I've always been underwhelmed by their games. Don't get me wrong, they always have excellent and entertaining plots but that's really all I can enjoy. I feel like the people at Bioware would be incredible at making movies and could easily give James Cameron a run for his money if they really tried. But the gameplay aspects of their games just aren't that appealing on their own.
Neverwinter Nights: I enjoyed this game when I first played it. It really did feel like D&D coming to life. It was fun to play and the story wasn't half bad either. But, after I knew the story, I couldn't really do the game again because all of the awe had left after the first playthrough. Still, one of my favorite RPGs.
Jade Empire: I couldn't do it. I tried it on PC and the combat was choppy and weird. The story didn't grip me either. You learn very early on in the game that the world is going to end and you are its last and only hope so that completely doused my enthusiasm.
Mass Effect: Another game that wasn't bad the first time through. I thoroughly enjoyed gunning down opponents and setting up my companions at key firing positions. What I didn't like was being mislead into extra mission objectives and Male Shepards voice actor eventually started to wear on my ears. Good game but stripped of its story elements it became just an interesting shooter with special abilities. Too much talking and not enough action, but thats a personal gripe.
Dragon Age: Origins: I am never playing that game again. I still have no idea why it gets so much praise because something about it just bothers me. The tactical gameplay isn't that bad but there wasn't enough of it to counteract the enormous deluge of text and voice over. I hated the majority of my companions for different reasons and it bothered me that I had to depend on them and, worse, spent most of my time trying to keep them happy so they wouldn't leave when I needed them most. Finally, the "dark" and gritty world Dragon Age was going for came off as ridiculous to me. It was like they were trying so hard to be serious about how messed up the Dragon age world is with things like blatant amounts of racism, death and dark irony but there was so much of this "reality" that it turned right around and started becoming unrealistic. Overall, the game could have been improved with a little less conversation and a little more action.
I wish Black Isle and Troika were still around to develop RPGs. Those were the days.
