Quick quotes: Sequels are good “if you do them right,” says Dr. Ray

Just don’t mention DA2!

Or Mass Effect 2!

Remember when they did Baldur’s Gate 2, boy, that one was great. Also the only genuinely good sequel they made.

Example of how NOT to do a sequel: Dragon Age 2.
Example of a sequel done right: The Witcher 2.

BG2 was off the charts amazing. You an now get a mod that merges BG1, BG2 and ToB into one long, 200 hour epic. That’s how shit should get done.

Well isn’t someone a clever little boy, yes he is, yess he is… here have a cookie *slap!* God I hate how developers/publishers etc say the most obviously shit and expect a whoopteddoo and a fucking handshake *facepalm*

I totally agree with that.
@ YoungZero I though Mass Effect 2 was better than the first. In fact I think its one of the best games bioware has made (One of the best not the best one).

Mass 2 was amazing. I’ll fight (and ban) anyone who says otherwise.

^

Ok!

Mass effect 2 is not amazing because:

1) Cliche story
2) linear pre scripted casual third person shooter at the level of Gears Of War 1 (if not worse) with last boss as terminator
3) worst RPG elements bioware has ever done (even casual RPG stuff in ME1 were much better and instead of improving RPG elements, they just completely removed them)
4) Lazy level design
5) Lazy quest and main story design. Basically a stupid crew member problems.

The best RPG of all time from Bioware was and will be Baldurs Gate 2, Neverwinter Nights 1. Period.

Opinion.

Mass Effect 2 was technically better than the first game, but I didn’t enjoy it as much. Story was much better first time around.

Bioware are awful with sequels. Dragon Age 2, Mass Effect 2, Neverwinter Nights 2 and KotOR II (I suppose they didn’t make the last two themselves).

They always make pointless changes for the worse that nobody on any forum was asking for.

Mass Effect 2 pros:

- Better combat mechanics.

- Better graphics and CG.

Mass Effect 2 cons:

- Shitty argument (just recruit some pals and go fight final boss)

- Shitty mythology (ME1 had a very interesting story to find who really were the protheans, the reapers and the sovereign, etc). ME2 added the Collectors, which were a piece of crap. Only interesting thing was the Illusive Man.

- No inventory

- Planet scan was almost like going to work (or doing homework for kids).

So ME2 was a good game but a bad sequel. And it wasn’t that difficult to do something good in terms of good narrative, the universe was already set.

@9: How is the story Cliche? Do you always use the word Cliche whenever you’re too lazy to go into details?

@12: Totally agree on Inventory and the fact that there is no looting, so no real pay-off for exploration.

My main problem with ME 2 was the story. Everything in Mass Effect 2 was just build to introduce us to ME 3. There wasn’t much of a story in ME2. You just recruit people. Find out who the Collectors are. And kill the Boss. A Game should be able to stand on it’s own. A problem that Witcher 2 also shares.

Planet scan was also just sad. Really, really sad. I mean it wasn’t even addictive like most useless shit you get in videogames.

@ YoungZero yeah I feel like that always happens to the second game in a trilogy, it usually just serves as a bridge but there are some exceptions

I think when he says “innovate” and “take risks” it means remove the RPG elements and turn the game into an action adventure (DA2) or a shooter (ME2)…while I like ME2 and haven’t finished playing it all the way through. I definitely liked the first one more since the RPG elements were pretty deep and inventory system was tight…story and gameplay was awesome as well…ME2 is not a bad game but sacrificed depth for better shooting mechanics and graphics…

DA2 on the other hand just plain sucks so far, I also have not finished it but it is such a drastic departure from pretty much everything that made DAO so good…pretty much take out companions and its a totally different game…I’ve referred to it before as a medieval Mass Effect…so in terms of innovating with DA2 it means copy things from your other succcessful franchise and hope it works out, which it did not…because I know plenty of people that had DAO and didn’t even think about picking up DA2 after all the drastic changes they saw…I did however, I even pre-ordered early to get the Signature Edition thinking they couldn’t screw it up that bad but they did…its not a terrible game just not a deep rpg and not Dragon Age…

If youve played one bioware game (from KOTOR on), youve played them all.

Create character, you’re on a mission/errand, join faction, bad guys revealed, get team members, travel to locations, find out where bad guy is, end of story.

oh, and you can talk with team members and run through corridors stuffed with countless enemies.

playing mass effect for the first time was interesting but realizing that the other games are the same makes me avoid this company.

i also dont quite get why everyone’s thinking the first Dragon Age was great. From the first moment I kept looking for something original but it was just a lotr ripoff and there was nothing original to it.

@15

Same can be said to any western RPG. Even Witcher 2 followed that template.

Funny, I thought the problem with Mass Effect 2 was that it was nothing like Mass Effect.

@16 true and the same can be said for jrpgs either. the only series which is refreshingly different is the gothic series. and probably planescape torment, dont know about that yet, about to try it out soon.

i think its better to use rpg elements and elements from other genres, see diablo, system shock, stalker, metro, deus ex.

I think maybe you just don’t like RPGs

im definately no hardcore fan, that’s for sure

Exactly like Dragon Age II, right? you did it right, right? just as you did it right with KOTOR2 and NWN2, right? And it absolutely amazes me how he calls transition from classic cRPG to cheap console action/RPG “Risky Innovation”!!!! BioWare is one of the companies that I loved but after each release it’s like they’re askin’ me to punch them in the face harder… I’m so losing interest in whatever BioWare says and does.

PS: O’Black Isle where are thou… /sadface

“you did it right with KOTOR2 and NWN2″

WHy do people keep saying this these are not Bioware titles those are Obsidian titles. And all the good talented people made it to Bioware where the ones with the less than stellar talent go to Obsidian.

Obsidian has a different type of RPG where the players choices do not matter and the protagonist is the audience of the story. KOTOR2, NWN2, Alpha Protocol all follow the same style. You are a character with no history and just going where the story unfolds.