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

[GrandmaFunk]

Had to go with Square based on the strength of it's classics and deeper library. Final Fantasy Tactics remains my all-time favourite RPG.

My experience with the other two is pretty limited, just couldn't get into ME and fallout3 was pretty great at first but i got really bored of it after a dozen hours.

I think ArenaNet should get some love in here as Guild Wars is the best RPG to come out in the last decade.

 

[Sevre]

Serious lack of Atlus there, come on guys, pull out your old PS2 and get Persona 4 for 10 quid off Amazon and you'll realise that nothing else compares.

But in this list I can't decide between Bethesda and Squeenix for Oblivion and Chrono Trigger respectively.

 

[barash]

Bioware is all about 'the illusion of choice' now because they think this generation of gamers are to dumbass to notice the difference.

i agree on one part here, but i am curious how much of this is the fact that they work for the evil taskmasters at EA.

ME and DA:O were much more inline with bioware releases. they were rich and had complexities to them.

While the sequels essentially bastardised both franchises.

also interestingly that before EA became their publisher they had only ever made 1 sequel to a property they had created(Being Baldur's gate 2) any other games that contained sequels normally were handled by obsidian.

though there downfall in terms of quality can also be associated with the much larger and more casual playerbase on the consoles. Which tend to demand a action based experience over anything else.

Aye, I've pondered on those points as well, but in the end it doesn't really matter. The old Bioware is no more, and the new Bioware seems intent to change their business-plan from making well-made storydriven RPG's to making shit-that's-just-a-notch-above-shovelware (in comparison to their old stuff ofc! settle down fanbois..) and cashing in on that to appease their new gargatuan overlords.

 

[Fledge]

BALDUR'S GATE, PEOPLE, BALDUR'S GATE.

 

[Roganzar]

Five years ago I would have said Square Enix, but now I have to go with Bioware.

 

[ChupathingyX]

You did play KOTOR 2, right? All Obsidian does is takes another franchise and uses it. KOTOR was from Bioware, Fallout is owned by Bethesda now. Obsidian does not make original games, therefore, they do not deserve your admiration. Go play DA:O, ME 1 & 2. Then tell us that Obsidian is great.

Oh...oh my god.

You have no idea how ignorant that post was...wow, just wow.

 

[ChupathingyX]

Feel free to suggest a modern RPG that was better. Keep in mind that I do not play JRPG's.

Fallout: New Vegas, it actually lets you choose who you want to fight for, that automatically makes it a better RPG (that's: role playing game) than Oblivion.

 

[Navvan]

This was actually kinda difficult for me to choose. Square has made one of my favorite games of all time, FF Tactics, but most of what they make turns out to be mediocre or bad. So that takes square out of the race I suppose.

Bioware and Bethesda both make great games, but I feel what makes the Fallout/Elder Scroll games so great falls more into the category of sandbox than actual RPG.

Bioware Wins.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Tough call.

The only Bethesda game I really liked was Oblivion.

I adored Bioware's work pre-ME2 and DA2 a lot, though.

And I like a fuck-ton of Square Enix stuff, but most of them are published, not developed.

So...Bioware?

 

[pandorum]

Errrr...Obsidian.

I've never played a Square Enix RPG or a Bioware RPG.

And Bethesda "RPGs" barely have any choice in them, at least the last two really dropped the ball, and I'm still on the fence about Skyrim.

+1. Obsidian beats all of those choices. Although I'm not sure which is worse, Dungeon Siege 3 or Dragon Age 2...

obsidian? really? bioware is a whole league above obsidian only bethesda can compete with bioware only because of the elder scrolls franchise you must have a selective memory when it comes to obsidian they ruin franchises its what they do they are the treyarch of RPGs. 1.Neverwinter Nights 2 - The original Neverwinter Nights was made by Bioware, and was a fun, deep, and immersive game, held together with an interesting story. The sequel, made by Obsidian, was a glitchly nightmare with a story that ended by dying halfway through, with no interesting climax or resolution.2. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2 - Another sequel to a bioware game, with the same story, the original game was great, and the sequel, made by Obsidian, had a story that died and buried itself halfway through. now anyone who loved the first star wars by bioware will never forgive obsidian they carnt make games without them being glitchly even through they have longer devolpment times and an enigne that was smoothed out at the end of the first games life. that is a fact.

 

[Da Orky Man]

Bethesda or Bioware... Two of my favourite game companies. I'm going to have to go with Bioware, simply because I'd prefer to play Mass Effect3 than Skyrim.

 

[PurePareidolia]

I'm going to have to go with Bethesda. It was close and Bioware had them beat in terms of story for a while, but after ME2, they lost serious points in that regard.

 

[Avalanche91]

Square Enix created Tidus and Squall....so not them
I always end up wandering aimlessly and stealing shit in Fallout and Elder Scrolls....
Yeah, Bioware gets my vote

 

[TheLastSamurai14]

I'm saying Squeenix because I'm enjoying Drakenguard way too much right now to vote for anything else.

Oh my god another person who loves Drakengard. I love you so much.

OT: Squeenix. The Final Fantasy series is in my top 3 series of all time.

 

[ZeroMachine]

BioWare gave me my favorite current gen game, Dragon Age: Origins.

Square gave me my favorite old-school game, Chrono Trigger.

But BioWare wins on account of the fact that I want to work for them as a writer.

Second place, therefore, obviously goes to... Bethesda.

Yeah, I love Chrono Trigger, but to date it's one of the very very few Square/Squeenix games I like. I think most of them are boring as hell. Skyrim looks like the opposite of boring as hell.

Which... would... be fun as heaven... I guess? Huh...

 

[violent_quiche]

Love Biowares stories and characters and the ME series is a favourite, but I regard them as action adventure with variable story elements rather than full blown rpg's. Loved Fallout, Oblivion not so much, but they were far more detailed and open. It was very easy to disappear off the beaten track, stay there and expand your character as you go.

 

[4173]

Obsidian.



If I had to choose 1 of the others. Bioware by default.

 

[AlternatePFG]

Errrr...Obsidian.

I've never played a Square Enix RPG or a Bioware RPG.

And Bethesda "RPGs" barely have any choice in them, at least the last two really dropped the ball, and I'm still on the fence about Skyrim.

+1. Obsidian beats all of those choices. Although I'm not sure which is worse, Dungeon Siege 3 or Dragon Age 2...

obsidian? really? bioware is a whole league above obsidian only bethesda can compete with bioware only because of the elder scrolls franchise you must have a selective memory when it comes to obsidian they ruin franchises its what they do they are the treyarch of RPGs. 1.Neverwinter Nights 2 - The original Neverwinter Nights was made by Bioware, and was a fun, deep, and immersive game, held together with an interesting story. The sequel, made by Obsidian, was a glitchly nightmare with a story that ended by dying halfway through, with no interesting climax or resolution.2. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2 - Another sequel to a bioware game, with the same story, the original game was great, and the sequel, made by Obsidian, had a story that died and buried itself halfway through. now anyone who loved the first star wars by bioware will never forgive obsidian they carnt make games without them being glitchly even through they have longer devolpment times and an enigne that was smoothed out at the end of the first games life. that is a fact.

Opinions are funny things aren't they?

Obviously you weren't paying attention to the story in KOTOR 2 because it certainly didn't die halfway through. The story in KOTOR 2 was much better than the first KOTOR. The first KOTOR's storyline was good but it wasn't anything really special, just a well done Star Wars plot. I'd still say they are on equal footing simply because KOTOR 2 wasn't finished and the original was much more polished. And no they didn't have a longer development time, they had 13 months to make a game. 13 months is a ridiculously short amount of time to expect someone to develop a game.

I don't know if you remember the main campaign in the original NWN but it was dull, filled with cliche after cliche and was only an afterthought compared to the mutliplayer. While NWN2 was filled to the brim with cliche, they managed to at least make it somewhat interesting. Not to mention Mask of the Betrayer was an amazing expansion that had dialogue and story comparable to Planescape: Torment.

Seriously, it just sounds like you are dismissing them because they've made rather buggy sequels. Yeah, they are buggy but I'd still say they are at the very least just as good as if not better than the previous games.

 

[Farther than stars]

Tough question... Course Square Enix falls right off the bat, but the other two... Which is better; Mass Effect or Fallout 3? Then again, if we take a look at medevil RPGs it's Dragon Age vs. Oblivion, so that's really no contest. I guess over all Bioware wins then. Huh... Not so tough after all.