Anti-Dragon Age 2?

[Cultist]

From what we've heared, Project Eternity looks like an opposite from Dragon Age 2, and, from developers' statements, DA3 as well.

- Full dialogues, instead of herp derp paraphrases.

- Tactical combat, instead of AWESUM BUTTUN mashing.

- Choices that matter, instead of linear gameplay.

- Customizable PC, instead of pre-defined one.

- Party-based RPG, instead of interactive movie.

- Silent protagonist, instead of voiced one.

- Complex dialogues, instead of "Yes" and "No" with two "levels" at best.

And so on, and so on. I wonder, was it intended to grab that two million fans that deserted BioWare when they found what DA2 turned out to be or Obsidian just wanted to make a "true" wRPG?

[Jasede]

No, it's just incidental that any semi-decent RPG would be the direct opposite of Dragon's Age 2, or as I like to call it, "How Not to Make an RPG".

[UncleBourbon]

I indeed hope for something like this. Don't get me wrong; I enjoyed Dragon Age 2 to some small extent, and it wasn't so much the things mentioned that took away from the experience for me as much as the lousy writing did. Well, that, and the abandoned DLC/expansion, and...

Anyway, I think the direction DA2/3 and many cRPGs are heading is akin to Japan's visual novels, where there are multiple routes, but largely it is a point and click adventure expanded to have some combat minigames. Good for a playthrough, maybe, and if you're lucky, two.

 

I have high hopes for project eternity, wasteland 2, and a couple of other soon to come cRPGs, but I think I'll also enjoy some of the others, just in a different fashion.

[DocDoomII]

Any average cRPG would end up as the Anti-DA2. DA2 is a textbook example of what you should not do when developing a cRPG.

[Saulot]

I don't think that they are setting out specifically to make an anti-Dragon Age 2, but there is a certain alignment of motives.

 

Think about it this way: Bioware designed and marketed Dragon Age: Origins as a "spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate." That did not mean trying to make a game directly in the older style, but trying to create a modernized version of the same type of game. They did so to immense critical success, but for reasons I will not speculate on, decided that they need to change many aspects of that direction for Dragon Age 2. So, they moved away from that direction.

 

On the other hand, Project Eternity is trying to invoke the feeling of the old Infinity Engine games, and probably go further in that direction than Dragon Age: Origins did. So, essentially, Obsidian is moving in the opposite to the one Bioware chose to take. Consequently, Project Eternity starts to sound like an anti-Dragon Age 2, but I doubt that Obsidian developers are reacting specifically to any one game, but rather to industry trends and their own personal preferences.

[Monte Carlo]

My main hope is that enough Bioware fans see the light and pick up PE and enjoy it. I would love to see the bar raised, for this little corner of gaming to take off again. Even to the extent that publishers can dump money into these non-AAA titles and see a good return.

 

Of course, there is a subsection of EAWare fans who have gone mad and will only ever want diaper-sex romance syndrome. What will they do when EA finally takes Bio for that lonely walk in the woods with a pistol and a shovel?

[Amentep]

I liked Dragon Age 2 but it is an action RPG to me, not a straight RPG (IMO) and as such I regard its strengths and weaknesses in relation to other action RPGs.

 

DA:O tried to be a more traditional western RPG and as such I regard its strengths and weaknesses in relation to other traditional RPGs.

 

It seems like the Dragon Age franchise is sticking with action RPG models. And that's okay, I like action RPGs.

 

Project Eternity seems to be an attempt to capture older style traditional RPG; I hope it succeeds because I enjoy games in both styles and would like to see the traditional RPG have more of a presence since most moderm RPGs favor action mechanics (or more extreme forms of tactical / turn base strategy RPGs)

[UncleBourbon]

My main hope is that enough Bioware fans see the light and pick up PE and enjoy it. I would love to see the bar raised, for this little corner of gaming to take off again. Even to the extent that publishers can dump money into these non-AAA titles and see a good return.

 

Of course, there is a subsection of EAWare fans who have gone mad and will only ever want diaper-sex romance syndrome. What will they do when EA finally takes Bio for that lonely walk in the woods with a pistol and a shovel?

 

I think there is plenty of evidence to suggest EA has nowhere near enough humanity to end it quickly.

[cyberarmy]

Of course, there is a subsection of EAWare fans who have gone mad and will only ever want diaper-sex romance syndrome. What will they do when EA finally takes Bio for that lonely walk in the woods with a pistol and a shovel?

 

[Juneau]

Dragon Age:Origins was a fantastic game, and well played - That was shown and proven through Steam play hours etc..

 

Dragon Age 2 *spit* imho is no where near as awesome as the first, it was a piss poor attempt to change DA:O into something different like they did with ME1 to ME2.

 

The problem was very few people wanted to play a fantasy version of Mass Effect (after all Mass Effect was awesome) what we wanted was a bigger badder version of DA:O not some watered down action game.

 

Saying all of that the ONE THING that overly ticked me off about DA2 was the fact they used the same building/underground cave FOR ALL of the exploration. We went from having this huge world of areas we travelled to and from to this tiny town that didn't change but with a different gate open. Urghhhhhh. Can we just ban the words "Dragon, Age" and the number "2" when used in that context.

 

Way to take one of the best RPGs since NWN/BG and throw it out the window.

[rjshae]

I'm still not convinced that DA2 was the disaster that it has become fashionable to describe as such. It was a moderately entertaining romp that had a number of good qualities and some decent characters. There are a number of design elements from the game that I wouldn't mind seeing in PE. But there are others I only ever want to see in a console arcade game.

Edited October 19, 2012 by rjshae

[evdk]

I liked Dragon Age 2 but it is an action RPG to me, not a straight RPG (IMO) and as such I regard its strengths and weaknesses in relation to other action RPGs.

 

DA:O tried to be a more traditional western RPG and as such I regard its strengths and weaknesses in relation to other traditional RPGs.

 

It seems like the Dragon Age franchise is sticking with action RPG models. And that's okay, I like action RPGs.

 

But it is a bad action RPG...

 

 

 

There are a number of design elements from the game that I wouldn't mind seeing in PE.

I just know I am going to regret asking this, but would you like to share these elements with the rest of the class?

Edited October 19, 2012 by evdk

[UncleBourbon]

I'm still not convinced that DA2 was the disaster that it has become fashionable to describe as such. It was a moderately entertaining romp that had a number of good qualities and some decent characters. There are a number of design elements from the game that I wouldn't mind seeing in PE.

 

It came across to me like NWN2's campaign did. It had some improvements over NWN, it had some nice looks, it had some voice acting issues. I miss some of the more classic sort of things (the dumbing down of character building and skills) as well as the Agoraphobia filled design of the game. The complete backseatedness of DA:O choices bummed me a bit, too. That said, if DA2, or I suppose DA3 were to it what MotB and SoZ were to NWN2, I might have some confidence - not that Dragon Age games will become conventional, classic RPGs, but that they're still worth some money.

[mr.Ermac]

Minesweeper has more roleplaying and story than dragon age 2. DA2 was a rushed mess, you've got EA to thank for that.

[D3xter]

While we're at it xD

 

Edited October 19, 2012 by D3xter

[Haerski]

Of course, there is a subsection of EAWare fans who have gone mad and will only ever want diaper-sex romance syndrome. What will they do when EA finally takes Bio for that lonely walk in the woods with a pistol and a shovel?

 

This made me very very sad because it might be true in couple of years. To think all the great studios EA has sucked dry. Bioware has already acquired reputation as bad community listeners and arrogant attitude of few employees certainly doesn't help that. It seems that game by game they anger more of their dedicated fans. They still sell huge amounts of games, but so did Bullfrog couple of years before it's demise.

 

Pattern is the same: EA acquires studio, in couple of years original founders leave the sinkking ship and then it's just matter of time when the end comes. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

[Amentep]

I liked Dragon Age 2 but it is an action RPG to me, not a straight RPG (IMO) and as such I regard its strengths and weaknesses in relation to other action RPGs.

 

DA:O tried to be a more traditional western RPG and as such I regard its strengths and weaknesses in relation to other traditional RPGs.

 

It seems like the Dragon Age franchise is sticking with action RPG models. And that's okay, I like action RPGs.

 

But it is a bad action RPG...

 

I'll admit to a ridiculously high tolerance for any action RPG when I'm in the mood to mash buttons and slash / fireball / arrow monsters in the face. So you may want to consider my tastes in this regard as slightly skewed.

 

Plus I liked Plan 9 from Outer Space; some entertainments don't have to be good to entertain me.

 

Yes they reused maps, yes 90% of the time the parachuting in of enemies made no sense, yes there could have been a lot better depth to the action play mechanics, yes the end renders the game-long faction conflict pointlessly moot.

 

But I liked the dwarf rogue (probably better than all of the companions in DAO). I enjoyed the combat despite it not being anything special. I admit I was floored when in my first game I took my sis into the deep roads and she had to be killed or become a darkspawn because - despite knowing that it was possible in terms of game lor - I really didn't expect the game to go there with that character because usually games "protect" family from dying (unless as a non-mobile plot point, like mom in the game).

 

So not perfect, but I didn't regret playing it (although I found little reason to replay it like some other games which get many replays over long periods of time).

Edited October 19, 2012 by Amentep

[D3xter]

I'm still not convinced that DA2 was the disaster that it has become fashionable to describe as such. It was a moderately entertaining romp that had a number of good qualities and some decent characters. There are a number of design elements from the game that I wouldn't mind seeing in PE. But there are others I only ever want to see in a console arcade game.

 

 

I think that, and the fact that both the Dragon Age 2 Add-On called "Exalted March" and a planned Ultimate Edition of the game planned before being cancelled because of "lack of retailer interest" speaks volumes http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/107364-dragon-age-ii-ultimate-edition-wont-exist-due-to-retailer-disinterest.html

 

I spent a large amount of time putting my thoughts together as to why it's **** over here: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.271648-Dragon-Age-2-A-Review trying to stay as neutral as possible.

[Tale]

This thread seems to be more about Dragon Age and Bioware than Project Eternity. There's room for that discussion over in Computer and Console, indeed a few threads go that way from time to time, but it's not really constructive here.