A lot of people on both extremes of this discussion don't realize that it is both story interaction and character building systems that make a whole RPG. It's on a spectrum like you describe, but the systems should enable storytelling, and the storytelling should enrich the systems. How I build my character should define what story I'm able to create, and the story itself should have the depth and nuance to allow the choices I made in creating my character to matter.
I had this argument time and again concerning Starfield. It's the least RPG RPG they've ever made, and some people would argue that it was actually the most RPG RPG they've ever made, and I was just astonished. Every character has the same amount of HP, and carry weight, and stamina, and deals the same amount of damage with their punches, and is equally smart and equally glib, and an equally capable pilot and mechanic. We are all playing the role of "John Starfield" and any deviation from this standard character is equally possible for all other versions of the character. You sit down at the table and hear that your friend chose the Chef background while you chose the Ronin, and discover that you both have the same amount of HP and Stamina and deal the same amount of damage with melee weapons, and that you can never be better at melee, as a space samurai, than your friend's take on space gordon ramsey. Your other friend sits down and says he's building a genius who has a bunch of points in engineering and research, but he heard you guys were having fun in melee combat. So he says he's going to invest three points in that skill too, and suddenly the space nerd is just as good at melee combat as the space samurai. These aren't RPG systems. These are just progression systems (a single progression system, actually). If the only role to play is the universally capable hero, then you aren't roleplaying, you are just playing. I'm really uninterested in Veilguard for several reasons, but primarily because I expect extremely shallow systems that don't facilitate roleplaying. Remains to be seen, I suppose, but I think it's a safe assumption.
@@calcifur i haven't seen how vg will handle classes, but classes weren't specifically my point. I've not seen any of the systems that will be in VG yet. Maybe it has plenty of RPG systems. But Bioware has historically been cutting RPG systems from their game for the last decade+, and I don't expect anything different here based on the clearly hack-n-slash style gameplay i've seen. Picking classes and having them play differently doesn't cement a game in RPG territory on its own, you pick classes which play differently in Deep Rock Galactic too, and it really can't be called an RPG.
100% I feel the same about fallout.. Fallout since 4 (including the show) feels very Disney. Style over substance with cringe corperate dialog and quippy jokes that almost never land
Marvel has destroyed the narrative styles of movies and games...thanx to their bockbuster. Nobody now cares abt their fanbase....all want "movies"& "games" for everyone family friendly..
Consider they making every pansexual and theres probably explicit scenes I don’t see this as being for kids. The art style may lend it self that way, but content might prove otherwise.
The weird thing is that AAA has watered down the RPG genre, yet at the same time, they have been putting RPG elements into games that previously didn't have them, such as Assassin's Creed. It seems like the industry thinks that complex RPG mechanics are to difficult for average normie gamers, but some simple basic RPG mechanics are seen as a draw, so their solution is to turn everything into babby's first RPG.
"Complaining about other Communists is one of the most important parts about being a Communist." -Rhetoric, Disco Elysium. Just replace Communist with DA fan lol, both sides are rather annoying about this whole thing. I'm not optimistic about this game, but I would like to see how it plays out, given this series is so close to my heart, since I was a kid. Does this feel like badly Written Fanfic so far? Yes. Did I feel the same about DAI when I first saw Trailers? Yes. Did I like DAI? Yes. Do I still miss Origins, and wish we could go back to what was? ....Yes. And i think that's how many feel, at this point.
Essentially you have a loud part of the fandom that hates if you have any criticism that, the infighting in not necessarily as its like talking a wall when any criticism is hit with "your not a real fan " or " you didn't play the games". My comment is just expressing that you can't exprress criticism without being shat on people
@@Teyrncrow My comment wasn't disputing what you were saying dude, it was saying both you guys have a right to feel how you feel without being essentially completely hand waved by the other side (there for, both extremes of this argument tend to be a bit annoying ((ps, that does not mean you, you seem fairly reasonable)). What I think deserves more criticism is Biowares intensely bad business practices as of late, and their seeming lack of soul. This does not feel like the unique fantasy series I grew up with, and all the workers who made it what it was (devs, writers, voice actors, programers) are all more or less gone. Bioware is a sock puppet being worn by EA like a sleeve. And it's sad that it's come to this, and I do agree that it's sad that they, as well as the newer fans, treat the "Old Guard" so to speak, with such contempt. You can criticize what you Love, and still love it. People just make it too personal I think.
I'm so tired of those boring 3 hit combo dodge 3 hit combo dodge special dodge 3 hit combo fighting system, I can understand studios not wanting to do turn based combat anymore but at least go all crazy fun and style like DMC/Bayoneta/Warriors instead of this repetitive Arkham/Souls lite mess.
I once said as a joke that half of the dragon age fandom would be perfectly happy if the game turned into a visual novel. Little did I know there are people who actually hold that view, as I got plenty of people informing me so in the replies. "What's wrong with that? Who are you to tell us what we can and can't enjoy?"
Add "dating sim" to that. Seen a decent amount of people in the fandom be willing to mod out the combat out of the older games, just so they can get to the smooching quicker.
Just look at the recent release of the Avatar (Airbender) live action series. The amount of times that the main characters walk around explaining things or stuff where something is really obvious but they still need to do something to make it even more obvious is down right pedantic. Why do I bring this up? Because that's what's happening in games as well, just like this game is shaping up to be; the assumption is that people are dumb and don't want to do something that's more involved or complex. Then BG3 comes out and people love it because they can finally use their brains again.
While having a system more like Mass Effect is very disappointing I am glad the game doesn't look like another Anthem at least The news could be worse considering the many interference's in development It is sad that we had to wait 10 years for this sequel And Talos knows how many years for Elders Scrolls VI
@@oldmanbanjo I think CRPGs will likely forever remain in the AA category. BG3 was popular because it had high budget cutscenes and it satisfied certain people's interest in dating simulators.
Exactly. A story with occasional fights is NOT necessarily an RPG. Doesn't mean it's a bad story OR a bad game... but a movie with occasional 3 button mashing combat is almost certainly NOT a CRPG. If that's what players and devs are *calling* an RPG, maybe they need to come up with a new term and stop coopting a name that is patently incorrect for the style of their work. That way, we might not have all this frustration, clashing and vitriol over a game description that doesn't match the original meaning. 🤷 Also, if a studio is relying of divisive/polarising arguments about their game and deliberately fuelling these feuds, it speaks more to the chops of their writing and development abilities than the style of their game. Why are they sparking arguments instead of promoting real enthusiasm for the real game content? Why are they TELLING us what we're seeing instead of showing us what the game's really like? It makes me feel like they're hiding portions and details from the game that they KNOW many customers won't like, but if they fan the peer pressure enough we'll stop noticing? I always worry when the only "hype" around a game is a manufactured "fan war"... which is exactly what Bioware are provoking with their "community panel" v's the "old-school fans".
It's not just the Mass Effect gameplay in a DA game, but the rampant DEI all over it, the story being lackluster (according to leaks and offical released plot) on top of Mass Effect gameplay in a DA game. I saw a comment that said "I've waited 10yrs for a funeral", and tbh yeah.
8:26 - Is there a reason why those 2 companions in the background are just standing there looking into the distance while that gnome character is killing the tentacle thingy? Like, is that intentional or did Larian just forget to give those characters reactions to the scene happening before them? It looks really weird and sloppy.
Inquisition is one of the most content rich and expansive western RPGs ever made. It easily goes blow for blow with modern "masterpieces" such as BG3. I somehow doubt Veilguard will be able to follow.
Just because inquisition is full of content doesn’t mean that content is rich or quality. Most players hated the single player mmo overstuffed nature of inquisition’s side quests. Quality is better than quantity for side quests
Well let's just face the facts here if people are saying it's an RPG because its story rich and not because of the mechanics then by all means 100% of games are RPG including sports games with any kind of story. But as a whole, mechanics do matter in an RPG the more can you directly influence the character within the story does depict how much you mold your character throughout the game. It's a lot easier to build the rule set of an action/Hack n slash game with 5 paths to choose, as opposed to building a well-rounded ruleset for combat and deep diving into customizing abilities onto a character to make it your own when you step into that role and share how you built a character throughout the game with a friend and what they chose. What I'm getting at it is maybe they were pressured for time and had to crunch it into what they are releasing today, or appealing to the broader base of the youth today which is fine. Not saying I won't ever play Veil Guard I'm just saying it's not even in my top 10 choices to buy, based on what I've seen so far.
I'm a big Veilguard defender on many fronts but on this one I agree. What they have shown is very concerning. For example the reduction of party size is huge when you consider that all previous dragon age games work on a Tank, DPS, Crowd control and healer (apart from inq) system. You take one of those roles and you have to build your party with those roles in mind in order to overcome the combat encounters. That's all been thrown away for this game and instead the combat is more in line with ARPGs with more of a focus on your character. I don't imagine it will matter who you bring along as their roles seem to mostly just be taking part in combos. Also while they have said there are a lot of choices in the gameplay reveal we saw the main character make one choice that was ignored by the game and another that didn't seem to be at all meaningful. So that's a bit concerning and there was auto dialogue. Rook is always going to want to help the woman being stopped by Tevinter forces so you can't play as someone who wouldn't want to do that. That's been a thing since Inquisition and to an extent DA2 as well (there was auto dialogue but it used the personality system at least) but it's still a shame. I do think the faction background system is interesting. It gives you more choice over your backstory, 2 didn't have that other than being a mage or not and Inq only had racial backgrounds and they didn't affect much. Veilguard is closer to origins in that regard. So yeah I'm concerned about the combat systems mostly.
In general i agree with the concept behind this video.. however, I think when discussing dragon age in particular, one needs to contexualize a bit more. The reason I say this is because DA is made by BW. Well, bioware has been shifting from more "pure" RPGs, to narrative action RPGs with increasing focus on the action side for over 20 years now, and DAO is arguably one of their first attempts to go deeper into this trend, but it started even earlier with games like KOTOR and jade empire clearly showing the shifting studio priorities. From the latest reveals about veilguard I think we can see BW is trying to soooort of recapture some of the rpg fans with more intricate, customizable skill trees, including a full pause mode etc, but at the same time is pulling away from that by denying full party control and relying heavily on action by including active parries and such. It's gonna be interesting to see if the expanded skill trees are gonna be enough to satisfy the "systems" enjoyers, because i suspect this slight deepening is not gonna include out of combat agency at all, instead relying on the "mass effect" type of dialogue. I'm curious.. i will be playing but i don't really expect it to be very good 😅
why da looks like this now,because action gameplay is much friendly to console players and consoles have much larger playerbase than pc, thats all about.
Checkout my other video. But even there I hold back because, even with the release of the skill tree - we still don't know that much. It's more of an impression. I'll follow up when the game launches or when they release more.
Which is why the video isn't title "Is it even an action-rpg anymore" because that would be very stupid. Dragon Age WAS an RPG not an action RPG, and so I'm asking is it still AN RPG. Normally I ignore dumb comments but...my god.
It's so ironic people who like JRPGs keep complains about how western Rpgs have lost their role playing when every JRPG is just a turn based combat with a very linear narrative. Even Dragon age 2 was a better Role Playing game than any Dragon Quest
JRPGs are JRPGs, CRPGs are CRPGs. Like it or leave it. The decline I'm talking about has only effected CRPGs because, like you said, they're the only ones relevant to the question.
Good video but if I could add a caveat it would be that Japan, and most of S.E. Asia, are less inoculated against mobile microtransactions. In fact, in certain South Korean circles, there's no such thing as "pay to win" at least from the viewpoint of people who actively want more MTX baked into games with the common excuse being they see nothing wrong with converting real-life money and hours into game-time. See Thrones of Liberty and Korean fan backlash for not baking in even more MTX that allows them to gain advantages over their peers. This model has polluted the well so much so that rpg mechanics have also been muddled into various formats such as higher tier free to play games like Genshin Impact that thrives off notoriety and a vast SE. Asian market, and can subsidize new players with free content from the sheer amount of whales it has on its payroll. Then there's the bottom of the barrel mobile games that are "autoplayer" games that actively play the game for you. JRPG stats like mana, health, or levels are bloated to astronomical numbers based on how much the player has paid into the system. Indeed, each mechanic associated with oldschool, traditional JRPGs MUST feed back into a cashshop in these games. Skin sales for attractive women or men can occasionally cost upwards 20USD or the price of a small indie title. What's worse are gambling rolls baked into these systems that manipulate the inherent RNG nature behind RPGs to get people to buy more attempts to roll for a certain item, currency, lootbox, etc. A key strategic maneuver with these slot machine systems is to start the rolls low or make the player feel like they're being convenienced for their first few spins. A lot of GUIs must exhibit dark patterns to present these options as more palpable to the player in order to bait whales. These are games that take the JRPG concept of building and fostering strong character arcs in relation with the player character and use it as a way to form parasocial bonds with a player's favorite character in order to procure more money off related paid for content. I firmly believe that western demographics have, for all their faults, fostered a community of gamers that harshly react towards P2W systems more so than eastern demographics, which has effected advertisement and marketing campaigns. For the sake of argument, let's assume we're trying to sell a high quality JRPG product overseas. The same marketing campaign Larian Studios had, where they promised no MTX and a full-game for a one-time payment, would not work in eastern markets. If the feigned protests against Yakuza's predatory microtransactions by Capcom are any indicator, most people begrudgingly move on whilst mtx adherents parrot the same trite motto of trading real-life hours for in-game time.
Another example is Outriders Even though the story is linear & game was clunky at launch the class system was out of this world complared to what ive become accustomed to You really have freedom to completely change your play style & make it unique builds instead of the few predefined build options we usually get
Okay, what "RPG systems" does BG3 have that you think veilguard is lacking? Visible dice rolls? A narrator for things that aren't shown in detail? Or is it just how the combat is in general? I'm willing to bet money that if you were to list the things that make a game an RPG, the dragon age series would tick all of the boxes. You just don't like action combat.
That one is easy, choices. While BG3 allows you to be a literal Cleric of Lolth Drow, DA keeps blood magic out of the game because "that's not the type of hero we'd like our players to be"
@@lf717 yeah, and BG3 doesn't have anything even remotely as interesting as blood mage or arcane warrior or reaver or templar. A bunch of boring vanilla classes that only go to level 12. Saying that BG3 has choices because veilguard lacks a specific choice is ridiculous. Lol
@@ReaperCet They were interesting in Origins I agree, now the most interesting classes are "morally wrong and the protagonist of our game should inspire hope, no space for roleplaying as morally dubious characters, that's toxic". It's not one specific choice, the new DA blocks any type of roleplaying that isn't a boring boyscout as protagonist.
@@lf717 I don't think you can extrapolate all of that from there not being blood mage. Blood mage was always pretty contextual anyways and really intertwined with all of the mage oppression stuff from the first 2 games. The new game is in tervinter, where mages are in charge, the conditions for there being a "blood mage" just probably don't exist, storywise. I would just say.... Be a little open minded dude. Anything they add will be more interesting than those boring vanilla D&d classes from BG3.
Its wild cause if you look at Japan they went through the same things and tried to keep up with the whole Action elements. Just look at what FF has done the past 2 decades they are just getting back to RPG's with FF14 and FF7R. I think the success of the Darks Souls is what showed them they could still make RPGs they way they want.
Some JRPG titles are indeed shifting towards a more action oriented like you mentioned, but not as many as in the west. There are still a lot of JRPGs that keep the traditional turn-based system even on their recent titles like the Persona/Shin Megami Tensei series and the Dragon Quest series for example.
Triple A studios are very aware what their consumers want, but with DEI and Bridges and other stuff coming to light, I think it’s become very clear that they don’t care what we want.
It looks more cartoony than inquisition which is offsetting because god of war made their characters way more lifelike and you would think that with how well inquisition looked that veilguard would look better and more lifelike and it doesn’t. It looks more childish and Fortnite like. Dragon age is a more mature dark fantasy and deserves a more mature look to it.
Wtf is up with EVERYONE going for Overwatchs one jock since it was dethroned? Like holy shit, Killing floor 3 first now Dragon age. It gave me MASSIVE hero shooter vibes. So massive im confused.
I think the EA-ware just does not fully understand what made BG3 so successful. Looks like they think it was solely the romance, the sex scenes and the bear memes. And in the typical brain dead corporate decision making attempt they are trying to re-create this success with focus groups and the committee-approved "creative" choices. I am almost certain the game will mid at the very best because it will have exactly zero character and ideas. It will be a game for everyone that always turns out a game for no one. Literally a modern assassins creed game in the dragon age setting.
Dragon age origins did the RPG the best you could roleplay 4 different fucking races and different stories too all of them. But not the Human side. Without mods that is. Dragon age 2 still a good game but not really and RPG and DAI went further away from RPG.
Both sides are bloody obnoxious quite frankly, with some saying that DA has gone "Woke" (Oh no, the game series that let you romance moody elven twinks and lesbian bards has only just become "Woke", shucks) and is somehow ruined by the artstyle, even though all the games save for DAI were cartoony. And the other side saying that its going to be objectively better than every other installment because its new and has the woke elements the Chuds are hating on (even though they've been in every installment, it is nothing new) and anything they like is inherently bad because they are also bad. The issues is both sides are ignoring the worst things which are A. Bad Writing so far, and stripping the world of its visual and emotional character (Generic Fantasy looks for people, elves have once more reverted to slightly skinny humans, etc) B. A disrespect for the "Old Guard", both fan and worker. And C., What actually frustrates me the most, is that the company has laid off a ton of workers, union busting, and countless other things that show them as a corporate monster far removed from what it was, in both their intellectual and writing capacity and their moral, real world capacity. Bioware (The sock puppet of a once great company that EA now wear as a sleeve) is not Woke, in any sense good or bad. They are pandering. Pandering to what is popular at this moment. If leftist Ideology was not what is popular at this moment, then they would be dog whistling for right wingers, It is not about integrity, in either a fictious or political sense, but about how well they can take your money while scr*wing workers with the same hand.
Yeah, I've totally ignored the woke stuff. I don't see how it actually effect's the game mechanics at all. I'm also old enough to remember Bioware being called out for being Far Left back in 2007. That's always been their identity.
@@oldmanbanjo Exactly. In my own view, I'm glad they had those elements because it let a younger version of me explore myself in a way that no other media let me do at the time. I'm glad you're criticizing the game without bringing up the Woke stuff, because that is, in my opinion, the least of this game's issues. Its just not an RPG anymore, like you said...and that makes me sad, considering this series, perhaps above all others, is what sparked my creativity the most and given me a love for the Genre.
I don't think you understand the issue with Veilguard. It's not lesbian elves or romances. BG3 has plenty of that and no one was calling it woke (at least no one with a functioning brain). Because every character and event in BG3 organically fit in the narrative and the game world. In the Veilguard trailers however we have characters who are "diverse" and "inclusive" for the sole purpose of checking boxes and the dialogues that make the audience cringe. The presentation, the art design and the "quirky" dialogues all are beyond obnoxious. Where BG3 immerses you in the world and story the Veilguard just slaps you in the face with things that do not belong together. Not to mention, the lowest common denominator approach to every game mechanic that EA seems to have taken with this game.
So about number of party members you can finish games like Pathfinder KM/WotR, Pillars of Eternity1&2, BG2&3, Ice wind Dale 1&2 with a single character and in those game you can have full 6 man partys, so 2 party member only is not that big of a deal. Dragon Age games even Origin was never that complex, Origin try to emulate old school CRPG like BG 1 and 2 and Icewind dale 1 and 2 but without core rules those games had, so they made some house rules for first game tha was ok but nothing special, since DA2 we see they start to move to a new direction, and anyone who see DA2 and DAI and was like for DA4 they will come back to Origin system and combat style was kidding him self. We see screenshoot of Skill tree they look big with a lot of stuff so 3 ability plus ultimate and one more ability is not that bad, even in Pathfinder KM/WotR, Pillars 1&2.... you end up using 2-3 ability at most during mid to end game. I am happy that new DA game is coming i will wait for more gameplay, CC , and in deep skill tree show, i also want to try gameplay to see how it feel, and stuf like omg demons are gay they are purple like wtf since when color is gay ??? or about same sex that was in game since DAO nothing new, or they show black guy who care you can make your character look how you want, i don't care if people are white, black, yelow or red we are all the same, there are good and bad people among all colors. Btw sorry about my English, it is not my first language.
Can't really agree on the decline being just an assumption or decision by big studios. It is of course a combination of it with another and I'd argue a bigger problem; the fidelity problem. AAA just can't achieve the necessary graphical, sound and systematic quality even if they throw infinite money at the problem. They are bogged down by their bad pipelines and take ages to course correct. At this point I'd wager most of them are TOO big to course correct. They need to hit the iceberg and reorganize already facing a new direction. This is why studios like Larian and many indie developers can create things that while most of the time lower in overall fidelity (worse graphics, sound design, lack of va) excel in some specific element or elements and their smaller more specialized teams shorten the gap between them and AAA by getting better "surgically" while big studios fall behind. How does this account for the RPG elements? To put it simply. In the past a lot had to be conveyed through text or meta context (our own imagination) due to technical limitations. Now that most of those limitations are gone we expect to receive a product without certain shortcomings when it is made by the largest studios in the world, especially if the price is high or higher. So if players expect certain quality from certain elements when made by big studios and those studios just can't get those elements right due too the corpo-centralization what is the easier way? Not to have those elements at all. There are of course outliers but there aren't many Larians and to some degree CDPRs out there with the ability to sustain the growth of quality or consistently reach for new heights. As for Bioware. Everything under the sky (especially the combat) shows that this game is a rebuilt wreck of an online game from 2016 with a new single player coat of paint. It is a relic of a bygone era. An Anthem with clipped wings. The last hurrah of what was killed and stifled by players forcing AAA studios to listen and the success of indie games. Mark this as my debut as a prophet but I am certain that Veilguard will be extremely formulaic in all of it systems screaming ONLINE HUB BASED COOP LOOTER GAME with simple railroading corridor maps blocked by enemy groups or bosses. The only thing that might carry it above the surface of mediocrity could be the story though I am sure most of it will be bogged down by a quippy Marvelish writing. If the studio survives this game we can be sure that the penultimate game of this Hexalogy will be a much deeper RPG ala BG3 (not isometric, but similiar in depth). As it stand everything shown and not shown is in line with 10 years of development and even those few resets we heard about will still have been built on only half razed fundaments.
The fact they got varrics hair wrong should have been a sign to everyone(Ignoring the woke DEI stuff they added). For those who don't know varric is blonde. He doesn't have brown or black hair.
“White fat dudes who are nerds” and “ it looks like an marvel movie for kids” is very specific. Anyway, the trailers don’t look like marvel in any sense. At all. Far from looking kid friendly. The RPG in the game is very light though.
It also has to do with the fact gamers, people in general, themselves are dumbing down according to research. Social media and education system have a continued decline on the ability to pay attention for long periods and retain information with one, and simplified or outright bad logic like critical race theory making it worse. That is taken into account by some, but overall they know the casual audience will be comprised of these people and they don't like anything that has to do with strategy and tactics. So they dumb down big IP that was known for it in order to gain those sales, which still hasn't worked for them. If BG3 didn't prove them wrong, or at least the DEI in it wasn't enough to entirely deter those into CRPGs. The budget for BG3 would be big given it was a well funded Kickstarter and then went to pitch to a publisher and gained more money. I don't see how it wouldn't have succeeded given they had the money beforehand and could make the game as they went along. I don't think that's an ideal way to make a game, so I hope in that respect, it doesn't happen again considering they added and removed things later that had nothing to do with what backers asked for. Swinging dongs, bear sex, and limiting the character creation to be mostly diverse and less white because a dev got upset people were using defaults during early access build, specifically.
A lot of people on both extremes of this discussion don't realize that it is both story interaction and character building systems that make a whole RPG. It's on a spectrum like you describe, but the systems should enable storytelling, and the storytelling should enrich the systems. How I build my character should define what story I'm able to create, and the story itself should have the depth and nuance to allow the choices I made in creating my character to matter.
I had this argument time and again concerning Starfield. It's the least RPG RPG they've ever made, and some people would argue that it was actually the most RPG RPG they've ever made, and I was just astonished. Every character has the same amount of HP, and carry weight, and stamina, and deals the same amount of damage with their punches, and is equally smart and equally glib, and an equally capable pilot and mechanic. We are all playing the role of "John Starfield" and any deviation from this standard character is equally possible for all other versions of the character. You sit down at the table and hear that your friend chose the Chef background while you chose the Ronin, and discover that you both have the same amount of HP and Stamina and deal the same amount of damage with melee weapons, and that you can never be better at melee, as a space samurai, than your friend's take on space gordon ramsey. Your other friend sits down and says he's building a genius who has a bunch of points in engineering and research, but he heard you guys were having fun in melee combat. So he says he's going to invest three points in that skill too, and suddenly the space nerd is just as good at melee combat as the space samurai.
These aren't RPG systems. These are just progression systems (a single progression system, actually). If the only role to play is the universally capable hero, then you aren't roleplaying, you are just playing. I'm really uninterested in Veilguard for several reasons, but primarily because I expect extremely shallow systems that don't facilitate roleplaying. Remains to be seen, I suppose, but I think it's a safe assumption.
That's a great take. It is exactly what I find annoying about these modern action rpg.
There is a bunch of JRPGs that fit into the category lol KH being one.
I get what you saying but to your exact point Veilguard has specifically broken down how each class plays very differently.
@chuckles9767 Yes, that reminds me of something like the devision game.
@@calcifur i haven't seen how vg will handle classes, but classes weren't specifically my point. I've not seen any of the systems that will be in VG yet. Maybe it has plenty of RPG systems. But Bioware has historically been cutting RPG systems from their game for the last decade+, and I don't expect anything different here based on the clearly hack-n-slash style gameplay i've seen. Picking classes and having them play differently doesn't cement a game in RPG territory on its own, you pick classes which play differently in Deep Rock Galactic too, and it really can't be called an RPG.
Why do most of the newer games look like they are made for 8 year old kids? Like a Marvel movie
100% I feel the same about fallout.. Fallout since 4 (including the show) feels very Disney. Style over substance with cringe corperate dialog and quippy jokes that almost never land
Because they are made for 8-year-olds now.
Fortnite and Candy Crush making a billion dollars is why :(
Marvel has destroyed the narrative styles of movies and games...thanx to their bockbuster. Nobody now cares abt their fanbase....all want "movies"& "games" for everyone family friendly..
Consider they making every pansexual and theres probably explicit scenes I don’t see this as being for kids. The art style may lend it self that way, but content might prove otherwise.
The weird thing is that AAA has watered down the RPG genre, yet at the same time, they have been putting RPG elements into games that previously didn't have them, such as Assassin's Creed. It seems like the industry thinks that complex RPG mechanics are to difficult for average normie gamers, but some simple basic RPG mechanics are seen as a draw, so their solution is to turn everything into babby's first RPG.
Half the fandom just says you aren't a real fan if you have criticism
and the other half says you arent a real fan if you like the game in any way so which one is it
"Complaining about other Communists is one of the most important parts about being a Communist." -Rhetoric, Disco Elysium.
Just replace Communist with DA fan lol, both sides are rather annoying about this whole thing. I'm not optimistic about this game, but I would like to see how it plays out, given this series is so close to my heart, since I was a kid.
Does this feel like badly Written Fanfic so far? Yes. Did I feel the same about DAI when I first saw Trailers? Yes. Did I like DAI? Yes. Do I still miss Origins, and wish we could go back to what was?
....Yes. And i think that's how many feel, at this point.
@@TrystLyonesse that's a stretch
Essentially you have a loud part of the fandom that hates if you have any criticism that, the infighting in not necessarily as its like talking a wall when any criticism is hit with "your not a real fan " or " you didn't play the games". My comment is just expressing that you can't exprress criticism without being shat on people
@@Teyrncrow My comment wasn't disputing what you were saying dude, it was saying both you guys have a right to feel how you feel without being essentially completely hand waved by the other side (there for, both extremes of this argument tend to be a bit annoying ((ps, that does not mean you, you seem fairly reasonable)).
What I think deserves more criticism is Biowares intensely bad business practices as of late, and their seeming lack of soul. This does not feel like the unique fantasy series I grew up with, and all the workers who made it what it was (devs, writers, voice actors, programers) are all more or less gone.
Bioware is a sock puppet being worn by EA like a sleeve. And it's sad that it's come to this, and I do agree that it's sad that they, as well as the newer fans, treat the "Old Guard" so to speak, with such contempt.
You can criticize what you Love, and still love it. People just make it too personal I think.
I'm so tired of those boring 3 hit combo dodge 3 hit combo dodge special dodge 3 hit combo fighting system, I can understand studios not wanting to do turn based combat anymore but at least go all crazy fun and style like DMC/Bayoneta/Warriors instead of this repetitive Arkham/Souls lite mess.
I once said as a joke that half of the dragon age fandom would be perfectly happy if the game turned into a visual novel.
Little did I know there are people who actually hold that view, as I got plenty of people informing me so in the replies.
"What's wrong with that? Who are you to tell us what we can and can't enjoy?"
Add "dating sim" to that. Seen a decent amount of people in the fandom be willing to mod out the combat out of the older games, just so they can get to the smooching quicker.
Wait till you see the skill tree. It's basically Assassin's Creed Valhalla.
Just look at the recent release of the Avatar (Airbender) live action series. The amount of times that the main characters walk around explaining things or stuff where something is really obvious but they still need to do something to make it even more obvious is down right pedantic. Why do I bring this up? Because that's what's happening in games as well, just like this game is shaping up to be; the assumption is that people are dumb and don't want to do something that's more involved or complex. Then BG3 comes out and people love it because they can finally use their brains again.
While having a system more like Mass Effect is very disappointing
I am glad the game doesn't look like another Anthem at least
The news could be worse considering the many interference's in development
It is sad that we had to wait 10 years for this sequel
And Talos knows how many years for Elders Scrolls VI
Great video Lord Banjo. I just discovered your channel, subbed!
Thanks dude. Appreciate it!
@@oldmanbanjo I think CRPGs will likely forever remain in the AA category. BG3 was popular because it had high budget cutscenes and it satisfied certain people's interest in dating simulators.
Exactly. A story with occasional fights is NOT necessarily an RPG. Doesn't mean it's a bad story OR a bad game... but a movie with occasional 3 button mashing combat is almost certainly NOT a CRPG. If that's what players and devs are *calling* an RPG, maybe they need to come up with a new term and stop coopting a name that is patently incorrect for the style of their work. That way, we might not have all this frustration, clashing and vitriol over a game description that doesn't match the original meaning. 🤷
Also, if a studio is relying of divisive/polarising arguments about their game and deliberately fuelling these feuds, it speaks more to the chops of their writing and development abilities than the style of their game. Why are they sparking arguments instead of promoting real enthusiasm for the real game content? Why are they TELLING us what we're seeing instead of showing us what the game's really like? It makes me feel like they're hiding portions and details from the game that they KNOW many customers won't like, but if they fan the peer pressure enough we'll stop noticing?
I always worry when the only "hype" around a game is a manufactured "fan war"... which is exactly what Bioware are provoking with their "community panel" v's the "old-school fans".
It's not just the Mass Effect gameplay in a DA game, but the rampant DEI all over it, the story being lackluster (according to leaks and offical released plot) on top of Mass Effect gameplay in a DA game.
I saw a comment that said "I've waited 10yrs for a funeral", and tbh yeah.
it's not Dragon Age...
8:26 - Is there a reason why those 2 companions in the background are just standing there looking into the distance while that gnome character is killing the tentacle thingy? Like, is that intentional or did Larian just forget to give those characters reactions to the scene happening before them? It looks really weird and sloppy.
They forgot. I've complained about this in my BG3 review.
@@oldmanbanjo Seriously? Man, thats bad... Bet there's more of this stuff happening in the game. Gotta watch your review, then.
@@Oozaru85 czcams.com/video/aam0HbQ1Dfk/video.htmlsi=JFp-sBwir46c8HDr It's there, not my best video by far though
@@oldmanbanjo Yeah, just watched it. And I totally agree with you.
Yal'll love playing Chaps and Rhabbers? Edit: getting a lot of comments asking for my actual views on the trailer. Check the video in the description.
Inquisition is one of the most content rich and expansive western RPGs ever made. It easily goes blow for blow with modern "masterpieces" such as BG3. I somehow doubt Veilguard will be able to follow.
Just because inquisition is full of content doesn’t mean that content is rich or quality. Most players hated the single player mmo overstuffed nature of inquisition’s side quests. Quality is better than quantity for side quests
Well let's just face the facts here if people are saying it's an RPG because its story rich and not because of the mechanics then by all means 100% of games are RPG including sports games with any kind of story. But as a whole, mechanics do matter in an RPG the more can you directly influence the character within the story does depict how much you mold your character throughout the game. It's a lot easier to build the rule set of an action/Hack n slash game with 5 paths to choose, as opposed to building a well-rounded ruleset for combat and deep diving into customizing abilities onto a character to make it your own when you step into that role and share how you built a character throughout the game with a friend and what they chose. What I'm getting at it is maybe they were pressured for time and had to crunch it into what they are releasing today, or appealing to the broader base of the youth today which is fine. Not saying I won't ever play Veil Guard I'm just saying it's not even in my top 10 choices to buy, based on what I've seen so far.
I'm a big Veilguard defender on many fronts but on this one I agree. What they have shown is very concerning. For example the reduction of party size is huge when you consider that all previous dragon age games work on a Tank, DPS, Crowd control and healer (apart from inq) system. You take one of those roles and you have to build your party with those roles in mind in order to overcome the combat encounters. That's all been thrown away for this game and instead the combat is more in line with ARPGs with more of a focus on your character. I don't imagine it will matter who you bring along as their roles seem to mostly just be taking part in combos.
Also while they have said there are a lot of choices in the gameplay reveal we saw the main character make one choice that was ignored by the game and another that didn't seem to be at all meaningful. So that's a bit concerning and there was auto dialogue. Rook is always going to want to help the woman being stopped by Tevinter forces so you can't play as someone who wouldn't want to do that. That's been a thing since Inquisition and to an extent DA2 as well (there was auto dialogue but it used the personality system at least) but it's still a shame.
I do think the faction background system is interesting. It gives you more choice over your backstory, 2 didn't have that other than being a mage or not and Inq only had racial backgrounds and they didn't affect much. Veilguard is closer to origins in that regard. So yeah I'm concerned about the combat systems mostly.
A great example of this sort of shift is the Elders Scrolls games. We have a game like Daggerfall which is a heavier rpg than Skyrim.
In general i agree with the concept behind this video.. however, I think when discussing dragon age in particular, one needs to contexualize a bit more.
The reason I say this is because DA is made by BW. Well, bioware has been shifting from more "pure" RPGs, to narrative action RPGs with increasing focus on the action side for over 20 years now, and DAO is arguably one of their first attempts to go deeper into this trend, but it started even earlier with games like KOTOR and jade empire clearly showing the shifting studio priorities.
From the latest reveals about veilguard I think we can see BW is trying to soooort of recapture some of the rpg fans with more intricate, customizable skill trees, including a full pause mode etc, but at the same time is pulling away from that by denying full party control and relying heavily on action by including active parries and such.
It's gonna be interesting to see if the expanded skill trees are gonna be enough to satisfy the "systems" enjoyers, because i suspect this slight deepening is not gonna include out of combat agency at all, instead relying on the "mass effect" type of dialogue.
I'm curious.. i will be playing but i don't really expect it to be very good 😅
why da looks like this now,because action gameplay is much friendly to console players and consoles have much larger playerbase than pc, thats all about.
Great vid sir, ty! Gained a sub
Ah, thanks dude.
I feel like you didn't mention any specifics about why veilguard is less of an RPG.
Checkout my other video. But even there I hold back because, even with the release of the skill tree - we still don't know that much. It's more of an impression. I'll follow up when the game launches or when they release more.
Action RPGs: Am I a joke to you?
Which is why the video isn't title "Is it even an action-rpg anymore" because that would be very stupid. Dragon Age WAS an RPG not an action RPG, and so I'm asking is it still AN RPG. Normally I ignore dumb comments but...my god.
It's so ironic people who like JRPGs keep complains about how western Rpgs have lost their role playing when every JRPG is just a turn based combat with a very linear narrative. Even Dragon age 2 was a better Role Playing game than any Dragon Quest
JRPGs are JRPGs, CRPGs are CRPGs. Like it or leave it. The decline I'm talking about has only effected CRPGs because, like you said, they're the only ones relevant to the question.
I been waiting for this since last game, but after seeing that gameplay…..i lost all my hype
Nice take. Yeah, I think i will subscribe.
Aw, thanks dude!
Finally a reasonable person talking about Dragon Age..
Good video but if I could add a caveat it would be that Japan, and most of S.E. Asia, are less inoculated against mobile microtransactions. In fact, in certain South Korean circles, there's no such thing as "pay to win" at least from the viewpoint of people who actively want more MTX baked into games with the common excuse being they see nothing wrong with converting real-life money and hours into game-time. See Thrones of Liberty and Korean fan backlash for not baking in even more MTX that allows them to gain advantages over their peers. This model has polluted the well so much so that rpg mechanics have also been muddled into various formats such as higher tier free to play games like Genshin Impact that thrives off notoriety and a vast SE. Asian market, and can subsidize new players with free content from the sheer amount of whales it has on its payroll. Then there's the bottom of the barrel mobile games that are "autoplayer" games that actively play the game for you. JRPG stats like mana, health, or levels are bloated to astronomical numbers based on how much the player has paid into the system. Indeed, each mechanic associated with oldschool, traditional JRPGs MUST feed back into a cashshop in these games. Skin sales for attractive women or men can occasionally cost upwards 20USD or the price of a small indie title.
What's worse are gambling rolls baked into these systems that manipulate the inherent RNG nature behind RPGs to get people to buy more attempts to roll for a certain item, currency, lootbox, etc. A key strategic maneuver with these slot machine systems is to start the rolls low or make the player feel like they're being convenienced for their first few spins. A lot of GUIs must exhibit dark patterns to present these options as more palpable to the player in order to bait whales. These are games that take the JRPG concept of building and fostering strong character arcs in relation with the player character and use it as a way to form parasocial bonds with a player's favorite character in order to procure more money off related paid for content.
I firmly believe that western demographics have, for all their faults, fostered a community of gamers that harshly react towards P2W systems more so than eastern demographics, which has effected advertisement and marketing campaigns. For the sake of argument, let's assume we're trying to sell a high quality JRPG product overseas. The same marketing campaign Larian Studios had, where they promised no MTX and a full-game for a one-time payment, would not work in eastern markets. If the feigned protests against Yakuza's predatory microtransactions by Capcom are any indicator, most people begrudgingly move on whilst mtx adherents parrot the same trite motto of trading real-life hours for in-game time.
Another example is Outriders
Even though the story is linear & game was clunky at launch the class system was out of this world complared to what ive become accustomed to
You really have freedom to completely change your play style & make it unique builds instead of the few predefined build options we usually get
Okay, what "RPG systems" does BG3 have that you think veilguard is lacking?
Visible dice rolls?
A narrator for things that aren't shown in detail?
Or is it just how the combat is in general?
I'm willing to bet money that if you were to list the things that make a game an RPG, the dragon age series would tick all of the boxes.
You just don't like action combat.
This is a follow up video. Check the other video.
That one is easy, choices. While BG3 allows you to be a literal Cleric of Lolth Drow, DA keeps blood magic out of the game because "that's not the type of hero we'd like our players to be"
@@lf717 yeah, and BG3 doesn't have anything even remotely as interesting as blood mage or arcane warrior or reaver or templar. A bunch of boring vanilla classes that only go to level 12.
Saying that BG3 has choices because veilguard lacks a specific choice is ridiculous. Lol
@@ReaperCet They were interesting in Origins I agree, now the most interesting classes are "morally wrong and the protagonist of our game should inspire hope, no space for roleplaying as morally dubious characters, that's toxic". It's not one specific choice, the new DA blocks any type of roleplaying that isn't a boring boyscout as protagonist.
@@lf717 I don't think you can extrapolate all of that from there not being blood mage.
Blood mage was always pretty contextual anyways and really intertwined with all of the mage oppression stuff from the first 2 games.
The new game is in tervinter, where mages are in charge, the conditions for there being a "blood mage" just probably don't exist, storywise.
I would just say.... Be a little open minded dude.
Anything they add will be more interesting than those boring vanilla D&d classes from BG3.
Its wild cause if you look at Japan they went through the same things and tried to keep up with the whole Action elements. Just look at what FF has done the past 2 decades they are just getting back to RPG's with FF14 and FF7R. I think the success of the Darks Souls is what showed them they could still make RPGs they way they want.
Some JRPG titles are indeed shifting towards a more action oriented like you mentioned, but not as many as in the west. There are still a lot of JRPGs that keep the traditional turn-based system even on their recent titles like the Persona/Shin Megami Tensei series and the Dragon Quest series for example.
Triple A studios are very aware what their consumers want, but with DEI and Bridges and other stuff coming to light, I think it’s become very clear that they don’t care what we want.
It looks more cartoony than inquisition which is offsetting because god of war made their characters way more lifelike and you would think that with how well inquisition looked that veilguard would look better and more lifelike and it doesn’t. It looks more childish and Fortnite like. Dragon age is a more mature dark fantasy and deserves a more mature look to it.
I thought inquisition was ok and a return to something more like origins but this new one I've got no faith in
Wtf is up with EVERYONE going for Overwatchs one jock since it was dethroned? Like holy shit, Killing floor 3 first now Dragon age. It gave me MASSIVE hero shooter vibes. So massive im confused.
Devs don't make RPG anymore because it's expensive and harder to make, not because they hate the RPG fans.
I think the EA-ware just does not fully understand what made BG3 so successful. Looks like they think it was solely the romance, the sex scenes and the bear memes. And in the typical brain dead corporate decision making attempt they are trying to re-create this success with focus groups and the committee-approved "creative" choices. I am almost certain the game will mid at the very best because it will have exactly zero character and ideas. It will be a game for everyone that always turns out a game for no one. Literally a modern assassins creed game in the dragon age setting.
Dragon age origins did the RPG the best you could roleplay 4 different fucking races and different stories too all of them. But not the Human side. Without mods that is. Dragon age 2 still a good game but not really and RPG and DAI went further away from RPG.
DAO roleplay four different races?
Human
Elf
Dwarf
And?
Since Qunari wasn't finally an option until Inquistion
Bioware harvested a seed of failure from the flower of success in Mass Effect 2 that germinates with every product since.
That's a good point. It feels like since ME2 every game has been an attempt to iterate on its genius. Most of which failed.
Both sides are bloody obnoxious quite frankly, with some saying that DA has gone "Woke" (Oh no, the game series that let you romance moody elven twinks and lesbian bards has only just become "Woke", shucks) and is somehow ruined by the artstyle, even though all the games save for DAI were cartoony.
And the other side saying that its going to be objectively better than every other installment because its new and has the woke elements the Chuds are hating on (even though they've been in every installment, it is nothing new) and anything they like is inherently bad because they are also bad.
The issues is both sides are ignoring the worst things which are A. Bad Writing so far, and stripping the world of its visual and emotional character (Generic Fantasy looks for people, elves have once more reverted to slightly skinny humans, etc) B. A disrespect for the "Old Guard", both fan and worker. And C., What actually frustrates me the most, is that the company has laid off a ton of workers, union busting, and countless other things that show them as a corporate monster far removed from what it was, in both their intellectual and writing capacity and their moral, real world capacity.
Bioware (The sock puppet of a once great company that EA now wear as a sleeve) is not Woke, in any sense good or bad. They are pandering. Pandering to what is popular at this moment. If leftist Ideology was not what is popular at this moment, then they would be dog whistling for right wingers, It is not about integrity, in either a fictious or political sense, but about how well they can take your money while scr*wing workers with the same hand.
Yeah, I've totally ignored the woke stuff. I don't see how it actually effect's the game mechanics at all. I'm also old enough to remember Bioware being called out for being Far Left back in 2007. That's always been their identity.
@@oldmanbanjo Exactly. In my own view, I'm glad they had those elements because it let a younger version of me explore myself in a way that no other media let me do at the time.
I'm glad you're criticizing the game without bringing up the Woke stuff, because that is, in my opinion, the least of this game's issues. Its just not an RPG anymore, like you said...and that makes me sad, considering this series, perhaps above all others, is what sparked my creativity the most and given me a love for the Genre.
I don't think you understand the issue with Veilguard. It's not lesbian elves or romances. BG3 has plenty of that and no one was calling it woke (at least no one with a functioning brain). Because every character and event in BG3 organically fit in the narrative and the game world. In the Veilguard trailers however we have characters who are "diverse" and "inclusive" for the sole purpose of checking boxes and the dialogues that make the audience cringe. The presentation, the art design and the "quirky" dialogues all are beyond obnoxious. Where BG3 immerses you in the world and story the Veilguard just slaps you in the face with things that do not belong together. Not to mention, the lowest common denominator approach to every game mechanic that EA seems to have taken with this game.
Yes. Next question
Its a woke kids story on rails. Click click no brains combat with peter pan art. Gay power rangers are go.
So about number of party members you can finish games like Pathfinder KM/WotR, Pillars of Eternity1&2, BG2&3, Ice wind Dale 1&2 with a single character and in those game you can have full 6 man partys, so 2 party member only is not that big of a deal.
Dragon Age games even Origin was never that complex, Origin try to emulate old school CRPG like BG 1 and 2 and Icewind dale 1 and 2 but without core rules those games had, so they made some house rules for first game tha was ok but nothing special, since DA2 we see they start to move to a new direction, and anyone who see DA2 and DAI and was like for DA4 they will come back to Origin system and combat style was kidding him self.
We see screenshoot of Skill tree they look big with a lot of stuff so 3 ability plus ultimate and one more ability is not that bad, even in Pathfinder KM/WotR, Pillars 1&2.... you end up using 2-3 ability at most during mid to end game.
I am happy that new DA game is coming i will wait for more gameplay, CC , and in deep skill tree show, i also want to try gameplay to see how it feel, and stuf like omg demons are gay they are purple like wtf since when color is gay ??? or about same sex that was in game since DAO nothing new, or they show black guy who care you can make your character look how you want, i don't care if people are white, black, yelow or red we are all the same, there are good and bad people among all colors.
Btw sorry about my English, it is not my first language.
RPG is role playing game. It's nothing to do with combat, it's about choices and consequences, and making main character you character.
Can't really agree on the decline being just an assumption or decision by big studios.
It is of course a combination of it with another and I'd argue a bigger problem; the fidelity problem. AAA just can't achieve the necessary graphical, sound and systematic quality even if they throw infinite money at the problem. They are bogged down by their bad pipelines and take ages to course correct. At this point I'd wager most of them are TOO big to course correct. They need to hit the iceberg and reorganize already facing a new direction.
This is why studios like Larian and many indie developers can create things that while most of the time lower in overall fidelity (worse graphics, sound design, lack of va) excel in some specific element or elements and their smaller more specialized teams shorten the gap between them and AAA by getting better "surgically" while big studios fall behind.
How does this account for the RPG elements? To put it simply. In the past a lot had to be conveyed through text or meta context (our own imagination) due to technical limitations. Now that most of those limitations are gone we expect to receive a product without certain shortcomings when it is made by the largest studios in the world, especially if the price is high or higher. So if players expect certain quality from certain elements when made by big studios and those studios just can't get those elements right due too the corpo-centralization what is the easier way? Not to have those elements at all.
There are of course outliers but there aren't many Larians and to some degree CDPRs out there with the ability to sustain the growth of quality or consistently reach for new heights. As for Bioware. Everything under the sky (especially the combat) shows that this game is a rebuilt wreck of an online game from 2016 with a new single player coat of paint. It is a relic of a bygone era. An Anthem with clipped wings. The last hurrah of what was killed and stifled by players forcing AAA studios to listen and the success of indie games.
Mark this as my debut as a prophet but I am certain that Veilguard will be extremely formulaic in all of it systems screaming ONLINE HUB BASED COOP LOOTER GAME with simple railroading corridor maps blocked by enemy groups or bosses. The only thing that might carry it above the surface of mediocrity could be the story though I am sure most of it will be bogged down by a quippy Marvelish writing. If the studio survives this game we can be sure that the penultimate game of this Hexalogy will be a much deeper RPG ala BG3 (not isometric, but similiar in depth). As it stand everything shown and not shown is in line with 10 years of development and even those few resets we heard about will still have been built on only half razed fundaments.
Its trash, thats all. Not a new "genre" but it clearly fits there.
The fact they got varrics hair wrong should have been a sign to everyone(Ignoring the woke DEI stuff they added). For those who don't know varric is blonde. He doesn't have brown or black hair.
I loved baldurs gate 3 but hated the gameplay. I loved dragon age inquisition and loved its gameplay.
diablo is not an RPG, bioware was the one that made the OG baldurs gate, dragon age was suppose to be its successor, this is just an embarrassment
“White fat dudes who are nerds” and “ it looks like an marvel movie for kids” is very specific. Anyway, the trailers don’t look like marvel in any sense. At all. Far from looking kid friendly. The RPG in the game is very light though.
Woke game = DOA this is just a piece of garbage if you want to play a good rpg you should go for BG3
Brother BG3 is possibly the wokest AAA game ever made
@Morden97 yep and that woke RPG won all 5 goty awards of 2023 making video game history. Absolute Woke, definitely not broke.
who cares it's gonna be a poly date simulator with DEI politics and that's all.
Sounds like the perfect game. 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
@@BornIn19XX have fun
Of course it is a rpg, case closed.
It also has to do with the fact gamers, people in general, themselves are dumbing down according to research. Social media and education system have a continued decline on the ability to pay attention for long periods and retain information with one, and simplified or outright bad logic like critical race theory making it worse. That is taken into account by some, but overall they know the casual audience will be comprised of these people and they don't like anything that has to do with strategy and tactics. So they dumb down big IP that was known for it in order to gain those sales, which still hasn't worked for them. If BG3 didn't prove them wrong, or at least the DEI in it wasn't enough to entirely deter those into CRPGs.
The budget for BG3 would be big given it was a well funded Kickstarter and then went to pitch to a publisher and gained more money. I don't see how it wouldn't have succeeded given they had the money beforehand and could make the game as they went along. I don't think that's an ideal way to make a game, so I hope in that respect, it doesn't happen again considering they added and removed things later that had nothing to do with what backers asked for. Swinging dongs, bear sex, and limiting the character creation to be mostly diverse and less white because a dev got upset people were using defaults during early access build, specifically.