Thank you for being here! Here is my comparison between both studios and thoughts on their games. If you have any thoughts to share - I hope you will share them in the comments. If you feel like I deserve it - you're always welcome to subscribe! Thank you! 🙏
@triplethtet67349 ай бұрын
Cool vid, got a new sub
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
@@triplethtet6734 thank you so much!
@Therealonetruejoe9 ай бұрын
Hello, at 9:30 “against” is missing a t
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
@@Therealonetruejoe oops 😅
@oa48429 ай бұрын
Larian being independent is the key here.
@tmage239 ай бұрын
Yup. Corporate owned studios have access to more resources but the tradeoff is that they're beholden to an entity that has to show increasing profits every year to please their shareholders.
@Bluehairedgirl899 ай бұрын
I hate to say this, I truly do. But that’s right, especially in more creative industries like video games it seems to be better to have a privately owned company that’s run by one person or a small group rather than a publicly traded corporation that absolutely has to increase profits every quarter to appease shareholders.
@Starfloofle9 ай бұрын
Publishers and, above all, *shareholders* who run those kinds of companies from the shadows, are the very truly worst part of all of capitalism, especially in the creative world. They ruin everything they touch.
@diamondhamster43209 ай бұрын
Well yeah Duh...
@Midaspl9 ай бұрын
Independent* *Except Chinese money
@PindleofKujata9 ай бұрын
I miss the pre-EA Bioware so much.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Same here, their games used to be great
@Cappuccino_Rabbit9 ай бұрын
Star Wars KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect 1. Ahh, the times when DLCs weren't a massive plague, things got really south with Dragon Age 2 and especially Mass Effect 3
@catandrobbyflores9 ай бұрын
The Citadel was while i won't say perfect, it was a nice send off for the squads.@Cappuccino_Bunny
@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket9 ай бұрын
EA is the cancer that destroys so many great studios. Only a short sighted fool would let them get a foot in the door.
@blastimbre8 ай бұрын
@@Cappuccino_Rabbit Mass Effect 3 wasn't that bad. its ending may have been somewhat underwhelming, especially on launch, but the game was pretty great throughout. DA2 was kinda dookie, though.
@topster8889 ай бұрын
EA is the grim reaper of game studios
@SifSehwan9 ай бұрын
Microsoft is knocking on your door.
@allot55309 ай бұрын
More of a vampire because at least the grim reaper kills you instantly, Instead of slowly and painfully
@crozraven9 ай бұрын
What they did to Westwood with C&C series will never be forgotten.
@sleepinthemorningcalm9 ай бұрын
Any major corporation really
@chrisx51279 ай бұрын
EA is so anti-consumer the moment they bought the NFL franchise after how amazing NFL 2K5 and later could have been with NFL and gaming fans. But dumb NFL gamers continue to support EA games with Madden.
@brentbentKRFP9 ай бұрын
The true big difference is that Larian is privately owned and isn't on the 'make line go up every quarter' treadmill that Bioware was put onto once they were bought by a publicly traded company. By default a publicly traded company is always first and foremost concerned with making profits. That's why Larian can make a game where making the most money isn't the goal because they're not owned by a publicly traded corporation.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
True. That makes them a very special company.
@brentbentKRFP9 ай бұрын
@@notsocasualYT They're indeed legendary world creators standing above almost everybody. I hope they never sell to a public corporation. This is where I'd be fine with nepo babies if they carried the Larian traditions forward.
@AlyssMa7rin9 ай бұрын
Sadly, Tencent purchased 30% of Larian after BG3s success
@brentbentKRFP9 ай бұрын
@@AlyssMa7rin Yeah, that news isn't good but I'm going to trust Larian set up appropriate guard rails to prevent their meddling. 10c invests in lots of video game companies and I haven't heard of any undue influence stories about them so let's hope they stay quiet, passive investors.
@MidlifeCrisisJoe9 ай бұрын
It's not just the publicly traded company thing though. Because there are still studios that are big publicly traded corporations that still make good games - it's just that almost none of them are WESTERN studios. Capcom, Nintendo, SEGA . . . most of these companies are publicly traded and they still make and publish good games regularly. So it's really a philosophical thing rather than a pure financial thing. *American* corporate mentality is the one which focuses on the "line must go up!" mentality above all else and ruthlessly pursuing this without caring about *how* it can be done. But obviously, not all companies are American, and it's in non-American gaming studios and companies that best seem to be able to keep this perspective these days it seems, whether that's Japanese companies or European, a common denominator is just that they're not North American.
@michaelhoffmann28919 ай бұрын
Long may they last. However, when the day arrives that Sven leaves and the successors fall into the same trap as Bioware, history repeats itself. Heck, even EA once stood for quality and beloved games! (though I'm aging myself that I still remember them) There was LucasArts and Sierra and... the list goes on. You know the end is nigh when the 2 dreaded words crop up: "private" and "equity". That's when the vultures are diving their bloody beaks into the still-living body.
@IguanaJoose9 ай бұрын
Don't forget Blizzard North
@michaelhoffmann28919 ай бұрын
@@IguanaJoose Yes, indeed. A tragedy so sad, my mind must have refused to add it.
@Bluehairedgirl899 ай бұрын
Basically the moment you hear that any company no matter what industry was purchased by a private equity firm, you know that it’s about to go through some serious trouble. The desperate drive to maximize profits at all costs eventually leads the company to eat itself alive and whatever’s left is sold for spare parts.
@HackersSun9 ай бұрын
And the suits who thinks video games are for losers
@JeremyLevi9 ай бұрын
Not to mention they will borrow heavily against the company to raise profits for shareholders without regard to long term financial viability. Even if absolutely nothing else changed in regards to management, employees, work output, or real profits the debt taken on will bury them sooner rather than later.
@Skumtomten18 ай бұрын
I bet you have no clue what a private equity firm actually does for the company.
@Skumtomten18 ай бұрын
The entire business strategy for a private equity firm is to seek out firms with alot of potential that need funding to get the cogs spinning. They can also restructure the organisation and ask to take positions on the board of directors. Eventually, the goal is to sell the shares to a higher price than what they bought them for, and also making money from fees and the like. It is litterally a long term investment, and firms that seek private equity funds are probably in financial or some other trouble to begin with.
@deptusmechanikus73629 ай бұрын
BG3 filled the void Dragon Age Origins left fifteen years ago, when I closed the game for the final time. I spent 700+ hours in Baldur's Gate. I have barely any interest in DA4.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
I feel exactly the same!
@mrmoviemanic19 ай бұрын
I know it's a bit of a personal thing, but I would say Dragon Age II and Dragon Age Inquisition are just as amazing in their own ways, but as beat for beat sequels that you are looking for out of Origins they are not, but that doesn't make them any less amazing imo.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
@@mrmoviemanic1 As long as you had a good time - it's all that matters.
@mrmoviemanic19 ай бұрын
@@notsocasualYT True mate.
@codyvandal28609 ай бұрын
If Larian was owned by EA they would consider those 700 hours "severely undermonetized" because they werent shoving a MTX shop in front of your face the whole time or pushing some 'live-service' bullshit
@JukkaE9 ай бұрын
Rarely you see someone doing this accurate observations about what happened. All of this doesnt apply only to bioware, simplifying games to make them easier and therefore more appealing to non-nerdish masses, was the wrong path, BG3 proves it pretty well.
@hdawglion7189 ай бұрын
It wasn’t just “non-nerdish masses” as BioWare openly fell into the same trap as so many other developers of that era: “we want the call of duty audience”
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
I agree with that, looks like is true that a game for all is a game for no one.
@LadyDoomsinger9 ай бұрын
The trick isn't to dumb down your game so it's easier for more people to play - the trick is to make the game engaging enough that more players want to learn how to play it.
@winterlif9 ай бұрын
Old Bioware will always be influential to who I am as a person today and the way I view characters; I forgot that for a while, but BG3 reminded me of those great times.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
I felt the same with BG3. It made me want to replay older Bioware titles
@Dayhawk1019 ай бұрын
3 game award shows and a total of 17 awards with all 3 game award shows winning Game Of The Year. Hell of a success story.
@crozraven9 ай бұрын
Larian Studios should stay independent no matter what & they deserve every bits of supports by gamers.
@SkinnyWR129 ай бұрын
Larian chose not to be greedy and actually made timeless game! It’s a must have game for any gamer ❤
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
I hope they keep making great games!
@AceOvrZero9 ай бұрын
bioware died when they sold themselves to ea its not hard to understand and if it was to save the company there are so many other better choices
@marciusnhasty9 ай бұрын
It was dire straits situation. They've even sold their Aurora engine to at the time completely unknown CD Project to try staying independent, but it wasn't enough. Absolute killer was the fact that they didn't own IP for their best selling games and EA locked rights on Star Wars games for long time period.
@arik22169 ай бұрын
Bioware die because of the capitalism risk oh yeah they need to be restricted by political correctness.
@andrewhooper59339 ай бұрын
Bioware is what got me into gaming, First KOTOR (I was too young for OG Baldurs Gate. Watching the fall from grace has been so sad, and I am so thankful for Larian and BG3, finally have that feeling of wonder I did when I first stepped into KOTOR and Dragon Age: Origins
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Agree, no game gave me the same feel for a long time!
@LadyDoomsinger9 ай бұрын
BG 1 was the first RPG I ever played. I wasn't even fluent in English back then, and yet I remember the experience fondly. After the Enhanced Edition was released I played it again, and found so much I've missed the first time, just because of the language barrier. It was a wonderful experience, and the people who were involved in it's making deserves credit for making something that great - and laying the foundation for Larian to build on with BG3... Even if the studio itself is but a shell of it's former self.
@AlyssMa7rin9 ай бұрын
KOTOR 1&2 was and is the GOAT of series
@emmanuel13379 ай бұрын
Damn, Swen is absolutely crazy for continuing with his game studio after the very serious fails and lackluster results that they had in the past -- I don't know how he managed to keep together, much less keep it up. Thankfully his passion for the craft and confidence on the potential of their projects are on another level, 'cause BG3 was the major wake-up call that the game industry needed (hopefully driving a serious shift on its standards and practices) and, above anything else, just an exception piece of genuine art...
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
His story is very motivational 😅
@commandershepard77289 ай бұрын
My dude , jade empire was so damn fun ! I remember being young and starting over several dozen times just to make sure I choose the “right” fighting style for myself hahah
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
It's kinda of sad that we never got a sequel. Such a different game!
@vehnashur27719 ай бұрын
Jade Empire was awesome.
@RustyNinja1009 ай бұрын
Bioware is an example of why profit seeking is short sighted.
@gamewrit00589 ай бұрын
5:00 Yup, I also think that DAO was BioWare's peak, and it makes extra sense to me now, knowing that it was the last thing that started development before EA acquired it and ran them into the ground.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Thank you for watching! Unfortunately, it is what it it...
@mclarke5557 ай бұрын
Like Bane in Dark knights said…..”Victory has defeated you”
@notsocasualYT7 ай бұрын
That's a good analogy
@Rxbxticc9 ай бұрын
glad youtube recommended me this. this is so well made. huge respect for making such a high quality video🙌💯
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it!
@The_Mother.9 ай бұрын
How did BioWare fall and Larian now suddenly winning every award and event? Larian cares and is independent... BioWare sold it's soul to EA.
@joker65589 ай бұрын
BioWare didn’t intend to sell to EA.
@velzanna22819 ай бұрын
This whole dynamic seems almost like the favourite oldest child and the redheaded second child. The first constantly being told how good they are, how talented, how amazing. They get complacent. They get dependent. They get used to putting in minimum effort and being praised. The younger child has to struggle and overcome, but by doing this they become stronger, independent and self-sufficient. The oldest becomes a methhead and the younger becomes a doctor. Okay the metaphor may be far fetched but I can’t help but feel that it applies.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
That was an interesting analogy. Let's hope the oldest one will eventually sober up 😅
@roelvaneyken2119 ай бұрын
You forgot about the divinity 2 dlc 'flames of vengeance' which was released together with a re-release of divinity 2 called 'the dragon knight saga'. Which is what ultimately saved them (as they did get to finish that game after all). I loved it by the way, still do. It's larian's hidden gem. There is so much atmosphere there, even more so than in baldurs gate 3 in my opinion.
@barbaroha8 ай бұрын
Bioware’s problem was abandoning their games to try and create something more massive, something more akin to other successful games rather than their own. Open worlds, dozens of repetitive quests, hours and hours of walking back and forth (Dragon Age Inquisition and Mass Effect Andromeda did that). Bioware’s games were never about that. They were about difficult and strategic combat, a good story, depth in relationships with companions, decision making. Instead of deepening these aspects and improving them, they worsened them in an attempt to be more like Elder Scrolls, ending up halfway. Larian knew how to deepen the strong points that set them apart (which were the same as Bioware’s) and gifted us with Baldur’s Gate 3. Today, no one is waiting for a new Mass Effect or a new Dragon Age. We want new games from Larian OR FROM OBSIDIAN (I hope Microsoft learns from EA’s mistakes and doesn’t ruin them too).
@notsocasualYT8 ай бұрын
Obsidian is my second favorite studio, that im slightly concerned with Avowed, but im sure theyll come up with something great. I wonder what they could do with an AAA budget game
@Poctyk9 ай бұрын
It feels like in the west, mid size developer scene only now begins to recover after 08.
@Xcyper339 ай бұрын
The spirit of old Bioware now rests with Larian
@Ghillis_Peyton8 ай бұрын
never heard of a publisher rushing a game and it working out. why do they still release games that are clearly not ready
@notsocasualYT8 ай бұрын
And they keep on doing it over and over again...
@blankeon66139 ай бұрын
Bioware used to be incredible, now they are a joke. I am just happy that Larian is becoming what Bioware used to be.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
We are very lucky that we've got Larian
@blueplague59119 ай бұрын
It's so humbling to see where Larian came from... I have so much respect for them. They feel like the people's studio
@PrimroseParadox8 ай бұрын
I'm 315 hours into Baldur's Gate 3, and I'm not stopping anytime soon. I've finished it once, gotten halfway on a handful of other playthroughs, and played around with mods, played co-op with friends. The best damn game I've seen in years
@notsocasualYT8 ай бұрын
Awesome! Im glad to hear youre having a blast
@Cappuccino_Rabbit9 ай бұрын
To me, BioWare died after Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 3 (even though i still enjoy ME3 and damn the multiplayer was pretty good). And it just got worse with Andromeda and Inquisition onwards I am skeptical about the next Mass Effect, because not only i'm sure the new writers have no idea how to continue the story, but they'll surely slap Andromeda lore into it
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
I really hope we might be wrong about their next games, but I'm skeptical.
@billiealexander34809 ай бұрын
That's how it sounds by them potentially reverting back to Shepards story for both fan service reasons + lack of content. It's made me lose faith. I actually have friends who are writers trying to shift from the film industry to the video game industry after the strikes so there's not a shortage of writing talent just whatever they're doing with it. And whatever is happening with Dragon Age is just...ugh.
@acev35219 ай бұрын
Oh andromeda lore is already confirmed. ME is finished
@captainlcm8 ай бұрын
Dragon Age Origins was so good. So. Good. It was and remained to be my most played game on Steam, with hundreds of hours. It had all the potentials to be developed into even better games than BG3. Alas.
@notsocasualYT8 ай бұрын
It is an amazing game. One of my favorite games ever.
@astralaris87129 ай бұрын
I will say something that I dont think I would ever say, and something people might get mad at, but, Baldur's Gate 3 is the sequal Dragon Age Origins never got.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
I kinda off share the same feeling, but I think will be more like accurately calling it a "spiritual succesor"
@astralaris87129 ай бұрын
@@notsocasualYTI think thats a better way to describe it yes, which is hilarious, as DAO was a loveletter and spiritual successor to BG1 and 2!
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
@@astralaris8712 They made a strange full circle 😅
@Tuilelen9 ай бұрын
As a game, I would say BG3 feels better bc it perfected the balance for making combat and play mechanics engaging without feeling overly complicated. But in terms of story/world-building, DAO was better, through no fault of Larian's. The DnD world is just a bit of a mess, while Thedas just feels like a true living, breathing universe that draws you into its story.
@TheRavenShadowsWolf8 ай бұрын
Bioware "fell" when Bioware stopped being Bioware. They've long ago lost the original talented people that made the company what it was. So it's not really their "fall." So to speak. It's the shell that still has the name, and doesn't have the ability to leverage the legacy with new incumbant talent or any good new IP's. I'd also argue BG3 is first, not Baldur's Gate as the series. That was done canonically at the end of 2. Including DLC. It's Larian doing Larian. Which means it's Divinity Original Sin, with D&D 5e painted over it. It can still be a good to brilliant game, but it's always been mistitled as far as I was ever concerned. If it was actually a third installment of Baldur's Gate; it would've ALWAYS involved a Bhall spawn, and the story would be CENTERED around that. Even if it wasn't Abel. But then they'd also have to find a way to explain why a revived Bhall would even need to make one. Because they were all sacrificed as the origin of the Bhallspawn always entailed, to bring Daddy Not So Dearest back to life. They were always a free 1up to Bhall. It's not really a new IP; it's not even the actual IP that they advertised. Other than a tacked on last minute "Dark Urge" character, and a bare few mentions to try to twist in why that ham-fisted thing should exist in game.
@notsocasualYT8 ай бұрын
Bg3 could easily have a different title - I agree on that. It seems that nowadays, it is close to impossinlr to make a game that is not a sequel or built up on already existing franchise
@RickDwrecked9 ай бұрын
Where did Bioware go wrong? Two words: Electronic Arts
@beniron5807Ай бұрын
The name should have told us all we had to know when it started. It’s like when someone tells you “I’m a nice guy!”. Nice people don’t need to tell you they are nice. There is nothing artistic about EA so they got to fake it and announce to the world so they get people to think they are something they aren’t
@samflood56319 ай бұрын
While everyone treats both Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age Inquisition as the black sheep of the franchise, I for one, enjoyed both Dragon 2 and Dragon Age Inquisition the same way I enjoyed Dragon Age Origins and Baldur’s Gate 3. At least those games allowed me to play out my escapist fiction as I explore the setting of each game, romance some characters, fight the monsters and experience the story of each game. I do hope that Dragon Age Dread Wolf will be good in its own right.
@101Mant9 ай бұрын
DA2 had it's flaws but at least tried something new with the time skips and a defined protagonist but one you could shape the personality of. DAI went for the most bland and faceless approach to a protagonist and a world that was entirely empty and dull (outside the DLCs). NPC interaction was largely with your party or at special events. While DAO had a a world full of interesting NPCs with story, personality and quests DAI was "collect these items". It also had the most generic and hackneyed fantasy plot, ancient dark lord awakens. It wasn't bad but wasn't in the same league as DAO or BG3 for story or immersive world.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
I'm glad you enjoyed it! At the end of the day, that's what matters. I really do hope Dread Wolf will come out well, but I'm quite skeptical about it.
@CreativeUsernameEh9 ай бұрын
@@101MantI looooved Dragon Age Inquisition. Only game I have ever gotten all achievements on. There’s a lot of depth and personality and way more detail than most people think as many people never escape the Hinterlands and judge the whole game based off that zone. It was so satisfying immersing in the world and they did a great job making an open world Thedas
@Cliffy16169 ай бұрын
@CreativeUsernameEh I’m happy you enjoyed it, but personally I find it to be by far the weakest Dragon Age title. It’s still a good game, but I just can’t place it higher than the first 2. DA2 had its glaring issues, but I found the story great and the characters/companions were fairly solid. Even Hawke as a set protagonist wasn’t much of an issue. Inquisition though, the story just felt weak and it shat all over what DA2 had been building. DA2 ends with a massive mage Vs Templar shit storm that seemed like it would change the world, only for Inquisition to essentially turn it into a barely relevant side plot that boils down to you picking a side to be fodder in your army. And the main Villain was a recycled DA2 DLC bad guy… the moment Corypheus was revealed as the bad guy it was a MASSIVE let down. But it wasn’t the end of the world. For the early game it was amazing everything up to Haven I loved especially that final battle which sees the inquisitor go face to face with Corypheus for the first time in What seemed like a guaranteed suicidal attempt to save everyone else. Up until this early point in the game I was loving it, it was tense the stakes seemed high and the situation seemed almost hopeless. And combine that with all the games promo stuff harping the tag line of “lead them or fall” and so by this point I was psyched. If the game kept this dire tone all the way through it would have been epic. Buuuut instead we then gets Leliana’s glee club moment right after on the side of a mountain and everything went downhill from there… The Inquisitor is given an army, a fortress and for the rest of the game proceeds to curb stomp anything that stands in their way. They literally physically go into the fade and only lose 1 person in the process… they’re also apparently this godly warrior/mage despite having no real backstory that would indicate anything like that. They’re either a minor noble before or a mercenary, but either way they’d don’t have any real fighting or combat rep. But can go toe to toe with some of the strongest creatures around. The Inquisitor ends up basically being 100% a Gary/Mary Sue, which isn’t as obvious on your first playthrough, but subsequent play throughs it’s obvious and kind of kills any tension in the story as you know the Inquisitor literally won’t fail at anything after Haven. And that the whole “lead them or fall” tag line was a bunch of B.S. as the Inquisitor not only cannot fail, but cannot die. You can argue the Warden never fails, but the Warden personally builds their army from scratch and it isn’t just given to them. The Warden in basically all Origins is regarded as a fairly adept warrior/mage and is no slouch in combat. And unlike the Inquisitor the Warden CAN die to achieve their goals. Then there’s Hawke, who is not any where close to a Mary/Gary Sue. Hawke despite their fame and all their strength fails on multiple key occasions. By either watching 1 sibling die early. Failing to keep the 2nd sibling from dying/ the wardens/circle-templars. They save the city from the Qunari, but fail to save the viscount who kept Meredith and Orsino balanced. They couldn’t save their mother. And ultimately failed to prevent the Mage vs Templar shit show. Hawke was someone who gained wealth to provide for a family that was dropping like flies and who saved a city once, but failed at literally everything else. And then comes my largest issue with Inquisitions story. And that’s that the actual end to the Inquistor’s story was popped inside a DLC. Like the games REAL ending was a fuggin DLC… that was all kinds of wrong. And that’s not mentioning the companions. Who the vast majority were completely meh. In Origins all the companions were great and even DA2 most of them were pretty good. But for Inquisition I just couldn’t care about any of them really. Cole was kind of interesting and Dorian was likeable and Cassandra was Okay, but she had me intrigued from her appearance in DA2. But the rest I never could care about, no matter how much I tried they just couldn’t hold my interest. And the open world just seemed so unnecessary, just like the stupid war table that ran with real time countdowns which would just artificially inflate playtime. Both these were fine on my first playthrough when the game was at its most interesting, but on subsequent playthroughs it just made the game a massive slog and would usually leave me having to force my self to get to the finish. So yeah, don’t get me wrong despite my crapping on it, I DO like the game. But it will for ever leave a bad taste in my mouth. As it’s a good game, but it had the potential to be so much better than it was.
@oguzcanoguz59779 ай бұрын
Wow I really was not expecting such a great video when clicking on this. Poor larian, they just got let down with financials and publishers again and again, where they only needed time and money to make proper games.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Thank you so much! They have a great motivational story. I'm glad everything worked out.
@nano_c0la9 ай бұрын
I hope the algorithm keeps blessing you. They gave you me
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Thank you for being here!
@LogicalThinking2109 ай бұрын
Larian Studios really gets it; they stick to what they believe in and always put gamers first. That's why they've got such a loyal fan base. Basically, they just have to announce a new game, and boom, we're all over it, no fancy ads needed. They save a ton of money on marketing just by making awesome games. On the flip side, you've got those other studios and publisher that just rush games out to hit sales targets, cutting corners and ending up with games that disappoint. They end up blowing loads of cash on marketing just to make those games seem worth it.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
They actually do have great and modern marketing - just direct social media communication that is so much better than traditional ads
@HikingFeral9 ай бұрын
I am an MMO player who has basically only played online MMO's for decades now. Baldur's gate 3 has changed that. BG3 is so good that I don't really even need the internet any more. Sure it's not perfect and the performance of act 3 is actually unacceptable but BG3 deserves 100 percent of the praise it receives. I am all in for BG3, Larian Studios and all of their games and DLC. I am now working my way backwards from BG3 enjoying everything they have to offer and happily sending them lots of my money - they deserve it.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Im glad you decided to give it a try! Have fun!
@athenaforce9 ай бұрын
Really great video!!! I appreciate the time and effort put in to make the video!
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for this comment.
@onedeadcat9 ай бұрын
10 years from now: Baldur's Gate: Andromeda
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
I hope not! 😅
@gamewrit00589 ай бұрын
😂😅
@joker65589 ай бұрын
I can’t wait!
@Megaphy8 ай бұрын
God this is so sad. Bioware is the reason I am obsessed with video games.
@notsocasualYT8 ай бұрын
It is. At least weve got Larian now.
@neggaballs38403 ай бұрын
@@notsocasualYT Bioware is not dead yet stfu fool
@museovations9 ай бұрын
Really great documentary. I am impressed both by the resilience of Larian and the effectiveness of your comparison between the two studios.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for watching
@ValwithaVee8 ай бұрын
DA Origins remains the GOAT for me because my laptop can't run BG3
@notsocasualYT8 ай бұрын
I'm sorry to hear that! Regards of that, DAO is still awesome.
@daniellins41149 ай бұрын
Wow this is a video of great quality, well researched and well presented, I hope your channel grows to reflect your effort and ability
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Thank you so much! I hope I'll be able to keep up!
@ВладиславБулаев-л3э9 ай бұрын
I will definitely watch this video later! This is QUALITY!
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!
@morgangriffin93128 ай бұрын
Honestly bg3 feels like the spiritual successor of the original dragons age. I loved dragon age but the only good one was the first one.
@notsocasualYT8 ай бұрын
DAO was awesome.
@AgeOfDanarchy9 ай бұрын
Dragon Age Origins is still one of my favorite gaming experiences ever
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
It is a great game!
@Tacobellgoddess9 ай бұрын
Really good video, i dont often leave comments but i think you deaerve a community worthy of the quality video you produced!
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Thank you for being here! I really appreciate it!
@KOBULT929 ай бұрын
Short answer: EA
@jessicamontiel15629 ай бұрын
Great videos, it's good to see your channel is growing -Keep it up!
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Thank you so much!
@mrmiyagi59 ай бұрын
The answer is Electronic Arts
@Carpatheon.9 ай бұрын
I was done with Bioware after Dragon Age Origins, and Mass Effect. Both games were amazing, and the sequels dumbed them down, and got rid of everything that made them great, in and effort to increase market share and bring in new players.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Same here, however who knows, maybe one day...
@Mattznick9 ай бұрын
Larian are the top RPG devs now
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
They are indeed!
@francisxavier83749 ай бұрын
larian turn based rpgs are not particularly rules complex, just google any of the pathfinder games for comparison but they do have a physics based system that is quite unique for the genre also let's not kid ourselves, bg3's ending at launch wasnt super different from having 3 colored space lasers lmao
@felathar19859 ай бұрын
I love your editing. Keep it up.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Thank you for watching!
@JeremyLevi9 ай бұрын
Great analysis on what was going on with these two particular studios although a brief mention to what else was happening in the background with CRPGs resurging in general in the 2010s wouldn't have gone amiss. A lot of groundwork was laid by Harebrained Schemes' Shadowrun Returns (2013), inXile's Wasteland 2 (2014) and 3 (2020), Torment (2017), Bard's Tale IV (2018), and Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity (2015) and PoE: II (2018). All of those were Kickstarter funded successes by smaller studios that helped establish that the demand for traditional CRPGs was still alive and well and were part of the overall trend that Larian both helped spur along and benefited from with Divinity: Original Sin I & II in 2014 and 2017 that made making Buldur's Gate 3 possible.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Thanks for the suggestion. I thought originally to mention it, but I think this movement deserves a separate video. (so much was going on there!)
@Mariloow9 ай бұрын
I grew up playing BG1, 2, Icewind Dale and Planescape, so much fun. Forever in my heart and mind.
@Midaspl9 ай бұрын
Well... You missed one thing. At which point did Tencent aquire significant portion of Larian?
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
That's a good one! I thought about it as well, however when I checked Tencent appears to be that they don't have a voting right in Larian - so I believe it doesn't affects their independence. If they'll ever get a voting right... Well, I hope that doesn't happens.
@Wisdomv39 ай бұрын
Hopefully this gains traction - I can tell care and effort went into this. W upload 🤟
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Thank you a lot! I really apreaciate it.
@Wisdomv39 ай бұрын
@@notsocasualYTlooks like it’s picking up a day later! Knew it was gonna do well 🎉
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
@@Wisdomv3 Never imagined it! 🎉
@diestormlie9 ай бұрын
Fun Fact! NWN -still- has an active online community in the form of 'Persistent World' Servers (which are, to my mind, 'simply' small-scale, RP focused MMOs.)
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
That's amazing! It used to be quite popular back then
@Moitoutvabien9 ай бұрын
Great video! Leaving a comment to boost it. Any developer saying "Larian made a good game because they're lucky not to have a publisher" are clearly entitled and have no idea what the studio has been through since its creation. Cheers from Belgium
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
I'm glad you liked it! Thanks. Larian's work is really impressive.
@corwyncorey37039 ай бұрын
My only disagreement with your assessment was that I knew Bioware was on its way down when I first saw Mass Effect. The illusion of choice was already present... and the fact that it was, in many ways a 3rd person shooter with "rpg elements" tacked on was nearly blatant in it's obviousness. It was not the first game to have these elements... but it was certainly the first in which they were a *reduction* and *simplified* aspect of a game, instead of something added to it to provide more depth. They simplified gaming. They tried to (and arguably succeeded) in bringing the concept of role playing game to a wider audience... by making it easier. Less complex, but also flat out *more stupid.* They didn't trust their audience. They thought people were too dumb to understand or enjoy complex systems. And it *showed.* Larian not only trusted us, but as Swen has said, "they want to put as much effort into content and choices that less than 1% of players will ever see." Because it is their goal for it ALL to be of that quality. Not just the quick buck generating "well 80% like this kind of playstyle, so that is good enough." And *that* is the bar which AAA gaming execs don't want to be compared to, that AAA devs know they cannot convince the moneymen is worth it. Larian is trying to make art. Something with the exact same effort invested throughout. AAA is trying to make a profit. With as little money invested ant the biggest takeaway. As a ratio. Hopefully seeing that art is also profitable can teach them something. Just not holding my breath.
@beccangavin9 ай бұрын
Exactly. I watched Mark Darrah test out BG3 and he seemed genuinely upset that the tutorial didn’t hold his hand. He was running through stuff and wishing there was a dash while everyone in the comments was telling him to slow down and actually explore the environment. He got lost in the character creator and decided it was limited because he couldn’t figure it out. The direction BioWare games took just made so much more sense after I watched him play BG3. BioWare doesn’t seem to realize that the people that are going to play their games are already adults and they aren’t stupid. As a result, they dumbed down the dialogue with the stupid wheel with the icons. They drastically dumbed down the combat and I anticipate that the next game is just going to be completely a hack and slash without a strategy at all a la Bethesda (which seems to be what EA told them to aim for.) They definitely dumbed down the story. The story in inquisition is just pathetic. I know a lot of people love the game and the characters are good but there are seriously only two choices you can make in the game that make any difference and there is no way to define YOUR character in what is supposed to be an RPG because they wanted a fully voiced protagonist. (The two choices being red team or blue team and who will I romance. No other choices make any difference at all. In fact you could ignore huge chunks of the game and miss only codex entries and generic mobs.) God I was looking forward to Inquisition and was disappointed within like ten minutes by the lackluster characterization. (Honestly, it was the worst example of a flaw in all of the Dragon Age games. They have an idea of what the real story is and if you don’t follow that story, the game trips over itself making your choices make sense.) BG3 outdoes BioWare by every metric as far as I’m concerned. Even DOSII without the mocap and with the isometric camera, the game was more immersive than Inquisition. The combat was certainly more varied and engaging. There were no battles in any Larian game where I could hold down the A button while I read comments on the KZbin video I’m watching. But I definitely did that while playing Inquisition. And that’s not even getting into the dialogue and role playing aspects, all of which account for so much more player choice than any BioWare game to date has been able to conceive of. (Textual support is the way the dialogue in Act3 of Origin’s just fails to accommodate a number of possible choices you would have made during the game if you play as a female character. Some of it is pretty funny. They definitely thought the only people that would play their game was boys between the ages of 18 and 24 and those boys wouldn’t stray from what they conceived of as the cannon story. (I say this with love. DA:O is my favorite DA game and I’ve done multiple runs with different characters and origins.))
@corwyncorey37039 ай бұрын
@@beccangavin And while it flat out *sucks* seeing so many game devs out of work right now, and it is brutal to think (let alone say) that having so many quality devs out from under the umbrellas and control of those who *only* care about our wallets (and how to drain them) might lead them to make their own games... ones with more creativity, more risk, and less "play it safe". In the end the kinds of hardships Larian has had to survive whittled them down to being only those for whom this is a passion they cannot give up on. Ones who will not bow easily to finance vs integrity when it comes to the final product. The kind who make *games,* not profit margins. We should remember that and reward them when they make what looks like something we would enjoy.
@rendyandrian71499 ай бұрын
I'm currently playing BG3. It is a complex game that requires me to read BG3 wiki and many other sources just to understand how things work. Yet, it is so addicting. My gut tells me Larian will be the perfect studio for making Fallout sequel in the same format as FO1 & 2.
@bunnerkins9 ай бұрын
6:30 "As they believed that by simplifying the combat and gameplay, more people would enjoy the game". No, they believed that more people would buy the game, and I hate that game developers think this.
@LulaRu9 ай бұрын
BioWare's downfall can be summarized in two letters: EA
@LosTresPollos79 ай бұрын
From the quality of the video, I thought I was watching a channel with a subscriber count of like 100,000-300,000. To see that you have _less than 200_, is a fucking scam. Subbed
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Thank you so much, I appreciate it
@qu12539 ай бұрын
While BioWare was flourishing in the 2000s, Larian was getting bent over the table by publishers and struggling to keep itself afloat. In the 2020s, Larian is flourishing while BioWare is being gutted by EA.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Hopefully Bioware will find a way out.
@andrewhooper59339 ай бұрын
DA:I is one of if not the least deserving of GOTY ever. 2014 must have been an awful year, I wasnt gaming much in that era for a reason.
@richardweems45179 ай бұрын
Thank you for the informative and well presented video
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Thank you for watching!
@LordDruez9 ай бұрын
Selling to EA and the owners of the studios leaving, always equals downfall.
@luskira8 ай бұрын
awesome video mate, keep it up
@notsocasualYT8 ай бұрын
Thank you so much. I'll try my best!
@blackwolfe6389 ай бұрын
A great point of Larian's success I don't see mention here or often is one of the biggest differences between Larian and other game studios is how they respond to customers. In early access of BG3 developers from Larian emailed ME twice to talk about what problems I saw with early access play. They respond to customers and CARE what we think and want above all other considerations. Sven is a D&D gamer first and it shows in everything he built.
@TyllerBoom9 ай бұрын
Laren made something comprehensive, confusing, fascinating, and something that can poke my brain. It is, gud.
@nomercy89899 ай бұрын
The funny thing is I remember when I first saw Baldurs Gate 3 gameplay. When it was first revealed and I thought to my self that it looked like the Dragon Age 2 we never got. I'm glad Larian picked up where the good Bioware left off. I bought BG3 on release but honestly haven't played it. I know nothing about DND and even the character creator was too overwhelming. I'm sure I'll get to it some day but for now I'm happy to have supported Larian and their game.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
It is worth a try!
@pedro.gabri3l9 ай бұрын
Try it, you don't need do now DND to play. to be honest the game is Kinda easy in midium difficult, you don't need to optimize builds to finish it, or try hard it to be playable, just don't be stupid and like play a barbarian with high intelligence and you will be fine haha.
@LadyDoomsinger9 ай бұрын
My advice is: Don't overthink it. D&D mechanics can be very overwhelming to learn - and even harder to memorize - but the game is pretty casual and forgiving of mistakes, and will even reward experimentation and creative solutions. Sometimes mistakes can even lead the plot in new directions you didn't expect.
@spinozatheobvious6269 ай бұрын
Try it. On explorer difficulty you can really just ignore most of the technical aspects. Just keep in mind that in the earliest levels you're super squishy: there may be fights that you can better just avoid for a while in your first run until you have leveled up a bit more if you find you wipe. Don't be discouraged by people minmaxing stuff in their KZbin honour run tutorials!
@rifraf17179 ай бұрын
Dragon Age has a really interesting lore mystery behind it...I feel so fuckin bad that it's an IP that will just get trashed on...I think its story alone is so enthralling to match that of Dead Space...Im happy for BG3...Bioware needs to follow its success because if Dredd Wolf fails...DA as we know it is done for....also if you havent seen the animated series...I highly recommend it, it's up there with Arcane
@ingolf829 ай бұрын
I played the Divinity Original Sin II boardgame last weekend and it was really fun. we only played through the tutorial portion of the game because we were learning as we played. The board game is called Divinity Original Sin, but I call it DoS 2 because the characters you can play as are: Loshe, Ifan, Sebille & Fane. it is a 4 player game at maximum, just like the RPG. Beast and Red Prince are included with the game, but they aren't part of the original 4. the board game pretty much starts where the game starts, below deck on the ship. I wonder if the whole board game is like the game, surely not. it says on the box it takes an hour to play. It is one of those boardgames you can play 4 players or less, you can even play by yourself. 15:20 BG3 success is greater, but personally, I like DoS 2's gameplay better. I think it was a mistake on Bioware's part to not develop Knights of the Old Republic II themselves. I can only imagine the story if it was written by Bioware. However, Obsidian made a fantastic job and "Kreia" is probably one of the best written characters in an RPG ever.
@nano_c0la9 ай бұрын
I’m subscribing love your quality
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Thank you!
@samuelschwager9 ай бұрын
I miss the old bioware :(
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
They were great
@mightystronk43619 ай бұрын
Larian's writing is nowhere near what Bioware did in it's prime.
@acev35219 ай бұрын
Yeah bg3 is amazing as a board game to fuck around with friends but story just doesn’t seem to be there.
@deusvlad2.0838 ай бұрын
My fav pc game is Never winter nights 1, and all the expansions. Baldurs gate 3 reminds me so much of that game that's probably why I love it so much, but in my heart still belongs to never winter nights, I would have loved to see a remake of Never winter nights 1 game using the baldurs gate 3 graphics and game mechanics style but keeping the type of real time strategy never winter nights had. I actually prefer that it had more speed in action vs strategy.
@notsocasualYT8 ай бұрын
Have you played pillars of eternity? It might sceatch the same itch as neverwinter
@deusvlad2.0838 ай бұрын
@@notsocasualYT I haven't played that, but my pc is really old now I doubt it will work lol thanks anyway I'll at least check it out on youtube.
@notsocasualYT8 ай бұрын
@@deusvlad2.083 I don't think the first one is very demanding, but it might be up your alley if you like Neverwinter Nights!
@deusvlad2.0838 ай бұрын
@@notsocasualYT ok thanks m8
@Shifft-This9 ай бұрын
I was upset that Dragon Age 2 went the more action-rpg route but I still enjoyed it. It just wasn't as good as Origins. I enjoyed the Mass Effect series for what it was, and I'm glad the trilogy got an ending (unlike Dragon Age which has been suffering with it's identity for some time). Dragon Age will likely never get a conclusive ending that feels satisfying the way Mass Effect did. But at least Dragon Age Origins has a pretty conclusive ending if you become a sacrificial hero, which is what I did on my first playthrough of the game. Larian Studios has been knocking it out the park in terms of great RPG's for many years now (I've liked them since Divine Divinity) and with Baldur's Gate 3 they're now at more risk for slowly becoming too corporatized (I don't want to use the other word). I hope that doesn't happen as I love their games and the work the devs put into the games. However, there's some writing on the wall as far back as Divinity Original Sin. I had kickstarted Divinity Original Sin and I was a bit upset that they changed the art direction. When I kickstarted the game the female Sourcerer on the cover was in more fantasy style scantily clad armor (showing thighs, cleavage etc), but then months before release it was censored and most of the skin was covered up. I was pretty pissed that they made such a change after I had already paid money into the project. Overall the game was still great though and modders even uncensored the female armor (reverted the texture changes) but I felt like part of the artistic direction for the game was changed. In fact you can see the original armor for the game in this video at 14:34. But if you look up a current cover of the game you'll notice her armor design is different. This change was also reflected throughout the in game armors... censoring them. I really hope we can still get a few bangers from Larian though. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I really really respect Sven. As far as I'm concerned as long as he's running the show I'll still have my faith in them. As for Bioware... well my faith for them has long been lost. The best games from Bioware are already behind us.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
thanks for sharing your opinion! Fingers crossed for Larian
@ThirdXavier9 ай бұрын
just a minor nitpick at 7:30, Mass Effect 3 actually re-introduced a lot of RPG mechanics that were stripped away from Mass Effect 2. Mass Effect 1 was heavily criticized for having really clunky UI and unintuitive RPG mechanics which is a lot of the reason Mass Effect 2 was so action focused, and I think Mass Effect 3's greatest strength was actually being able to find a great middle ground. The story and writing is where it falls flat compared to the rest of the series.
@alzat._9 ай бұрын
What an amazing video, great production and way of presenting it, hope your channel grows to match the high quality of this video!
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Thank you so much for being here, and I'm glad you liked it! I hope I'll be able to keep up 😅
@Brutik59 ай бұрын
Mass Effect and Dragon Age Origins will be always in my heart. But after those... it went downhill since Mass Effect 3 dissapointing ending.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
I feel exactly the same.
@TheRidvan369 ай бұрын
i was thinking today about how DA: origins has so much in common with BG3 and see this vid lol, clear vid mate
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Thanks! That thought was what gave me the initial idea 😅
@emptyfish89929 ай бұрын
ME3 had smooth action mechanics but the ending left me hating the fact I loved the game so much. DA Inquisition was unplayable and marked the death of BIOware. You hit the mark on the head my friend. Nice job on the video.
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
I felt the same about DAI ans ME3. Thank you so much for this comment, im glad you liked it!
@Sky005669 ай бұрын
Never played turn based Rpg games like baldurs gate 3 now im hooked...hoping for new Dlc there so much to do in Baldurs gate
@sinisterplank31139 ай бұрын
Larian never compromised on their passion.
@fewfwefwfwff9 ай бұрын
lets hope larian wont go greedy mode and lose it all
@MrVad3r9 ай бұрын
i doubt man like sven who went through hell will give it all up for money now. dude kept his relationship and house on line to achieve his vision .. these kinda men are not purchasable with money.
@lordomacron37199 ай бұрын
To be honest most of the people who made BioWare what is was have long since left the company.
@quietandsimple51349 ай бұрын
Amazing production, even had a tear in my eye when you told swen´s story, very well done brother x)
@notsocasualYT9 ай бұрын
Thank you so much! Is quite a crazy story, so many years to finally succeed!
@Leonnie138 ай бұрын
I still love Dragon Age Origins, Mass Effect, and Knights of the Old Republic. They will always stay in my library.
@notsocasualYT8 ай бұрын
Theyre great games!
@Gilder-von-Schattenkreuz9 ай бұрын
Larian is not Bioware but Better. Its just what Studios like Piranha Bytes or Bioware have been in the Past before they succumbed to greed and lazyness. Thus stopping to make games with love fir detail and ambition. And instead making shallow shovelware with big advertising campaigns to sell as many as possible before people find out its trash
@quietinsound80879 ай бұрын
New Bioware can be summed up with their own marketing saying, push a button something awesome happens, button awesome.
@FlyJonat8 ай бұрын
13:25 That didn't age well. Good for Larian bad for EA and Activision. It's the opposite of that quote nowdays.
@notsocasualYT8 ай бұрын
I'm glad that Larian managed to get trough it, it is a shame that Bioware is not the same as it used to be... But I guess it's life.
@ellobodehielo9 ай бұрын
Larian: Makes a game where most players will never see even half of the cutscenes, because "A Lolth sworn Drow cleric would be able to say something else here, that resolves the whole issue. so we'll add that for 0.125% of players who picked that" Bioware: Makes a game where you can be good, evil, or pick the green ending, while EA cuts out the origin of their villains or some of the coolest party members because we need to sell DLC
@DrLynch200911 күн бұрын
Morrigan walk so Shadowheart could run. R.I.P Dragon Age.