Poll: Who Do You Think is Best RPGs Between Bioware, Square Enix, and Bethesda?

[NickKuroshi0]

It really depeds on what RPG you wat to play:
A western RPG has to be Bioware since Bethesda makes it too black and white
JRPG would of course be Square Enix

However I cat really choose between Bioware or Square Enix since I have been playing both of the compaies games since I was little and have been a fan ever since.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

Dude it was a joke, don't take it too seriously now.

I do take it serious, Bethesda receive way too much praise for their "RPGs" that it's really worrying me where the whole RPG industry is going. People love Bethesda gmes so Bethesda keep making thier "RPGs" an we potential for greatness is lost.

Then the line between RPG and action/adventure is blurred and people start calling Bethesda games "true RPGs" and declare Bethesda the greatest, sometimes using a game that hasn't even ben freakin' released yet as an example.

Bethesda receive the praise they deserve and have earned from making great games that offer hours of fun and exploration, chances to find new and exciting things in a truly unique world. It's from that, that Bethesda receive their well earned praise. I have never seen anyone refer to a Bethesda game as a "true RPG".

If you're truly getting this worked up over an issue so small then I think you need to step back, take a break from the internet, go outside and do something relaxing to calm down a bit.

 

[AlternatePFG]

Dude it was a joke, don't take it too seriously now.

I do take it serious, Bethesda receive way too much praise for their "RPGs" that it's really worrying me where the whole RPG industry is going. People love Bethesda gmes so Bethesda keep making thier "RPGs" an we potential for greatness is lost.

Then the line between RPG and action/adventure is blurred and people start calling Bethesda games "true RPGs" and declare Bethesda the greatest, sometimes using a game that hasn't even ben freakin' released yet as an example.

I dunno, if you want to go after a developer that's blurring the lines between action games and RPG's I'd say it would be BioWare. I mean, at least Bethesda attempt to have a decent amount of choice as far as character building goes for example.

 

[HT_Black]

So it's a choice between decent writing and lackluster gameplay, decent gameplay and awful writing, or cutscenes.

Ya sure I can't pick Obsidian instead? I mean, if they actually worked, their games would be amazing.

 

[Zacharious-khan]

Square, Since both Bethesda has been making the same game over and over with except sometimes there's a nukes and sometimes there's dragons, and Bioware who's games consist of Meh, Meh, Meh Meh^2, Kotor which was good, and Baldurs gate which was pretty good. SquareEnix has been making sweet ass RPG's for 36 years. FF series, Dragon quest, Kingdom hearts, StarOcean, SquareEnix has years on the others and it shows.

 

[Wuggy]

...Skyrim....

I'll love Skyrim.

skyrim

but Skyrim takes the gold this year

Skyrim isn't out yet, it could be utter shit for all we know. You're basing your judgement on assumption and hype.

In my mind Bioware wins. For me personally, good characters, immersion and story are the most important things in a RPG. Bioware delivers all of those things satisfyingly.

Bethesda has done impressive things but I can't get immersed in their games for they are too unpolished and go to the "uncanny valley" territory. Also their stories aren't very good.

Square... well, JRPGs just aren't my thing.

We aren't basing our judgment on assumption and hype. We are basing it on the fact that oblivion was awesome, morrowind was awesome, the fallout series was awesome, and especially the fact that every single thing we have heard about skyrim, including the gameplay trailer. It's a pretty good bet that with those credentials, the games gonna be awesome.

As for not being immersed in bathesda games, I'm sorry. They're a great experience. Just one question: why are characters so important to you in an RPG? I ask because I generally prefer RPGs like oblivion where there is only one main character, where you make all the decisions. this ends up in there usually being very few characterized characters. Just trying to see why you dislike that style of game(seemingly).

I still don't see that as a valid reason to list out a not-yet-released game as a point towards a developer. The thing is that you have no way of actually knowing how the game is going to be. Sure you can make a fair estimate on various factors like previous track record and information given on the product, but it then again may or may not be accurate. I'm pretty sure Mass Effect 3 will be awesome but that didn't affect my decision here in any shape or form. (And just so you know, I'm pretty excited about Skyrim myself too but that's beside the point.)

The reason I feel characters to be important in an RPG is that, that makes the overall experience more interesting for me. I just happen to prioritize character development and interaction higher because that's what I prefer. So, this is all subjective on my part: it's about what I personally enjoy the most.

I don't actually dislike the Morrowind/Oblivion/FO3 style of RPG. I actually played the latter two a lot, and I did in fact have fun with them. I just didn't get immersed and fascinated the same way I did with Dragon Age or Mass Effect. Again, it's about my personal priorities and I can totally see why someone would prefer the "Bethesda shtick" over the "Bioware shtick".

 

[Zacharious-khan]

We aren't basing our judgment on assumption and hype. We are basing it on the fact that oblivion was awesome, morrowind was awesome, the fallout series was awesome, and especially the fact that every single thing we have heard about skyrim, including the gameplay trailer. It's a pretty good bet that with those credentials, the games gonna be awesome.

It looks like most people are basing their vote on the future potential of skyrim. Note all the posts with "how amazing skyrim will be". as for future potential based on past success, while i disagree about the elder scroll series being anygood to begin with just because a previous game was bad doenst mean the next game will be good, see RE2 - RE4 and similarly just because a past game was good doesnt mean a new game wont be shit, see RE4 - RE5

Also to the Escapist and Internet Explorer " I will never ever use IE9 for anything more than downloading firefox, please go back to the old captchas. Thank you"

 

[GrandmaFunk]

Square Enix make JRPG's. They don't allow you you to role-play. They don't count.

I don't think you know what "role play" means.

or rather, you've tacked on a very narrow definition based on what you like to get out of rpg games.

 

[ChupathingyX]

Bethesda receive the praise they deserve and have earned from making great games that offer hours of fun and exploration, chances to find new and exciting things in a truly unique world. It's from that, that Bethesda receive their well earned praise. I have never seen anyone refer to a Bethesda game as a "true RPG".

Look at the post above mine;

real RPG

I dunno, if you want to go after a developer that's blurring the lines between action games and RPG's I'd say it would be BioWare. I mean, at least Bethesda attempt to have a decent amount of choice as far as character building goes for example.

Well I haven't played any recent Bioware games so I can't really properly comment on that. However, I see much more people calling Bethesda games "true" or "real" RPGs much more often then I see people call games like Mass Effect and DO 2 true RPGs. In fact I see more people calling Bioware games not RPGs, however, the fact that barely anyone seems to say the same for Bethesda games is what confuses me.

 

[Madkipz]

Why the competition. Fallout 3 is so significantly different from Dragon age and dragon age is so significantly different from any Jrpg made by square enix that i cannot vote with 100% confidence.

if i had to pick i would say my favourite game atm is persona 4 (published by Square enix but made by Atlus) but i really do hate turn based and grinding games so i end up picking Bethestra.

After dragon age 2 Bioware gets no cake. No cake at all. FOREVEEEEEEEEEEEEEER

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

Bethesda receive the praise they deserve and have earned from making great games that offer hours of fun and exploration, chances to find new and exciting things in a truly unique world. It's from that, that Bethesda receive their well earned praise. I have never seen anyone refer to a Bethesda game as a "true RPG".

Look at the post above mine;

real RPG

I dunno, if you want to go after a developer that's blurring the lines between action games and RPG's I'd say it would be BioWare. I mean, at least Bethesda attempt to have a decent amount of choice as far as character building goes for example.

Well I haven't played any recent Bioware games so I can't really properly comment on that. However, I see much more people calling Bethesda games "true" or "real" RPGs much more often then I see people call games like Mass Effect and DO 2 true RPGs. In fact I see more people calling Bioware games not RPGs, however, the fact that barely anyone seems to say the same for Bethesda games is what confuses me.

To be honest, I couldn't really care. If a game has all the core gameplay elements and creativity of an RPG then it's an RPG, whether it's what you consider a "true RPG" or not.

 

[ninja51]

Bioware is coasting off of their past successes. With their new management they have been making honestly pretty crap games when compared even with Dragon Age: Origins. Less focus on story, more predictable steriotypical characters, less decisions, more simplicity, and worse gameplay.

Bioware is not good at making a good action game, they used to be fantastic at making a great RPG game, because they've taken a big new shift towards making action games with RPG elements, their status has deminished quite a bit. Bethesda on the other hand has consistantly made fantastic open world RPGs.

They arnt as good with characters as Bioware, but the core RPG gameplay is far superior when stacked up against Biowares newer products.

 

[MoD1212]

Only Square being the only JRPG company on that list seems a little unfair in my book, but regardless my vote is with Square, they make classics and I personally enjoyed playing XII and since i haven't played XII yet and don't play mmo's so they still haven't fucked up anything in my eyes yet.

but yea i feel the majority of escapist don't like JRPG's so its a lopsided poll imo.

btw if the only square games you played at VII and older i highly suggest give IV, VI, and chrono tigger a spin if you can cause those are the best games that square has made

 

[TornadoFive]

Square Enix make JRPG's. They don't allow you you to role-play. They don't count.

I don't think you know what "role play" means.

or rather, you've tacked on a very narrow definition based on what you like to get out of rpg games.

All right, fair enough, I was a little heavy-handed with my explanation. Allow me to elaborate.

To me, an RPG is a game where you have some input into your character. Some games have more than others, some games focus on certain aspects of your character. But Square Enix don't really allow you to do this. You play as the character the game gives you, going where the game tells you to, making the choices the game tells you to. There's no interaction from the player, apart from the combat and movement.

Yahyzee tackled this topic in one of hisExtra Punctuation's. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/7038-Extra-Punctuation-Role-Playing-Games] It doesn't go very indepth, but it shows the main idea I'm trying to get across. In almost every game, you play a role. That doesn't make every game a role-playing game.

That's the point I was trying to get across. The games that SE don't really allow me to role-play. So they don't feel like RPG's.

 

[Dr. wonderful]

...


Oh shit, I can't actually answer this!

They all good andI fell as though you're making me choose a child.

 

[Nulmas]

So it's a choice between decent writing and lackluster gameplay, decent gameplay and awful writing, or cutscenes.

Ya sure I can't pick Obsidian instead? I mean, if they actually worked, their games would be amazing.

This. Well, both Obsidian and the now defunct Troika.

Man, if these guys had good QA, they would be the rulers of the world of RPGs.

Troika was better, though. Even being buggy as hell, I loved Vampire and Arcanum.

 

[mp123]

Bioware wins me over due to their exceptional writing. The characters Bioware creates are well developed and dimensional. While Bethesda has great open area for exploration, they still don't have the quality of writing that Bioware does. That said, I still have exceptional respect for Bethesda. If only you could combine Bioware and Bethesda, then you would have the ultimate game.

 

[maturin]

Square Enix makes JRPG's. I do not like JRPG's. For me it's a toss-up between the remaining two. But I'll pick Bioware because Mass Effect was one of the best games I'd ever played.

Heyheyheyhey. There's nothing wrong with JRPGs! What makes a game bad simply because of its country of origin. No, you don't like Square Enix because of... well, I'll let the Great Spoony One explain:

FF10 is "one of the worst, most annoying games I ever played in my goddamn life. The story is fucking wretched, the characters are vapid, irritating dill-holes, the art and costume design are ridiculous to the point of weeping hilarity, and the plot's got holes in it you could drive a shoe-puff through. And it also won a shit-ton of awards from virtually every gaming website and magazine on the planet and is one of the best-selling, most highly-reviewed RPGs of all time. So of course, because I live on a planet full of mouth-breathing butt-whistlers who wouldn't know a good RPG plot if it dick-whipped them in the goddamn eye, Square Enix granted your wish, and made a sequel."

While Bethesda has great open area for exploration, they still don't have the quality of writing that Bioware does.

In terms of storytelling and dialog, that is mostly true. However, in its past Bethesda had a few amazing writers whose work remained mostly in the background, often overlooked by most players. It wasn't good writing in the Bioware sense, it was just groundbreaking, mindbending, enormously creative fantasy gold. And it came together to create some of the most interesting and original lore in any 'verse.

And really, Bioware's writing style more recently just puts it in the same entertainment category as drama TV shows, imho. All that work goes into creating a comparison with TV and movies, in which the likes of Mass Effect becomes merely competent. While Mass Effect may be the best-written videogame ever made in your opinion, at the same time it could be an average HBO miniseries. Only average. I think this is because in trying to do videogame storytelling well, they've abandoned all the narrative tricks that are unique to videogame storytelling. Purely as a gaming experience, Half-Life 2 and the episodes have better storytelling by far.

 

[jpoon]

Bethesda for me.

 

[Issurru]

Pretty simple which one of these companies do you think makes the best RPGs in your opinion?

Bathesda. way bathesda. not even a contest bathesda. Morrowind, oblivion, skyrim. Hell, bioware is barely even making RPGs anymore tbh. Dragon Age 2 is almost not an RPG, it's a straight action game, and Mass Effect 2 is worse by leagues. good games, but not good RPGs.

I will counter your point with Kotor, and also the fact that oblivion is just as action oriented as dragon age 2 (but to be fair I don't like either of them) and also skyrim seems to be going the same direction as oblivion. Not to say the game sucks (I have high hopes and I'm going to end up getting it like I did oblivion and morrowind) but I wouldn't call it an rpg. But that's just my opinion on it. Also sorry if there are any typos or other mistakes, I'm typing this with my phone at work

OT: my vote goes with bioware, but not by much, both square and beth are damn close since they make good games but I just love kotor waaaaaay too much

Edit: How the hell did I forget about neverwinter nights?

Kotor doesn't counter 4 great games on it's own. and oblivion is not just as action oriented as dragon age 2. What I meant is that dragon age 2 has removed a bunch of it's RPG elements, making it just an action game. Oblivion has far more character customization and other RPG elements than Dragan age 2. Oblivion was a real RPG, and skryim is going to be just as much an RPG. what do you mean when you say that oblivion isn't a real RPG? this confuses me.

I can't possibly think that Oblivion is a REAL RPG, when I say RPG i'm talking D&D style. What it boils down to in both cases is how or what do I want to kill things with more? But an RPG (to me at least) isn't about a huge sandbox of a world (yes it's nice) But I felt that oblivion's world had barely any substance to it where as Bioware has ridiculous amounts of detail put into their worlds with all the codex's and that sort of stuff.

I would also like to bring to attention how horrible the immersion is in Oblivion (guards know where I am no matter what, all the guilds get along hunky dory, oh and being able to kill this "all powerful wizard" that has the ENTIRE mages guild scared with a motherfucking rusty dagger. Like what the hell?), it seemed like Beth only had 3 voice actors for the entirety of Cyrodil (including Patrick Stewart), and I can't forget the horrible dialog either.

Hell I even think the combat is more RPG in Dragon Age 2, mostly because in oblivion I can hold down the attack button to win whereas in Dragon Age I had to actually think about the actions I was taking so I didn't get my ass handed to me.

I like substance in my RPG's, which is something that Bethesda doesn't seem to do, at least nowhere as good as Bioware does. I want a good story with good voice acting and (if it has them) good supporting characters (I don't care what anyone says I liked Oghren, Alistair, and Anders (well the pre Dragon Age 2 Anders anyways)) Bethesda just doesn't have that in almost any way shape or form.

The way I look at it Dragon Age 2, AND Oblivion are steps backwards for both Bioware and Bethesda (as opposed to both Dragon Age: Origins, and Morrowind)I feel that they're taking most of the RPG elements that made their games great and just dumbing it down or "streamlining" it so that they can make as much money as possible (I at least blame EA for meddling with Bioware's ability to make a decent RPG but thats all just my personal opinion).

Oh and I even forgot Sonic: Dark Brotherhood for a good RPG that Bioware made

Edit: I also don't count Skyrim, seeing as how it's not even out yet, I could just as easily say the same about Mass Effect 3