Decline What is the worst example of decline you have ever seen?

[Yosharian]

Dragon Age: Inquisition is the worst example I can think of, closely followed by Mass Effect 3. I suppose I feel the decline of those two so keenly because I used to like Bioware so much.

Do I even need to go into the whys and the wherefores? I mean it's fucking obvious.

I think the worst part was playing the introduction to DA:I and just being flabbergasted at how bad it was. Graphically, musically, the story, dialogue, everything was just utterly mediocre.

That said, neither DA nor ME were ever pinnacles of the genre or anything, far from it. But I enjoyed them initially.

Since you didn't include either of those games on the list, I'll go with Fallout 4, again for obvious reasons.

 

[overly excitable young man]

Why no Fallout 76 on the list?
Just because it's online?

 

[Trashos]

In a way, voting for DAI assumes that DA2 was respectable, and voting for FO76 assumes that FO4 was respectable. These are strange assumptions.

(Not sure if FO4 should be considered as a successor to FO3 or FONV, so it is a special case)

 

[Yosharian]

In a way, voting for DAI assumes that DA2 was respectable, and voting for FO76 assumes that FO4 was respectable. These are strange assumptions.

(Not sure if FO4 should be considered as a successor to FO3 or FONV, so it is a special case)

DAI isn't even on the list

 

[Trashos]

DAI isn't even on the list

I mentioned it because *you* mentioned it!

 

[Fenris 2.0]

Drakensang Phileassons Secret; I loved the Main-Game, the AddOn was an Atrocity. Reptitive Gameplay on the lowest Level of a whole new horrible Level.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

I would say Oblivion.

Also:
>Dark Souls 2
>decline

Let me guess, you come from reddit don't you newfag?

Where's Witcher 1

Why should W1 be here?

 

[user]

Even if Gothic 3 was a buggy incomplete mess, Gothic 4 was one of the greatest turds of a game I have ever played in my life.
Even if I grew up with F1 & 2 and was mad with what Bethesda did to it, I modded its brains out and still had a great survival-rpgish experience, but F4 made even that impossible.

 

[MegaRhettButler]

How are we defining decline ITT? Decline of the developer? The franchise? The genre as a whole? Society? I haven't actually played it but Fallout 76 has to be a prime example of decline across all those spheres. Or is it only decline if everyone but the Codex loves it? Could Fallout 76 actually be incline, as it caused the wider gaming community to start saying the same shit about Bethesda that the codex has been saying since Oblivion dropped?

 

[Yosharian]

DAI isn't even on the list

I mentioned it because *you* mentioned it!

Oh, sorry haha

 

[502]

Your poll is in dire need of Invisible War.

 

[Dramart]

Dragon Age 2 is a big decline because it's inferior to its sequel. The gameplay is more like a hack 'n' slash, and a lot of people don't like, but at least is different. In any case that's the last of its problems. The main problems are the game length, the size of the world, and the story related to certain characters. You can finish the game in 40 hours including DLCs, while to beat Dragon Age Origins plus Awakening you need at least 80. In Origins you can go to different places, cities, the elf camp, in Dragon Age 2 the game takes places in the city and its surroundings, with the exception of that shitty DLC. Characters like Flemeth just appears two times and then dissapears forever in the game, the battle with the Arishok is bad, and the final boss was poorly done, one of the worst ever. The third act was very short. The game is more like an spin off instead of a sequel.

Ultima IX, decline of what? Those games were always trash.

Oblivion is the worst TES game but not by far, Morrowind is also poop, but I think they were ok for its time, Skyrim is the most perfect game in the series, by far. These games are walking simulator, you explore the world and have fights with barely acceptable combat mechanics. They are their own thing I don't know if consider them decline but Oblivion is the best candidate for that if I'm forced to choose.

 

[oldmanpaco]

Poll should have U8 instead of U9. That's the game that destroyed Ultima.

Also FO3 was when it became apparent the Bethesda didn't just miss with Oblivion but had decided to be shit heads. And DA2, the gayest game I've ever played (and I mean that in the faggot sense), was the final proof that Bioware was irredeemable garbage.

 

[Sykar]

Dragon Age 2 & Oblivion for gameplay.
any nu-cRPG released in the renaissance for blandness. That includes PoE, Torment, Shadowrun, Underrail, Atom, and other bland shit that's been wiped from my memory.

I do not know what to say, really.

Easy:

 

[DalekFlay]

Dragon Age: Inquisition is the worst example I can think of, closely followed by Mass Effect 3. I suppose I feel the decline of those two so keenly because I used to like Bioware so much.

If we're going "decline" from previous installments, I don't think ME3 is different enough from ME2 to be much of a decline. It has a crappy choose a button ending, but everything else is roughly the same quality. Combat maybe better. Dragon Age Inquisition is a lot different from DA2, but I'd say both are roughly equal decline from the original.

 

[Sykar]

Dragon Age 2 is a big decline because it's inferior to its sequel. The gameplay is more like a hack 'n' slash, and a lot of people don't like, but at least is different. In any case that's the last of its problems. The main problems are the game length, the size of the world, and the story related to certain characters. You can finish the game in 40 hours including DLCs, while to beat Dragon Age Origins plus Awakening you need at least 80. In Origins you can go to different places, cities, the elf camp, in Dragon Age 2 the game takes places in the city and its surroundings, with the exception of that shitty DLC. Characters like Flemeth just appears two times and then dissapears forever in the game, the battle with the Arishok is bad, and the final boss was poorly done, one of the worst ever. The third act was very short. The game is more like an spin off instead of a sequel.

Ultima IX, decline of what? Those games were always trash.

Oblivion is the worst TES game but not by far, Morrowind is also poop, but I think they were ok for its time, Skyrim is the most perfect game in the series, by far. These games are walking simulator, you explore the world and have fights with barely acceptable combat mechanics. They are their own thing I don't know if consider them decline but Oblivion is the best candidate for that if I'm forced to choose.

That escalated quickly.

 

[Yosharian]

Dragon Age: Inquisition is the worst example I can think of, closely followed by Mass Effect 3. I suppose I feel the decline of those two so keenly because I used to like Bioware so much.

If we're going "decline" from previous installments, I don't think ME3 is different enough from ME2 to be much of a decline. It has a crappy choose a button ending, but everything else is roughly the same quality. Combat maybe better. Dragon Age Inquisition is a lot different from DA2, but I'd say both are roughly equal decline from the original.

I disagree WRT ME2, but I kinda agree with you about DA2.

However, I was able to stomach DA2 for two playthroughs while I can't even get more than 5-6h into DAI without wanting to fling my computer out of the nearest window

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

For consecutive games in the same series, I choose The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion as the worst best example of decline:

• Comprehensive creature-leveling such that all monsters and NPCs are set at the same level as the PC, with weaker types of monsters disappearing after the character gains enough levels, and stronger types of monsters not appearing when the character is low-level
• Comprehensive item-leveling whereby a high-level PC will not only encounter similarly high-level bandits but said bandits will have random pieces of extremely expensive armor and weapons, while a low-level PC will never find weapons/armor of such powerful material; or a weapon on display in a glass case in a castle will be a worthless replica if the PC is low-level but the real thing after the PC gains enough levels
  
• A clunky interface, which was clearly designed for consoles, in sharp contrast to Morrowind's sleek menus.
  
• Reduction in the number of joinable guilds/factions offering many quests from 10 in Morrowind to 4 in Oblivion, keeping the more generic ones (Fighters/Mages/Thieves guilds)
• Factions now centered around quest lines, with 2 of the 4 (Fighters Guild and Mages Guild) being poorly written and boring
  
• Both in-game and out-of-game world maps that offer far less information than their Morrowind equivalents
• Automatic fast-travel to any location that's already been visited
• A quest compass that points to your next destination, the use of which is made necessary by the combination of uninformative journal entries and an inability to ask directions
• Full voice-acting for dialogue, which necessitated a drastic reduction in the amount of dialogue per NPC, most of whom have one comment about themselves or their city to offer and nothing else
• Poor writing in general, with dialogue and books less interesting than in Morrowind
  
• Minigames for speechcraft and lockpicking
• Elimination of certain kinds of items, such as thrown weapons, crossbows, and spears
• Reduction in the number of skills to the point where axes are considered blunt weapons
• Regenerating magicka, which effectively means that all health can be easily regained after each combat, thus removing much of the logistics that existed previously
• Elimination of different physiques (and animations) for Argonians and Khajiits
• 3D face modelling was a technical improvement but horribly implemented so that the end result was substantially worse
  
• A lack of aesthetics, especially compared to Morrowind's brilliant art direction
• A generic, medieval fantasy grab-bag setting, without even the coherence offered by Daggerfall's Iliac Bay region much less the spectacular sui generis setting of Morrowind
• A dull, poorly-plotted main quest, with the only plane of Oblivion featured in the base game (except at the very end) being a generic hellscape with little variation
• A half-baked action-oriented combat system so that success in combat depends greatly on the player's physical skill, yet is boring and tedious

Although it's understandable that Fallout fans would select Fallout 3, this is referred to as "Oblivion with guns" for good reason, and it is Oblivion that should really be blamed for the decline (especially considering that many Codexers who detest Fallout 3 are fans of Fallout New Vegas).

For decline in general, rather than within a series, I always vote for Baldur's Gate.

 

[Ol' Willy]

As tradition goes, I voted for all

 

[DalekFlay]

However, I was able to stomach DA2 for two playthroughs while I can't even get more than 5-6h into DAI without wanting to fling my computer out of the nearest window

I definitely get hating MMO and collect-a-thon design enough to despise it, yeah.

 

[NJClaw]

Tyranny. It's basically a feminist manifesto masquerading as a vidja game.

What? Why?

 

[NJClaw]

However, I was able to stomach DA2 for two playthroughs while I can't even get more than 5-6h into DAI without wanting to fling my computer out of the nearest window

I definitely get hating MMO and collect-a-thon design enough to despise it, yeah.

In DA:I, however, you can completely ignore fetch quests.

 

[Eirinjas]

Tyranny. It's basically a feminist manifesto masquerading as a vidja game.

What? Why?

Female characters, throughout the game, regularly mock the size of a male's manhood, their virility, their ability in bed, their physical appearance, and make threats of violence to their genitalia. None of which is true conversely, btw. Males in Tyranny are repeatedly depicted as liars, dopes, cowards, crybabies, creeps, etc.. 4 of the 6 companions are female - and they are all above reproach, as are all female characters in Tyranny. Meanwhile the 2 male companions consist of a proud and honorable warrior who is forced to soil himself daily and an older man who gets accused of being a pedo (and nobody defends him). No fair play gender-wise in the storytelling. Score one for the Sarkeesians of the world, I guess.

 

[DalekFlay]

I noticed that a lot in Outer Worlds, can't say I noticed it in Tyranny that much. Also that dual-wield rogue companion is a crazy bitch, and treated as such, iirc. I don't even remember the other female companions.

 

[Funposter]

Oblivion for its genre-wide implications and consequences.

edit: KOTOR deserves to be on the poll for the same reason but that's a slightly esoteric pick.