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Rank all BioWare games

v1rus

Arcane
Joined
Jul 14, 2008
Messages
2,256
All of this make them perfect "RPG-lites" in muh book, and good to play when you are in some tough spot life wise - its not completely braindead, but its not gonna overwhelm you either, in any way, thats for sure.
did you try DA:O on Nightmare?

Yeah. Spent 90% of the game running around looting/interacting with shit while my auto-piloted companions massacred everything around me. I hear the game has something akin to a gambit system in FFXII - wouldnt know about it, they were literally set to some basic preset or something like that. The start had challenging encounters if I remember right, but as usual, soon they became trivial as I further developed MC/NPCs. Granted, later, I heard that "DLC/Premium" items you get are OP - and I did use them, until I found something better. Did not know this when I started my last playthrough (first one was on release, and I'm not sure have I actually finished the game, I know i made it to Landsmeet tho, so pretty far in), and while I might abstain from those if I ever replay the game, its still the games fault to just give me something that breaks it completly. First play was Rogue, second Mage. I think Mages are also broken? I remember spamming cone of cold while Stan massacres every frozen fool. Sucks tho, because when I knew the world and plot, I just found mage the most interesting class in the context of the setting (Which is exactly what i was talking about when i said an occasional interesting premise - DA:O has many faults, but its treatmant of the mages is quite interesting and fun).
 

VerSacrum

Educated
Joined
Aug 19, 2023
Messages
264
Location
Switzerland
Codex overrates Dragon Age Origins massively imo
and it was a dark fantasy that did it better than Twitcher or Thrones. Two rare qualities. It was also one of the last fantasy RPGs before Skyrim and Dark Souls so it didn't spend all its time trying to emulate them like most fantasy games after.
Dragon Age as a setting was as unimaginative and plagiaristic as it gets. It certainly didn't do it better than A Song of Ice and Fire or The Witcher, both more plausible and compelling worlds that it ripped off massively. And the gritty, "realistic" setting is undermined by the terrible weapon and armor design. Things like comically oversized shoulder pads and warhammers just clash with that kind of aesthetic they were aiming for.
Only positive thing I can say about it is that the companions were cool. Not revolutionary, but memorable.
Origins was less woke than Twitcher and Thrones and had more going on with its world.
The religions were interesting
Wut. DA:O has gender and fag equality prominently present in its world - there's even fucking black elf NPC's among the Dalish. How is this less "woke" than the patriarchal/monolithic societies in Witcher and Asoiaf?
As for religion in DA:O - Christianity, but with women as clergy instead of men and Jeanne D'Arc as Jesus. Yes, how very interesting and original :roll:
 

Vic

Savant
Undisputed Queen of Faggotry Bethestard
Joined
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Messages
4,488
Location
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All of this make them perfect "RPG-lites" in muh book, and good to play when you are in some tough spot life wise - its not completely braindead, but its not gonna overwhelm you either, in any way, thats for sure.
did you try DA:O on Nightmare?

Yeah. Spent 90% of the game running around looting/interacting with shit while my auto-piloted companions massacred everything around me. I hear the game has something akin to a gambit system in FFXII - wouldnt know about it, they were literally set to some basic preset or something like that. The start had challenging encounters if I remember right, but as usual, soon they became trivial as I further developed MC/NPCs. Granted, later, I heard that "DLC/Premium" items you get are OP - and I did use them, until I found something better. Did not know this when I started my last playthrough (first one was on release, and I'm not sure have I actually finished the game, I know i made it to Landsmeet tho, so pretty far in), and while I might abstain from those if I ever replay the game, its still the games fault to just give me something that breaks it completly. First play was Rogue, second Mage. I think Mages are also broken? I remember spamming cone of cold while Stan massacres every frozen fool. Sucks tho, because when I knew the world and plot, I just found mage the most interesting class in the context of the setting (Which is exactly what i was talking about when i said an occasional interesting premise - DA:O has many faults, but its treatmant of the mages is quite interesting and fun).
Interesting that you didn't have to micro manage your party on Nightmare.
 

v1rus

Arcane
Joined
Jul 14, 2008
Messages
2,256
All of this make them perfect "RPG-lites" in muh book, and good to play when you are in some tough spot life wise - its not completely braindead, but its not gonna overwhelm you either, in any way, thats for sure.
did you try DA:O on Nightmare?

Yeah. Spent 90% of the game running around looting/interacting with shit while my auto-piloted companions massacred everything around me. I hear the game has something akin to a gambit system in FFXII - wouldnt know about it, they were literally set to some basic preset or something like that. The start had challenging encounters if I remember right, but as usual, soon they became trivial as I further developed MC/NPCs. Granted, later, I heard that "DLC/Premium" items you get are OP - and I did use them, until I found something better. Did not know this when I started my last playthrough (first one was on release, and I'm not sure have I actually finished the game, I know i made it to Landsmeet tho, so pretty far in), and while I might abstain from those if I ever replay the game, its still the games fault to just give me something that breaks it completly. First play was Rogue, second Mage. I think Mages are also broken? I remember spamming cone of cold while Stan massacres every frozen fool. Sucks tho, because when I knew the world and plot, I just found mage the most interesting class in the context of the setting (Which is exactly what i was talking about when i said an occasional interesting premise - DA:O has many faults, but its treatmant of the mages is quite interesting and fun).
Interesting that you didn't have to micro manage your party on Nightmare.

I still think its in part due to DLC items + mage perhaps being broken. I also have a completionist attitude, thus I do every single available quest; Its quite probable I just started hugely overleveling everything around me... Which, once again, is games fault really.
 

jackofshadows

Magister
Joined
Oct 21, 2019
Messages
4,569
Origins was less woke than Twitcher and Thrones and had more going on with its world.

The religions were interesting compared to the other two where religion is just universally shitty and fake, the darkspawn are more interesting than a horde of ice zombies or skeleton men, and it generally felt like a large, expansive world, where Westeros is small and confined and I don't think Witcher's setting even had a name or larger maps. It had magic without being too extreme.

Its design also wasn't meant to be one big geopolitical commentary, not so much a problem with Thrones but a problem with Witcher, though maybe the games toned down the politics from the books. Then compared to Thrones it was dark but not as stupid-dark or grim, or full of the fetish content both other settings have.

The item aesthetics are generally awful because Bioware was trying to do them Warcraft style, it's not a super interesting setting on its own, and most of its lore has nothing to do with the actual gameplay. I completely agree there. It also of course got retconned out the ass by the sequels.
Darkspawn are interesting? Are you kidding or what? Generic mobs as they get. As for religion, I hope you refer to the black city and not to the female Jesus lmao. Moreover, in later series turns out it was all "shitty and fake" anyway even though many will call it cheap retcon or whatever.

As for dark/stupid dark - very subjective obviously but I'd call it rather kinda stupid dark, especially at times (remember Tevinter or that assassin land). Or rather stupidly subvertive: the elves, the dwarves, the religion again and so on. And by the way, I liked it all back in the day, at least it was somewhat fresh but judging it fairly won't do it any good, honestly.
 

9ted6

Educated
Joined
Mar 24, 2023
Messages
629
Codex overrates Dragon Age Origins massively imo
and it was a dark fantasy that did it better than Twitcher or Thrones. Two rare qualities. It was also one of the last fantasy RPGs before Skyrim and Dark Souls so it didn't spend all its time trying to emulate them like most fantasy games after.
Dragon Age as a setting was as unimaginative and plagiaristic as it gets. It certainly didn't do it better than A Song of Ice and Fire or The Witcher, both more plausible and compelling worlds that it ripped off massively. And the gritty, "realistic" setting is undermined by the terrible weapon and armor design. Things like comically oversized shoulder pads and warhammers just clash with that kind of aesthetic they were aiming for.
Only positive thing I can say about it is that the companions were cool. Not revolutionary, but memorable.
Origins was less woke than Twitcher and Thrones and had more going on with its world.
The religions were interesting
Wut. DA:O has gender and fag equality prominently present in its world - there's even fucking black elf NPC's among the Dalish. How is this less "woke" than the patriarchal/monolithic societies in Witcher and Asoiaf?
Origins has sexism and two bi NPCs, and it's never said that they what they're doing is largely socially acceptable. I don't remember any black elves either.

Twitcher and Thrones push feminism hard, specifically the men suck women rock feminism, because their authors are feminists. Witcher author literally said men are bad and women should dominate them. There's more sexism in Thrones than Origins I guess, but it goes too far in the opposite direction and becomes exaggerated.

In both every male character is an idiot or evil, every woman is always right, always strong, and in Twitcher always in control. Good nobles don't exist. Cucking, promiscuity, and gay sex are normal and accepted, and the only people with religious beliefs or moral values are dumb. Of the three games Origins feels the most believable.

And in Origins two very important and very evil villains are bisexual women and they're in no way portrayed as admirable, sexy, empowering, or whatever else. You won't see that in Witcher or Thrones.
 
Last edited:

Shaki

Arbiter
Joined
Dec 22, 2018
Messages
1,587
Location
Hyperborea
Codex overrates Dragon Age Origins massively imo
and it was a dark fantasy that did it better than Twitcher or Thrones. Two rare qualities. It was also one of the last fantasy RPGs before Skyrim and Dark Souls so it didn't spend all its time trying to emulate them like most fantasy games after.
Dragon Age as a setting was as unimaginative and plagiaristic as it gets. It certainly didn't do it better than A Song of Ice and Fire or The Witcher, both more plausible and compelling worlds that it ripped off massively. And the gritty, "realistic" setting is undermined by the terrible weapon and armor design. Things like comically oversized shoulder pads and warhammers just clash with that kind of aesthetic they were aiming for.
Only positive thing I can say about it is that the companions were cool. Not revolutionary, but memorable.
ASoIaF is garbage and much more unimaginative than even Dragon Age. Not to mention the books' main characters are literally teenager girlboss who is super assassin, teenage girlboss who is a super duper dragon queen, and teenage dumbfuck girl who gets abused by multiple men then somehow turns into another girlboss to take revenge on muh evil patriarchy. You couldn't make it more retarded if you tried.
 

behold_a_man

Educated
Joined
Nov 26, 2022
Messages
151
For me, it would be:
1) Dragon Age: Origins - I profoundly enjoyed this game:
-> It allowed me a lot of customization in terms of character progression (spells, in particular - there were multiple spells from multiple schools, but I could choose only a few of them). The options were distinct.
-> I could use combinations of spells for greater effect.
-> It had a set of well-developed prologues depending on the chosen background.
-> It allowed me to script characters to some extent, which is something I expect from a real time with pause game.
-> Companion interactions and choices in general were meaningful in-game.
-> Some questlines were remarkable (The Arl of Redcliffe in particular).

2) Mass Effect - very enjoyable action game with an original, enigmatic plot and several memorable missions. Bionic abilities gave me options for manipulating the environment, which I would love to see in other RPGs. Also, I liked the fact that there is no choice between 'good' or 'evil' this time.
3) Baldur's Gate 2 - The amount of quality content is probably unparalleled, some puzzles were probably the nicest among all Bioware games, but the game had not exactly enjoyable combat - which is problematic as this game is focused around combat and also quite long with the Throne of Bhaal. I believe that if a game has lots of options (mainly spells and party composition in this case), it should be turn-based; otherwise, it is hard to establish a connection between executing some action and its consequences. RTwP tends to make things messy when they shouldn't be.
4) Jade Empire - quite original, surprisingly good given its repute, though the last linear chapters were not thrilling - especially after obtaining the ability to transform into a golem.
5) Knights of the Old Republic - neither original nor exceptional, still a very polished game. I hated the absurdity of the choices between being good or kinda insane in this game.
6) Mass Effect 2 - a game about gathering some schmucks and going with them on some wacky adventure, they couldn't have thought out a better plot. The game allows way less customization than the first one, and it had far less interesting moments like Virmire or Ilos.
7) Dragon Age 2 - it had some neat ideas with the plot and art style, but ended up as a corridor spellcaster. However, given its development process, it's surprising it exists at all.
8) 9) 10) Mass Effect 3, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Baldur's Gate 1, in no particular order - I despise those games, though I guess I can understand why some rate Baldur's Gate 1 so highly.

Also, about games 1) - 6) - they had diverse, closed areas, which I found aesthetically pleasing, even if mundane. Itemization has been subpar since Mass Effect 1.
 

JarlFrank

I like Thief THIS much
Patron
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33,216
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KA.DINGIR.RA.KI
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
All of this make them perfect "RPG-lites" in muh book, and good to play when you are in some tough spot life wise - its not completely braindead, but its not gonna overwhelm you either, in any way, thats for sure.
did you try DA:O on Nightmare?
Man I can't imagine the tedium of slogging through the endless trash mobs on Nightmare...

It was already a nightmare on normal.
 

mediocrepoet

Philosoraptor in Residence
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Codex 2012 Codex+ Now Streaming! MCA Project: Eternity Divinity: Original Sin 2
Anthem is on par with KotOR and higher than ME2 and NWN, Andromeda higher than ME2...
Well thank god, I was worried you'd be too dumb to read the chart. Here's your prize.
1697325957545.png


To be fair though, Anthem is a better game than KOTOR, nevermind ME2 and NWN. Andromeda's better than KOTOR from a gameplay perspective, but Star Wars....

You should probably look up my opinions on how dogshit ME2 and NWN are if this confuses you.
 

VerSacrum

Educated
Joined
Aug 19, 2023
Messages
264
Location
Switzerland
Witcher author literally said men are bad and women should dominate them.
What else is a manlet cuck supposed to say?
Should I dig up some of the shit Bioware writers said? The author's political statements don't affect the quality of the worldbuilding and the aesthetics - obviously speaking about the RPG's here, not the books or the TV shows. The latter alone is so far above anything the Canadian trannies at Bioware EVER shat out it's like comparing the doodles of a 5 year old to a Italian Renaissance master. If you think the Witcher games are more woke than Dragon Age you are simply a retard, sorry.
 

Axel_am

Exploring and Enjoying
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Joined
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Buckkeep
Codex+ Now Streaming!
I like the Witcher games/world. I also like strong female characters. My comment was addressed towards Sapkowski and his conflicting personality over the years that the Witcher games gained popularity.

If you have the time do dig up some of the shit BioWare writers have said. I've never spent time looking into that but I'm sure it'd be a great source of entertainment.
 

Beans00

Erudite
Joined
Aug 27, 2008
Messages
1,071
Codex overrates Dragon Age Origins massively imo
and it was a dark fantasy that did it better than Twitcher or Thrones. Two rare qualities. It was also one of the last fantasy RPGs before Skyrim and Dark Souls so it didn't spend all its time trying to emulate them like most fantasy games after.
Dragon Age as a setting was as unimaginative and plagiaristic as it gets. It certainly didn't do it better than A Song of Ice and Fire or The Witcher, both more plausible and compelling worlds that it ripped off massively. And the gritty, "realistic" setting is undermined by the terrible weapon and armor design. Things like comically oversized shoulder pads and warhammers just clash with that kind of aesthetic they were aiming for.
Only positive thing I can say about it is that the companions were cool. Not revolutionary, but memorable.
ASoIaF is garbage and much more unimaginative than even Dragon Age. Not to mention the books' main characters are literally teenager girlboss who is super assassin, teenage girlboss who is a super duper dragon queen, and teenage dumbfuck girl who gets abused by multiple men then somehow turns into another girlboss to take revenge on muh evil patriarchy. You couldn't make it more retarded if you tried.

None of that has happened in the books yet, or may not happen.
As of the end of book 5 Sansa is still in the vale pretending to be a bastard. Arya has only just gotten to braavos. I guess Daenerys is sort of 'girlboss with dragons' but not really in the retarded way they had it happen in the show, and she has significantly less power/control then she did in the show. Also her younger brother who they scrubbed from the show will likely beat her to the punch.

Normally I wouldn't even bother replying but that's a lot of autism and misinformation.
 

Shaki

Arbiter
Joined
Dec 22, 2018
Messages
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Location
Hyperborea
None of that has happened in the books yet, or may not happen.
As of the end of book 5 Sansa is still in the vale pretending to be a bastard. Arya has only just gotten to braavos. I guess Daenerys is sort of 'girlboss with dragons' but not really in the retarded way they had it happen in the show, and she has significantly less power/control then she did in the show. Also her younger brother who they scrubbed from the show will likely beat her to the punch.

Normally I wouldn't even bother replying but that's a lot of autism and misinformation.
No more books will ever come out, so the TV show written based on what GRRM told producers was going to happen, is the only canon version of the story you'll ever have, and everything that will ever be done with this IP, will be based on it.
 

9ted6

Educated
Joined
Mar 24, 2023
Messages
629
Witcher author literally said men are bad and women should dominate them.
What else is a manlet cuck supposed to say?
Should I dig up some of the shit Bioware writers said? The author's political statements don't affect the quality of the worldbuilding and the aesthetics - obviously speaking about the RPG's here, not the books or the TV shows. The latter alone is so far above anything the Canadian trannies at Bioware EVER shat out it's like comparing the doodles of a 5 year old to a Italian Renaissance master. If you think the Witcher games are more woke than Dragon Age you are simply a retard, sorry.
At the time of Origins the devs weren't as woke as the people who came later, at least not vocally. Obviously now it's worse, the new lead writer and director are both more woke than any other Bioware dev ever was.

Politics can have an impact on worldbuilding if the politics are part of the foundation of the setting. It's obvious in Witcher that Sapkowski's views influenced the world he made, and the same for Martin and Game of Thrones. Origins doesn't seem like it carries any belief statements.
 

Vic

Savant
Undisputed Queen of Faggotry Bethestard
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None of that has happened in the books yet, or may not happen.
As of the end of book 5 Sansa is still in the vale pretending to be a bastard. Arya has only just gotten to braavos. I guess Daenerys is sort of 'girlboss with dragons' but not really in the retarded way they had it happen in the show, and she has significantly less power/control then she did in the show. Also her younger brother who they scrubbed from the show will likely beat her to the punch.

Normally I wouldn't even bother replying but that's a lot of autism and misinformation.
No more books will ever come out, so the TV show written based on what GRRM told producers was going to happen, is the only canon version of the story you'll ever have, and everything that will ever be done with this IP, will be based on it.
why are you so retarded? is your mother also your sister?
 

mediocrepoet

Philosoraptor in Residence
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Combatfag: Gold box / Pathfinder
Codex 2012 Codex+ Now Streaming! MCA Project: Eternity Divinity: Original Sin 2
None of that has happened in the books yet, or may not happen.
As of the end of book 5 Sansa is still in the vale pretending to be a bastard. Arya has only just gotten to braavos. I guess Daenerys is sort of 'girlboss with dragons' but not really in the retarded way they had it happen in the show, and she has significantly less power/control then she did in the show. Also her younger brother who they scrubbed from the show will likely beat her to the punch.

Normally I wouldn't even bother replying but that's a lot of autism and misinformation.
No more books will ever come out, so the TV show written based on what GRRM told producers was going to happen, is the only canon version of the story you'll ever have, and everything that will ever be done with this IP, will be based on it.
why are you so retarded? is your mother also your sister?
No, but his sister is also his mother is also his grandmother.

:philosoraptor:
 

likash

Savant
Glory to Ukraine
Joined
May 9, 2018
Messages
897
Fucking degenerate noobs putting ME above BG2 who's a superior game even to BG1. Irenicus is much better than Sarevok's as game baddie and BG 2 is the better game.Sarevok trully shines as a companion in TOB where is he is the best companion by far. Honorable mention to Edwin.

Here is a proper fucking ranking:
my-image.png
 

Vic

Savant
Undisputed Queen of Faggotry Bethestard
Joined
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Messages
4,488
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[REDACTED]
finished DA:O Awakening and besides not being able to romance the big titted elf (or dwarf) it was not bad. Having your stronghold and upgrading it was cool, though the linear maps and scavenger hunt quests wore me out towards the end. My party was level 34 and I was easily killing high dragons, together with the cool gear made it really feel like a party of demi gods.

I'm going to finish golems and replay witch hunt again because I did that before awakening and couldn't import my save, then import that save into DA2. or maybe I can skip witch hunt? Is it going to be acknowledged in DA2 at all?
 
Joined
Jan 21, 2023
Messages
3,252
golems doesn't add anything of value beyond being somewhat interesting gameplay wise, go straight to witch hunt. several things you do are acknowledged in da2 in many ways, but you're not able to import into inquisition, you're supposed to create a game world through the keep.
 

Vic

Savant
Undisputed Queen of Faggotry Bethestard
Joined
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Messages
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[REDACTED]
golems doesn't add anything of value beyond being somewhat interesting gameplay wise, go straight to witch hunt. several things you do are acknowledged in da2 in many ways, but you're not able to import into inquisition, you're supposed to create a game world through the keep.
is witch hunt acknowledged in DA2? I did it already on another save and don't wanna do it again if it's not.
 

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