Something's been bothering me recently and I hope to get some good discussion out of this. As a disclaimer, do note that everything included herein is based on my own thoughts, beliefs, and observations. Long story short, some of you will not agree with me on this. And that's perfectly fine. All I ask is that you hear me out.
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With the release of Dragon Age 2 last month, there's been a lot of outcry that more games are being "actionified" and "consolized". Now, I'm not gonna get into the latter term since that's been done to death already, but I have noticed that not too many people have commented much on the "actionification" or whatever. And those that do, aren't very nice to the ones who prefer such modifications...
A small background, if I may. I've been a serious gamer (if that even exists) for the better half of my 24 years of existence. I grew up playing action games and fighting games. Again, I grew up playing action games and fighting games. One more time: I grew up playing action games and fighting games. I've played Dragon Age Origins several times and enjoyed it... except the combat - well, that's not exactly true. I was a dual-wielding rogue at one point and actually enjoyed how that felt (being railroaded into keeping certain party members with me notwithstanding). But even so, for the majority of the game, I make no exaggeration when I say the combat in DAO put me to sleep. This is one of a few obvious things we probably won't agree on, and that's the fact that I felt DAO's pause-and-play mechanics were the lowest point of the game (well, that and the core storyline, but it's BioWare, so what can you do?).
If you're wondering about it at this point, yes, I was playing the 360 version. I can't use a keyboard and mouse worth shit. And, trust me, I've tried.
Anyway, I'm not a big fan of pause-and-play games, RPGs or otherwise, and I never have been. They're great games, don't get me wrong, but I can't get too much into the gameplay without me feeling like I'm slogging through to get to the next plot point. I feel as if I have little to no direct control over what the character is doing, I'm simply telling the character who's ass to kick next with the occasional special move. Again, we're not gonna agree on this, but I prefer to be hands-on with my character control, and having the character essentially on auto-pilot feels less like playing a game and more like watching a long interactive movie.
Let's compare those same mechanics to those of DA2. Most of it is what we've seen in its predecessor - active abilities, "special stances", et al. Then comes a new feature: "press A to attack" (again, this is the 360 version). Now I'm actually playing the game, I press a button and my Lady Hawke does a simple attack with her greatsword. Here I feel like I'm doing something instead of just telling my character where to go and letting them handle everything. That's not to say DA2 is without its problems, but if nothing else, I actually feel involved with the combat.
But wait... why is everyone saying that I'm now a "Ritalin-popping, 12-year-old console retard" because I happen to like the way the combat feels now?
My point is, as illustrated by the bold sentence above this paragraph, I prefer a more action-oriented approach to combat, being able to control various facets of a character's abilities (attacking, evading, defending, etc). Like I said, I grew up on action games and fighters, using acute eyesight and reflexes to get through battles versus premeditated strategies and what can be equated to a "stop button". Now, I'm not knocking those types of games, just saying that they're not quite my cup of Kool-Aid.
Is that really such a bad thing in this day and age?
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With the release of Dragon Age 2 last month, there's been a lot of outcry that more games are being "actionified" and "consolized". Now, I'm not gonna get into the latter term since that's been done to death already, but I have noticed that not too many people have commented much on the "actionification" or whatever. And those that do, aren't very nice to the ones who prefer such modifications...
A small background, if I may. I've been a serious gamer (if that even exists) for the better half of my 24 years of existence. I grew up playing action games and fighting games. Again, I grew up playing action games and fighting games. One more time: I grew up playing action games and fighting games. I've played Dragon Age Origins several times and enjoyed it... except the combat - well, that's not exactly true. I was a dual-wielding rogue at one point and actually enjoyed how that felt (being railroaded into keeping certain party members with me notwithstanding). But even so, for the majority of the game, I make no exaggeration when I say the combat in DAO put me to sleep. This is one of a few obvious things we probably won't agree on, and that's the fact that I felt DAO's pause-and-play mechanics were the lowest point of the game (well, that and the core storyline, but it's BioWare, so what can you do?).
If you're wondering about it at this point, yes, I was playing the 360 version. I can't use a keyboard and mouse worth shit. And, trust me, I've tried.
Anyway, I'm not a big fan of pause-and-play games, RPGs or otherwise, and I never have been. They're great games, don't get me wrong, but I can't get too much into the gameplay without me feeling like I'm slogging through to get to the next plot point. I feel as if I have little to no direct control over what the character is doing, I'm simply telling the character who's ass to kick next with the occasional special move. Again, we're not gonna agree on this, but I prefer to be hands-on with my character control, and having the character essentially on auto-pilot feels less like playing a game and more like watching a long interactive movie.
Let's compare those same mechanics to those of DA2. Most of it is what we've seen in its predecessor - active abilities, "special stances", et al. Then comes a new feature: "press A to attack" (again, this is the 360 version). Now I'm actually playing the game, I press a button and my Lady Hawke does a simple attack with her greatsword. Here I feel like I'm doing something instead of just telling my character where to go and letting them handle everything. That's not to say DA2 is without its problems, but if nothing else, I actually feel involved with the combat.
But wait... why is everyone saying that I'm now a "Ritalin-popping, 12-year-old console retard" because I happen to like the way the combat feels now?
My point is, as illustrated by the bold sentence above this paragraph, I prefer a more action-oriented approach to combat, being able to control various facets of a character's abilities (attacking, evading, defending, etc). Like I said, I grew up on action games and fighters, using acute eyesight and reflexes to get through battles versus premeditated strategies and what can be equated to a "stop button". Now, I'm not knocking those types of games, just saying that they're not quite my cup of Kool-Aid.
Is that really such a bad thing in this day and age?