Achilles Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 Categories are: Best Story/Writing, Best Original Setting, Best Graphics, Best Sound/Music, Disappointment of the Year, Independent RPG of the Year, Action RPG of the Year, and RPG of the Year. Linky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimartin Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 I'm disappointed in their choice for Disappointment of the Year. How can the best story of the year also be the biggest disappointment of the year? I have not played “The Witcher,” but I finally made myself go back and play NWN2 and Mask of the Betrayer after hating the original camera angels and fighting controls and I did enjoy it. It was a very good story, yet I would (and did) rank their disappointment of the year ahead of it both in story and game play, but to each his/her own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Achilles Posted January 12, 2008 Author Share Posted January 12, 2008 I knew when I posted it that we would be hearing from you Sorry about your sacred cow, my friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mur'phon Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 Mass Effect bigest disapointment? I think someone has had too many shrooms. Put Hellgate London there instead, and strip it of its silver setting award. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ctrl Alt Del Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 Even though I enjoyed (And still enjoy) Mass Effect, I can't help but think of it as the letdown of the year - And if it was a disappointment and I still enjoyed it that much, you'd imagine what I was expecting. they developed it for the masses. I don't agree. Reducing feats and skills to one wasn't all that bad. The same goes for the substitution of the aging d20 system. Even though I expected something less like a FPS on the game. A little more strategy wouldn't hurt. [...]and landing on uncharted planets is, well, not what it was cracked up to be. My main complaint: Bioware said that there would be dozens of regions, with dozens of stars and hundreds of planets, some of those will be thrilling cities, buzzing with life and some will be "desolate, backwater rocks with nothing interesting to do". They only forgot to mention that every side planets - that is, the ones not crucial to your mission - are "desolate, backwater rocks with nothing interesting to do". Perhaps I wouldn't even mind the Mako sequences much, if every dammed planet I landed didn't make me drop from the Normandy unto the planet's surface to long and dull explorations. That was the game's main failures, that I hope will be fixed on the following games of the trilogy. Mass Effect universe deserves better. If a game deserves be "awarded" as such, it's Hellgate: London. Good multiplayer, but too over-hyped. ________________________________ Comments about the other choices: Never played The Witcher, but on a year without Final Fantasy it's easy . Still, based on this year's RPGs I played, I would go for Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix + Bioshock is one other I haven't played yet, but from all that I heard, it seems to deserve every award it won. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimartin Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 I knew when I posted it that we would be hearing from you Sorry about your sacred cow, my friend. And why wouldn’t I defend the second greatest game every produced just behind Tic Tack Toe. The only real disappointment I have with Mass Effect is it is not KOTOR 3. The Character creation alone is enough not to call Mass Effect a disappointment. I created myself. It looks like they scanned me for this game (they change my lack of hair style), but it is me I am playing as, right down to the scar in my eyebrow (in the game it is on the wrong side). It did take me two hours to create it. I’ve also played with female PCs that looked reassembly like Natalie Portman and Kristen Bell (although the Natalie one was suppose to be Keira Knightley. In game it looked like Natalie). I would love to see what someone with patients (like stoffe) could do with this system. My main complaint: Bioware said that there would be dozens of regions, with dozens of stars and hundreds of planets, some of those will be thrilling cities, buzzing with life and some will be "desolate, backwater rocks with nothing interesting to do". They only forgot to mention that every side planets - that is, the ones not crucial to your mission - are "desolate, backwater rocks with nothing interesting to do". There is a reason they are called uncharted worlds. They would have to change the name if you were running into a town every fifty feet. I actually was disappointed with this at first, but it fits the story. It is only 26 years after first contact. Humans are settling a wild region of space (the story does take place in human territory). There would not me many settlements in that short a period. Just a few people out to try to get rich quick (miners and pirates, which is who you find on these uncharted worlds). Having three human colonies out there is an achievement in only 26 years. I found some of the uncharted worlds’ assignment fun: the Listening Posts , the Geth Outposts, Rogue VI, the ones dealing with Cerberus. I also love looking for and then destroying Thresher Maws. My major disappointment is the lack of party member communication on these uncharted worlds. Just a small comment here and there about the beautiful sunset or about how cold it was would have been nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ctrl Alt Del Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 The Character creation alone is enough not to call Mass Effect a disappointment. I agree. But it could be even better if they copied the The Sims 2 system utterly. I sure wouldn't mind. There is a reason they are called uncharted worlds. They would have to change the name if you were running into a town every fifty feet. I actually was disappointed with this at first, but it fits the story. It is only 26 years after first contact. Humans are settling a wild region of space (the story does take place in human territory). There would not me many settlements in that short a period. Just a few people out to try to get rich quick (miners and pirates, which is who you find on these uncharted worlds). That much is true. Still, I think that there wouldn't be a problem if there were Asari settlements, Turian villages and Salarian outposts here and there. Having three human colonies out there is an achievement in only 26 years. Wait, out of the Local Cluster there's only Feros! Noveria is a multiracial colony and Virmire... Damn, Tortuga says you something? I found some of the uncharted worlds’ assignment fun: the Listening Posts , the Geth Outposts, Rogue VI, the ones dealing with Cerberus. I also love looking for and then destroying Thresher Maws. My major disappointment is the lack of party member communication on these uncharted worlds. Just a small comment here and there about the beautiful sunset or about how cold it was would have been nice. Oh, those quests were fun, but the problem it that there was just a handful of them. I also didn't liked the "I'm ready!" comments of your partners on those places; another show of how generic those points are. ____________________ If the next game is set, I don't know, the Terminus Systems perhaps, I want to see more populated planets... And the fires that are always burning there of course: The political instability, raiders and pirates, and the Batarians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimartin Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 That much is true. Still, I think that there wouldn't be a problem if there were Asari settlements, Turian villages and Salarian outposts here and there.[/Quote] Why would there be within Alliance space? Wait, out of the Local Cluster there's only Feros! Noveria is a multiracial colony and Virmire... Damn, Tortuga says you something? [/Quote] 1. Exodus Cluster – Utopia System – Eden Prime 2. Attican Beta – Theseus – Feros 3. Horse Head Nebula – Pax – Noveria (granted Noveria is a multicultural research colony, but it has to be humans running it as no one but humans can be that stupid and negligent in their research.) Plus it said to be a colony by that Volus salesperson in the markets on the Citadel. If the next game is set, I don't know, the Terminus Systems perhaps, I want to see more populated planets... And the fires that are always burning there of course: The political instability, raiders and pirates, and the Batarians.I agree. The next game should take place outside of the Alliance territory and as you enter known space there should be less exploring. That would also mean less raiders and pirates as you are entering a more civilized part of The Milky Way. Can't have it both ways, well I guess you can since this is a video game and not real life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ctrl Alt Del Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 Why would there be within Alliance space? I suppose you have a point. But if the next game isn't set quite some time on the future, I doubt humanity will have more than Noveria to rely on outside the Local Cluster (Since ExoGeni Company announces it'll leave the colony for good). Thirty years on the future might be fair. We still could have Liara and Wrex on the next one, but not Shepard, which is all fine by me. 1. Exodus Cluster – Utopia System – Eden Prime Completely forgot about Eden Prime. I don't think the Geth took the entire colony out anyway. 3. Horse Head Nebula – Pax – Noveria (granted Noveria is a multicultural research colony, but it has to be humans running it as no one but humans can be that stupid and negligent in their research.) Plus it said to be a colony by that Volus salesperson in the markets on the Citadel. Still, the colony administrator is Anoleis, a salarian. And can be Lorik Quinn if you do his quest properly. I agree. The next game should take place outside of the Alliance territory and as you enter known space there should be less exploring. That would also mean less raiders and pirates as you are entering a more civilized part of The Milky Way. Can't have it both ways, well I guess you can since this is a video game and not real life. Civilized should be quoted. From all we heard, the Terminus Systems isn't exactly the most stable region of the galaxy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lantzen Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 After have seen they made Mass Effect biggest disapointment, Gamebanshee lost much of my respect or whatever you can call it i had for that site ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Devon Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 Mass Effect is essentially an action title with subpar RPG elements Best Story/Writing - Mass Effect Well, there's another reminder why I rarely lend much stock to site-written reviews. My opinion on this may be uninformed given that I've not played Mass Effect (and until it's released on PC I don't plan to - nothing interesting out on the 360 and I'd essentially be spending $350+ for one game), but I'm very skeptical that its story could be placed ahead of MotB's. Apart from Torment there really is not one that can compare with it - a love story gone horribly wrong that questions divine right to rule and throws in soul-eating/personal correlation to the PC without the fate of the world being in his/her hands is pretty hard to beat. (The well-done party members were also a plus.) In contrast from what I know of Mass Effect and have heard from friends is that it's basically another BioWare 'save the galaxy from certain doom' story that tries to be original by throwing in teleological and deontological answers to conversations. While that's a vast improvement from their typical 'oh help me, my innocent newborn baby girl has been kidnapped by evil baby-eating slavers!' dilemma where the choices are 'I'll rescue her and risk my life for free', 'what's the reward?', 'I'll kill you!' and 'I'll be going now', whether the ends justify the means is hardly new and can be put into almost any game. Point in case, I'm somewhat skeptical of their giving MotB second even though I've not played Mass Effect myself. BioWare stories are usually good and have a deep character or two, but they're simply not on the same level as what Avellone and co have delivered. The idea they were able to suddenly write something that provided more depth (or was simply better-written) than MotB astounds me, especially since that would make it better done than all their previous titles - which is quite hard to do with an original setting. I don't suppose anyone who's played Mass Effect and MotB would say otherwise? As it stands I see very little reason to take GameBanshee seriously, and that's not even having played both titles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ctrl Alt Del Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 I don't suppose anyone who's played Mass Effect and MotB would say otherwise? As it stands I see very little reason to take GameBanshee seriously, and that's not even having played both titles. I haven't played MotB yet - hell, I haven't even played NWN2 yet - still, I can tell what I know about the Mass Effect story. "Save the galaxy" plot indeed. Like on Kotor, you'll have an ultimate evil group to defeat (Curiously, you don't met more than one of those) and still you can be the universal @ss on an Renegade ending (Let's just not say evil here, Bioware made quite sure that Paragon and Renegade aren't really different alignments, just different ways of thinking and acting). Still, is this pattern plot that bad? They actually raised a new mythology from the ground, built into a very stable universe, on a game that'll keep instigating the player, inevitably dragging him to the ending. There's a plot twist, not as big as in Kotor, nor as obvious, but it's there. There's a character that impersonates evil, but in the end, he isn't. There are friends to look after, but they are expandable if you wish. Did the NWN, Kotor or Jade Empire dialogs always bugged you? Why the heck your character rarely spoke more than two lines of dialogue while an NPC spoke 10? None of that is on ME, thankfully, the new "wheel" system flows quite well. And I still think that Bioware writes the best dialogs on RPGs to date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimartin Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 I don't suppose anyone who's played Mass Effect and MotB would say otherwise? You are truly evil Emperor Devon are you trying to get me to be critical of my sacred cow? These are my personal taste. I am also not impartial; I hated the combat system and the controls of NWN2 and only went back to it after reading post on this forum about NWN2 and MotB. Character Creation: Mass Effect Game Play: Mass Effect Communications with Party Member: MotB Dialog System: Mass Effect Party Members: Split Equipment: MotB Graphics: Mass Effects Side Quest: MotB Story: MotB Mass Effect is not deep, but it is a good story. Both are good games with good stories and I have no problem with either being game of the year. I do have a problem with either being called Disappointment of the Year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balderdash Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 I don't suppose anyone who's played Mass Effect and MotB would say otherwise? As it stands I see very little reason to take GameBanshee seriously, and that's not even having played both titles.I've played both, and completed both multiple times, so I consider myself well qualified to say that Mask of the Betrayer had a much, much better/more interesting story. Both were pretty good games though, but Mask is the one I'm more likely to still be playing in years to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corinthian Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 Mask of the Betrayer, I wouldn't touch with a six foot pole. Why? They fudged NWN2's storyline, why on Earth should I suspect that they did any better with the expansion? NWN2 hasn't been on my computer since a month after I first installed it for a very good reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Char Ell Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 Mask of the Betrayer, I wouldn't touch with a six foot pole. Why? They fudged NWN2's storyline, why on Earth should I suspect that they did any better with the expansion? NWN2 hasn't been on my computer since a month after I first installed it for a very good reason. Hmmm... So you couldn't stand The Witcher and thought NWN2 sucked so bad that it wasn't even worth the effort to try it's expansion. I'm curious, what was your RPG of the year then? Having only played Jade Empire: Special Edition and The Witcher in the RPG category of 2007 releases I'm really not qualified to comment on GameBanshee's choices, though I was surpised that Mass Effect got best story and biggest disappointment. But IIRC it is their first year giving out these awards so maybe this can be chalked up to inexperience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogue15 Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 not enough variety... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ctrl Alt Del Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 not enough variety... What exactly are you talking about? Variety of choices? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilentScope001 Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 And no comment on the Indie RPG of the Year, Geneforge 4? I've been playing the demo, and the storyline there was actually pretty interesting, having the same theme of: "Oh noes, what if, when fighting your enemy, you becomes it?" of ME, but having two factions in the process, with real choices (instead of being constrained to just one faction in ME). Also, you get to summon creatures, and I love doing that. However, I might prefer the earlier Geneforge games becuase they have you join up to 4 different factions... But, I haven't played through even the first level, so, eh. I should restart the demo and 'restat', and see how it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corinthian Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 Bah, Geneforge. I'm more partial to Avernum/Exile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance Monance Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 You are truly evil Emperor Devon are you trying to get me to be critical of my sacred cow? These are my personal taste. I am also not impartial; I hated the combat system and the controls of NWN2 and only went back to it after reading post on this forum about NWN2 and MotB. Character Creation: Mass Effect Game Play: Mass Effect Communications with Party Member: MotB Dialog System: Mass Effect Party Members: Split Equipment: MotB Graphics: Mass Effects Side Quest: MotB Story: MotB Mass Effect is not deep, but it is a good story. Both are good games with good stories and I have no problem with either being game of the year. I do have a problem with either being called Disappointment of the Year. I'm getting NWN MotB now. If you, out of all people who seem to love Mass effect, say that.. Personally I enjoy RPGs from both Bioware and Obsidian (Avellone). Though, while I have played a lot of Bioware titles, I did play just one Obsidian title: Kotor II. I got PS: Torment, but I can't bring myself to endure the 640xwhatever.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk102 Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 I got PS: Torment, but I can't bring myself to endure the 640xwhatever. Your loss. Perhaps you should sell it on eBay. There are many others out there who would "endure" it happily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogue15 Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 What exactly are you talking about? Variety of choices? variety of choices, they all, besides bioshock, looked like RPGs to me. wonder why oblivion goty didn't get in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ctrl Alt Del Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 variety of choices, they all, besides bioshock, looked like RPGs to me. wonder why oblivion goty didn't get in. That's because they are. Even Bioshock, which is a FPS RPG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance Monance Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 Your loss. Perhaps you should sell it on eBay. There are many others out there who would "endure" it happily. Well I started playing it and everything apart from graphics is awesome. I think I'll give it another try when I have time to fully immerse myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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