On The Ball: A Little More Conversation, A Little Less Action

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[bakonslayer]

I came for the Elvis references, but I stayed for the compelling article. Now I want to play this game and this series... But WHERE will I ever find it?

'looks down dorm hall'

Oh, right.

 

[Dhatz]

I say little more intelligent and philosophical conversations and little more believable action.
but we can't get either if simple and stupid people continue making games. they even keep on ignoring doppler effect in sound engines.

 

[Emenhil]

Hear, hear.

Well put, good sir. Well put.

 

[econael]

Damn, I should have kept my savegames from ME1 (but I never keep savegames).
I'm currently playing with a fresh female paragon in ME2 and I'm already looking forward to the next male renegade I'm gonna play.
I hope I'm not missing out too much because I have nothing to import, but it's not worth going through the bad gameplay of ME1.

Sometimes though the paragon options are too naive and idealistic. Not grasping that what's going on isn't actual slavery, not grasping how it's appropriate to treat Krogans etc.
That's why I didn't manage to play a pure paragon :/

they even keep on ignoring doppler effect in sound engines.

There has been a doppler effect in some sound engines, you could even turn it off and on. If I remember right, HL2 had this.

 

[Tandtroll]

I must say I agree. I had a guy here in my dorm who came in every time I was playing Dragon Age and sitting there and he always started whining that I never battled and that nothing ever happened. All I would say to him was "shush, you insolent pup!" while I kept listening to the ramblings of lyriumdamaged dwarves.
I think the only way I could've loved DA:O more was if there had been more dialogue.

 

[Suskie]

Great article but you'd be surprised as to exactly how much conversation there really is.

It likely took BioWare thousands of hours and millions of dollars to produce what amounts to an hour or two of a 20-hour experience

I'm barely past recruiting Garrus and I've already recorded 2 hours and 15 minutes worth of cutscenes and dialogue. And those are just the IMPORTANT pieces.

I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if the game has a good 8-12 hours worth of conversation, and really, it's what keeps me hooked.

Actually, I've heard that there's something like 26 hours of spoken dialog in ME2. And I believe it. Truly remarkable.

 

[Galad]

wow. You probably didn't intend it that way, but this was the best advertisement for Mass Effect 2 and Bioware in general ever. I'd sure be curious about their reaction if they catch wind of this article

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

The shooting bits are certainly fun, but I play those so I can get to more talking. Nothing disappoints me more than finding my squad members have nothing new to talk to me about.

And I don't know how anyone could possibly bring themselves to be mean to Tali. Defending her at the trial has got to be my favorite moment in the game so far.

 

[Awexsome]

Another added plus to having such good connection and feeling for the characters is to have your action sequences actually worth something. If it was pulled off badly I would be just plowing through rooms of assorted enemies. Instead it felt a smile every time I killed a single enemy during Tali's loyalty mission.

And don't get me started on how I felt on that mission before and after the big action sequence.

 

[Sepiida]

Another added plus to having such good connection and feeling for the characters is to have your action sequences actually worth something. If it was pulled off badly I would be just plowing through rooms of assorted enemies. Instead it felt a smile every time I killed a single enemy during Tali's loyalty mission.

And don't get me started on how I felt on that mission before and after the big action sequence.

This.

Having likable characters to connect with makes the action sequences infinitely better.

 

[The Random One]

For any other game it would be an incredibly generous offer, but in this instance it was a slap in the face. I politely informed him that I would be taking my ball and going home.

"And then I would put it on my library and sit on it and look thoughtful."

I agree, though. I thought that the first Mass Effect was an awesome talking simulator with okay shooty parts. I think the idea of a game that's all talky wouldn't be such a weird thought.

 

[Avatar Roku]

I don't know about ME2, since I haven't played it yet, but in ME there were a lot of cases where you said the same thing whether you chose the "good guy" or "bad guy" responses, so you might not be missing out on quite as much as you think.

Actually, that's one of the best things I've noticed about ME2. When the conversation would be the same no matter which option you pick, they don't even give you an option, they just have Shepard say it. It tends to happen the most after you do an interrupt or speech check (charm or intimidate), but it happens other times as well. It really feels in keeping with the way that Bioware's been streamlining conversations: first you pick your meaning rather than a verbatim response, now you set up the tone of the conversation.