Black Isle Studios made me side with Bioware. Bioware's continued the legacy, but BIS singlehandedly proved that RPGs could be a profitable AAA game once again.
Without Baldur's Gate, RPG's may have gone the way of King's Quest-styled adventures.
Black Isle Studios made me side with Bioware. Bioware's continued the legacy, but BIS singlehandedly proved that RPGs could be a profitable AAA game once again.
Without Baldur's Gate, RPG's may have gone the way of King's Quest-styled adventures.
For my childhood, and nostalgia, Nintendo. For classic RPG goodness growing up, Square. But for my mature, adult gaming, Bioware by far.
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I have to say Bioware. By far my favorite developer of all time. I've never played a bad game made by Bioware. That includes DA2 which may have been a disappointment by Bioware standards but was still a pretty good game(Legacy is a start at redemption).
Last edited by blackangel209; 2011-08-06 at 12:02 AM.
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My issue with Bioware is ME2. I haven't played DA2 and so can't make a judgement.
ME2 dummed down a lot of what made the first ME great. While it was in no way a bad game there were two things that prevented it from becoming a classic for me.
1) The morality. I want my character to be pragmatic. Sure you might argue that I'm jumping on the Yhatzee wagon after his Infamous 2 review, but I've been complaining about this since ME1. I don't want to have to be either entirely good or entirely evil to beat the game in the best way. Its just a bad system, it really really is. You should make choices and they should have consequences, there should be no arbitrary "charm" stat, it takes choice away from players rather than giving them more. Icewind Dale 2 did it right, and hell that game is ancient. The Witcher did it even better.
2) The general dumming down of the inventory/skill system.
Fair enough. They certainly could have updated it instead of sticking with the old morality/persuasion system that every old RPG used(perhaps modified by a dice roll).
This one, however, is a bullshit complaint. The inventory system in ME1 was absolute trash. Sifting through the million different copies of Avenger rifles and Reaper snipers(only to end up with more omnigel than you could ever spend) was in no way a better system. Also, the skill system in ME2 is just a slightly modified way of setting up the ME1 skill system.2) The general dumming down of the inventory/skill system.
I'm really getting tired of this stupid argument that RPGs should always have ridiculous tedium in the leveling/inventory/skill systems or otherwise it's "dumbed down." Just because there are more boxes or more things to get rid of doesn't automatically make something better.
Last edited by blackangel209; 2011-08-05 at 11:56 PM.
tough to say... before Awakening and Dragon Age 2 I would have said BioWare, but after two horribly rushed and half-hearted cash-ins it's hard to retain any confidence in them. Blizzard are good, despite some decisions I dislike, but don't really have a lot of new content outside of WoW (SC2 was a long time coming and I've no interest in the Diablo series). while I like the philosophy of CD Projekt (completely redoing Witcher 1 to fix problems and free DLC for W2 and no DRM) it's hard to judge them by only two games (and I admit I've still not gotten around to playing W2 yet), one franchise, it'll be interesting to see what else they create and whether they can stick to their guns in the long run
so I'd have to say Daedalic Entertainment. firstly because they're one of few developers still devoted to my beloved point and click adventure genre and secondly because they're so damned dedicated to it. Edna & Harvey: The Breakout for example does something that I've not seen any adventure game do for a very, very long time... it offers unique dialogue for pretty much every single action you can possibly do
use knife on mirror? talk to coffee machine? use toenail clipping on desk? use mustard on chewing gum? all with unique dialogue rather than the standard "I can't do that" or "that doesn't work". every single one gives a (usually funny) comment from Edna and/or Harvey. truly a rare level of dedication considering the game is fully voiced (this is even parodied in the game where the developers make a cameo in a group therapy session for stressed out video game developers, one of whom is frustrated from having to come up with unique dialogue for all the combinations)
Valve and Square-Enix. Followed by Blizzard pretty close.
Hard choice, Blizzard has been a lot of my life(Starcraft, Diablo 2, Starcraft 2, WC2, WC3, WoW), but Nintendo is literally my childhood.(POKEMON!)
One of the two. Bioware a close 3rd.
Lots of Blizzard votes.
Bioware by far, of the big ones. although i was really disappointed by how cheap Draon Age II was done.
i just hope that won't be the case for (most) coming games of them, looking forward to Mass Effect 3 and TOR.
although i kinda have to say, my favorite developer would be CD-Project. they are (or at least were) a small company, but they did an amazing job with both Witcher titles and had the courage to do some innovating and creative stuff.
Bungie
Blizzard
Valve
My taste in games along with developers have changed over the years as I've grown up.
Early 80's
Namco - (Galaxian, Pac-Man, Galaga, Dig Dug, Xevious, Pac-Land)
Late 80's
Sega - (Fantasy Zone, Outrun, Wonder Boy, Shinobi, Super Hang-On, Altered Beast, Golden Axe)
Konami - (Gradius, Green Beret, Yie Ar Kung Fu, Jackal, Contra, Final Round, TMNT)
Early 90's
Capcom - (Final Fight, Strider, UN Squadron, Mercs, Streetfighter 2 series)
Late 90's
ID Software - (Quake series)
Early 00's
Blizzard - (Warcraft III, Diablo 2 + LoD, World of Warcraft)
Rockstar - (Grand Theft Auto series)
Late 00's
Valve - (Half Life 2 series, Left 4 Dead 1+2, Portal 1+2, Team Fortress 2)
Last edited by mmocbc41d71a49; 2011-08-16 at 08:24 AM.
I think Valve has demonstrated the most sophisticated understanding of game developement, design, and the game-to-player relationship.
How about Valve?
Not even voting because it lacks this.
Valve has consistently created updates (for free) for their games, listened to their community, used community ideas in games, and basically rocked the fuck out of everything they have put their hands on.