Discussion Forums > Gaming
The End of $60 Games?
zherok:
--- Quote from: AceHigh on April 24, 2012, 03:56:27 AM ---And I counter your argument with "Kingdoms of Amalur".
--- End quote ---
My argument?
metro.:
Yeah, I doubt that prices will drop hugely. Maybe a bit. But like, even games that have hefty boxes, you buy online...for essentially the same price.
AceHigh:
--- Quote from: zherok on April 24, 2012, 04:49:09 AM ---
--- Quote from: AceHigh on April 24, 2012, 03:56:27 AM ---And I counter your argument with "Kingdoms of Amalur".
--- End quote ---
My argument?
--- End quote ---
Eh, "statement" would be a better word. Please forgive this non-native speaker of English language.
zherok:
--- Quote from: AceHigh on April 24, 2012, 05:15:28 AM ---Eh, "statement" would be a better word. Please forgive this non-native speaker of English language.
--- End quote ---
I just wanted to make sure you were talking to me before I responded, actually. =)
Anyway, allow me to revise my "statement." Bioware in particular has been driven towards a more cinematic RPG. I would say that the first Mass Effect is probably the most open of the three, although none of the games is particularly longer than each other in gameplay. Three is also probably the most linear. And I think it's a consequence of how they want to tell the narrative. Dragon Age is arguably undergoing the same thing. Origins stars a silent protagonist and you're pretty much free once you're past Ostegar to pick any direction you want to go in from there. Dragon Age 2 is more linear and stars a voice protagonist, while also abandoning some of the first game's options like different races (well, that and gutting most of the strategic elements...)
Now, I agree, Amalur is something else entirely. I think the modern RPG that avoids defining the protagonist has an easier time allowing the user to have more free will. Even Mass Effect, which is ostensibly about MY Shepard, often comes down to a lot of binary choices about how I approach something (or just plain retarded ones like the ending.)
As for it's value... I have a hard time quantifying Amalur. I want to like it. There's a fuckton of stuff to do. Except... it's honestly kinda boring. The gameplay is actually pretty good. The AI is kinda dumb as toast. And while there's a ridiculous amount of content (I'm like 40 hours in and between the two DLCs already out and what I have left... I'm not even sure I'm a 1/3 of the way done) a lot of it is very very simple quests. And the talking. Oh god. The VA isn't terrible, but seriously, show, don't tell. Every NPC you meet is a walking encyclopedia waiting to divulge some useless trivia about the game world rather than show you. There's some interesting hooks: I like the idea of an immortal race that perpetually retells it's greatest stories by reenacting them. Too bad a game supposedly about how you're "fateless" still comes down to a lot of binary choices though.
Anyway, I think Skyrim does it better. Like I can bypass most of the main story in both games, but I'm excited by what I find in Skyrim versus I'm just trying to whittle down the list of fetch/kill/escort an inevitably doomed NPC who I don't care about quests that proceed the main objectives.
/ramble
AceHigh:
Now combine Skyrim's atmosphere and story with Kingdoms of Amalur's finely polished combat system and we would have a great game.
Actually there is a game I have high expectations for: Risen 2. If it's anything like the first one, it will be a fun RPG experience where you need to make an effort just to survive in the game. Hopefully it will be worth 60$
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