Right, this could be a really controversial discussion. But I'm going to get it going, because I think it's one that could be interesting.

I'm really getting bored with Bioware's games.

See, the real crux of the problem seems to be that most of their games share the same basic concepts. Probably best summed up with this following chart here - 

http://rampantgames.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/bwcliches.png

The one that really annoyed me the most would be Dragon Age, mostly because it was so hyped as being excellent. Instead I found a game with a very standard storyline, with characters who felt as if they were pale copies of characters from other Bioware games. Even the combat system felt as if it hadn't evolved since their Star Wars games. Add to that the way that very, very few of the game's genre archetypes/tropes felt at all unique, and I was just utterly unimpressed. 

I'll give kudos to Mass Effect, as it has sucessfully done things that their other games have not - created a franchiseable universe. It also put aside the same combat system we had in Dragon Age / Star Wars and went for a shooter one, which made it feel different. 

But in general, I've just had that 'same thing all over again' feeling for their games for the longest time... Your thoughts? 

Yes, true their storielines are quite similar to eachother. But why change a good recipe, if most of your players like it that way?

But the same could be said for Bethesda's games

I think there're also similar frameworks in every Bond movie, or any other action movie.

Having a good story doesn't necessarly mean it should be completely different then anything we've seen or read before.

What makes Mass Effect special is how cinematic the story is told, using different camera techniques.

They want to make it as if it were a movie, especially in the latest installment where you can frequently see lens flares.

If Bioware games were books, I'd be fed up with them by now. It's like those writers who churn out the same thing every book, year after year. Tom Clancy, Clive Cussler, Patricia Cornwall, Agatha Christie, Stephen King. God knows how anyone can be dedicated fans of any writer dedicated to producing conformity in his/her writing.

(Ahem..)

But we're talking about games here. I know that the experience of reading a book is only partly what is written, and mostly whatever the reader brings to it. Games are slightly different because the developer creates a range of possible experiences, chosen by the player. Do I go to Beta-Centauri or Zeta Fornax first? Do I kill the ogre first or the goblin? Do I take the aggressive approach with the Reaper assassin or the stealthy one?

I almost forgot what my point was... Oh yeah, the gaming experience is not just the story, so a standard story is more acceptable.

That's partly why I liked Dragon Age more than Mass Effect. The story was a bit weaker but at least I could control my party more. Battles were more unpredictable, while Mass Effect feels like a corridor shooter.

Originally Posted By walsh (9 MAR 2012 9:58pm)

If Bioware games were books, I'd be fed up with them by now. It's like those writers who churn out the same thing every book, year after year. Tom Clancy, Clive Cussler, Patricia Cornwall, Agatha Christie, Stephen King. God knows how anyone can be dedicated fans of any writer dedicated to producing conformity in his/her writing.

That's how I'm feeling. I started playing Dragon Age, and all I could think was "I'm playing Star Wars again, just with a different skin. Oh look, that angry character in a cage is basically Carth Onassi. Now let's go to the dwarf level, which will be a generic underground area, and we can leave the generic elf forest level for later".....

I mean, they're good at what they do, for the most part. All kudos to it. But when you just make the same things over and over again, it gets stale. Like the endless cycle of Tim Burton movies (which film was it that starred Johnny Depp and had music by Danny Elfman?).

What I'd like to see Bioware do is to take their skills, and apply them to something that's different to what they've done before. Like an open-world sandbox game a la Saints Row, but with the strong characterisation they've shown that they can create. Or a historical platformer with their unique sense of aesthetics and atmosphere to really bring alive the world-building.