Paradigmthefallen posted a well written, well researched, and heartfelt blog today mourning (as he sees it) the death or irrevocable corruption of the famed developer at the hands of it's now evil overlord EA. He claims greed has brought the once proud makers of such niche games as Jade Empire, Neverwinter Nights, and Baldur's Gate to the brink of destruction. Citing an article in The Escapist, he points out that 2 talented former members of Bioware's team left under a cloud of concern about the direction the studio was heading, and how the culture had changed since EA bought it lock, stock, and barrel.
As you might have already guessed from the title of this blog, I think that all of that is bull. Allow me to explain why.
Any venture that expects to survive in today's market has to adapt to survive. Fans of older RPG's in both the rigid D&D rulebook style, and JRPG's, would have you believe that something has been lost. That soulless action games with a bare hint of RPG are all that they are being offered today. These old school fans claim that the very backbone of a true role playing game is somehow housed in its menus and any combat system outside of turn based is heresy. I played, and loved many of these older RPG's myself. But there is a reason such games are even less prevalent nowadays. They often don't make a lot of money, because here in the west, they are a niche genre. The beauty of Bioware's new direction is that it has introduced a much larger pool of gamers to video games that rely heavily on narrative, where your actions show ripples in the universe you are invested in, and customization is paramount to the experience.
Mass Effect 1 was my favorite game when it released. Despite it's many flaws, it told an (at the time) unparallelled science fiction story in the gaming space, letting me craft the narrative around my own tastes and morals. That was pretty amazing. A lot of folks like to see that game through rose colored glasses however. Where ME1 fell short was in the actual game play mechanics. The Mako was a chore, and while exploring stranges planets in it was novel the first couple of times playing through the game, those planets were so often barren that it didn't hold up well as gameplay. An archaic dice roll system for on foot combat was almost equally as annoying, where ME controlled like a third person shooter, only your character build determined your prowess in combat, not your skill. Still Mass Effect was a revelation. It even sold moderately well.
Moderately well does not cut it in the games industry anymore though. The Mid tier developer (read: Bioware before EA acquired them) is, for all intents and purposes, dead in today's world.
Fast forward to ME2. Bioware, sporting a brand new shiny EA logo on their games, set out to remedy the criticisms leveled at the first game in their new IP. ME 2 stripped the bloated inventory management system, cut away the (at best) mediocre vehicle sections, and went for a full on real time combat system, where player skill actually mattered. At roughly the same time, they also released a new IP, Dragon Age aimed at the more tactically minded set. That game was heralded as a successor to older fare such as Balder's Gate. It of course had a miriad of problems of it's own. Drab environments, more than a few bugs. I, and many others loved it and saw the potential all the same though. DA:O released to moderate (there's that word again) success, even while the more accessible and streamlined ME 2 sold like gangbusters and reaped multiple GOTY awards.
Shortly thereafter, Bioware released DA 2. It too tried to streamline it's gameplay, and go for a more real time combat system. I liked it, the story was good, as was the voice acting and gameplay mechanics. Admittedly, those reoccurring environments were just horrendous though. Still, it was fun for what it was.
Which brings us to today's Bioware. ME 3 brought back a modicum of inventory management, further tightened up the combat, and swung for the fences on the trilogy's promise. And mostly, it delivered. The biggest problem I had with the ending occured after the release of the extended cut. Everything interesting about the destruction of the Mass relays was retconned. In reality, they should have had fewer choices at the very end. Kind of like the Walking Dead simply colored the ending, letting you feel the full weight of your decisions, but tapering the endgame into a single point, that would be cannon for all. It still stands as my favorite game of all time though.
Bioware has improved with almost every new release. The idea that when they stumble, it's a sure sign of their demise, is asinine and childish. The "take back Mass Effect" initiative actually pigeonholed the franchise moving forward. If anything is hampering Bioware right now, it's their penchant for crowdsourcing new games and features. When left to their own devices, and EA certainly seems to be content to let them create as they will, they look as hale and healthy as ever. Were they to stand stagnant, or move backwards, as Paradigm suggests, it truly would be the end of them.