Chairman Yang said:
I didn't mean to imply that. Sorry if it came across that way. I just have trouble figuring out what people see in the game, because as far as I can tell everything it does has been done better in older games.
Fair enough, sorry for jumping on you. EDIT: I see in it:
-Good (for Bioware) combat
-A cool/intriguing setting
-Interesting party members (most of them)
-A fairly interesting villain (I'd say second to Jon Irenicus in 'not being a reasonless loon' terms. And even he had lines like "All I want is REVENGE! AND...I...WILL...HAVE...IT!" and wanted to become a god...)
-Good graphics
-Cool looking worlds
-Great dialog system.
-Awesome cutscenes/cinematic qualities
-Great music
-Decent plot
Well, this is kind of off the top of my head here but:
-Bioware has never had good combat. I've loved their games but even as far as BGII it wasn't great. It boiled down to 'click on enemy' or 'click on spell and then click on enemy.' The combat also had a lot of luck-based stuff. Many enemies had powers that were never explained or magically worked way better for them than for you. Some enemies had unexplained powers that could essentially make you lose the game instantly. See: Kangaxx the Demi-Lich (well, Imprisonment was explained, but the slayer immunity to it was never mentioned). Unless you knew far more than the game ever bothered to tell you, it became "Let's see if he uses his game-breaking ability this time. Oh, he did. Better reload." Kangaxx is pretty easy once you know what to do (as in, consult the internet or spend hours and hours of frustration), but the game was filled with these lame "You die instantly for no reason" encounters.
-MIND FLAYERS.
-"Save the Baby" vs "I'm a raving axe murderer." Bioware may have a bar for this now, but their choices were very much set up like this even in BGII. Sure, there were some cool middle-ground options, just like in their modern games. But, often, the choices were unquestionable good or sociopathic evil. It's hard for me to give specific examples here, because how the options are written is very important in this. Anyway, you often had the choice of saving someone or something or killing that same thing for money. But the rewards for doing evil things weren't as nice as the good path anyway, so you really got screwed there.
-As much as I like the characters of BGII, a lot of them didn't have much to say. It could get fairly lonely doing sidequests in chapter 6, as most of the 'popup' dialogs with your characters was over. Same problem in other Bioware games (except now they stand around in the ship with nothing to say).
-Frustrating romances. You could say something that was mysteriously the 'wrong' option; but this was not always made immediately clear by their reactions. Sometimes they'd get upset no matter what you said. Sometimes they'd not get upset no matter what you said. The way in which the romances were portioned out into 'popup' dialogs meant that it was easy to find yourself in a situation where you realise they haven't talked to you in three hours and you've long since screwed up your romance with no chance of reloading.
-You (I think it was, anyway) said something on this page about how paragon vs renegade means you have no choice but to complete the mission, which does not give you real options. There was no option to just say 'screw it' to the main quest in BGII either. Sure, you can argue personal motivation (which could be said in ME too) but what about rescuing Imoen? What if I just don't like her? Why is my character forced to do it? It is reasonable to assume that the main character is motivated to proceed with the main plot.
-The interface could be very unwieldy, particularly in spell casting (now, where is that one spell that my level 40 cleric/mage has?).
-The 'stronghold' system was half-baked and should've been left out. They had no effect on the outside world and had little benefit for you. While some were worthwhile on their own for the quests involved (D'Arnise Keep, Playhouse), others were a colossal waste of time. The thieves guild one had two very very very short quests and a repetitive dialog minigame.
-Which bring me to my next point, money was worthless. Bioware loves doing this for some reason.
-Also, there were several annoying oversights. One that always bugged me is that it is pretty much impossible to hold on to the thieves guild. You had to pay a quota every 5 days (after 10, you lose it). However, the ship to Brynnlaw alone takes like 7 days! And then you have to go through Brynnlaw, Spellhold and the Underdark to go pay your quota.
-Although not a problem for me, the character creation and advancement could be intimidating for some people. Many abilities or spells were poorly explained and it was not very clear what some of the other choices did either. It was very easy to create a really crappy character if you were a casual gamer.
-Hendak (pet peeve)
-Crom Faeyer. Stupid.
-Not a lot of the game was voice acted. Not a big thing and fair enough for the time, but it's there. Also, the voice sets for the main character were awful.
-Also, a lot of spells were absolutely worthless.
This is just 'steam of consciousness,' so this isn't a comprehensive list. Anyway, I am a huge fan of this game and it is hard for me to criticise, but honestly it isn't the be-all and end-all of gaming. I honestly don't think that Bioware has changed much over the years; merely the industry has changed around them and the rising technical complexity means they can't churn out quite as much content. I think that both ME and BGII have their flaws and their strengths, but for both I look past the flaws because I am so very impressed by the strengths.
Anyway, back to playing KOTOR.
