So, DA3 is coming. We knew that. Now we know the title, and the plot: Orlais is at war with itself. Ferelden is in Chaos. The Templars have become religious zealots quick to kill any dissenters. The mages have rebelled in protest. The last of the Chantry tries to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, only to be killed by a demon ambush. Seeing there is a darker force at work here, a new movement emerge: The Inquisition. You play the Inquisitor. You must marshall your forces and save the world from itself.
We've been promised 'no more re-used areas'. Duh. I thought this was a given. That a company sunk so low as to think no one would be bothered by this "oversight" is beyond belief.
Other than that, they use the Frostbite 2 engine, meaning full 64 bit and DX11 support. It's supposed to allow them to make huge, open areas similar to Skyrim and Oblivion.
On a positive note, I see that the developpers' blog is bilingual. Neil must have had an attack, so I think I'll pre-order the game just for that ;)
Frankly I am a bit disappointed with DA2. The game world is far too small.
In other news, Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka have announced they're leaving Bioware.
Muzyka:
Quote"I feel the need now to move on to a new chapter in my career. With the growth of BioWare to multiple locations as part of a public company, following two decades of multiple successful product launches across many platforms and business models, I've largely personally achieved what I wanted in videogames; I now desire to take on a brand new entrepreneurial challenge. I believe strongly in the power of free enterprise to enable sustainable change, so my next 'chapter' will likely focus on an entirely new industry, something exciting, different and frankly downright scary – investing in and mentoring new entrepreneurs, and more specifically, the field of social/impact investing."
Zeschuck:
Quote"This decision isn't without significant pain and regret, but it's also something I know I need to do, for myself and my family. I've reached an unexpected point in my life where I no longer have the passion that I once did for the company, for the games, and for the challenge of creation."
"After my departure I'm going to be spending significant time with family and friends, as well as pursuing some personal passion-driven projects related to craft beer. The main project I will be working on is a web-based interview show called The Beer Diaries where I interview notable brewers and showcase their beers. If things go well, I'll work on other beer-related shows, apps and projects. If not, I'll have drunk a lot of tasty beers and may be back in games or even something else completely different. Ultimately time will tell."
Goddamnit.
Between this, Guild Wars 2, CK2: Legacy of Rome and EU4, I'm fucking stoked about computer gaming again.
And all are titles with a history of either simultaneous Mac releases or fast Mac ports so no more silliness with bootcamp, too.
The video demos for this look a lot like Skyrim. I think the devs have said they were greatly inspired by that game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fno4Nrz1wjw
Meh - looks too much like a console game/Asian manga game with stats in the air and too many flashing lights. I'll pass.
G.
Quote from: garbon on July 26, 2014, 08:47:40 AM
The video demos for this look a lot like Skyrim. I think the devs have said they were EA was greatly inspired by that game's sales.
Last thing we need is for Bioware to start imitating Bethesda. But I cannot say I am surprised.
Quote from: Grallon on July 26, 2014, 10:48:26 AM
Meh - looks too much like a console game/Asian manga game with stats in the air and too many flashing lights. I'll pass.
G.
If it's true to form, you'll be able to disable that natively.
After playing the other two, I feel unexcited about this. I want a new TES or Fallout game instead.
Quote from: Norgy on July 26, 2014, 04:10:05 PM
After playing the other two, I feel unexcited about this.
I'm cautiously optimistic that they will avoid the mistakes of the 2nd one. I really enjoyed part 1.
Quote from: Norgy on July 26, 2014, 04:10:05 PMI want a new TES or Fallout game instead.
Given the studio, that seems neither here nor there. :P
Bioware games are okay, but they seem to be getting rid of the rails, which is a big step forward for them. If they can combine an interesting open world space with a compelling story line (and most of their series have at least started with interesting story lines), they could have a real winner. I've generally stopped after the first games in their game series, because reviews usually indicated that the follow-on games' stories were not as good, and, when the game is on rails, stories are all they have.
See the issue I have with the TES/Fallout games is one that I think Viper mentioned. Typically, I don't think their open world is compelling enough to make up for the fact that their stories are rather lackluster. Skyrim did feel like a breakthrough on that front though.
Quote from: garbon on July 26, 2014, 10:20:35 PM
See the issue I have with the TES/Fallout games is one that I think Viper mentioned. Typically, I don't think their open world is compelling enough to make up for the fact that their stories are rather lackluster. Skyrim did feel like a breakthrough on that front though.
Yeah, the Bethesda games tend to start out where the Bioware games end up in the second or third game. If Bioware can combine the "ignore the main quests if you want to" style of Bethesda with a main quest worth pursuing, that would really appeal to me.
Of course the trick there will be to combine a high stakes quest with the freedom to ignore it for a while. Many side quests come with "if you get around to it", but the main quest will normally a big calamity that threatens the game world's order and is a matter of high urgency. And then you head off to spend the next few in game weeks spelunking in ancient caves.
Beth gets around that by giving you an inoccuous start (go and talk to this guy or similar), but not putting much pressure on the player about the urgency of the task, so it doesn't feel too bad if you ignore the main quest for a while.
Bioware isn't always as good at that. "Oh my god, the Geth are taking over our colonies!" "Yeah, I'll get to it after I've checked a couple more planets for mummified corpses and crashed satellites."
Quote from: Norgy on July 26, 2014, 04:10:05 PM
After playing the other two, I feel unexcited about this. I want a new TES or Fallout game instead.
+1
Quote from: Syt on July 27, 2014, 09:52:23 AM
Of course the trick there will be to combine a high stakes quest with the freedom to ignore it for a while. Many side quests come with "if you get around to it", but the main quest will normally a big calamity that threatens the game world's order and is a matter of high urgency. And then you head off to spend the next few in game weeks spelunking in ancient caves.
I would be really happy with a game where the plot isn't "LOL YOU MUST SAVE THE UNVERSE/GALAXY/OUR WRLD", etc. I don't understand why every game has to have a plot like this. Heck, the GTA franchise isn't like that and it sells like gangbusters. If that shit got toned down, it would make pursuing side quests much more realistic.
I agree. The stakes must be high for the player, and the easiest way to do that in fantasy is to threaten all of creation (happens in sci-fi, too) with the player forced to stop it.
Creating a personal story, with high stakes for the player character that players can get properly invested in is much harder (and a harder sell in marketing blurbs, I guess).
I liked the way Fallout: New Vegas handled it. You were essentially tracking down a man who tried to kill you, and as you do you find are in a position to play a pivotal role in a war over an important resource. While the world is not at stake, the lives of the people in the area will be greatly affected by what you do.
It seems this game involves rips in the fade where at various places around the world demons are pouring through into the mortal realm. Man they are really are going whole hog in ripping off the Elder Scrolls aren't they? :lol:
Quote from: Caliga on July 28, 2014, 07:10:40 AM
I would be really happy with a game where the plot isn't "LOL YOU MUST SAVE THE UNVERSE/GALAXY/OUR WRLD", etc. I don't understand why every game has to have a plot like this. Heck, the GTA franchise isn't like that and it sells like gangbusters. If that shit got toned down, it would make pursuing side quests much more realistic.
Planescape Torment didn't have that plot and um...yeah that other...erm....
Quote from: Valmy on July 30, 2014, 08:17:40 AM
It seems this game involves rips in the fade where at various places around the world demons are pouring through into the mortal realm. Man they are really are going whole hog in ripping off the Elder Scrolls aren't they? :lol:
Maybe the gameplay will be better than Oblivion, though. Along with the graphics and the story.
Quote from: Scipio on July 30, 2014, 04:25:09 PM
Maybe the gameplay will be better than Oblivion, though. Along with the graphics and the story.
Well we already had mention in this thread it was taking inspiration from Skyrim so...
Oblivion was really bad, though. The more times I try to play it, the lamer it gets. I can still enjoy Morrowind, though.
Quote from: Scipio on July 31, 2014, 10:48:27 AM
Oblivion was really bad, though. The more times I try to play it, the lamer it gets. I can still enjoy Morrowind, though.
The thing that was especially galling about it is that it was unnecessarily lame. In Morrowind they described the Imperial Province and it sounded amazing I couldn't wait to go adventure there. Then when the game came out everything was totally different. If you are going to break lore that bad at least make it better. Ah well.
There were a lot of great mods for Oblivion, though, so it wasn't a complete waste, except for the console gamers. The base game was astonishingly generic, though.
Quote from: grumbler on July 31, 2014, 07:11:22 PM
There were a lot of great mods for Oblivion, though, so it wasn't a complete waste, except for the console gamers. The base game was astonishingly generic, though.
Enjoyed many of the mods. But the difficulty level for main quest players seemed inordinately hard for my preferred character build (Breton jack of all trades).
Quote from: grumbler on July 31, 2014, 07:11:22 PM
There were a lot of great mods for Oblivion, though, so it wasn't a complete waste, except for the console gamers. The base game was astonishingly generic, though.
The evil human enslaving Elves were sorta cool (granted they were all dead) but that was the only thing that really stood out. Who knew the Daedra were so dull?