Does anyone else think ME is overhyped and overpraised?

[NoNameMcgee]

Mass Effect 2 is a lot better in every way, but if you didn't like the story of the first one perhaps ME2 wouldn't appeal to you either.

Personally I liked the story of ME1. I thought the gameplay however was shite... Mass Effect 2 I thought was excellent in almost every way.

I didn't like Dragon Age either but only because it's not my type of RPG.

 

[ma55ter_fett]

I liked both games but I don't think they should get game of the year or anything.

 

[darthzack79]

This sounds exactly like "less talky, more shooty". The story in ME is incredibly compelling and far above any JRPG.

 

[DrEmo]

You at least had the decency of keeping Final Fantasy out of your preferred game list.
Mass Effect 1 and 2 are not really over-hyped. Mainstream games are over hyped.
And to all of those saying "Halo is the over rated one! BAW!" Don't give me that; I bet you enjoyed playing it at your friend's house at one time.

EDIT:
For the record, Halo's single player campaign is terrible. It's the multi player that makes the game good.

 

[azazellee]

How could you give a shit about any of the characters in Oblivion? They all had the same damn voice actor, all acted the same with rare exceptions and all of them combined had about half the personality of a ham sandwhich with no cheese. The only character with any personality at all was Sheogorath (Now he seemed fairly well done). How can a game world feel alive when everyone is exactly the same, not to mention inconsistent? I must admit I do find it funney when the crazy beggars randomly change personalities though. Considering your taste in characters, I'm not sure your emotional processes are functioning properly.

Agreed. The world of Oblivion was so bland. I played through the whole thing and I don't even remember any of the characters.

 

[mrx19869]

you all should have bought demon souls instead of dragon age ...

 

[TPiddy]

I'm sorry, but overhyped? When compared to shit like GOW 3 and MW 2 it's like you've almost never heard of Bioware.

Bioware has a history of making games that most people can agree are really good. Some gamers will buy a Bioware title on sight, without even trying it and before it's even out. However, as to your two specific examples:

1. Dragon Age: Origins - I played it, and loved it, but I have read / seen / heard everywhere about the game's flaws. Many reviews docked the game marks for graphics, controls and other such faults. How is this over praising a game?

2. Mass Effect 2: - I am currently playing it and loving it, but the first one was better and I'm not the only one to think that. The ratings were pretty high but the quality is there. You can ***** about the mineral mining or the lower difficulty or how it pales in comparison to the first.

I don't really see where you're coming from when you say they're overhyped and overpraised. Also, you won't win any friends on this site by bashing Bioware, that's for sure.

 

[Marowit]

The first ME had a great plot, but I definitely found the game to be dragging at times. The second one blew me out of the water though. The pacing in the second game is spot on, and I would describe it as an action-RPG whereas the first game was much more RPG. I do know that ME2 was one of the only games I played through to completion, without taking a month away from it, in a looooooooooong time. Heck, I'm still making my way through Uncharted 2 (and I've really enjoyed that game).

Dragon Age is an RP'ers RPG. If you don't like reading the codex, talking to everyone, and thoroughly exploring the world it can get tedious/boring. I know I had to take a break from Dragon Age to pique my interest again. That being said, for the type of game it's going for it is spot on. When I would read the codex the lore was great, when I would have a conversation I felt as though my responses had consequences, and the game handed my ass to me several times during fights.

As someone above said, I don't watch TV (netflix 4tw), and so I wasn't bombarded by ads for either game, other than on Digg, so I didn't notice an overhyping.

 

[SAMAS]

Not in the circles I run in. I hear as much criticism as praise.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

I don't think it was overhyped, other than the escapist and a few other sites no one really talks about Dragon Age or Mass Effect. Nobody in school ever talks about those games. To me a game is hyped when even people at school talk about it (Halo, GTA, COD, Guitar Hero).

Other RPGs such as Oblivion and Fable gave life to their worlds in a way that Bioware just hasn't, and that's what matters to me, I want to feel like I care about the characters as people and not just see them as a tool to filter dialogue and story through.
I'll add that I don't think they're bad games, they just seem too lifeless. If you get what I'm saying.

Really? I actually feel the exact opposite. Reading codex entries in DA:O and ME(2) really expand on their universes. It is a bit cheap that they have to rely on codex entries but they do a great job in explaining their universes through dialog too.

On the other hand the universes of Fable and Oblivion felt empty to me. Just big empty areas filled with NPCs giving you quests. I didn't care about characters, heck I can't even remember any character from Oblivion except Uriel Septim (that's only because he's voiced by Patrick Stewart).

i completely back you up, oblivion and open world games like those seem so lifeless and the game is so non linear to the point that the world is basically just me in a big ass sandbox (i still liked the game) but in mass effect the world seemed so much more immersive and alive, and in oblivion the npc's are HORRIBLE, they have some horrible dialogue and i could care less wether anyone is dying or what their motives are in those games, usually the only consequence for killing someone is having the whole town chase you, so its not hard to know what is going on, while in mass effect and dragons age i can name off just about every character (most main and secondary cast) and be able to tell you about every town/culture up to most of the details, as they truly explain why things happen and why these people believe and have traditions on what they do

I'm always stuck on some linear path, I can't freely roam around a place, They limit your exploration immensely, no jump button,etc.
In Bethesda RPGs, there is true freedom, being able to go anywhere at any time, When I mean anywhere I mean anywhere, not just some small path going through the woods.

I like Bioware RPGs for that reason. Why would I want to go anywhere and everywhere? In the end I'll just want to find the most efficient way to get to my destination. In open world RPGs I'll spend most of my time traveling from place to place. Yes, there are a lot of quests and secrets to find, but they could have made the world a bit smaller to reduce the boring traveling. I know that people do appreciate the ability to explore but to me it's just fluff.

Whereas in a Bioware RPG traveling is reduced and more time is spent on fighting or dialog. I find that a more closed path condenses the game and let's you get into Dialog/battle parts faster.

In my opinion both Bioware's and Bethesda's RPGs have the same amount of linearity to it they're just presented differently.

this is exactly how i feel, thank you for putting that into words!

 

[Dr. wonderful]

Mass Effect was good, but it wasn't one of my favorite BioWare RPG's. Mass Effect 2 was pretty much an improvement in every way.

Dragon Age isn't as hyped as ME2, so I wouldn't call it overhyped either. Dragon Age might not do anything "new" but it does everything so well that I don't care.

Both settings have room for expansion/improvement, so I think BW is doing a great job in that regard.

I agree with Supreme

 

[Bloody Crimson]

What good did 3D ever do to RPGs?

It brought about mindless Real-time combat....and boring open-world crap...damn, now I'm gonna go play Final Fantasy just for that.

OT:
I am with you 2,000,000,000%. I remember there were 30 active threads a day about ME2, AKA "The Very Spawn of Christ himself". I don't have an Xbox, and frankly now it's gonna take me a longer time to get around to it just because there's really nothing to interesting IE Thousands of FPS games and Hundreds of boring sandbox games. Meh, maybe Linearity is more my thing.
Oh sorry, I went to rambling...

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Nope.

They have their flaws but both are top nothc games. Mass effect 2 is one of my top 2 games this gen.

 

[silverxxx]

everytime i read about Mass Effect, i always hope there will be someone who thinks ME2 is a bit overhyped, to use the poster's word. Well, imho there is no immersion in ME2, you just get sent to do stuff (you have been given some more dossiers...), I personally couldn't care less about the collectors, and hey, since when is shepard the world police? The weapons all two of them are nothing special, and the PC version controls are a bit confusing, run and activate AND enter cover on the same key, I mean thank god the game doesn't have a jump button, it would have been space as well.

 

[Pingieking]

Nope.
Both are great games. Mass Effect was a bit of an experiment, and the sequel fixed a lot of the problems with the first, while introducing some problems of its own. Not unusual really. Dragon Age didn't try to do anything new, and instead focused on the execution of the ideas. Worked out quite well. I thought that: 1) Dragon Age was awesome. 2) Mass Effect was a slightly better game than Mass Effect 2 (due mostly to oversimplification in the sequel). 3) Mass Effect 2 was a lot more fun than Mass Effect (mostly for the refined mechanics and more like-able characters *looks at Mordin*).
People are going to pick at any big time game for being over-hyped. Meh.