BIOWARE - When did they make their last really great game?

[....]

While Bioware is still a big name in the industry im starting to wonder if thats even justified anymore? Especially since all the changes after beeing bought by EA - is it even Bioware anymore?

Honestly - when was their last reallly great game?

Honestly - i really liked the original DAO, Star Wars KOTOR, Neverwinter Nights etc. Everything after 2009 pretty much was okay at best or a complete disaster at worst.

Lets hope Veilguard will be their rehabilitation - but i seriously doubt it. Besides them making medicore games in the recent years their focus also doesnt seem to be to make the best game for their actual playerbase/fanbase anymore.

I didnt even know until i looked it up that they made games like Command and Conquer Generals 2 ...

[Leonidaz]

Mass Effect 2 Two hundred plus hours there at second lowest first & then highest difficulty playthrough. Also some fiddling with different builds & characters. Seventy five hours in Mass Effect 3

[....]

Okay Mass Effect 2 was good aswell, but Mass Effect 3 was pretty medicore at best sadly.

So lets change the year when they last made a great game to 2010.

(i really liked the concept of Anthem- but the game just never delivered)

[Cutlass Jack]

They only flop they ever had for me was Anthem.

But I knew that without even getting the game. I eventually picked it up for like $3.99 and absolutely got my $4 bucks worth out of it playing the single player story. Some good ideas and even gameplay in there. But horribly ruined by trying to be live service crap instead of leaning into what makes their games good.

And the Devs realized that going into Veilguard, so I'm feeling pretty positive.

[ExcelsiorBenevolence]

Last good bioware game was jade empire. Everything since has been written for children.

[....]

Originally posted by Cutlass Jack:

They only flop they ever had for me was Anthem.

But I knew that without even getting the game. I eventually picked it up for like $3.99 and absolutely got my $4 bucks worth out of it playing the single player story. Some good ideas and even gameplay in there. But horribly ruined by trying to be live service crap instead of leaning into what makes their games good.

And the Devs realized that going into Veilguard, so I'm feeling pretty positive.

So you enjoyed:
Dragon Age Legends
command and conquer generals 2

And do you consider Dragon Age 2 to be a great game?

Also as i said - great game - because thats what i would expect from Bioware. Yeah most games arent real flops but just medicore which to me is bad.

[Aeon]

Originally posted by Dragon Master:

Originally posted by ExcelsiorBenevolence:

Last good bioware game was jade empire. Everything since has been written for children.

Dragon Age: Origins was written for children?

Did we play the same game?

Honestly quite a bit of of DA:O writing is edgelordy rather than actually mature. Not for little kids, of course, but I think it appeals quite a bit to mid to late teens. Tho maybe I do have a bias as I did play it as a late teen myself. DA:O writers were in their 20s and it shows.

[Internet(s)]

I do still think ME3 was a great game and that came out in like 2012, well over a decade ago.

I would also argue that dragon age inquisition was close to being a great game and that was a bit more recent.

At some point, this developer was able to make top shelf amazing games and so the potential is there.

[Crosaith]

Wasn't a fan of Andromeda or Inquisition. BG's, Jade Empire, other ME's, and other DA's where great though.

Edit - ♥♥♥♥... forgot about KotOR. They where great too, so much childhood nostalgia.

[....]

Originally posted by Aeon:

Originally posted by Dragon Master:

Dragon Age: Origins was written for children?

Did we play the same game?

Honestly quite a bit of of DA:O writing is edgelordy rather than actually mature. Not for little kids, of course, but I think it appeals quite a bit to mid to late teens. Tho maybe I do have a bias as I did play it as a late teen myself. DA:O writers were in their 20s and it shows.

Well lets be honest - the number of games with good writing is rather small. But the same applies to pretty much everything, movies, books etc.

Its also about the target audience.

But if there was a way for better stories in games - count me in. I for example enjoyed some of the Storytelling in witcher 3 and its sidequests and some in Cyberpunk 2077. Parts of the Stalker games also were atmospheric. Baldurs Gate 3 also had good parts.

KOTOR was great - but im not sure if its just nostalgia.

[Thorba]

mass effect3 i would say, ending was meh but the rest was really good.

[Cutlass Jack]

Originally posted by ....:

Originally posted by Cutlass Jack:

They only flop they ever had for me was Anthem.

But I knew that without even getting the game. I eventually picked it up for like $3.99 and absolutely got my $4 bucks worth out of it playing the single player story. Some good ideas and even gameplay in there. But horribly ruined by trying to be live service crap instead of leaning into what makes their games good.

And the Devs realized that going into Veilguard, so I'm feeling pretty positive.

So you enjoyed:
Dragon Age Legends
command and conquer generals 2

And do you consider Dragon Age 2 to be a great game?

Also as i said - great game - because thats what i would expect from Bioware. Yeah most games arent real flops but just medicore which to me is bad.

Really? Trying to use a facebook game and a cancelled game as a gotchya? Alrighty.

And Dragon Age 2 is my favorite entry in the series. Obviously it had issues due to the short development time. But storywise my favorite and most replayed fully. (While its certainly true I started more games in Origins, many didn't make it past Ostragar.)

And before you ask, I also consider ME3 a great game. The last 15 minutes were absolutely terrible, but getting there was great. But I knew ME3 would have a terrible ending by the end of ME2. You're playing a soldier with a gun in a third person shooter. There was never going to be a satisfying ending where you beat thousands of skyscraper sized aliens. It was only ever going to have a stupid McGuffin ending.

I got the ending I really wanted when I got Tali a home. Anything after that was extra.

[....]

Originally posted by Cutlass Jack:

Originally posted by ....:

So you enjoyed:
Dragon Age Legends
command and conquer generals 2

And do you consider Dragon Age 2 to be a great game?

Also as i said - great game - because thats what i would expect from Bioware. Yeah most games arent real flops but just medicore which to me is bad.

Really? Trying to use a facebook game and a cancelled game as a gotchya? Alrighty.

And Dragon Age 2 is my favorite entry in the series. Obviously it had issues due to the short development time. But storywise my favorite and most replayed fully. (While its certainly true I started more games in Origins, many didn't make it past Ostragar.)

And before you ask, I also consider ME3 a great game. The last 15 minutes were absolutely terrible, but getting there was great. But I knew ME3 would have a terrible ending by the end of ME2. You're playing a soldier with a gun in a third person shooter. There was never going to be a satisfying ending where you beat thousands of skyscraper sized aliens. It was only ever going to have a stupid McGuffin ending.

I got the ending I really wanted when I got Tali a home. Anything after that was extra.

The "gotchya" mainly was Dragon Age 2 - also my main statement was that we were talking about different things - my OP was "their last great game".

Interresting - i really disliked DA2. Mess effect - i think the games after ME2 were medicore - not bad - but not great either.

[ThespianMask]

I was about to say ME2, but when I looked at release dates, DA2 released a year later than it, so my answer would be DA2.

I genuinely have always thought it was a great game. I wasn't big into CRPGs when I was younger. In fact, the only other CRPGs I've played besides Origins was Arcanum, and NWN, and I didn't even enjoy NWN because I didn't like CRPGs. I enjoyed Arcanum because it was steampunk.

I liked DA2 because it was action-y, and I found Hawke's journey to be compelling.

[Crosaith]

I'm hoping Exodus ends up being great. Original Bioware guys makin a new game has me hyped.

[Shook Ones]

Knights of the Old Republic