Wrath of Dagon Posted August 9, 2015 Posted August 9, 2015 (edited) Playing Cyanide's Game of Thrones RPG. I have to say it's the kind of political intrigue I was expecting from DA:O but never got.You were expecting deep political intrigue from a BioWare game? Snide comment aside, Orzammar was far and away the best part of that game, IMHO, largely because it was based around political intrigue. It still wasn't the deepest web of intrigue, but it was several hundred fathoms deeper than anything else in the game, and it would have been a significantly better game had the rest of it been more like Orzammar. I didn't think Orzammar worked well at all (the political sloganeering was pretty funny, but that's about it), of course I also apparently missed some of it. As far as Bioware expectations, I loved KOTOR and to lesser extent Jade Empire, so in my hero worship I expected them to keep improving, but got just the opposite. Edited August 9, 2015 by Wrath of Dagon "Moral indignation is a standard strategy for endowing the idiot with dignity." Marshall McLuhan
Nonek Posted August 9, 2015 Posted August 9, 2015 I'm such a hypocrite! Usually I despise cinematics taking the place of gameplay, and deciding ones actions for the player, however playing Soul Reaver 2 I am quite happy to sit back and watch the cinematics unfold and the labyrinthine plot coalesce. In part it is because of the voice acting, superlative, distinct and so nuanced, but what else is there to this saga that elevates it beyond other games where I sit grinding my teeth waiting for the cinematic to end so I can interact with the game? I think this is quite worthy of discussion, what is the place of cinematics? I used to think that they should only ever serve as rewards for ones in game actions, dramatic reinforcement if you will for ones choices, to update the player via flashbacks or whatever, and never decide the outcome as I detest becoming an idiot in cutscene. Far too often a cutscene will break the games internal consistency, suddenly what you have been doing all game long is overthrown and your previous actions are for nought, they are like a slap in the face to interactivity and far too railroaded. So I wonder what is the optimal method of use? 1 Quite an experience to live in misery isn't it? That's what it is to be married with children.I've seen things you people can't even imagine. Pearly Kings glittering on the Elephant and Castle, Morris Men dancing 'til the last light of midsummer. I watched Druid fires burning in the ruins of Stonehenge, and Yorkshiremen gurning for prizes. All these things will be lost in time, like alopecia on a skinhead. Time for tiffin. Tea for the teapot!
teknoman2 Posted August 9, 2015 Posted August 9, 2015 I'm such a hypocrite! Usually I despise cinematics taking the place of gameplay, and deciding ones actions for the player, however playing Soul Reaver 2 I am quite happy to sit back and watch the cinematics unfold and the labyrinthine plot coalesce. In part it is because of the voice acting, superlative, distinct and so nuanced, but what else is there to this saga that elevates it beyond other games where I sit grinding my teeth waiting for the cinematic to end so I can interact with the game? I think this is quite worthy of discussion, what is the place of cinematics? I used to think that they should only ever serve as rewards for ones in game actions, dramatic reinforcement if you will for ones choices, to update the player via flashbacks or whatever, and never decide the outcome as I detest becoming an idiot in cutscene. Far too often a cutscene will break the games internal consistency, suddenly what you have been doing all game long is overthrown and your previous actions are for nought, they are like a slap in the face to interactivity and far too railroaded. So I wonder what is the optimal method of use? the place of cinematics in a game depends on the type of game. in a game like soul reaver they are fine. in a game like the witcher they would totaly defeat the purpose of the game if they were everywhere. i was reading a manga about a new artist in a game development studio and her (mis)adventures as she learns the ropes of the job and it had a really interesting bit of info on the game they were working on. an npc had to die while the hero escorted her from one town to the next but they did not do it through a cutscene, instead they had a combat encounter on the way where enemies would spawn endlesly until the npc died in battle. so, while the story said "she dies here", they left the player with the illusion that if he tries hard enough he may be able to save her (without knowing that the enemies will keep spawning until the npc dies) 1 The words freedom and liberty, are diminishing the true meaning of the abstract concept they try to explain. The true nature of freedom is such, that the human mind is unable to comprehend it, so we make a cage and name it freedom in order to give a tangible meaning to what we dont understand, just as our ancestors made gods like Thor or Zeus to explain thunder. -Teknoman2- What? You thought it was a quote from some well known wise guy from the past? Stupidity leads to willful ignorance - willful ignorance leads to hope - hope leads to sex - and that is how a new generation of fools is born! We are hardcore role players... When we go to bed with a girl, we roll a D20 to see if we hit the target and a D6 to see how much penetration damage we did. Modern democracy is: the sheep voting for which dog will be the shepherd's right hand.
Blarghagh Posted August 9, 2015 Posted August 9, 2015 Topic closed for length. New one coming up shortly.
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