Editorial Might & Magic vs Dragon Age

[Jason]

Tags: Dragon Age

<p><a href="http://rampantgames.com/frayedknights/" target="_blank">Frayed Knights</a> is so obviously near completion that Jay "Rampant Coyote" Barnson has time to throw away playing <strong>Dragon Age</strong> and <strong>Might &amp; Magic 1</strong> to decide which is the <a href="http://rampantgames.com/blog/?p=1728" target="_blank">"More Compelling Role-Playing Game"</a>.</p>
<blockquote>The only answer I have right now is that with the twenty-four year old Might &amp; Magic, I&rsquo;m playing a game. One I&rsquo;m familiar with on some levels, but in a new (to me) and exciting world. In Dragon Age, I&rsquo;m playing through somebody else&rsquo;s script. This doesn&rsquo;t usually bug me very much &ndash; after all, I&rsquo;m a fan of many jRPGs.&nbsp; And I can&rsquo;t say it actually bugs me here, either. But when I noticed that all respawns and XP-gaining opportunities were used up about fifteen experience points shy of level three in the backstory sequence, and feeling an incredible sense of deju vu with the core gameplay (I&rsquo;m not sure why I didn&rsquo;t get that with Might &amp; Magic &ndash; by rights, the mechanics should feel far more tired),&nbsp; the game just feels like the interactive equivalent of a &ldquo;popcorn movie.&rdquo; Enjoyable, but ultimately forgettable.</blockquote>
<p>Jay earns 10 Kodex Kool Kredits for choosing M&amp;M over DA, but loses 1,000 for admitting to be a "fan of many jRPGs". Grown men just shouldn't say that sort of thing in public.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>

 

[Konjad]

I stopped reading at:

But it didn’t really compel me to keep playing. Not like, say, Fallout 3 did

Dragon Age could be a pretty good game if not all the filler combat. Might and Magic does not strike me as great game either. Good for a dungeon crawler, nothing out of ordinary. Sure, if I were looking for a dungeon crawler then M&M is one of the best possibilities, still it's not good cRPG. So yeah, I think all there is to compare between DA and M&M is combat system.

 

[SimpleComplexity]

Jay more like ... Gay

 

[Vibalist]

Only on the Codex do people still get mad when someone writes something sensible.

 

[Roguey]

He gets no credit from me. "Guys! I like this older game better than this new one! Am I cool yet? Oh yeah and KOTOR is one of my favorites"

 

[Vibalist]

He gets no credit from me. "Guys! I like this older game better than this new one! Am I cool yet? Oh yeah and KOTOR is one of my favorites"

It's not cool to like old games anywhere but here. I'm sure plenty of kids have already deemed this guy uncool for liking something old and ancient rather than DA.

 

[Roguey]

The guy's making an OLD SKEWL DUNGEON CRAWLER, he's pandering to his potential audience I'm sure.

 

[Lyric Suite]

I'd take an old school dungeon crawler with primitive interface and simple game play over a failed story fag game with shit writing and shit gameplay. In fact, i'm currently playing the first Ultima and i'm probably enjoying it more then i would Faggot Age. Fuck

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Yes, but your brain is turning into tomato soup

what if these facts are related

 

[Jasede]

Lyric Suite just needs some fresh air; that's what my grandmother said cures everything. She is dead, though.

 

[Jaesun]

Lyric Suite just needs some fresh air; that's what my grandmother said cures everything. She is dead, though.

 

[Luzur]

atleast he choose Might and Magic, it could have been Fallout 3.

 

[Sceptic]

Bringing up KOTOR and FO3 as awesome games kinda brings down the rest of the article, which is otherwise an interesting read. MM1 does have this something special that just makes exploring its world a lot of fun.

Some of the comments are pretty lulzy though, including this guy who was awed by the Redcliffe quest because "there is no right way to solve it!" (protip: there's a few) and whose brain was eaten by DAO because of the awesomely deep intrigue and world and characters. Yeah, his brain's definitely been eaten by something.

 

[7hm]

It's a good article, though there isn't really too much point to it.

He's already posted about liking F3 and JRPGs and such. Whatever. There are lots of games people like for all kinds of different reasons but which I think are crap. He likes oldschool dungeon crawlers and puzzles and fairly deep character systems and he is both blogging about playing them and actually making one. I can appreciate him for that.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Lyric Suite just needs some fresh air; that's what my grandmother said cures everything. She is dead, though.

 

[papillon]

Bringing up KOTOR and FO3 as awesome games kinda brings down the rest of the article, which is otherwise an interesting read. MM1 does have this something special that just makes exploring its world a lot of fun.

Some of the comments are pretty lulzy though, including this guy who was awed by the Redcliffe quest because "there is no right way to solve it!" (protip: there's a few) and whose brain was eaten by DAO because of the awesomely deep intrigue and world and characters. Yeah, his brain's definitely been eaten by something.

Helpful hint: I'm female. We do exist on the internets. If you didn't follow my link, the obsessive fanfic reading and mention of Alistair could have been a clue.

I never said there was no right way to solve the Redcliffe quest - I said I got myself into a particular situation within the Redcliffe quest for which there was no good answer for my character the way I was role-playing her. I couldn't say more, obviously, because of not wanting to spoil Jay. It was impressive because up until that point I had been bitching constantly about how dull the game was, how unimaginative the story was, and how incredibly transparent the characters were... how very "Bioware" it all felt. At the end of the Ostagar section I wanted to punch all the writers; Redcliffe was a big step up. The dilemma was still obvious angst in a lot of ways, but it was a dramatic improvement from where the game had been, and for me the game got better from there.

It should be absolutely no surprise that someone who likes story (or role-playing!) is more interested in Dragon Age than someone who plays for good combat.

And gee, if you have trouble recognising self-mockery, you probably need to indulge more often.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Uh, what's there to role-play? You're either goodie two-shoes or Greedy McDouchebag. And if Redcliffe provided you with a dilemma that you describe, I'm at loss for words - considering that the "best" solution is easily achievable.

Oh, you mean LARPing. Nevermind then.

 

[Blackula]

Re: Might & Magic vs Dragon Age

but loses 1,000 for admitting to be a "fan of many jRPGs". Grown men just shouldn't say that sort of thing in public.</p>
<p> </p>

Oh how the codex has fallen then...

 

[Blackula]

He gets no credit from me. "Guys! I like this older game better than this new one! Am I cool yet? Oh yeah and KOTOR is one of my favorites so i played it 7 times"

fixed.

 

[Xor]

She might not have known you could use the circle to finish the quest with no downside. I didn't when I first did that quest. Although really, you can pretty much leave before doing the boss fight event and go do the mage tower quest after finding out that's an option, and having that option really does make the others pointless.

 

[Sceptic]

I also hesitated for a split second when considering whether there could be repercussions for getting the Circle to help. Then I remembered this is a Bioware game. Then I noticed there were waaaaaaaaay too many "THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES!" phrases being thrown around. I was extremely suspicious by this point, but the sheer insistance that bad things will happen while I get the Circle made me hopeful. So I went, did the Circle (Recliffe was my first hub)... and absolutely nothing bad happens. Meh.

Papillon - apologies for the gender mixup. Without knowing exactly what you're talking about I can only guess, but I assume you sided with the Templars and then didn't know what to do at Redcliffe. That brings another sore point I have with the game - there is no reason to side with the Templar unless you're roleplaying a jerk (same reason why there's no reason to side with either the elves or the werewolves): why save one when you can help both? Repeats itself nicely in Redcliffe too: no reason not to get the Circle unless your PC is a jerk who has no trouble killing either the kid or the wife (not that either has any effect whatsoever anyway...). The game does try and trick you into thinking there is no right choice... but the design becomes even uglier when you notice it's a cheap trick.

 

[Drakron]

She might not have known you could use the circle to finish the quest with no downside.

True but the "THE DUKE IS DYING !!!" we get on Farmvillage is a pretty good indicator we should go there first as there is urgency of DUKE DYING! as the others places really do not give much urgency, even with the Tower you just get the idea something HAD happened but DYING is never stated.

The game goes *hint* us to go to Deadcliff and if you are a goody good character why the fuck did you allowed the Templars to purge the Tower? It makes no sense to be in character and in on hand PURGE the Tower and when faced with Evil Child you try to play nice ...

 

[ChristofferC]

I killed the bitch because I thought the boy would be screwed if I took the time to go to the mages tower. I couldn't risk that.

 

[racofer]

Why so much hate for DA? I thought this site was all about acceptance.

 

[Roguey]

All right, lettuce list RPGs were there are no plot-optimal best solutions and you can only choose between lesser evils or various Pyrrhic victories:
The Witcher
???

 

[GarfunkeL]

Curse of the Azure Bonds - as you confront each of the conspirators who have placed these azure bonds on your flesh, you actually advance the regional wars. In the end, though you have freed yourself, the player is directly responsible for creating a civil war in one city and allowing another city to be overran by an hostile army.

Fallout - no matter what you do, Hub gets shafted, one way or another. Furthermore, it is extremely easy to fuck Necropolis over as well. And even in the places where you can solve their problems and bring peace, temporarily at least, you still need to fuck up some folks. Regulators in Boneyard, Khans near Shady Sands. Still annoyed that they changed Junktown ending - Killian becoming iron-fisted fascist brute would have been fantastic.