Does anyone else think ME is overhyped and overpraised?

[VanQ]

Ok guys I want to ask a serious question here and I fully expect to be flamed or ran out of town for saying this, but does anyone else think that ME and even Dragon Age while we're at it are overpraised for what they are?
Keep in mind I haven't played ME2 and I wont claim to have since I couldn't, no matter how much I tried, enjoy the first one. I thought there was way too much boring dialect and too little combat to make the game appealing. Dont mistake this as "I want less talky and more shooty" because I've played Indigo Prophecy and Heavy Rain and loved those. The stories were just so much more compelling (until the whacked out super powers part) and it just seems as though the Bioware guys run short on this area.
So, what do you guys think? Is there anyone else out there besides me that didn't like ME and didn't think Dragon Age is the best thing to happen to RPGs since 3D?

 

[Maeshone]

Well, I respect your opinion, even though it's blatantly misinformed and wrong!

... Joking aside though, I can't say that either of those games are overhyped in my personal view, since I enjoyed both of them very much. I will agree to the fact that they're probably not the best games for everyone due to, like you said, the sheer amount of dialog in the games. But I believe that you should at least give ME2 a try, since you said you wanted more combat, which Bioware really improved for number 2. Maybe rent it or borrow from a friend.

 

[Axeli]

What good did 3D ever do to RPGs?

Anyway, if you are asking about how is the dialogue and story is supposed to be good... Well, the writing is obviously one of the best you can find in video games. The character's should be interesting enough to keep the conversations with them fun. Also, the whole choice-play system works pretty well for a good Mary Sue experience.

I could list what flaws Bioware's stories have in my opinion, but it I don't know if it would be anything like your list. Maybe you could explain your opinion a bit more?

Honestly, from this? I do kinda think "less talky more shooty".

 

[Grey_Focks]

I'm really not sure what you're complaining about. Your saying there is too much dialogue and not enough combat? Yet you love Quantic Dream's "games"? care to elaborate? Sounds like you just don't like the bioware style of RPG. That would make that your personal preference, but it wouldn't make ME overhyped/praised
EDIT-

I never like Biowares RPG, I could handle KOTOR because it was Star Wars.
They really do limit your gameplay options, which in an RPG is pretty much defeating the purpose..

limit your gameplay options, how? Other than Bethesda's RPGs I can think of no others that have less limiting gameplay options. please explain what you meant by that.

 

[VanQ]

What good did 3D ever do to RPGs?

I could list what flaws Bioware's stories have in my opinion, but it I don't know if it would be anything like your list. Maybe you could explain your opinion a bit more?

Honestly, from this? I do kinda think "less talky more shooty".

I feel like 3d really helps because it crafts a more believable and immersive world and I'm not hating on Bioware at all, they made some of my favorite games of the late 90s/early 00s such as Neverwinter nights.
I honestly feel as though they've been repackaging and reselling the same games ever since then, because they all just sort of have the same feel to them, if you get what I mean. The game itself isn't my problem nor are the characters. It's just that none of it feels alive to me, like none of it matters.
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.

 

[TheSupremeForce]

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.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

Nope, they deserve all the praise they can get IMO.

That said for every very successful and "popular" franchise there are people who thing contrary. For instance I think the Final Fantasy series is over-hyped and over-praised, however I realise I am in the minority.

Also, keep in mind Mass Effect always was designed as a trilogy so Bioware have definately not "run out of ideas". Some of the storytelling is a bit slow burn, but I think they do a great job in balancing it out.

 

[The Madman]

Sounds to me like you simply dislike the genre, in which case the problem isn't the game nor it's hype but you. Do I think Mass Effect is overhyped myself? Not at all, it's nice for a game which genuinely deserves the attention to be receiving it for a change rather than simply whatever game has the biggest marketing storm behind it regardless of the actually quality of the game in question.

With any luck the success of Mass Effect and it's kin will encourage other studio to give new things a try and reinvigorate the western rpg in the eyes of publishers. I'd love for new developers to enter the arena, because as it is there's pretty much Bioware, Bethesda and Obsidian left. And while all three are great in their own ways, some fresh blood and new competition would be fantastic.

 

[Fenixius]

I didn't enjoy Mass Effect. I thought there was way too much boring dialect and too little combat to make the game appealing. Dont mistake this as "I want less talky and more shooty" because I've played Indigo Prophecy and Heavy Rain and loved those. The stories were just so much more compelling (until the whacked out super powers part) and it just seems as though the Bioware guys run short on this area.

Okay, what it sounds like is that you don't like the setting. You prefer modern day, contemporary stories compared to science fiction. And similarly, it sounds like you prefer smaller, more personal stories rather than "Save the galaxy, raaawr!". That's fine. You're totally allowed to have your own tastes, and they're different from ours. But it's up to you to recognize when your tastes and the displayed product aren't in alignment: Mass Effect is simply not for you.

Of course, I may be reading wrong. You've not given me much to work with, here.

 

[Lonan]

It really isn't even close to hyped at all. To be overhyped, it has to be equal to or greater than the hype of Halo and Modern Warfare.

 

[Super_Nintendo_Chalmers]

Haven't played Dragon Age, however I didn't enjoy Mass Effect as much as I thought I would.
I haven't played ME2 either, but I played the first up until the first vehicle section, and just put it down.

 

[S.R.S.]

No game can be more "over-" than Halo. So not really. If a game is good then it deserves all the praise it gets.

 

[Axeli]

What good did 3D ever do to RPGs?

I could list what flaws Bioware's stories have in my opinion, but it I don't know if it would be anything like your list. Maybe you could explain your opinion a bit more?

Honestly, from this? I do kinda think "less talky more shooty".

I feel like 3d really helps because it crafts a more believable and immersive world and I'm not hating on Bioware at all, they made some of my favorite games of the late 90s/early 00s such as Neverwinter nights.
I honestly feel as though they've been repackaging and reselling the same games ever since then, because they all just sort of have the same feel to them, if you get what I mean. The game itself isn't my problem nor are the characters. It's just that none of it feels alive to me, like none of it matters.
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.

Well, don't know about the world and the characters being lifeless. The only general fault with them I can think of (the main cast anyway) is that they tend to work only through the player and never form relationships with anyone but the player character... And those relationships are usually pretty shallow for understandable reasons.

But about Bioware running out of ideas... Well, yeah. They've been making the same game in different settings for a while now. Sure it is a good game, but you'd honestly think they'd come up with a bit more improvements to their story formula.

 

[Fenixius]

*twitches* Oh, wait, you championed Fable before, didn't you?

Other RPGs such as Oblivion and Fable gave life to their worlds in a way that Bioware just hasn't...

Oh good, you did. Cool. Now we can talk about "Overhyped". I bought that game at launch on Xbox, and the product I got was a much shallower, though not actually bad game. I was promised features and features. I read the magazines, got the previews and trailers, heard about such awesome things as a "dynamic world", "NPC heroes" who you'd compete with, and so on, and barely any of it was there.

The game was solid. Fable was a good, competent game. I enjoyed it. However, I felt ripped off. Peter Molyneux, much more so than Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk ever did, hyped his games up personally, with great fervour and zeal, and then had to scale back his ambitions after making promises or he'd never be able to release or make money.

THAT is overhyping. Be more clear about what you want to talk about - "Anyone else think Mass Effect was kinda dead?" is not the same as "Mass Effect was overhyped and overpraised, didn't you think?"

 

[Poomanchu745]

YES! And by yes I mean, ME2 is by far the best game that I have ever played. ME2 was an amazing game that gripped me by the testicles and did not let go until I had beat it 3 different times. And now I want to play it again now that you brought it up. But im trying to hang on until I beat Darksiders which is actually surprisingly good.