Dev Diary #1 - The Vision for Tyranny

[AvatarOfKhaine]

No DA2's problem was in a lot of things, the new aestetics (spiky hair and unrealsitic armours yay), the "darker" story (really it was just dumber), in fact gameplay was one of the few things that in many ways were better, DA:O had too many OP builds, though I did miss having options and equipment in DA2.
In many ways DA2 was like ME2 a grab for mainstream appeal for a franchise which had been great in it's niche, the diffrence is ME2 worked, DA2 didn't.
DA:O was a 3D Baldurs gate, DA2 was a fantasy mass effect 2 (and mass effect 2 was a third person shooter based sequel to a game that was a RPG).

I disagree, my main DA2 problem was endless combat in waves, to me OP builds matter little in a single player game because you've chosen to play that way. The one thing that I wish more games had at least looked at was Friendship/Rivalry, something that was hampered due to different Bioware writers with some viewing rivalry as being hostile and so viewing it as agreeing to disagree.


On topic though, is there a reason the Tyranny dev diaries are off-site of Paradox Plaza?

 

[illathid]

1 was admittedly clunk as hell, but the setting is good, and the choices are often interesting.

Bah, if I wanted to play around in gritty fantasy version of Europe, I'd play WFRP. As for choices, I disagree. I think choices are interesting if you can relate to the characters' personalities. Unfortunately Geralt and co have the personalities of mayonnaise.

lol, and which are the best rpg series in recent memory?
fallout? dragon age?

No the best CRPG released in recent memory is Pillars of Eternity. Torment will likely give it a run for its money but it isn't out yet.

 

[andry18]

Bah, if I wanted to play around in gritty fantasy version of Europe, I'd play WFRP. As for choices, I disagree. I think choices are interesting if you can relate to the characters' personalities. Unfortunately Geralt and co have the personalities of mayonnaise.

That's just your opinion, not an objective criticism

No the best CRPG released in recent memory is Pillars of Eternity. Torment will likely give it a run for its money but it isn't out yet.

PoE is not a series, it's a single game
better luck next time, maybe

 

[illathid]

That's just your opinion, not an objective criticism

PoE is not a series, it's a single game
better luck next time, maybe

Oh boo hoo. Did I hurt your feelings because I called you albino crush boring?

And PoE absolutely is a series. The other parts just haven't been finished.

 

[ruzen]

Liked the Diary It was very open.
Things I loved:

"For Tyranny, we wanted to play with that concept. Does the player need to start off weak in order to feel more powerful later in the game? We decided to make the player important from the very beginning of the game, from the very first interaction with an NPC."
"I am disappointed when I play games where the “evil” choice requires me to act like a psychopath, murdering everyone in front of me."

 

[andry18]

Oh boo hoo. Did I hurt your feelings because I called you albino crush boring?

You can say whatever you want, your opinion has no importance at all to me. Actually I just don't care
But facts and opinions are 2 separate and different things

And PoE absolutely is a series. The other parts just haven't been finished.

I might not be very good in english, but that makes it a single game, not a series
It will become a series if and when Obsidian will release PoE 2, 3, 4 and so on (it doesn't sound difficult to understant, right?)

Liked the Diary It was very open.
Things I loved:

"For Tyranny, we wanted to play with that concept. Does the player need to start off weak in order to feel more powerful later in the game? We decided to make the player important from the very beginning of the game, from the very first interaction with an NPC."
"I am disappointed when I play games where the “evil” choice requires me to act like a psychopath, murdering everyone in front of me."

yep, that's definitely a part that makes this game much more interesting

 

[racionador]

EVERY damn RPG today always promise that my decisions will be important, but what i see is exact the same thing, theres one ending and a epilogue with some arts and texts just saying that many of my decisions only change little stupid things like """some people get happy because my hero give them ice cream'''.

sorry its because i never really play a game wheres i feel that the world really cares for what i do.

 

[stratigo]

Bah, if I wanted to play around in gritty fantasy version of Europe, I'd play WFRP. As for choices, I disagree. I think choices are interesting if you can relate to the characters' personalities. Unfortunately Geralt and co have the personalities of mayonnaise.



No the best CRPG released in recent memory is Pillars of Eternity. Torment will likely give it a run for its money but it isn't out yet.

The witcher 3 is one of he best RPGs made in gaming history. Like, objectively so.

I suspect your issue is you can't egage with the semi action based combat of the game, which, honestly, isn't what the game does best, so I don't blame you. Story wise, very VERY few games come close, and the voice acting was indeed key to the experience, the emotion conveyed sells the story. Also it has actual choices that effect game states.

If you don't like how the game plays or how the gameworld is presented (because its not ISO), then fine, but you can't deny the quality of the writing.

 

[illathid]

The witcher 3 is one of he best RPGs made in gaming history. Like, objectively so.

I suspect your issue is you can't egage with the semi action based combat of the game, which, honestly, isn't what the game does best, so I don't blame you. Story wise, very VERY few games come close, and the voice acting was indeed key to the experience, the emotion conveyed sells the story. Also it has actual choices that effect game states.

If you don't like how the game plays or how the gameworld is presented (because its not ISO), then fine, but you can't deny the quality of the writing.

I can entirely fault the writing. Story was terrible. The whole Witcher universe is made up of terrible writing (which makes sense given what a terrible hack Andrzej Sapkowski is). Like all Witcher games, I tried playing it but quit after bashing my head into a wall because of how awful the story is a few hours in.

And objectively the best RPG in history is either Baldur's Gate 2 or Planescape: Torment. Runners up, in no particular order, are the Mask of the Betrayer, Fallout 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Deus Ex, Alpha Protocol, Arcanum, Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2, and Mass Effect 1. All of these games have writing that is leaps and bounds better than anything written for the Witcher.

 

[ruzen]

People just cant get rid of their childhood nostalgia memories. You can never argue with a grognard, Stratigo. Just let it go.

 

[TheDungen]

People just cant get rid of their childhood nostalgia memories. You can never argue with a grognard, Stratigo. Just let it go.

Or feeling are inherently subjective. But hey what do I know.

 

[Hopejoy]

I can entirely fault the writing. Story was terrible. The whole Witcher universe is made up of terrible writing (which makes sense given what a terrible hack Andrzej Sapkowski is). Like all Witcher games, I tried playing it but quit after bashing my head into a wall because of how awful the story is a few hours in.

And objectively the best RPG in history is either Baldur's Gate 2 or Planescape: Torment. Runners up, in no particular order, are the Mask of the Betrayer, Fallout 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Deus Ex, Alpha Protocol, Arcanum, Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2, and Mass Effect 1. All of these games have writing that is leaps and bounds better than anything written for the Witcher.

I'd honestly rate Baldurs's gate in general as one of the worst rpgs of all time. Planescape torment was all in all the best. Mask of the betrayer had tons of issues but was in general great. Fallout 2 was amazing. New vegas was pretty average. Deus ex was one of the best games in the last decade. Alpha protocol was terrible. Arcanum was excellent. KOTOR was in general one of the worst RPGs in the last 20 years and mass effect one was about a 7/10.

All in all I rate your taste is excellent with some shortcomings.

 

[illathid]

Deus Ex was released in 2000, so not sure how it's one of the best games in past decade. And Alpha protocol has has some of the best reactivity I've ever seen in an RPG.

 

[Ezumiyr]

If you'd paid attention to the point rather than your own bias, you would see I meant it in the sense that the finale of DA2 was able to be engaging due to only 2 divulging paths. This meant they didn't have to think about alternate path choices, but could focus on making the consequences of that final choice (Mage vs Templar) realistic and engaging as you fight to the Gallows and the Circle Tower.

DA2's problems in my mind were purely gameplay, they built up from the start that one wo/man could not make the factions reconcile all by herself and that you only were able to pick up the cards after they fell and choose how they fall beforehand.

No DA2's problem was in a lot of things, the new aestetics (spiky hair and unrealsitic armours yay), the "darker" story (really it was just dumber), in fact gameplay was one of the few things that in many ways were better, DA:O had too many OP builds, though I did miss having options and equipment in DA2.
In many ways DA2 was like ME2 a grab for mainstream appeal for a franchise which had been great in it's niche, the diffrence is ME2 worked, DA2 didn't.
DA:O was a 3D Baldurs gate, DA2 was a fantasy mass effect 2 (and mass effect 2 was a third person shooter based sequel to a game that was a RPG).

DA2 main issue is design. The game had a very poor level design, character design was quite bland and inadequate, world design never escape the "nice premise" stage...
The design is like the armature of the game. If it is failed, then the game cannot be good. DA2 was not completely bad (the way they tell the story is something I rarely saw in a RPG, the combat system and animations were quite cool, the UI was intuitive), and I even prefered it to DAI MMO-style gameplay, but the prototype-like design ruined the game for many players, and that's understandable.

The witcher 3 is one of he best RPGs made in gaming history. Like, objectively so.

I suspect your issue is you can't egage with the semi action based combat of the game, which, honestly, isn't what the game does best, so I don't blame you. Story wise, very VERY few games come close, and the voice acting was indeed key to the experience, the emotion conveyed sells the story. Also it has actual choices that effect game states.

If you don't like how the game plays or how the gameworld is presented (because its not ISO), then fine, but you can't deny the quality of the writing.

RPGs can't be considered as "best" until some time has passed. Some RPGs made good impression when they were released, but rapidly sank into the limbo of oblivion. The reverse is also true : some games are quite unremarkable but eventually become reference and leave a strong influence on the genre.

I think that the Witcher 3 may remain in the memories for some time, but I don't think it will leave its mark. The story and the setting are too conventional. It's a game made with the best that the RPG genre has to offer : many quests to do, many fights, many characters, cool music and all, but in the end, it's like a perfect D&D grand campaign, nothing more than the pinnacle of classicism.
The Witcher 3 left me an impression quite similar to Age of Amalur : Reckoning. Those are very well done games, and they are quite engaging, with their own lore and all, but I'll probably never play them again, and I only played them once.

If we consider that Skyrim or Neverwinter Nights are some of the best RPGs made in gaming history, then yes, TW3 is also one of them. But as much as I enjoyed them I prefer to consider that games like Dark Souls, Chrono Trigger, Morrowind, Baldur's Gate 2 or KOTOR deserve the title of "best RPGs ever".

 

[stratigo]

DA2 main issue is design. The game had a very poor level design, character design was quite bland and inadequate, world design never escape the "nice premise" stage...
The design is like the armature of the game. If it is failed, then the game cannot be good. DA2 was not completely bad (the way they tell the story is something I rarely saw in a RPG, the combat system and animations were quite cool, the UI was intuitive), and I even prefered it to DAI MMO-style gameplay, but the prototype-like design ruined the game for many players, and that's understandable.



RPGs can't be considered as "best" until some time has passed. Some RPGs made good impression when they were released, but rapidly sank into the limbo of oblivion. The reverse is also true : some games are quite unremarkable but eventually become reference and leave a strong influence on the genre.

I think that the Witcher 3 may remain in the memories for some time, but I don't think it will leave its mark. The story and the setting are too conventional. It's a game made with the best that the RPG genre has to offer : many quests to do, many fights, many characters, cool music and all, but in the end, it's like a perfect D&D grand campaign, nothing more than the pinnacle of classicism.
The Witcher 3 left me an impression quite similar to Age of Amalur : Reckoning. Those are very well done games, and they are quite engaging, with their own lore and all, but I'll probably never play them again, and I only played them once.

If we consider that Skyrim or Neverwinter Nights are some of the best RPGs made in gaming history, then yes, TW3 is also one of them. But as much as I enjoyed them I prefer to consider that games like Dark Souls, Chrono Trigger, Morrowind, Baldur's Gate 2 or KOTOR deserve the title of "best RPGs ever".

The witcher 3's merits are on its story and writing.

And also that you can do massive open world with such a good story and production without bankrupting yourself. I mean, there's no question that a game like dark souls plays better. Witcher 3 feels very stripped down DS in its combat. I'm not a huge fan of DS combat, so I don't mind, but I can see the virtues of what DS does,

I can entirely fault the writing. Story was terrible. The whole Witcher universe is made up of terrible writing (which makes sense given what a terrible hack Andrzej Sapkowski is). Like all Witcher games, I tried playing it but quit after bashing my head into a wall because of how awful the story is a few hours in.

And objectively the best RPG in history is either Baldur's Gate 2 or Planescape: Torment. Runners up, in no particular order, are the Mask of the Betrayer, Fallout 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Deus Ex, Alpha Protocol, Arcanum, Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2, and Mass Effect 1. All of these games have writing that is leaps and bounds better than anything written for the Witcher.

Not... really. Don't get me wrong most of those games have fairly good stories. But... a number of them lack emotional weight, fumble heavily in presentation, and I think you are conflating setting with story for more than a few.

The witcher books are, of course, very pulpy. I don't find them (the ones translated into english at least) to be bad, but they aren't high literature. The witcher 3 I think tells a better story then the books (that I have read so far), but you're going to have to sell why you think the story was so shit.

 

[illathid]

Not... really. Don't get me wrong most of those games have fairly good stories. But... a number of them lack emotional weight, fumble heavily in presentation, and I think you are conflating setting with story for more than a few.

The witcher books are, of course, very pulpy. I don't find them (the ones translated into english at least) to be bad, but they aren't high literature. The witcher 3 I think tells a better story then the books (that I have read so far), but you're going to have to sell why you think the story was so shit.

I don't have to sell anything. It's my opinion. Geralt is a dumb Elric knock off, the wild hunt itself has been better interpreted by others, character names sound like they're from some 12 year old's bad fan fiction, and whole thing is just an excuse for T&A.

 

[Revan7719]

I'd honestly rate Baldurs's gate in general as one of the worst rpgs of all time. Planescape torment was all in all the best. Mask of the betrayer had tons of issues but was in general great. Fallout 2 was amazing. New vegas was pretty average. Deus ex was one of the best games in the last decade. Alpha protocol was terrible. Arcanum was excellent. KOTOR was in general one of the worst RPGs in the last 20 years and mass effect one was about a 7/10.

All in all I rate your taste is excellent with some shortcomings.

How was Kotor one of the worst? It is one of the best rpg games i have ever played.

 

[JohnnyBeGoodNot]

I'm curious what gaming industries such as yourselves look for in Narrative Designers or writers in general because I'm studying in college to get involved in such things and it would be good to know what kind of work I should have to show for myself before I'm done.

 

[Mythox]

this game is vert promissing !!

 

[Hopejoy]

How was Kotor one of the worst? It is one of the best rpg games i have ever played.

The first one tended to be incredibly generic. It's big point of fame to me was the major plot twist but other then that there wasn't really any surprises. The maps tended to be very boring and there was only two or three characters worth listening to. I was exaggerating a bit when I said worst but it was more a average bioware game with one decent trick.

KOTOR two was better in some ways on those flaws but was majorly unfinished so basically went spiraling out of coherence at some point.