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stranger
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stranger
Joined: Nov 2010
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We were actually thinking of changing our name to Streamline Studios  Nooooo! Please, you shouldn't even mention that word!! It's a DEATH NELL for game franchises (from a gamer's point of view, not necessarily a commercial standpoint) 
Last edited by AlaCarcuss; 03/12/10 06:43 AM.
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journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Nov 2009
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I think it's too easy to get hung up on what constitutes a "real RPG". Especially if you ask a bunch of RPGers, you'll probably end up with more answers than there are people to give them.
What it really comes down to is "is this game fun?" Whether than answer is "yes" or "no" it's largely immaterial whether or not it fits the elusive definition of whether or not it's a "real RPG". It's much like the same problem people face where they don't like Oblivion because it's not Morrowind II, they don't like Fallout 3 because it's not Fallout 2 II, they don't like Gothic 3 because it has better graphics and is therefore "teh lame" and so forth. They're missing the point which is, are they fun? They can certainly be made not fun by measuring them up against artificial metrics and seeing them fall short.
To be honest I couldn't give a monkey's if Ego Draconis or Oblivion or Stalker or Sims 3 or Pacman measure up to someone else's definition. If they're fun I'll enjoy them; if they're not I'll play something else. If they have the potential to be better I'll look at that: e.g. a lot of people who hated Oblivion and refused to play it have missed out on an experience if they never tried it with FCOM.
What's interesting is that I read a lot of stuff talking about some mythical "golden age" of video games, where people generally refer to a time about 10 years ago; it does vary, but the reason I choose that particular era is that for me personally it was a really miserable dark age of gaming where nothing appealed. Am I wrong? Or are they wrong? Neither, and that's the point. It's a subjective matter, and I wouldn't dream of saying the games back then were actually crap just because I didn't like them; and neither do I welcome the opinion that today's games are "dumbed down" for specious reasons including a handful of examples where that may hold true and because they no longer have headache-inducing graphics for the most part.
I suppose in summary there's little to be gained by saying to someone "your favourite game isn't a real RPG, it's a dumbed down pile of offal that appeals to <sniff> casual gamers. And you smell of elderberries" other to cause antagonism, often leading to the sort of discussion that will generally create more heat than light. Wow, you are my soulmate! 
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veteran
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veteran
Joined: Aug 2009
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Not c&p but randomly generated. It's a different things :P
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apprentice
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apprentice
Joined: Nov 2010
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For me this game has alot of good going for it, fun, makes you think, and then think again. As for compairing to games like Oblivion, Risen, Gothic, or w/e those games are made from cookie-cutters, with the exception of Oblivion, that game series is descent.
That's just Daft (sorry, couldn't resist)  You ruined a fist class post in the last couple of lines. The Gothic series and Risen (the real Gothic 4) are bloody fantastic ARPG/RPG hybrids (just like DKS in fact) - anything but cookie-cutter. Oblivion, on the other hand, is just a totally bland, cut&paste, wothless POS. Everything else in your post is spot on though  Good show!, can't win them all.  I tend to agree w/ the thought about Risen, Gothic ect..I never actually said I didn't like them, more-so that I ended up playing Risen, followed closely by Arcania(gothic 4), and at the time seemed the two games felt like long lost twins. Oblivion was it's own beast. Though I must say it is slow repetitive, essentially good I suppose if MoDed to crap. So my early wall of text, (which when rolled was 6d6 of damage + blindness for 5 rounds, though you can save for half vs. Int check) , was incomplete, and for that I apologize. Can't forget us old folks and our memories. 
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Aug 2010
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It's the path towards the ending that makes the game linear. No matter your choices, you always gain allies and always have to kill the Archdemon. What comes after is fluff.
Compare with Planescape: Torment, where different stats lead to an entirely different playthrough. Not to mention the game does not necessarily end with the mandatory killing of a boss. Wrong, my city elf character left the Redcliff villagers to face the undead by themselves, upon returning, I found everyone apart from Bann Teagan was dead. This affected many things - the Chanter's board never showed up and neither did the Black Stones or the Mage's collective which means you miss out on many quests as well. You don't have to kill the Archdemon either, you can have someone else do it. Also, in Awakenings, you can join with the Darkspawn (there are two different fractions as revealed in the expansion) or you can kill all Darkspawn who get in your way. You also get to chose which place to save near the end - a City or your keep. There are many choices which lead to different endings and outcomes and dialogues. If you fail to steal from a character in the main city for Origins, you will meet guards from time to time when travelling to different places in Denerim, they will attack you. Different choices means different quests, different dialogues and different endings. Don't forget, role play means taking on the role of a character, you take on the role of a Grey Warden in DA who can be evil or good but ultimately - his/her job is to end the blight. An RPG never offers all choices now does it? Did Planescape give you the option to sell your soul to a demon for ultimate power in which heroes and kings come after you to kill you? Only NWN did with the toolset in which you could create such an adventure for yourself! But then it's your creation. What I love about DA is the combat. I've reached the Alienage part again where you must stop the slave traders (of course, you can allow them to go on their way, or battle them and have the blood mage kill them and in return - grant you a bonus to your health), I decided to kill the slave trader leader and I opened up the redial menu before doing so, deciding what combat move I should kill him with - Critical strike was great. Divinity II doesn't have many choices while you are in combat like DA does, even when you are fighting in DA - you are still presented with many choices of how to win the battle! Still, Divinity II fighting beats Oblivion fighting which was just "hack hack hack, block, stagger, stagger, stagger, stagger, stagger, stagger, stagger, stagger, stagger, stagger, stagger, stagger, stagger, get hit down, hack and kill." I like the rolling and jumping features for Divinity II but the pause system for me - was never really needed.
Last edited by Demonic; 03/12/10 04:17 PM.
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Aug 2009
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But even after leaving Redcliffe to its fate, even after killing the possessed boy yourself and/or letting Isolde sacrifice herself, the Bann will still support you and provide you with troops. Even though you basically ruined everything. This is what I mean with fake choices.
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Aug 2010
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That is explained. It's the Arl who supports you and he's a man who knows the Blight is more important than anything else and even says so. Killing Connor has Alistair shout at you in the camp - what else did you expect? For the Arl (Alistair's Uncle) to attack you? There's also the choice of destroying the Urn of Sacred Ashes which allows you gain powers that you wouldn't gain otherwise. Yes, there's a set path but there are many choices and ways you can chose to go along that path. DA was never meant to be a free roaming sand box game where you never have to finish the main storyline now was it?
And when compared to Divinity II or Oblivion - the choices and their consequences are much better.
Last edited by Demonic; 03/12/10 04:22 PM.
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apprentice
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apprentice
Joined: Nov 2010
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there will always be limits to choices in any game. devs cant possibly predict or make allowances for all possible choices. but within those limits, some games provide more choices than others. and i have to say that DAO is one of those games that give you a lot of choices. i have played only around 6 characters beyond the first few chapters and the variety is enough to make me play some more to see what happens if i take another path.
but i appreciate DKS for what it is. a good arpg with (much) more choices and (much much) less handholding than the average bear.
Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you. See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands... - Isaiah 49:15-16
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apprentice
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apprentice
Joined: Nov 2010
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Just to point out the great humor in DKS (Which trust me at this point I would consider myself a fanatic, I mean I had one of the single most annoying bugs there is and I would keep playing even after it just crashed on me 20x earlier... thats an addicting game for you) There is a segment in the game (FOV) where you will speak to a champion that is on his death bed, one of the options you can tell him is "When you see a spirit named -Play game to find out- tell him I said, MAXOS!" -Reply "Oh I will friend, I am sure this man will appreciate hearing such words from an old friend" Call me an evil bastard but I nearly rolled out of my seat with laughter 
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apprentice
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apprentice
Joined: Nov 2010
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Answering the question i must say that i enjoyed Dragon Age more than the three...I like the strategic feel of the battle,The Epic storyline,the character and the immensity of the ending, as bioware knows how to do so well.I even enjoyed the battle difficulty although it could easily have you throw your PC out the window at some points. But it isn't really fair to compare it with divinity because of the action part of it. DAO does appeal to me because I am a classic rpg gamer but to strictly ARPG fans it may well not. A better comparison would be with the Witcher and Risen.
Oblivion I enjoyed but in the end i got bored of it and never finished the main story line.I must say although it is an good game it is,by far, worst than all the above rpgs mentioned(and Morrowind).It has a great open world with great atmosphere.It can really pull you into it and it has really great side quests.This is actually the problem.The side quests are far better than the main storyline.Add to this the relatively dull battle system and you have a game with great presentation but lacking in actual fun and addictiveness.
For me the best ARpg would be Divinity 2 along side with the Witcher.I loved the witcher for the complexity of the storyline. I really haven't played a RPG that actually had me feeling i'm playing a real Role in a story to such an extent,since maybe Planescape: Torment.And the main character was Absolutely great. How cool must your character be that the fact that you can't really customize him at the beginning does not bother you at all. The only problem i had with the game was that the battle system, although fun , was a little weird. Sometimes you didn't really know what you did right or wrong.
DSK was obviously awesome. The story was epic, the atmosphere of the game really takes you to a different place. It really includes everything that makes a fantasy great. Rivellon is a unique place and that makes it believable almost...The quest and battles are fun as hell.And the Dragon form.Hell Yeah!And even though it was difficult it was still enjoyable. And the humor is one of the best aspects.
Risen , since i mentioned it, is a very good and enjoyable game.Much better than oblivion. But the battle is really frustrating.In DKS and DAO the battles are difficult but still enjoyable.In Risen after a while it becomes frustrating.In every new phase the game brings up more powerful enemies that are always more powerful than you. And although at first it is awesome because you are always on edge after a while it gets really boring. At almost no point in the game do you actually feel you have a powerful character that has improved himself into an intimidating force.Most of the times everyone else does more damage and endures more damage than you.Eventually just end up fireballing everyone from afar.A challenging game is always good but you need to be able to go and just kick everyones' A#$@ from time to time.You are the hero after all.
Anyway Great job on the DIVINITY games.Pure greatness.
Last edited by Turin231; 04/12/10 12:31 AM.
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stranger
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stranger
Joined: Nov 2010
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Well, just got Humanforce's Questpack 4.2 and Mordrak's Content Mod 2.2 for Gothic 3, and it may be my favorite game now even beating out Gothic 2 NotR. The Community Patch 1.74 did wonders fixing the bugs and whatnot, but this added content and the HUGE world to explore is just fantastic.
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stranger
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stranger
Joined: Dec 2010
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DKS is the best Rpg in a long time in my opinion. Loads of side quests and neat stuff to find if you go looking much more of an open world feel.
Oblivion i also thought was great but i couldnt stand Dragon Age, felt more like an interactive movie than a Rpg, too much time was spent on the romances and other fluff.
DKS is for me up there with The Witcher.
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stranger
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stranger
Joined: Dec 2010
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I have played all mentioned as well as Mass Effect 1 and 2 and Dragon Age and I have to say Divinity is winner with Mass Effect 2 very close on the story.
Dragon Age has tiny maps and the action is boring and very repetitive most times (just my opinion).
The Triple A games are all very close but for me Divinity 2 is the winner.
i7-4930K w/ 16GB DDR3RAM
GForce GTX780 @ 1920x1080
Linux! (when possible)
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