK EVUL COMING TO SWALLOW TEH EARTH

No it wasn't. It leapt with reckless abandon into camp territory with the Franken-Reaper and Collectors. The entire plot was an an unfortunate diversion from the main premise set up in ME1. ME2 was all about characters, and it was very good on that level. But it's where **** started to go downhill.

It's amazing how many people like her given that she was arguably the most ruthless and manipulative character in the game. A little cleavage and a lot of charisma go a long way.

Problem is, it's still predictable waves of enemies which screams 'vidya game!' They need to make things more organic. They should have random encounters.

Tell that to Dark Souls and Darksiders (both of them). On the other hand, Sleeping Dogs was also a good PC port. Maybe it's just games with "dark" in the title that do garbage PC ports? well, its not fair to include dark souls in that. the game was ported by a team who had never done work porting a title or developing for pc, and only because a petition by fans encouraged them to do it so calling them out for doing a bad job of it is just kinda mean/unfair A garbage port is a garbage port, whether it's done by a team of monkeys or industry veterans. I ain't about to coddle anybody. If it's a crappy port I'm going to call it a crappy port. From Software is a gem among Japanese developers. They actually care about the fan base. Show me another Japanese dev who have actually apologized for a job poorly done. Also, they said DS2 will have PC as the lead platform. Again, show me a Japanese dev who does that.

DA2 combat looked positively retarded and encounter design was terrible. The whole game lacked imagination. As for blending twitch combat with party tactics, well I'm intrigued to see if they can pull that off. I enjoyed Mass Effect far more than Dragon age because there was an element of player control instead of issuing commands and watching things play out.

This is true. Developers are realizing it's to their benefit to establish good will among the PC fan base. So we're seeing more PC exclusives and better ports all around.

Going to have to side with the rest of the first world countries on this and not Russia, especially when I hear the orthodox Catholics citing their religious beliefs, and then punching people in the face.

I do think they need an isometric camera for combat. when that mage was aiming her fire spell, you had no idea of the range of the AOE. If they can somehow make it both player skill based and strategic party combat that'd be ideal.

DA2 stands as a shining example of rushed and/or lazy game design. Take your pick.

In other news.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgXObaM9i2Q

That footage is insane, they are practically throwing their lives away. I'm all for protesting but self preservation should kick in at some point.

Comparisons started back when DA:O released, which was advertised heavily as a dark fantasy RPG. Witcher had come out two years earlier and pretty much nailed that theme using the Aurora engine licensed from Bioware. Before TW1, there wasn't a standout RPG with a realistic, low fantasy setting. The two franchises have been assessed in tandem ever since, especially by the media. It's worth mentioning that aside from a few off-the-cuff quips, the guys at CDPR have nothing but praise for Bioware and they listed Baldurs Gate and Mass Effect as influential. But that's the old Bioware.

Just saw some combat. Looks pretty good. https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2013/08/16/combat-of-dragon-age-inquisition.aspx They've got a grapple hook in there, always a good thing. I see some Demon Souls and Witcher bits as well.

She would break you.

And hook your PC up to the sun. Not a fan of signing up for multiple forms of DRM either.

That's a very important decision. Seriously though, The Witcher games are brimming with impactful choices. We can join different factions in both games, let people burn, save them or kill them ourselves. We can avert regicide or let it happen, which alters the course of political alliance in the north prior to a massive invasion. We can let a kidnapping sadist escape justice or we can side with him. Let a seemingly innocent elf hang or get lured into a trap by her. Everything has multiple outcomes, which is ideal for an RPG.

Gaider is gay. Totally missed that one. My gaydar is broken.

Damn, who is she? Almost perfect.

Cosmetic. I'm more interested in how the narrative, gameplay opportunities and NPC's react to my decisions.

Sounds like you are a big fan of the series? If games like Witcher don't offer you RPG choices what would be a good example of a modern game that does? I am interested to compare your idea of a true RPG to the Witcher series. Witcher 2 has 10 possible endings or so based on your decisions so I'm not sure what more you want? The ending isn't everything. Examples of modern games that really do take into account player choice? Both Dragon Age games (especially DA:O), all Mass Effect games (inb4ME3ending), and The Walking Dead for starters. Only two or three choices made in TW1 actually make some sort of affect on TW2 when importing a save, and these changes are minuscule: one of them is a small dialogue change, the other lets you get into a city without fighting. Your romance choice is completely ignored. Character development is completely one dimensional, dialogue choices result in no difference in this regard. Most decisions made throughout both games have no long term effect, especially compared to the games I listed above. Glad I'm not the only one who sees this. I've no idea what you're seeing. Both Witcher games offered plenty of choice and consequence for me.

Level design is my primary concern. Thought the combat in DA:O was decent, the characters were solid. But the areas were pretty limited, always pushing you forward in a predetermined path.

Damn...it's almost like they're taking exploration seriously.

Looking forward to this.