How the Success of Baldur's Gate 3 Proved Bioware Wrong

[@DonBraun-f3y]

I know its a stupid thing to conplain about but please just work on pronounciation. Its Larian. Not Lorian. Its my favorite gaming company back from when they released the original divinity games even before original sin.

[@BryceBSK]

It's not a stupid thing to complain about its valid, i'll work on my pronunciation for future video's i'm dyslexic so I read some words incorrectly but that's obviously not an excuse. Thanks for the comment ❤

[@DonBraun-f3y]

Thank u. Sorry felt mean. I get that. I am too. I just try really hard to work on it and i can tell you do too. Fantastic work man. U deserve a follow. I also agree that Inquisition isnt as good as origins but check out its dlc. If ud be willing to make a video about it. Or a video about the history of Larian. Their amazing. Been coming a long way and have alot of cool lore. A video on Bracus Wrex would be amazing. Either way u earned a subscribe. Ur gna go a long way.

[@BryceBSK]

preciate it man

[@richgriffinalb]

@@BryceBSK while you're on the topic, in qui si tion, not inquision

[@jamescrone1588]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@BryceBSKand just because I have seen you write it like that soo many times it’s. Appreciate. Appreciate. Download grammarly there is no excuse for you to be that bad at spelling

[@FeebleAntelope]

It's kind of difficult to talk about how "Bioware messed up," without covering the fact that EA absorbed Bioware and started changing their practices. Bioware spent something like 5 years to produce Mass Effect and Dragon Age. Kinda like Larian Studios with BG3. After EA took over, they mandated shorter production cycles, with the immediate results seen in ME2 and DA2.

[@Thelionpaladin]

EA did what it has always done which is to; A) take over a company, often through the back door (like be their publisher) B) fire all the staff who will resist their corporate pressure C) force them to rush out a game or two and install a bunch of shit nobody wants in it eg; online only or loot boxes D) game flops & receives massive backlash E) EA blames the company they forced to do this F) absorbs the company and sits on their IP and bleeds it dry. Bullfrog, Maxis, Westwood, Pandemic Studios, Visceral games And these are just the studios I remember off the top of my head. EA has always done this and I think bullfrog is the only one they “apologised” for murdering. So it feels a little harsh to say it’s BioWare being greedy rather than the corporate suit behind it with a gun to its head.

[@Kickmon]

Except ME2 is still rated higher to this day by critics and players than ME1. Whereas DA2 was universally disliked. Hell, even with ME3 everyone only hated the ending, the rest of the game was top tier. With Mass Effect, the effects only really came to the fore with Andromeda

[@Direwolf9818]

This, DA2 would probably been so much better if BioWare didn’t have to turn out another game in year and 4 months. Based off that knowledge DA2 really isn’t bad. It just didn’t get enough time in the oven because of EA.

[@winterviveca5976]

ME2 somehow turned out amazing but DA2 is so obviousky lacking it's still kind of unbelievable for me they released it in that state. I think they took risks with the story-telling that is the most interesting part of the game but these identical locations at every corner... ugh

[@kangazoos2083]

Yeah, except Bioware has struggled with leadership for years. After the original team leaders moved on or retired, they never found anyone to fill their shoes. EA is only part of their downfall.

[@warhammerguy]

Remember back in 2010- 2011 where people said "No matter how bad gaming gets we can always trust the 3 big B's. Bioware, Bethesda and Blizzard will always be great". In hindsight this saying is both sad and depressing.

[@marshall4311]

All three being absorbed by bigger companies (Bioware by EA, Blizzard by Activision and Bethesda by Microsoft) does not help. However, Bethesda can't use that as an excuse since they already went downhill before being bought by Microsoft. Still very sad though.

[@warhammerguy]

@@marshall4311 Also very different approaches from the companies. - Bioware saw immediate change the moment they got absorbed. - Microsoft has generally been very hands off on studios they take over. - Blizzard was a gradually boiling frog process since initially Blizzard had a lot of leverage power to resist change due to their strong position in the industry. But as time went on Blizzard lost more and more power and now they are inseparable from Activision and the embodiment of greed.

[@KratosisGod]

​@@marshall4311ngl I don't think bethseda rpgs have been that good since oblivion and even oblivion was only above average I love that game but I know it was not as good as some of the others in the rpg genre even back then.

[@SchulzEricT]

@@KratosisGod Yeah, Bethesda games have always been shallow and underwhelming, at best. They're better (not by much) if you realize they aren't RPGs.

[@heyimanameheyimalastname]

@@SchulzEricT And yet Skyrim is literally the defining game of a generation, not only one of the top selling games of all time (#7) but also beloved by critics and fans alike outside of nostalgic contrarians

[@texdillinger6173]

I get a terrible shiver down my spine every time he says "Lorion"

[@zcythegaming6619]

Same. And when he hits us back to back with the double lore-ean I had to stop watching.

[@tyderayos9365]

Lol and dragon age inquishon

[@4kryptik4]

Take notes devs! Instead they cry that BG3 is setting the standards too high LMAO

[@BoinkrNanis]

In 2006, if you wernt setting the new bar, the other studios would straight up trash you. Now these same studios cower over good games that didn't hinder to corporate greed.

[@kristopherdickson6606]

​​​​@@BoinkrNanisit's because the fans enable them too. It's amazing to me how apologetic people can be for faceless corporations and how unapologetic they can be for their fellow man. The standards also subsequently got lower with each generation of fan. It would be fascinating if it wasn't so frustrating. For example people point out Mass Effect as the height of Bioware, but Dragon Age: Origin fans begged to differ. And Baldur's Gate 2 fans thought Dragon Age: Origins was a huge step down in quality. You can see this with so many game developers. Look at Bethesda with the dynamic of Daggerfall > Morrowind > Oblivion > Skyrim. And from what I've seen of Starfield, it's just downright lazy, which is nuts because I was harping on Oblivion back when I was a teenager. Where do fans like me end up where more and more people are starting to get fed up? I'm mostly grateful people are coming around, but it's also frustrating that I've largely been pushed out of my favorite Genre of game due to this type of thing plaguing it. Larian, by my standards is only a half measure but a much appreciated one in the stale world of RPGs. I can understand corporate greed, I just don't understand those who argue in favor of it or in favor of less options in an interactive medium.

[@gimmeyourrights8292]

Back then they welcomed the challenge, now they have to work for a living.

[@bigzachful]

@@kristopherdickson6606 Yes I said the same thing about oblivion because in reality that game had shallow short writing. Compare it to morrowind. Me going from morrowind to oblivion I was harping on oblivion as a teenager as well. Same with Fable 1 to Fable 2 even tho I liked Fable 2. As well as Dragon Age origins to Dragon Age 2. The quality writing and dialogue choices just kept going down.

[@dealwolfstriked272]

You would cry also if you know how hard it is to make a BG3 game. The anomaly is hard passion in display. I hope Swen stays passionate and brings us a few more titles before he jumps ship and goes down that long and slippery slope towards KISS. Its so easy once the wheels(corvette wheels and shiny blonde bimbo shotgun character at that) start to slide! ;)

[@MisterSerial]

Seeing the success of Baldurs Gate 3 makes me personally so happy. I feel so connected to the game and to Larian and the game brings memories to me of how games were used to be and should be. Larian not only cares about making money wich is obviously necessary, but they also care about the quality of their game and that people actually enjoy playing it... Also they avoid all that stuff everyone hate in games so well.. You buy a game and you get the whole game... Youre not a paying beta tester.. Youre an appreciated customer. While most other games are not about how can we make the game as good as possible, but more like how do we have to design our game, so we get the most money out of it, Larian really tried to make a good game and they did very very well.

[@karandullet380]

Lerian understands what Many compines don't that reputation is important and reputation is made by releasing quality product not shit product and if you have a good reputation then your games will sell for a longer period of time they're smart

[@martintoman9225]

I think that is the biggest problem in this industry. CEOs a corporations want to make the most money. So they design games so as many people will buy them. But Larian of course they wanted to make money from it, but they made the game they wanted to play, they worked on a game that they themselves would enjoy and with this kind of attitude they can easily get very passionate people to work on it and create amazing things like BG3.

[@Sierraone1]

" Youre not a paying beta tester".... well... well.... that game was in early access for years, so customers were actual beta testers and Larian had to release several patches over a month to fix thousands of bugs, so even full version purchasers were beta testers. But yea, Larian does respect their customers for the most part, especially when it comes to gameplay.

[@MisterSerial]

@@Sierraone1 Well yes, but you bought the game knowing its in early access.. Thats a decision... But very often you buy games as a release version and its still feels like early access.. Also yes BG3 still has bugs to this day, 100%.. It is by no means a 100% perfect game, but in my opinion Larian did many things very good.

[@fatezero8662]

​@@Sierraone1But it was labeled Early Access, unlike Cyberpunk 2077 where it was officially released 2020 but now we retroactively consider it early acces because how fucked up it was and it was only this year where it's now fixed.

[@Medusa_plays]

BioWare is almost where Blizzard is. It's just a name now, the people and the team who made those old games we love are gone.

[@ChrisbyFlanker]

All of this is summed up with "They made great games and then EA CEOs/execs started telling them how to make games and everything got worse"

[@TheStephaneAdam]

Except EA was extremely hands-off with Bioware. This one is all on Bioware.

[@masterexploder9668]

It's always a convenient excuse to blame everything on execs and it's quite often the case, but exceptions exist. Bioware fumbled and mismanaged a lot while producing Anthem for example, wasting lots of money and finally pushing half baked something.

[@donteo508]

From what I understand of Bioware's situation reading a lot of articles and general gaming history: Bioware employees who enjoyed the way they were designing games back in the day have been phased out, while newer employees are trying and want to make games that simply aren't the story driven masterpieces Bioware is known for. What we're seeing is more or less a regime shift in Bioware. The old heads just ain't there anymore, some have gone on to make their own games or left the industry entirely.

[@Th1sUsernameIsNotTaken]

@@TheStephaneAdam EA isn't hands off with ANY company they buy. They literally have a GIANT track record of BUYING OUT GAME STUDIOS and them going under shortly after. There's a reason that the whole "EA is the place where studios go to die" became a meme. And you can't tell me they acquired all of these companies who were making games the people loved, and those same companies just ALL "dropped the ball" upon acquisition of their own accord, and not because a company like EA. Just like there's no Way Bioware would have only given themselves LESS THAN 1 1/2 years to make DA2, while not having even released the expansions to DAO yet. They had to cut corners in every way possible for DA2 because EA figured RPGs should be able to be spat out like Sports games.

[@Demortra]

@@masterexploder9668 Anthem was literally ordered by EA to use a new engine, pulled devs off the project to help with other EA projects... Yeah, EA is the issue, the same happened to Westwood of Command and Conquer fame, Bullfrog who made the Dungeon Keeper series, Origin Systems who created Ultima, and 11 others. EA kills studios for short term profit.

[@roboczar2778]

There's no way you could come away from playing even one hour of DA:I and pronounce it "inkwizhin"

[@Skaftholu]

Seriously, that was bothering me so much. That and saying "Lorian".

[@theobell2002]

I doubt any haters of Inquisition actually played the game. They just hate it because it's not Origins.

[@Skaftholu]

@@theobell2002 Gotta love when people cannot understand that that people have different opinions. Quit talking out your ass.

[@LeNoLi.]

LORIAN AND INQUIZION. He did not play DAI

[@katm8128]

@@theobell2002it’s odd because I’d assume that even haters of the game would know the word inquisition. It’s not uncommon lol

[@christopherbelanger6612]

I understand the criticisms of Mass Effect 2, but honestly I found it to be better than the first Mass Effect from a gameplay standpoint. It felt a bit more refined and the combat was fun. It was one of the few games I finished and then immediately started a new game without taking a break in between. The other game that did that for me was Baldur's Gate 3. The moment I finished it, I rolled a new character. :) Whenever I set out to replay the Mass Effect games, the first game almost feels like a chore at times.

[@Chromatomic]

Same, I know some people lament the changes to the gun system, which is valid, but I felt like the interplay between power abilities, gun play and team tactics was much better integrated in ME2. They also cleaned up the pacing by removing the tedious resource grind. Character building and story were also fantastic. A mix between the two would have been amazing but the changes to ME2 were definitely not the downfall of Bioware.

[@happygol-lucky5938]

The Mass Effect Trilogy had a consistent increase in mechanical/Tactile quality, but the increased pressure by EA (thus resulting in reduced development time) meant that Bioware couldn't invest in RPG depth. I believe Mass Effect 3 only had a...18 month development period after ME2's support ended, and that's factoring in when Mass Effect 3 was the now-cancelled FPS game "Mass Effect: Team Assault" which was meant to be more of a Halo-Style game. But you can feel the crunch issue in ME2 and, especially, ME3 when it comes to things like limited 'visibility' of areas, the cutting room floor content, Narrative flag issues, and content that was clearly cut out of the Base Game to be set aside as add-on content. This latter point is most notable in the DLC companions of ME2, primarily Zaeed, and with Javik in ME3, who were Day-One DLCs, and most likely On-Disc. While I enjoy the trilogy on a narrative level, and even think that ME2 and ME3 are better games overall, as a roleplaying experience, they are lacking some notable depth when it comes to player choice and player consequence.

[@Trick6666]

@@happygol-lucky5938 Even Mass Effect Andromeda, that people call the worst game ever, is actually good gameplay wise, it get a lot of things rights technically, the problem was the development being rushed to the limit, and it shipping with a lot of bugs. But one thing I noticed is that they tried to make the game more like inquisition, with the exploring very big areas and fighting random enemies, and dominating etc, but it didnt work on mass effect, which was a bad decision.

[@happygol-lucky5938]

@@Trick6666 Indeed, which is why its overall gameplay quality was a downgrade from Mass Effect 2 and 3. Combat and Movement improved in a vacuum, but once you take into consideration level and enemy design, you realize that the utilization of these improvements, and the way they mix together alongside the game's RPG elements, suffer. Andromeda is, for all of its problems however, an improvement over Mass Effect One in terms of its separate gameplay elements, sans the Mako. But its reduction in RPG elements and meaningful choice actions only become more apparent as well.

[@Trick6666]

@happygol-lucky5938 Because of bugs, open map games usually have these issues, games that are open world usually take longer to finish for that reason, even then, they come with a lot of bugs.

[@KiazaKadaj]

Fromsoft and Larian both focused on their niche and have absolutely blown up. Nintendo has also done super well maintaining their core as well.

[@dudeboydudeboy-zj8kd]

and nightdive studios too, they bring back/bringing back the 90s games like system shock, turok, quake, rise of the triad, doom 64, and star wars dark forces.

[@KratosisGod]

@@dudeboydudeboy-zj8kd System shock remake is one of the most underrated games released this year.

[@dudeboydudeboy-zj8kd]

@@KratosisGod couldn't agree more 👍

[@NyJoanzy]

I wish Nintendo was less vile to its own customers though.

[@melomet3789]

I would like to see Nintendo be a bit riskier, but I understand why they haven't been

[@PEWPlays]

I love the Funny Scenes and Romance scenes in Dragon Age Inquisition and I play BG3 because I miss playing Dragon Age-like stories.

[@seeinred]

What blows my mind is that BG3 is not just a worthy successor of original BG1 and 2, it even surpasses it. I can't imagine how happy those devs are, knowing that no matter what, they made a history with this game's release.

[@ManafaeVOD]

It doesn't surpass BG 2, they are both equally great IMHO

[@alexwtf80]

@@ManafaeVOD too many years, I think it's an unfair comparison

[@BlackyRay_Patrick]

​@@ManafaeVODit definitely does surpass. Bg1 and 2 are great games but failed pretty hard in offering a dnd experience. Also the game was extremely clunky even in its time...

[@ManafaeVOD]

@@BlackyRay_Patrick I disagree. There were a few things I thought Baldur's Gate 2 did better. I liked that you had your own castle, I also enjoyed, that you spent more time in the city and got to see more of the city (that is something I am a bit sad about in BG3, that you don't even get to see the whole city and spend time in it). And I also can't agree on it not giving a D&D feeling. I'm a Retro Gamer mainly though. Which is why I find some of what is said in this video a little odd. I prefer Dragon Age Inquisition to Dragon Age: Origin (which imho was a bit boring and I had to force myself to play through it more than once). Despite that like I said I'm mainly a Retro Gamer, my favorite games are Fate of Atlantis and Lands of Lore 1, but I also played some D&D titles on PC before Baldur's Gate, since I love DOS Games. And yeah. I dunno, I don't agree with a lot that is said in the video. I also didn't agree with much of the Mass Effect Andromeda critique. I thought the planet stuff was a bit meh, but the planet stuff in Mass Effect 1 was even worse. I couldn't care less about animations. What I have a problem with was the Mass Effect 3 Ending before it was fixed and the fact that Bioware stepped away from the Mass Effect series.

[@snorkman2]

That's because BG1 and BG2 were superior to DnD... they were not limited by pen and paper. They were an evolution. BG3 is basically DnD. It does not hope to be more. In that regard, it will never reach the prequels.

[@Blue_Lunacy]

I would like to remind people that BioWare had always treated their staff badly with crunches. That their leads seems to have no real visions and rely heavily on "BioWare Magic" that lead people having PTSD from severe crunch. It worked for them, until it didn't.

[@willw.3366]

Inquission.... Lorian.... *Shiver*

[@Progger11]

"Inquision." "Laurien." "Dread Woof." That's enough Internet for me today.

[@Delalow862]

Agree with everything said. BG3 revists what makes games great to play: having fun! it's so enjoyable I can't put it down. It's so god damn good i've put off finishing the game I have like 3 seperate playthroughs on going. I finished starfield the otherday and felt nothing.

[@jamescrone1588]

Yeah I finished starfield like. Was that it? That’s the big ending I have been seeking ? Then when I completed balders gate I was stuck to my chair with a extreme sense of emotion. Happy. Sad. Joyful. Surprised etc and had to just sit there for a while thinking about all that just happened and all that could have happened. Actual. Bliss and then instantly started a second game I am currently at chapter 3 again. Only game I can say is on same level as Bg3 to me personally is. The Witcher 3. And maybe Elden ring. I would never even have thought about playing dnd or a turn based game in my life before Bg3

[@Delalow862]

@@jamescrone1588 awwh man I cant wait to experience the ending. I'm keeping putting it off and playing with mods and my firends playthrough as well! I can't wait! Yeah idk starfield tells you that you've accomplished this amazing feat but they just don't stick the landing. Something about the execution is off.. even that final room having only the choices from the factions matter just seems so hollow.. i love eldenring as well got multiple playthroughs on that game is so sick 🔥🔥

[@4Thessia]

Mass Effect 2 is the best one, though. But I generally agree with your video. One thing: it’s not “lorian,” my dude. It’s Larian.

[@fenrirsilver6441]

I think right now my three favorite game studios are Larian, FromSoft, and Supergiant, they seem to push out games which they want to push out, not really trying to follow the trends as much. Supergiant through their action and high paced games, with Hades being absolutely amazing and what introduced me to them. FromSoft with their revolution of the gaming industry to the point where famous rpgs like God of War(2016) even drew a little influence from it, their games themselves being amazing and having been with them since Dark Souls 1: Prepare to Die edition. And, obvious Larian which makes me want to go back to their other games after I feel satisfied with Balders Gate 3.

[@benedictjajo]

As a long time dragon age fan, people who says that Larian should add real time combat in BG3 to pull in more fans should really stfu. It hurts my soul every time I remember I'll probably never get to enjoy the Dragon Age Universe like I did with Dragon Age Origins because they catered to the prople who doesn't even like crpg.

[@jeice452]

Yeah. Stupid business practices and these people went to college for business degrees...

[@mr.goldfinch3681]

There is a reason why in final credits for BG3 Larian gave their special thanks only to people from Bioware who worked on BG1/BG2 and not to a whole company.

[@Sotanaht01]

Lots of vague crap is said about "dumbing down" "appealing to a wider audience" etc. And it's right, but it's too vague to actually be useful. Larian did one, concrete thing that is absolutely counter to that. They've talked about it specifically. They make details that few people will ever see into a priority. THAT is the key to making a game that isn't dumbed down to a wider audience. Focus on things that only a few players will ever touch. Make them good. Make lots of different things just like that. Now that you have a lot of those things few people will see, you have a game where everyone will naturally run into some of them. You don't hold their hand and shove their face into every detail to get the maximum return on any budget spent on that detail. What you get is a whole greater than the sum, because in the end it's not about the individual details but rather the unique path each player will take through them. When you cut a game down to only the things everyone will see, there's no longer any uniqueness to playing it. It no longer has anything of worth at all.

[@jasonquigley2633]

Honestly, those claiming ME2 was inferior to ME1 are dead wrong. I'm a hardcore RPG fan, and ME's RPG mechanics was just plain bad. There were a lot of stats for the sake of stats. The game was unsatisfying as a hardcore tactical RPG (as there was no real party management, unlike DA:O), and it was unsatisfying as an RPGish shooter (as the stats were obtuse and boring). ME2 had excellent RPG progression. The fact there was less loot, and flat XP gain per mission was a good change. The flat XP gain gave a well paced level progression, and the lack of loot, meant that the loot you did get was more interesting and higher quality (the numerous loot you got in ME1 were just Generic assault rifle with +25% fire rate or some nonsense). Also, ME2's relative stat minimalism was not unprecedented for Bioware either, KoTOR was also quite minimalist and actioney as well. Finally, where it counted, ME2 and ME3 were very much traditional Bioware RPG experiences. Tight level design, well crafted plots (except the ending of 3, derp), and memorable characters. ME2 probably had on balance the most memorable characters of the whole series. ME1's characters were pretty bland (Garrus only really got best bro energy in ME2). The irony of all of this, is that Bioware abandoned it's core formula (especially with Inquistion) despite the fact that there formula had not failed commercially once, every one of their games adhering to that design formula was very succesful. It's like if Ubisoft suddenly decided to make the next Assassin's creed title a Battle Royale Shooter. But the truth is, it's very rare for a game development studio to stay good for more then 10-15 years, as inevitably the staff that made it great to begin with move onto other things. You can see this with both Bioware and Blizzard. The only studio I can think of that stayed at it's peak for so long is probably Firaxis, Sid Meier was very good at cultivating protegees. Bioware was in the first generation of RPG developers. I'd say at this point, Bioware is not coming back, and Larian is for all intents and purposes the new Bioware (ironic, that they toppled Bioware with a sequel to the game that put Bioware on the map in the first place...).

[@SchulzEricT]

I would push back HARD on your criticisms of ME1. While I prefer ME2, both are really fucking good games and both have elements that are better than the other. ME1's inventory system allowed for a lot more freedom; while I really like how ME2 stream-lined some things - the iconic N7 armor actually being a viable options, just with mods; a default weapon than a few nice alternates that were upgrades on the default but not necessarily on each other - the ability to put armor on a squadmate was nice, the mods for weapons are so much better than buying/researching upgrades in ME2. Being able to, say, use two Rail Extension VIIs to get +58% damage and offset the -40% heat absorption with Snowblind rounds' -40% firing rate while adding +20% damage was awesome. OR you could roll with the more obvious Kinetic Coil, Scram Rail, and Tungsten Ammo... or swap out a Scram Rail X with a Rail Extension VII and accept the extra -10% heat absorption because you get more damage with the Rail Extension and the heat absorption of the HMWA X is so OP already that you can pretty easily absorb it. I felt like there were a lot more options that were eliminated in streamlining ME2. Not to mention how nerfed the Biotic was in ME2 (and I assume Tech also); having cooldowns for "powers" rather than specific powers really fucking nerfed Biotic, which was super-fun in ME1 - and I typically do not enjoy mage classes - but made it unplayable in ME2. Taking away the heat sink in ME2 was fucking disgraceful; a really fucking cool, unique element to Mass Effect was then turned into a super-generic, boring mechanic. Boo. The story was certainly better in ME1; I think the criticism of ME2's story is overblown, and "working for Cerberus" (ie stealing their resources and being willing to follow a lead from time-to-time) was overblown too, but ME1's story was much more focused, with a satisfying escalation. (The side missions can be hard to justify if you're RP'ing, but isn't that always the case?) ME2 took a lot of detours to get to the end. I think they justified them pretty well - you're trying to build your team - but ME1's main missions are all about chasing down Saren, and learning about Sovereign and the Reapers in the process. I think you're underselling the characters in ME1 too; all of them are pretty interesting, are characters with depth. (Yes, even Kaiden.) You just have to talk to them to learn their story. My favorite characters are Ashley, Garrus, Tali, Miranda, and Jack... relatively front-loaded. Liara's growth makes her more interesting; I'd say she started out likeable but became more interesting in ME2. I honestly think ME1 has more bang for your buck with regards to characters than ME2, even though ME2 has *more*. (Really, ME3 is the weakest, but most of them are returning, so... can't be too mad at it. I liked Vega, he just didn't get enough attention IMO. And Javik fucking sucked, but I think you're supposed to find him unlikeable.)

[@xxkildarxx]

I agree ME1 felt super clunky as much as I enjoyed the story elements despite that.

[@SchulzEricT]

@@xxkildarxx I just strongly disagree with that. While I definitely think ME2 was more polished as a shooter, ME1 didn't feel clunky to me... partially ME2 is more polished because you can hit weak points, whereas in ME1 it's just about "did you hit the target or not" (at least, it feels like it's only hit/miss). I can see the argument that you start out better in ME2 also, unlike in ME1 where as a soldier or infiltrator you can't keep your sniper rifle on target, and the lancer I is a massive piece of shit with an accuracy rating of 1 out of 100, but to me that's just a balancing choice they made. A choice I actually really like; the difference between your lowest and highest level in ME1 feels so much better than in ME2 or ME3, for sure I'm a big fan of that, I like the feeling of being rewarded for leveling up, having better equipment, being more powerful. Although I don't know how much of what I like in ME1 combat-wise is the difficulty curve vs the heat sink, and the cool shit that goes along with the heat sink, like the weapon and ammo mods, having a 2nd weapon mod at VII and up, etc. All 3 games have some really cool ideas, all of them have things they do better and worse than the other games; the thing that jumps out to me as the best in ME1 was the heat sink, I just HATE that they dumped it and went with generic, boring-ass ammo in ME2 and ME3. Also jogging/running in ME1; I don't know why they got rid of out-of-combat jogging in ME2. Odd choice.

[@celdur4635]

Bioware sold its soul to EA. I remember the owners saying "we talked with EA guys and they made us realize how much monetization we were missing" So yeah, they sold themselves to EA and decided they wanted to make more money and NOT perfecting RPGS was the way to go.

[@jeice452]

Sad they already had a good thing going they should have stuck with it

[@ajxx9987]

Honestly I feel like larian is the perfect successor for bioware, bg3 gave what dragon age 2 and 3 failed to deliver while at the same time making me feel the same way I felt playing DAO all those years ago, I hope bioware can save itself because they've given me years of happiness and it'd be a pity not to have more quality games from them. Bg3 has restored my faith in gaming in so many ways... after so many years of cynicism and disappointment it really felt good, it feels like I've been eating rotten leftovers from a trash can and then suddenly someone decides to give me a tasty and juicy steak. I know there have been good games in the last few years, but good games nowadays are a rarity, like if I had to count all the games that made feel like the old days in the last 7 years I can literally count them with my fingers

[@casualfriday1131]

Solid vid given the length as the Bioware debacle is obviously more nuanced than that but you managed to "entertain me" Raphael lol. Subscribed!

[@wyacheslawkodanev2107]

I like it how you tell about the fall of Bioware without ever mentioning EA. 'Bioware got greedy' exactly when they were risking closure and decided to sell out to Electronic Arts, who started insisting on the worst practices of AAA-gaming. You even say you hate Bioware's launcher while showing the EA's launcher.

[@yondie491]

The fact that they don't even mention EA basically de-legitimizes their entire argument. Which is saying a lot, cuz it's not exactly wrong. But... how do you NOT mention EA? Y'know, the entity that is 100% responsible for all of this?

[@QuixoticUkulele]

As soon as I played BG3, I immediately thought about Dreadwolf.

[@ThroneOfBhaal]

BG3 has been a blast. So damn happy to not see a bloody microstore.

[@bigego503]

If you really want to understand what happened to Bioware just ponder the fact that EA is known as the studio killer. None of their acquisitions have survived. The final line on Bioware will read as follows; They came. They soared. They were acquired by Evil Arts. They were murdered. RIP, Bioware my friend. Fact is, they are already 100% deceased. Good vid

[@scalpingsnake]

Yeah I think a lot of the time the devs get blamed over the publishers when its like the publishers fault. M

[@stevenjohannesson316]

@ BryceBSK As an older gamer, who has played BG1 & 2 as well as DAO’s and all the ME games multiple times your analysis is pretty solid. It’s why Larian’s success has stirred the pot with BG3’s as many of the companies that have moved towards games as a service and monetized them to squeeze out every dime they can from their user base are feeling salty.

[@deathwish_bigboss]

Lol, I remember Jade Empire. Weird as fuck game but as a fresh martial arts student & RPG fan I just had to play it. I liked how the antagonist is the old master that trained you to leave a critical opening in your defense so he could exploit it.

[@northernseeker1822]

This video pretty much failed when EA is not mentioned at all. The relationship between developers and publishers are essential in Game development.

[@sturmhauke_aerospace]

Bioware stopped being an independent developer when EA bought them in 2007. Mass Effect 1 was originally published by Microsoft; EA didn't get those rights until later. Mass Effect 1 was the last game Bioware finished before the acquisition. Dragon Age: Origins was mostly finished and was just going through final QA. Both games' sequels had simplified gameplay mechanics to appeal to a wider audience, and it's all been downhill from there.

[@anon4854]

​@@sturmhauke_aerospace ME2 did not have simplified gameplay though. The gunplay from ME2 incorporated a cover system, which was a system popularized by Gears of War not anything Bethesda or COD produced. Hard cover is not a simplified concept at all, especially when enemies are just generally more capable and deal more damage than in ME1. Also adding in ammo management rather than just overheating is, again, not a simplification. Ironically, ME1 gameplay is closer to COD where you have to use random terrain as cover. Both are good games. Nowhere does the video really justify how ME2 was a downgrade.

[@sturmhauke_aerospace]

@anon4854 ME 1 had more customizable loadouts for weapons and armor. In ME 2, weapons mods were tied to your skill set, not the items. Armor had more mix-and-match pieces (helmet, body, etc.), but you couldn't modify the pieces at all.

[@anon4854]

@@sturmhauke_aerospace Is that the _whole_ argument for ME2 being a more simplified game? For real?

[@xiphosmaniac]

@@anon4854 me and my mate shared a ME1 profile. We were super excited for ME2. Bought it on day 1. That game was hot fucking garbage. It looked like mass effect until we got into the combat and upgrades. Hot. Garbage. It felt like a shitty gears of war wanna be. not even gonna say clone. theres no reason a hard cover system means the entire combat loop gets changed. THe party system was garbage in me2. the gun play felt like any other third person action game. Ammo management was garbage because so much resources went to developing that ammo economy. THe reason guns simply overheated in ME1 was because the combat loop revolved mostly around your skills and builds. Why the fuck you using your bullets when you can force push the entire screen away ? Why take cover when you can simply teleport into the middle of the enemies and nuke yourself? They had less skills, less trees, less lore, the planets were bareboned, exploration was garbage. ME1 was a completely different game than ME2. We gave it a shot. It missed the mark. Heavily. Edit: i can see why people like the game, it was dumbed down heavily. Ofcourse it will sell more. But the Role Playing aspect of the RPG just wasnt there. Literally didnt even give 2 shits about ME3 when i learned the ending literally didnt matter and they had to patch in a whole new one.

[@kyleway8513]

Every single take Ive seen on this topic has left out the same incredibly important detail: Larian is not a developer beholden to corporate overlords. They arent owned by the Disney of video games like Bioware, and they arent beholden to a cadre of bloodsucking shareholders like CDPR. As a result Larian had the freedom and resources to make Baldur's Gate 3. Baldur's Gate gets packaged for Early Access for 3 straight years? No one to tell Larian they can't. BG3 has a development cycle of at least 6 years, half of which letting the userbase beta test the first act of the game? No one to tell them they have to hurry it up. Bioware has to constantly suffer the demands and intervention of the greediest compant in gaming, and CDPR has to cowtow to the whims of their shareholders. This results in games being rebuilt 3 times over the course of 10 years. This results in unfinished games being released and then patched into working order over the next 2 years. They CAN'T do what Larian does, the corporate overseers will never let them.

[@silver8382]

Something for the future, you spend a lot of time talking about what something is (in your opinion) without talking about any specifics around the what or why. Don’t be afraid to spend time talking about things like what made you feel like DS:I was “normified” or what quests you felt were boring and why they felt boring to you. It can go a long way to backing up your points and making you sound much more credible. Anyways, I enjoyed the video and subbed so I can see what you put out in the future!

[@Tirannie]

Right? I love all the DA games, but Inquisition is my fave of the 3. The writing in it was top notch, so maybe he didn’t like the fight mechanics? For me, fight mechanics are pretty low on the list of things I like. Also, the shots of like, the Yukon Territory and Vancouver instead of Edmonton (where BioWare is from) was annoying. I’m sure there’s stock photos and footage of Edmonton kicking around the internet.

[@Th1sUsernameIsNotTaken]

@@Tirannie DA3 is so easy it's not even funny even on the hardest difficulty. The writing was also not great, and extremely pandering. It had it's moments that were great, but overall, not even close. It also gives off this grand illusion of "choice matters still!" Yet almost no choices actually change anything to any degree. DA2 somehow managed to have choices matter and impact the game more, with Less than A YEAR AND A HALF of development. Mind you DA2 is an entirely other can of worms of atrocities.

[@stephanmarcouxdrums4877]

@@Tirannie Inquisition... The choice of colour with that bright green on the hand, and texture poping out right at the start, was just a big turn off. The female fighter Cassandra is not a great character and Leliana doesn't even look the same... I did spend a lot of times in the game, I could see the effort in it. But the meeting around the table and forced discutions, selecting specific character to create a timer that goes down to get a reward is very very annoying and doesn't feel right. The real time combat just feel like Dragon Age 2, which is basically the main argument of this video, keeping it like the first one, which is the superior game. The writing of DA3 wasn't top notch, especially that guy who wants you with chain, and then later revealing a secret passage before he died. To be unique and already special right at the start, because of that mark on the hand is boring, annoying, putting the spot lite on you before you even done anything. Come on dude, the writing of Dragon Age Orgigins is a lot superior, by a lot. From our human mother telling to our character ''I love you my son'', to Morrigan unforgetable opinion on everything, especially God and religion. The random chating with our companions, I mean chating between them, without the main character saying anything. I really did try to love Inquisition as much, with the crafting system and slowing time, traveling in time, but it's simply not the hardcore feeling I did get from watching my mom/dad dying and I couldn't save them. Or another mother willing to sacrifice herself for her child with a Demon inside him. Blood Magic... You can prefer the third of course, but it's no where as fun or close to the experience from the first.

[@somjayguha]

Bioware should also be aware of other studios like owlcat studio. Their recent game wrath of righteous, the player can literally turn into Gold dragon. Best time ❤.

[@VetGamer718]

BLAME EA, NOT BIOWARE. THEY DO

[@MrKingdmx1]

yes as soon as EA got there hands on biowear it started going down hill

[@literatedegenerate3800]

Larian: Can we have Builders gate? BioWare: lol, sure kid, good luck trying to do better than us though. Larian: makes one of the best RPGs of all time BioWare: *surprised Pikachu face*

[@Tim_593]

Little Fun Fact that I noticed from your comparision: The first Larian Game I played was Divinity 2: Ego Draconis which was an ARPG that they released in 2009. The Same year that DA: Origins came out. Ego Draconis made Larian decide to switch to making crpg, while BioWare started making arpg. They literally switched at the same time.

[@OldBaldWookiee]

Dragon age origins came out in 2009 bruh

[@Tim_593]

Typo, I edited the comment@@OldBaldWookiee

[@blueshit199]

okay but I kinda liked that in ME2 you upgraded the ship to make sure your squadmates didn't die in the epilogue instead of giving yourself +2% better aim with pistols every now and then

[@ladion7285]

Nice editing! I started playing Dragon Age Origin a few years ago and i enjoyed it even when i was totaly not into the genre of the game. Its a realy well made game and i was wondering why there is no new game like that. Now i played Baldurs Gate and its just amazing in so many ways. I realy hope to see more of Larian Studios.

[@BryceBSK]

preciate it bro

[@theobell2002]

You should play Inquisition. It's pretty good too despite what nostalgic Origins fanboys will tell you.

[@wabbajack8283]

@@theobell2002 Had fun in the early parts of Inquisition, until I reached the dull and slowly descending writing of the game. It felt good being the center of the grand scheme of things but they quickly pull you out of that. Also, the ending was unexpectedly underwhelming, it felt shallow and rushed. I was dumbstruck when the credits rolled when I killed the final boss. The only thing that was floating in my mind was, "Is that it?".

[@empire23]

Bioware has been dead for years, surprised to even seen them get mentioned as a current event.

[@Duckman8213]

Preach brother! I just played my first BioWare games ever back in August. I played Mass Effect Trilogy with the platinum for each and they were phenomenal. Then right after I played Dragon Age Inquisition with the platinum and I regret it. I give the game around a 6/10 and I skipped 80% of the dialogue in the game because it was just so boring. Night and Day between Inquisition and the Mass Effect Trilogy. Also I played Baldur’s Gate 3 for 220 hours and got the platinum trophy and right after I bought both Divinity Original Sin games.

[@marcgaskett]

Anyone who shits on Mass Effect 2 ain’t worth anyone’s time, sure BioWare are a shadow of their former selves these days but that game is a stone cold classic

[@joeaverill2986]

Sadly you're ignoring the fact that EA acquired BioWare and is calling the shots. Pre EA, BioWare was an AMAZING game studio. Post EA, BioWare has become complete dogshit. I blame EA for ruining a once great studio, just as they do with all the studio's they've acquired.

[@Faithnato]

Bioware made Dragon Age Origins and Mass Effect series under EA. I know hating EA is fun, and I hate EA as well. But you act as though Bioware is not at fault, which is just plain delusional.

[@flunkyballs4610]

@@Faithnato Dragon Age Origins and Mass Effect were already finished/or half finished. Only good games from EA times were Mass Effect 2 and Old Republic (in terms of writing at least). EA gave them only 14 to 16 months to finish the game's development of Dragon Age 2.

[@TheGreatestJediOfAllTime]

@@Faithnatodam you got owned bruh

[@hschan5976]

Remember the slogan? "EA, fuck up everything!"

[@kangazoos2083]

Bioware is also at fault for their own downfall. Bioware has had bad management for years. I mean, they had the audacity to call weeks-long overtime, "bioware magic.". They have been notoriously bad at managing their projects for a long time now. All EA acquiring Bioware did was magnify that problem, one that already existed within the company.

[@csfelfoldi]

Paradox is doing the same thing with strategy games throwing quality in the face of dumbed down titles like Civilization, Total War, or the Stronghold series. Although their DLC spam leaves something of a bad taste, but they do put content behind the pa-walls and not just empty pixels.

[@shinian6523]

Good points, although I was surprised you went from DAO to DAI when DA2 was actually the one affected first by the change in direction.

[@liquidhazetv8756]

That was my thought, because good lord did Dragon Age get gutted to rush out the 2nd game

[@bulletsandbracelets4140]

I'm odd in that DA2 was actually my favorite game of the bunch - it's the first one that doesn't completely revolve around you as the hero. Instead it focuses heavily on companion storylines, which I wish way more titles/games would do. (BG3 does do this, in a lot of ways, similarly - you are all just in the same sinking boat) DA2 had limited settings, and def had things to criticize around the crunch, but DAI tried the open-world route and as a result feels empty and narratively unimportant. I don't think it was Bioware's storytelling that took a hit, it was that the design choices on three actively affected it and made them fill the game up with filler quests in a manner that wasn't necessary in DAO/DA2

[@shinian6523]

@@bulletsandbracelets4140 DA2 suffered from being rushed. Story had potential, and the characters were great. Relevant to this conversation though, it had streamlined RPG elements and really bad marketing at the time, pushing action over story. DAI actually changed course again. DAI actually gave me some appreciation of DA2.

[@bulletsandbracelets4140]

@@shinian6523 That's true! I really preferred the combat in DA2/DAI so I'm a little biased in that regard too - the combat in origins felt so clunky and hard to manage, but that's from someone who mostly plays for story and never swapped to tactical view. It definitely had a marketing hit and rushed production, for sure. And I can see the arguments around removal of player agency since everyone plays the same origin. In my opinion it made for a stronger story, especially with the time skips, but I definitely get why some would say origins is the better RPG

[@shinian6523]

@@bulletsandbracelets4140 I'm a boomer so was fine with the DAO combat :D I though the time skips were a little unoriginal. Play a month every three years? That's minor though. The third act was railroaded sadly. As I said, it suffered from being rushed. And it followed in the footsteps of ME2 as far as removal of RPG elements.

[@robnoel9306]

Balder's Gate 3 is the ONLY rpg my wife has ever had interest playing. She's 50. She just started her second playthrough.

[@MjollTheLioness-o4y]

I absolutely love Dragon Age Origins. As for Larian, they have become my favorite studio by them actually listening to their players and trying to put out fixes in a timely matter. Also after watching Swen in numerous interviews, I find it impossible to dislike him. Larian made a game they themselves would like to play and shared it with the rest of us and it shows.

[@Trick6666]

DAO is a good game, but it also had a lot of bugs, even worse then inquisition and da2, I would say the history is better overall due to getting elements deeply and dealing with characters a little better, but the guy in the video didnt show the gameplay overall, where your character would just be walking in circles trying to chase an enemy next to him, or how your mage can miss attacks if theres a chair in front of him, and dont even talk about the archer, there's a lot of mods to fix them in nexus, two handed warrior? They just hold the sword and misses all attacks randomly, I could go on and on about all the issues of DAO.

[@stephanmarcouxdrums4877]

@@Trick6666 You could go on and on, but you are just wrong. Dragon Age Origins is not just a good game, not at all. It's an amazing game, an epic game, many of us cannot forget. I never run in circle because I'm controlling each character with pause, not only that but you can program every action with a % of health, like heal spell when a character is at 50% of health, or enemy scalling from Boss, Elite, normal, doing a specific action on a very specific enemy. Oh just ignore all this and pause at each action. Not only you are focussing only on the combat in your comment, but doing so just prove that you know nothing about video game and what is really important, and what matters. The design and colour palet for DAO was around brown, nothing flashy. The music would make a rock cry. The human story is just amazing with a traitor attacking in the castle while my character was sleeping with that girl I could already romance right at the beginning. DAO is not about combat only, it's about dialog mate, dialog, script, voice acting, atmosphere, great characters like Morrigan, Flameth, Uldred, Sten, Duncan, Alistair, Leliana, and that Game of Thrones feel to it with the throne, the world, the vengence for our family, joining the Grey Warden and drinking blood of darkspawn. I mean DA2 and DA3 are just no where close to this gem, NOT EVEN CLOSE. I'm not even pointing out how new it was in 2009 to have choices with consequences! In a MATURE context, not for children! A video game that feel great for adults! Sten doesn't miss all the time with his big sword, you just don't know how to play the game and how to control your party. HOw FUN is it to freeze the enemy with that cold spell from Morrigan, just to Crack and Break that ice with a two weapons fighter doing amazing combo. I have all those games, do you really believe I'm still playing DA2 and 3?? Nooo, I'm still playing Dragon Age Origins for many reasons. The pink gift system, the emotion bar, starting a conversation anywhere. Everyone complaining about the combat is the main reason why DA2 did FAIL BIG TIME AND IS THE WORSE EXPERIENCE EVER! I don't care about real time combat if everything around is boring, no heart, no soul, bad tone in conversation making everything feel like work and not fun at all.

[@Trick6666]

@stephanmarcouxdrums4877 I think you just got carried away, I mentioned combat just to give an example. You said your character don't run in circles because you control them, when there's too many enemies on screen, this indeed happens, well, at least in my version of dao the enemies and companions block the passage, so the characters do have to run around to beat one enemy, even if they are close. The thing you said about the combo inquisition also has it. The gift system is one of the things that are actually poorly done, you can make all the decisions for a character to hate you like -100, and to gain they friendship all you need is to give gifts lol. All these things that happened to make da2 and dai worse, are more likely due to time constraints, which is pretty clear in these games. Each one has its ups and downs. The history of Uldred is not better than the Dorian path on inquisition, it feels very one sided, and his character, don't mater what you do, always act as a common villain trope-ish. Imo the dwarf act was the one that most stand out in the game, it's well written, the lore feels grounded, less plot holes, the political side it's more complex in the game, each side has its ups and downs, etc, which is better than inquisition ball act at orlais I think, even tho it has some interesting twists it felt blend and rushed, and choosing felt like it doesn't matter at all. While the first map after skyhold where you find loghain has a very interesting history, very well build, even tho the game play aspect leave a little to be desired because there's no significant choice in there. At least that's my opinion.

[@mareczek00713]

No dlcs, no microtransactions, no bullshit, game given enough care to keep it mostly non-bugged, decent story, likeable characters... Kinda sad how we cream ourselves over what was once not an exception but what's expected. Like, let's be honest, ever since 2020 nothing reached enough quality for me to replay the game besides Cyberpunk 2077 which is IMO an avesome game, even if cdpr dropped the ball on release with bugs, which I'll tolerate this one time, Phantom Liberty as well as good will from Witcher series made up for it by me.

[@pedropierre9594]

I think Lenore being dispatched by the Bulette is what happened, that would explain her complete disappearance from the setting and solidify the tragedy that is her trying to befriend a Bulette

[@Archdornan9001]

Tbh the rate Bioware is going, I'm scared for Mass Effect 4. Granted the endings for 3 were a mixed bag, but the trilogy ended decent enough. I just fear 4 could ruin the legacy even more than Andromeda (at least Andromeda took place in another galaxy away from the main events).

[@judicator625]

Bioware was over the moment the founders decided to cash in.

[@As-tray]

Inquisition was a massive success. Cry about it. Not a single of Larians games have never been even close to the level of quality that DA series is on. Even DA2 with all its problems stands way above anything Larian ever made.

[@Keef_DGAF]

So far my biggest gripe with bg3 is camera control. It doesn't zoom out far enough, you cannot hold right mouse to turn the screen you have to fidget with the middle button which isn't ideal ( would be FAR better if you could swap these buttons ) and the ALT & SHIFT functions for locating items works in my experience about 50% of the time..unless you are standing on top of something it doesn't light up.

[@Tim_593]

I had that problem too. I just downloaded a mod from the nexus that basically unlocks the Y Axis and increases the possible zoom in/out. Game felt way better since then. (Its also just a file to put into your folder, no mod manager or anything)

[@Keef_DGAF]

@@Tim_593 ty very much I am going to look into those for sure...awesome reply bro

[@oceanman5439]

@@Keef_DGAF there's also a WASD movement mod, but I think Larian will implement these themselves after a few patches.

[@Keef_DGAF]

@@oceanman5439 you mean movement or camera movement? You can natively control all aspects of camera movement with the keyboard....

[@Skaftholu]

Are you serious? You can literally go into your keyboard and swap the buttons. Why would you assume that a PC game doesn't allow you to switch your keybinds?

[@happydeathfish2166]

I feel like game that was ignored compared to AAA games is divinity the original sin 2. It's such a good game.

[@flipingboredcritic]

To be fair, Larain did early access for BG3 on steam. But clearly the money and time was used well because it gave us this wonderful gem of a game. Larain thank you, I hope your game changes this industry for the better.

[@fatezero8662]

But what they did is so much better than devs half assing their games and releasing it officially. Plus they're technically an independent studio that got funds from the fanbase. What the big companies should atleast do now if they're so afraid of their investors is simply do early access too instead of rushing their games.

[@flipingboredcritic]

actually thats a good idea, devs can get more support and funding from their players/fanbase in addition to playtesting the game. Still with that being said, Larian has done an incredible job rising good will and they have a library of games that shows they have a good track record. I hope they stay independent, a studio getting bought out now is surely a death sentence. But for now, I wish them nothing but the best and they enjoy and celebrate. @@fatezero8662

[@exander77]

Larian does early access to gather bug reports from their most hardcore players, and it usually pays off. Act 1 was super polished on first day of launch, you can see it as comparison with Act 2 and then Act 3 which they are still fixing.

[@Someonehahaha]

Honestly I find its more of a cycle of successful game company's. Activision and Electronic Arts were once awesome in the 1990s. Blizzard and bioware in the 2000s. and eventfully someone who did not have heart for their art. Gets in power eventually. And thinks profit before art. And they eventfully buy out everything and fire and hire. Because these guys have the need too. So I would not blame bioware and such. Blame more the bad apples that insidiously get involved in management that want profits and care little for the games. Some of these game development companys are actually much older then their hay days. But its not until they make it big that these greedy managers get interest. Usually the good game devs move on. And join new game company's. Now I don't want to sound cynical but larian very well could head the same path in the long run. Its happend to all the predecessors.

[@jordanbrass8708]

Larian has been making CRPGs since the Early 2000s, Divine Divinity Released in 2002

[@jamescrone1588]

He doesn’t know what CRPG stands for mate. He is ignorant but yeah you are correct

[@hahahahahohohoho5085]

What kind of game title is "divine divinity"

[@jamescrone1588]

@@hahahahahohohoho5085 haha yeah it’s like black noir 🤣 does sound kinda cool won’t lie

[@matthewh4717]

Could somebody point me to some source that said Devs were complaining about this game? I can’t find it anywhere and it just seems like people are fuming over a twitter post from a nameless software programmer. We truly live in era where photos are being AI generated alongside our frustrations.

[@rodh1404]

I agree that greed is the reason so many games made today are much worse than they should be. But I think you missed something very important. Whether a company is greedy or not largely depends on its owner(s). Swen Johan Vincke seems to be determined to make sure that people who play his games get value for money, and more. That was also true of Bioware, in the early days. But what about companies that go public and have shareholders? Most shareholders see their stock holdings as an investment, and are seeking the maximum return on their investment. Which means once a company stops being in private (or at most, semi-private) ownership, its almost always going to be greedy. Much though I like Larian Studios, I'd be wary of them if Swen Johan Vincke sells the company or steps down from the leadership. And I'd be particularly wary if Larian Studios ever becomes a publicly traded company.

[@Panimal98]

I agree. A company can also get high off its own success. Has happened countless times.

[@fatezero8662]

​​@@Panimal98CDPR is a prime example, it's still good that they tried their best to save face and fixed the game as much as they could. But that was a very harsh warning for them if they listen to much to their investors, and the recent high they got from Witcher 3. If Cyberpunk 2.0 and Phantom Liberty didn't happen, they would be in shambles just like Bioware.

[@theobell2002]

You realize Tencent owns 30% of Larian, right?

[@Sully365]

Bg3 is so good i completed it as a custom, am already in deep as karlach, will go back to do the same with shadowheart .. Then will dark urge ... And never have the same game twice. Btw, playing as karlach is freaking awesome

[@Lelldorin84]

Take a drink every time he says Lorian.

[@KQMII_]

and another one when he says inquision.

[@RedShogun13]

Larian is the new BioWare as far as being the quality king of RPG’s. Between Divinity and Balder’s Gare 3 whenever I see the Larian label on the game I’ll feel that confidence that the game will be made with love and quality. BioWare used to pump out timeless classics. KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, DA Origins, etc. Oh how the tables have turned over the years. It’s tragic.

[@tni333]

How can you make such a video without even so much as mentioning Obsidian

[@BryceBSK]

my bad.. Bleh

[@tni333]

@@BryceBSK Haha no worries I just kept thinking when is he gonna bring up Obisidian and their amazing CRPGs :D

[@Skaftholu]

​@@tni333Dude didn't even pronounce the things he DID cover correctly. It's probably for the best this way.

[@akar2755]

​@@Skaftholuyou mean Obsoodian?

[@Dixon_Bahtz]

What's worse is that Bioware was the studio that made the first two Baldur's Gate games. Now they've fallen from grace and a new studio has picked up the IP to continue where Bioware left off by using it to redefine D&D computer RPGs.

[@JonathanJuan]

Sorry, but I don't agree at all with the final thesis that is "game studios should stick to one thing and one thing only". The fall of Bioware had to do with their rushed production cycles, aimless vision during development, a lot of the older devs leaving and the profit-focused interference from the new management at EA. It was not at all because they "normiefied" their games by making Mass Effect 2. The issue for me is that your "proof" that Larian succeeded because it stuck to a niche is that BG3 has great sales numbers - which it does, and that is to be commended. You also point out that Bioware has very low sales numbers for their recent titles, which is also true. But by those accounts, evolving the franchise to make it more accessible to a mass audience would have been the best strategy, since it also gotten them way higher sales numbers, the same way that Mass Effect 2 did better than Mass Effect 1. The problem isn't that Bioware changed to doing games like Mass Effect 2 - it's that they didn't KEEP making games like Mass Effect 2. If they had kept making games at that quality, their numbers would be massive - and much more successful than Larian's sales. I much prefer Mass Effect 2 to Mass Effect 1, as did the mass majority of people. And if Larian made the same jump for their next title - made it more accessible and action-focused - I don't think it would neccesarily sink their studio either. The "normiefication" wasn't what sunk Bioware. It was the genuine dip in quality of the games due to EA's management. Game studios are allowed to expand and experiment, and shouldn't be trapped in a box.

[@lynx-eyed9426]

I agree also that Mass Effect 2 was far superior than the first one. The combat is WAY BETTER and more engaging and my favourite of the trilogy. Dragonage on the other hand, Origins is leagues above the sequels. 2 isn't a horrible game, it just doesn't have the love/attention Origin got and Inquisition... they just built too wide, tried to shove so much into it to the point where everything felt shallow.

[@scopaf1662]

Hi! I like your take and this is good content. Im really salty as well - NWN2 was absolute favorite back in the day. Anyway, small feedback - i know somebody already mentioned pronounciation - i wanna follow up on that with ENUNCIATE. I think your style can do really well, and its hard to describe what i mean - but try to enunciate a bit more. Make your words more 'crisp,' and put more emphasis on specific words here and there to make your sentences sound like they run together less and add emphasis. THAT SAID i agree with literally everything you said here AND your favorite bioware games. Cant wait to see your channel grow!

[@monkeyslaye]

The best part of this whole diarrhea dump of a drama is that Bioware had Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, then gave up on the title completely. Now it's probably so much of a kick in the ass every time they are reminded of the massive success that is Baldur's Gate 3.

[@junipermcclary1645]

Unfortunately, with bioware laying off their unionized QA teams, DA: dreadwolf looks like it's going to be a mess

[@FranciscoMartinez-369]

I actually liked Mass Effect 2. It's probably my favorite because of the story. I feel like Bioware still made great story driven games at the point. I also liked the powers you could you if I remember correctly. It was different from their older games but I still enjoyed it alot.

[@acev3521]

Me1 and 2 are the only two good mass effect games and I don’t see that changing with 4

[@lucasbarros8540]

@@acev3521 nah mass effect 3 is good too

[@flamesofhellstudio]

The reason why those shitty games are so "popular" is because those are pretty much the only games that are regularly being released and people get bored with older stuff, even if they loved it and have a lot of nostalgia with it. Game developers need to stop looking at what the market is doing because the market is just going to keep buying whats available, especially from big name publishers.

[@Bobthejohnny]

Hey man, glad I got this video in my algorythm. Real good points with fun editing and strong pace. People pointing out prononciation made me realize that I actually paid more attention to what you were saying because of it :D Regarding BioWare as a studio, I think they do have it in them to make good RPGs, but EA is clearly mismanaging them. The very fact that Anthem was released at all shows that EA is not interested in BioWare playing to their RPG-making strength.

[@rodrigosodre9210]

I started palying BG 3 2 days ago, by far one of the best games of the decade. Im 32 and it's been a long time since i've played a game for 10h straight without eating. Im in love.

[@rodrigosodre9210]

Ps: loved the Fable soundtrack on the backgroud.

[@FoxBatinaHat]

One day. I want to look at the credits of BG3 and cross compare it to Dragon Age: O and Inquisition. And see who's responsible for some of the best decision and ideas. Who brought their talents over to Larian.

[@VixDen]

"inquision." BRUH.

[@BobbyMcGeePhoto]

"Lorian is quickly becoming my favorite development studio" So much so, that I can't be bothered to call them by their actual name of Larian Studios and miss-name them over 50 times in a single "tribute" video.

[@hiphopgrind1]

Larian really shat on all the AAA companies out there and i'm so happy for them

[@theknave69]

I think that if you want to discuss the fall of Bioware, you should probably touch on the sale of the company to EA in the 2000s. There's a saying among old school gamers that "EA is where developers go to die." I love that you enjoy BG3, and that you're passionate about sharing your thoughts. Keep it up.

[@supernova9930]

You managed to succinctly express the depressing feeling that old school BioWare fans are dealing with. Well done sir!

[@DragonflyandTheWolf]

I played dragon age origins when it first came out. Loved it. I played Dragon Age 2 when it first came out. Did not love how rushed it was, but the writing and the characters were great. I literally bought a brand new computer to play Inquisition when it came out. I loved it. Your comparing them is falling on deaf ears to me. I love all three with all my heart. DAI was amazing for its game exploration. DAO was amazing for its story. And DA2 was amazing for its character writing. All three bring something great to the table.

[@LaburnumAnagyroides]

Well explained! I quote you

[@MrMindCloud]

Idk man. I played all DA games back to back and while Origins was great, I much preferred DAI. In fact, after a 130 hour play through of BG3 I’d actually say I like the DA series as a whole, DAI specifically, a lot better. The scope of the stories and characters in DA feel much more believable weighty than the confuddled menagerie of nonsense that is forgotten realms.

[@angryvaultguy]

One thing I hate about what they did to my baby dragon age is that they had an interesting depressing dark fantasy world, massive inequality between races and class, the mages and templars, the different demons and interactions with people etc. But they turned it to generic fantasy with inquisition. Like its about literal demons puring out and all you do is "go here, close rift, move along". Origins felt more magical even the qunari are not interesting anymore because they've "humanized" them now they're just people with horns. What you got from sten was that the qunari is an alien peoples with customs we don't understand which made them interesting

[@NoOnesBCE]

Something that I recently realized: Bioware kind of sucks at level design. In a good Pirahna Bytes game I can/want to explore even without a quest, and there are interesting locations everywhere. Not so much in Bioware, if there is no story/quest why would I ever go into boring level nr 100. Even Bethesda was better with that in Fallout4 and Skyrim (even though both of those are bested by a Skyrim mod named Enderal).

[@ELCrisler]

Excellent look at this, however it also reminds me of my fears. Right now Larian is at the top of the heap for CRPGs, there is no doubt. However will being at the top of hill mean they become greedy? BG3 is an amazing success but the next game out will be the real test for Larian. Can they stay true to their roots or will they trying to push the money side?

[@wabbajack8283]

Funny thing is Microsoft tried to buy them during BG3's development (around 2020~) but Swen declined and said that he still have more plans/projects for the company, and knows that even if Microsoft are hands free on their studios, wouldn't let some of their decisions go through like the bear scene and the gore.

[@micknat7665]

I really tried to like Inquisition. But just that game had like nothing in it that I liked about Origins. I know plenty of people like it and I can see how with it's open world collectathon nature it being a good podcast game. But it just made me so sad as someone that loved how story driven Origins was and how my skills were used for more than just combat.

[@Stavrogan]

This dude literally said Dragon Age 'Inquishun'... and then I promptly moved on.

[@willywallyb2379]

Its wierd how video games try to gentrify their products when the specialization of the economy is like the number one way things got profitable

[@pronoydutta614]

I thought Inquisition was great. It wasn't as impactful narrative wise though. Not as RPG centric for sure. It did do a lot of things right in the process though. Could do with a fewer filler side quests and collectables for sure. Origins was a bit too janky for me, although it had an immersive world. It was a lot more memorable for those reasons. It was reminiscent of the older infinity games narration wise. I think studios like Blizzard and Bioware got overtaken by a non gamer centric management owing to their success. This resulted in bloat and difficult production in a bid to grow non stop. Larian did amazing. It was likely a tougher and steadier road for them as well.

[@AdeptKing]

It’s kind of depressing to see what BioWare has been reduced to. Fifteen years ago or so when Mass Effect and DAO were new I didn’t think it would come to a point where everyone expects their games to be bad now.

[@RobotsWithKnivesCartoons]

One thing Larian did that Bioware fucked up on was when Microsoft came calling and tried to buy Larian the studio was like, nope, we'll stay independent, when EA came knocking at Bioware's door they took that devils deal and look what we have now.

[@Sage_6reen]

I'll be the weird guy to come in and say I liked inquisition.

[@Reid52]

Bioware has always been a little bit overrated in terms of how good the RPG aspect of their games was. ME1, whether you enjoy it or not, is a highly linear game with very little real choice in the story. Your choices pretty much boil down to 'do I want to save this character and see them in the next game, or do I not'. There generally isn't an interesting alternative to saying 'yes' to things. It's either you do the thing and get future content, or you don't and get less content. Same with ME2, letting your crew die is pretty much just a punishment in ME3. Other than that, you're basically railroaded into one conclusion for each game. The story broadly in these games still works, it's emotional and impactful, but the amount of consequential choice was never really there. I think people who were mad at ME3's ending missed that that was what Bioware was doing from the beginning with these games. They never *really* presented the player with meaningful choice, they only promised choice would matter. They delivered in the end exactly what they delivered at the end of ME1. While I do think EA is probably terrible to work under, I think people are way too extreme in trying to blame every problem with Bioware on EA and not on Bioware themselves. It was their own development choices from the beginning that I think were so consequential for ME, not outside meddling.

[@MrGeorgFTW]

Dragon Age Origins and Baldurs Gate 2 are better examples of player choice in Bioware games. I love the Mass Effect trilogy but yes, player choice is mostly limited to 'nasty or nice' and who you want to bang.

[@BryceBSK]

Good comment, agreed

[@mrflufflebunny4529]

Unfortunately true. The developers clearly had an opinion on which were the better choices (usually paragon) and crafted content around whether or not you made those choices. So loyalty in me2 isnt usually based on an amalgamation of nuanced choices you made its mostly based on whether or not you played the quest. So the only real choice you have there is to play less of the game you paid for.

[@kangazoos2083]

I used to be a big Bioware fan. They struggle immensely with management. So I'd say EA was half of their problem, with the other half being that they couldn't manage their own flagship titles. I said this in another comment, but they even came up with the term, "bioware magic" which was used after a games release to fix it and involved weeks of overtime from their employees. EA may have shortened their development times but Bioware always spent the first couple of years of development chaotically doing very little, usually with multiple slate wipes and restarts.

[@SchulzEricT]

@@BryceBSK STRONG disagree. First of all, Bioware has something like, what, 7 or 8 of the best 10 RPGs out there, so no. But even if we put that aside: dude, ME's choices were actually brilliant and I wish people would talk more about how elegant their solution to the "you can't REALLY be evil" problem was. You're trying to save the galaxy, you are of course good, they just set it up so that you can kind of choose your path towards getting there: lawful good or chaotic good. (Arguably lawful neutral comes into play.) So many RPGs fail by pretending you can be evil but in reality it's just "Can you help me?" "Yes" "Of course" "Yes" reluctantly "If you pay me"

[@ballbatboy]

You called it normified, I say it was dumbed down. They couldn't fathom letting console players use their brains a little. The same thing happened to Deus Ex though they kinda of made up a bit with later titles.

[@kfarbarata]

Bioware still had better endings than BG3 but the gameplay on Larian's games are more interesting. I love both and wish they make something together. I Actually was verry happy to see that Larian got to have BG series, they are the successor.

[@opo3628]

*THANK YOU* for calling out ME2. While not a complete joke like ME3 and MEA were, it's still quite overrated. ME1 is hands-down the strongest game in the series.

[@BryceBSK]

Wow KZbin algo blessed this video randomly, more videos from now on at least one a week. Please don't be timid to comment with criticism, criticism helps me grow. Comment's will never be censored(unless it's something that will get me in trouble) go free speech and stuff. ............................................... :o PS I am aware that I said Larian studios and inquisition wrong I eat lead paint and crayons on the daily so please bare with me :O

[@jamescrone1588]

Yet you called me “special” when I gave you advice and called you mate. You are a hypocrite

[@mrflufflebunny4529]

I kind of wonder what your opinion is on a growing company needing larger profits to stay afloat each year needing to keep up with what general audiences want. Coz sometimes i wonder if that's genuine factor to consider when criticizing these companies.

[@jamescrone1588]

@@mrflufflebunny4529 this is a excellent thought and I would believe that you are correct yeah it will 100% play a large factor in their development route would be good to see a video on that imma search see if there are any

[@Mark73]

Maybe Larien should look into picking up some of Bioware's recently wedgiesized devs that just want to make good games.

[@REALVINERGY]

Hey, as someone who has made multiple videos on Dragon Age and still mentions that series regularly in videos, the ones besides Origins didn't suck massive dingdong.. Ok who am I kidding, yeah they did lol

[@SchulzEricT]

DA2 didn't. DA2 was fun. As far as I'm aware, there were only 3 Dragon Age games, and 2 of them were fun.

[@REALVINERGY]

@@SchulzEricT They're all fun in their own way, and I know that many diehard fans still appreciate DA2 and especially prefer it over Inquisition, but for me it still goes Origins > Inquisition > DA2. I'm glad I've done a playthrough or 3 of DA2 but I have no desire to ever go back

[@SchulzEricT]

@@REALVINERGY I mean, I'm definitely cool with talking about how they all did things differently, and we can all like them to various degrees (similar to the ME trilogy, although I'd guess that we can agree the quality of ME is much higher and steadier than DA). It just frustrates me when people talk about DA2 being shit, when really it was good; some solid quests, solid companions, great combat, *excellent* story concept... but, you know... merely okay execution of that story concept IMO, and the recycling of maps really hurt how fun it is to play, because it's a smaller story that *feels* small. (I think telling a smaller story - something concurrent with DA:O but instead of an epic world-saving quest it's a smaller story, although it of course eventually ties in with some important events like the Mage v Templar conflict - is a *great* idea. Jumping ahead in time so you can tell this story over a longer period of time, and tweak places that you've been before so that they're familiar but have changed in small ways, is a really cool idea. But when you recycle maps like they did, especially when you don't get to go outside the city all that often, it makes it feel small.) And I think DA:I is a fucking unplayable piece of shit, a beta test for an MMO with all the bad stuff of MMOs (boring, generic fetch quests) but not the good stuff (online play, multiplayer - holy shit does it frustrate me that none of the 3 DAs nor the 3 MEs have multiplayer. LE ME should've had multiplayer, I would've bought it if it did even if they changed nothing else). So if you like stuff like that, I'll definitely give you the side-eye. But if you were able to push past that shit for the story and characters/relationships, I understand that. Story/characters/relationships are the backbone of RPGs, and from what little I saw, DA:I seemed maybe more interesting than DA2 in that specific area. I just couldn't get past the boring, generic shit - quests and combat - to get to the story. (Also, there was supposed to be some cool hidden item behind a waterfall that apparently bugged out? And honestly, around then I quit, because I found it boring AND was getting screwed out of items, some quests were bugging out too as I recall. But, you know... I think the stuff I hated was objectively bad, but I get how aspects of the game could appeal to somebody. More so than DA2 even. I just found the minute-to-minute experience of DA2 so much more enjoyable than DA:I, the minute-to-minute experience of DA:I to be a drag.)

[@arthurpendragon8192]

The only dragon age game i ever played was inquisition....and afterward never felt a desire to play the others. There was a magic at the time i played Inquisition and i did not believe it could transfer to more games in the series. Sometimes a game is magical due to different factors in our life and where we are at at the time we played it that aren't there when we replay the game.