What do you think about BioWare and their games?

[Exhuminator]

Okay, so BioWare, maker of these things:

1996 Shattered Steel**
1998 Baldur's Gate*
1999 Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast**
2000 MDK2**
2000 Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn**
2001 Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal**
2002 Neverwinter Nights**
2003 Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide**
2003 Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark**
2003 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic*
2005 Jade Empire*
2007 Mass Effect*
2008 Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood**
2009 Mass Effect Galaxy
2009 Dragon Age: Origins**
2010 Mass Effect 2**
2010 Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening
2011 Dragon Age II
2011 Star Wars: The Old Republic
2012 Mass Effect 3**
2013 Star Wars: The Old Republic – Rise of the Hutt Cartel
2014 Star Wars: The Old Republic – Galactic Starfighter
2014 Star Wars: The Old Republic – Galactic Strongholds
2014 Dragon Age: Inquisition
2014 Star Wars: The Old Republic – Shadow of Revan
2015 Star Wars: The Old Republic – Knights of the Fallen Empire
2016 Mass Effect: Andromeda

My experience with BioWare games:

Circa 2007 I put about 10 hours into Jade Empire on Xbox. I enjoyed the game's atmosphere and the plot was okay. The combat was great IMO. However I thought the NPC dialogue was abysmally bad and it ruined the immersion for me. I quit playing it about halfway through, but plan to revisit it someday via the Special Edition version.

Circa 2008 I put about 3 hours into Knights of the Old Republic but didn't enjoy it. The game has a really slow start, and I remember quitting because I was fighting some rat like monsters in a sewer environment, or something like that. I just remember feeling very underwhelmed and disappointed with it. Obviously I didn't give the game a fair enough chance and totally plan to go back and try it again.

Circa 2010 I put 30 hours into Baldur's Gate but I did not finish it. Once I reached the actual city of Baldur's Gate I was burned out. Mainly because I did not steep myself in the game's lore enough to feel invested in the plot. I regret not finishing it. I loved the sense of exploration in this one and I thought the D&D mechanics were well implemented.

2015 I just started playing Mass Effect. I have about 5 hours in it now and absolutely love it so far. This could be the first BioWare game I actually finish.

So what's your opinion of this company and its output? What games do you think are the best, or the worst, and why? What's your favorite BioWare game? What's your least favorite? Do you have any really great memories (spoiler free of course) from playing any of these? What do you think BioWare is really great at, and not so great at? What would be your BioWare dream game? How do you think BioWare compares to Bethesda?

*I own copies of these and have put time into them.

**I own copies of these but haven't played them.

[noiseredux]

I got into BioWare late as well. I played Dragon Age Origins earlier this year and absolutely fell in love. I adored everything about that game. Then I went on to attempt Mass Effect, but it didn't suck me in right away. I *think* it's possible that part of my problem was making a Shep rather than FemShep. But I was surprised because I tend to enjoy "Star Wars" more than "Lord Of The Rings," if you know what I mean. I also found the battle system in DAO (read: I could make it feel purely turn based) more my style than in ME. But having said all that, I didn't hate ME or anything and always felt I will go back to it at some point with fresh eyes.

I of course plan to play KOTOR next month for TR.

[Xeogred]

When it comes to story/dialogue they're a lot better than Bethesda to me, but absolutely nothing compared to Obsidian. KOTOR 1 (Bioware) vs 2 (Obsidian) being the perfect example, I still can't believe how dark and complex 2 is and that it's even Star Wars.

Mass Effect is one of my favorite trilogies next to Dead Space and the Souls games for last gen though. Each game is very solid, but the writing ends up staying fairly Hollywood and black and white which I don't like. I'd maybe say I like Deus Ex Human Revolution more, it's more gray line, but not without its flaws itself.

Dragon Age I completely hated for many reasons, but I actually had a blast with Inquisition and would put it above Skyrim. The writing was arguably better than Mass Effect, but the world building and characters weren't nearly as good for me. I'm sci-fi biased though. The ending was terrible too, but this is kind of a trend for a lot of big open games, hard to pull off a good ending apparently.

Despite loving the aesthetics of isometric PC games, I have a hard time getting into them. I tried playing a bit of Baldur's Gate years back and was pretty much instantly bored. Jade Empire was alright, but I wasn't interested enough to finish it.

Basically I love Mass Effect and Bioware can be pretty solid to me, but there are things I wish were better or different.

[Fragems]

EA's Origin store currently has Jade Empire Special Edition as it's "On the House" game. So if anyone wants to pick it's free for them moment as long as you don't mind Origin DRM.

https://www.origin.com/en-us/store/free ... -the-house

[BoneSnapDeez]

The D&D games and Dragon Age are awesome.

Jade Empire and Mass Effect are decent.

Never got into the Star Wars stuff nor have I ever played the Sonic game.

Solid developer overall, but I can't see myself getting a newer console or PC to play their upcoming games. I prefer older WRPGs, generally speaking.

[Erik_Twice]

I can't help but think that all their games are esentially the same and suffer from the same problem which is that none of their components (combat, dialogue, plot, worldbuilding) is actually good.

I don't know if that makes me an elitist but it's what I think

[prfsnl_gmr]

Circa 2008 I put about 3 hours into Knights of the Old Republic but didn't enjoy it. The game has a really slow start, and I remember quitting because I was fighting some rat like monsters in a sewer environment, or something like that. I just remember feeling very underwhelmed and disappointed with it. Obviously I didn't give the game a fair enough chance and totally plan to go back and try it again.

Ditto. I haven't really tried any of their other games, but I plan to revisit KOTOR soon (i.e., in January). I would also like to play through the Mass Effect trilogy at some point.

[ExedExes]

MDK2 on the Dreamcast is a good time. The dog's stages can be a little frustrating, but other than that it's really fun. Plus if you put the disc in a computer you get extra artwork and a silly sound file from the developers!

[isiolia]

A lot of games, for me, wind up going straight into the backlog (thanks, MMOs). Bioware games I tend to make time to play when they're released.

Not that I think they're perfect, but they do tend to just strike a nice balance. I haven't really put much into the Infinity Engine ones - the demo for Baldur's Gate II got me interested in Neverwinter Nights, and I've beaten most of their PC releases since.

[flylikeabird]

Circa 2008 I put about 3 hours into Knights of the Old Republic but didn't enjoy it. The game has a really slow start, and I remember quitting because I was fighting some rat like monsters in a sewer environment, or something like that. I just remember feeling very underwhelmed and disappointed with it. Obviously I didn't give the game a fair enough chance and totally plan to go back and try it again.

Ditto. I haven't really tried any of their other games, but I plan to revisit KOTOR soon (i.e., in January). I would also like to play through the Mass Effect trilogy at some point.

KOTOR is one of my favorite games, probably beaten it 4-5 times. Definitely agree though that it starts off very slow. Game picks up A LOT once you move past the first world though and if you are a fan of Star Wars/RPGS it deserves a play through.