Editorial 2006: The Year in Review

[Jasede]

Game over man, game over.

 

[Amasius]

The indie event of the year was definitely the Ultima 5 remake, U5 Lazarus.

So true. Everything else was more or less a disappointment. Except Spiderweb of course, Vogel never disappoints but he never surprises as well.

 

[Naked Ninja]

Good article, although I would have come down slightly heavier on Gothic. The combat has been mentioned, but I was hugely disapointed when I finally found Xardas and all he said was "oh, hi again, look, you need to find those fire chalices, go do stuff for the orcs. K bye then". There'd been quite a bit of build up to meeting him, everywhere you go they talk about him, I was actually quite eager to have some sort of great dialogue or something with this guy, plot revelations or a twist or something. But a lot of the mercenaries have better dialogue. I hope the King has something better to say, now that I'm finally in the capital and fighting my way through hordes of Orcs to get to him. Pity they didn't cut one or two of the towns and spend that time developing the story a bit.

 

[Ladonna]

I admit to feeling a similar sensation when i met members of the gang, Xardas included.

Love the game, but they must have used the same dialogue budget for a world 4 times the size.

 

[Sir_Brennus]

Sorry to sound like Vollie, but...

Vault Dweller wrote:

The biggest new announcement of 2006 was Drakensang, a Realms of Arkania game (just to give you an idea), inspired by the financial success of Baldur's Gate. Following the lead of many other next-generation (the phrase is quickly becoming a synonym for "utter shit") games' developers, the Drakensang team is committed to making a game for people who can't read ("we don't want to force the player to plough through page after page of text..."), can't add ("...not to torture players with columns of numbers and figures"), but like anything shiny ("...make it a special experience with brilliant animations, crisp sounds and graphics effects"). We had a chance to ask the developers a few questions, so if you're curious about Drakensang, here is a link for you.

When will you stop writing these false interpretations, baseless (except from an age old, badly translated interview) asumptions and white lies?

DRAKENSANG will be TEH GRETEST GEAM EVARZZZZZ!!!!111

 

[theverybigslayer]

Another great year is done and gone. Let's take a moment and <a>bask in the memories</a>:
<br>

<br>
<blockquote>Bioware's younger brother kinda saved the year with <a>Neverwinter Nights 2</a>, which could be described as Baldur's Gate 2 meets Icewind Dale 2, which is great, because these are my favourite games. From Baldur's Gate we’ve got the epic story reflecting the choiceless life of the Chosen One, and from Icewind Dale 2 we’ve got endless waves of enemies and more combat than in Halo, which is another of my favourite games, so I'm pretty sure we are dealing with an instant classic and a game of the year material here. Any game that features a githyanki proctologist

Spoiler

who will remove a two handed sword that got stuck in your ass during a questionable anal game when you were a child

has gotta be good. Don't worry about getting lost in the game though, it's one of the most linear games I've ever seen, and even individual maps feature super linear maze-like designs, firmly leading you in circles to your destinations through waves of unavoidable enemies. Every now and then you are given a dialogue option that can help you avoid 5% of combat in an area, to remind you that it's not a Diablo clone, but a fully blown role-playing game. </blockquote>
<br>

<br>

Perfect review! Congratulations!

 

[suibhne]

Bullshit. They certainly display good vs. evil. The rebels ar eobviously presented as the 'good guys' and the orcs as the 'evil guys'. You can't get much clearer than that. Are you gusy retaredd or just been brainwashed by Gothic 3's 'perfection' not to see such obvious shit? Gothic 3's world is very black and white.

Wow. I can only guess that your level of education and your knowledge of history and politics is so threadbare that your only available cognitive frame was "good vs. evil". That doesn't mean it actually applies.

 

[Volourn]

Nope. Some games are more than mere good vs. evil. Gothic 3 is not one of them.

 

[LCJr.]

Volourn is DEAD! Idiot.
Game Over! Dumbass.
R00fles!

 

[elander_]

Love the game, but they must have used the same dialogue budget for a world 4 times the size.

What budget? Writers are the most unexpensive people to hire.

 

[aries202]

If you look at the RPG titles released in 2006, 2006 was actually a very good year for RPG-games.

You had

Oblivion
Gothic 3
Neverwinter Nights 2
Titan Quest
and perhaps a few more I have forgotten.

If you look at the quality of the games, well, then, I'd have to agree with you about that these games do not quite make it i.e. to me, at least, there not so well written etc. than the games of the past. And the interface, story and gameplay was sort of --- off - in some of the games.

However, I don't dislike Oblivion that much as this site normally does. I feel that Oblivion still is a great game,
maybe even a great rpg game. It all boils down to what you'd expect a rpg game to be all about. I find myself not agreeing with some of the choices made by Bethesa e.g the whole 'watch the grass grow philosphy' meaning that I'd would rather have seen a game with morrowind updated graphics, better story interaction and certainly a better main story line than the polished
surface graphics/visuals we now see in Oblivion.

As for Titan Quest, this game has done nothing from the start but to present itself as a Diablo clone, as well as an action RPG where the focus lied heavily on combat.

I'm sorry that some of the codex members seem to want the old times of Ultima 7 or 8, or even Ultima 5 back. If you do want them so strongly, then I suggest you make the rpg game which suits you.

 

[Vault Dweller]

If you look at the RPG titles released in 2006, 2006 was actually a very good year for RPG-games.
...

If you look at the quality of the games, well, then, I'd have to agree with you...

Why the fuck would we talk about anything other than quality?

I feel that Oblivion still is a great game ... It all boils down to what you'd expect a rpg game to be all about.

How about role-playing?

As for Titan Quest, this game has done nothing from the start but to present itself as a Diablo clone, as well as an action RPG where the focus lied heavily on combat.

Diablo 2 was a great game. Dungeon Siege, Titan Quest, and many other pathetic attempts to make a decent action game have failed miserably.

I'm sorry that some of the codex members seem to want the old times of Ultima 7 or 8, or even Ultima 5 back.

Which is why Ultima clones like Gothic 3, Bloodlines, NWN2, KOTOR 2 are well liked here.

 

[Lumpy]

VD, most of the mainstream market don't care about role-playing. For many RPG players, the most important qualities of an RPG are the story, the freedom, and the characters. And that's the so called hard-core group, who don't care about graphics all that much.

 

[Kthan75]

Interesting read, as always, VD!

My 2 cents:

Last year's review was funnier and somewhat less negativistic; i generally love the sarcasm on this site, but I feel this review was a bit over the edge.

While I agree with what you said about NWN, it was one of the better RPGs of the year and I think you could have mentioned some of it's good parts. By the way, I'd like to see a full review of NWN2 on the Codex, are there chances for that in the near future?

The bottom line is, whether we like it or not, the game world has changed and will continue to change. Everything is getting more simplified, more mass-market and more accessible (and I'm not referring only to RPGs). I hate to say it, but I doubt we'll be seeing any mainstream rpg like Fallout, BG, etc in the near future. I hope some company will prove me wrong...

This brings me back to the negativism. Unless we are making our own games, we don't have much choice but to accept the situation and "savor" it's better parts (this is why I highly appreciate your AOD effort).

 

[Vault Dweller]

Last year's review was funnier...

It was written by Spazmo who's a better writer. I only contributed a few paragraphs to it.

... and somewhat less negativistic; i generally love the sarcasm on this site, but I feel this review was a bit over the edge.

Blame the industry, not me.

While I agree with what you said about NWN, it was one of the better RPGs of the year...

And Oblivion was the best RPG of 2006 for the first 6 months. What's your point?

... and I think you could have mentioned some of it's good parts.

I will, once I see them.

By the way, I'd like to see a full review of NWN2 on the Codex, are there chances for that in the near future?

http://www.rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=16794

The bottom line is, whether we like it or not, the game world has changed and will continue to change.

Once again, what's your point? Are we legally obligated to like and embrace the changes?

This brings me back to the negativism. Unless we are making our own games, we don't have much choice but to accept the situation and "savor" it's better parts...

That's your choice, not mine. As for the future, look at the indies. We now have 3 new indie companies that seem to have a chance and are developing 3 very different and interesting titles. We have the guys who did Ultima 5 - a gigantic fucking effort. I'm willing to bet that what they learned will not be wasted. I'd say that in 3 years the RPG scene will be very different.

 

[LCJr.]

I'd say that in 3 years the RPG scene will be very different.

Is that the new release date for AoD?

 

[Vault Dweller]

No. I never claimed that AoD will save the genre or anything like that. Hopefully, it will be a good game, nothing more. However, there has never been so many good RPG projects in development as right now. If successful, these projects will strengthen their developers (to avoid the Zero-Sum's fate) and will motivate others to try.

 

[Kthan75]

The bottom line is, whether we like it or not, the game world has changed and will continue to change.

Once again, what's your point? Are we legally obligated to like and embrace the changes?

Definitely no. I didn't say I like the changes and I wouldn't say I embrace them either. I miss the old rpgs too and I get dissapointed with most of the new ones.

This brings me back to the negativism. Unless we are making our own games, we don't have much choice but to accept the situation and "savor" it's better parts...

That's your choice, not mine.

OK, true. Everyone gets their own opinion.

I'd say that in 3 years the RPG scene will be very different.

I really hope you are right.

 

[Greatatlantic]

Game over man, game over.

Where is that from?! I know its from some movie or TV show, but I just can't place it and its driving me nuts.

 

[Castanova]

Aliens

 

[Jasede]

[About ESF-refugees]
We'd better get back, 'cause it'll be dark soon, and they mostly come at night... mostly.

 

[obediah]

Another great year is done and gone. Let's take a moment and <a>bask in the memories</a>:
<br>

<br>
<blockquote>Bioware's younger brother kinda saved the year with <a>Neverwinter Nights 2</a>, which could be described as Baldur's Gate 2 meets Icewind Dale 2, which is great, because these are my favourite games. From Baldur's Gate we’ve got the epic story reflecting the choiceless life of the Chosen One, and from Icewind Dale 2 we’ve got endless waves of enemies and more combat than in Halo, which is another of my favourite games, so I'm pretty sure we are dealing with an instant classic and a game of the year material here. Any game that features a githyanki proctologist

Spoiler

who will remove a two handed sword that got stuck in your ass during a questionable anal game when you were a child

has gotta be good. Don't worry about getting lost in the game though, it's one of the most linear games I've ever seen, and even individual maps feature super linear maze-like designs, firmly leading you in circles to your destinations through waves of unavoidable enemies. Every now and then you are given a dialogue option that can help you avoid 5% of combat in an area, to remind you that it's not a Diablo clone, but a fully blown role-playing game. </blockquote>
<br>

<br>

Perfect review! Congratulations!

Uhm, he forgot to praise it for having more bugs than Volourn's vagina, and having an interface that will send you screaming for the comfort of Bard's Tale spell casting.