Opinions on the Dragon Age and Mass Effect Universes?

[NikolaeVarius]

So then enlighten us, what is this completely original sci fi story?

Appealing to create my own story is a logical fallacy and is not worth answering

The fact of the matter is. ME uses tons of Scifi tropes and does nothing that pushes it as an entertaining Universe. The singular big bad is just that, a big bad. A boss enemy doens't make a universe good or engrossing.

 

[CottonRabbit]

Both universes are good enough to make for enjoyable games. I don't care if it's been done before in a book.

That said, I think the Qunari in DA are quite unique as technologically advanced colonialists with a government and society that draws upon many real-world philosophies and religions.

 

[yllus]

And how the other races of the galaxy look at humans as minorities and treat them like shit.

I would have to suggest you don't know the Mass Effect fiction that well. There's a fleshed out reason for humans being looked down upon by the other races: We're newbies, and violent ones at that. At the moment that the first Mass Effect game kicks off, humans have only discovered Prothean ruins 35 years prior, and use that technology to achieve faster-than-light travel. A decade or two later we kick off and lose a war with the turians.

If not for the krogans, humans would be the lowest major race on the totem pole - and arguably deservedly so.

 

[TallBill]

The ME universe is so badass. So many things tie into each other. You might learn some some blurb from the first game and have it touched upon randomly in the third, and that little light bulb goes off in your head like "oh, that's why".

I really enjoyed the DA story/universe as well. The combat actually got repetitive and tedious by about hour #50 or so but I really wanted to follow the storyline.

 

[Gooberlx2]

ME uses tons of Scifi tropes

So? Calling out the use of tropes as criticism is fucking lazy. You mean to say ME might have employed common conventions and devices used in sci-fi and other genres, across all mediums? Holy shit!

It's not like ME is recycled work. Why don't you be more specific about your dissatisfaction?

 

[AstroManLuca]

Mass Effect is elaborate, but I dunno, it seems to be lacking in philosophy. Star Trek had a certain optimism to it, though I never got into it. Babylon 5 got into philosophy or chaos vs order. Star Wars had several themes going through it...I don't detect any philosophical musings in this one.

From the start I didn't like the whole "super-soldier" thing in Shepard...

Says the guy who loves Star Wars, which has magic the Force that can only be wielded by nigh-invincible wizards Jedi.

Appealing to create my own story is a logical fallacy and is not worth answering

The fact of the matter is. ME uses tons of Scifi tropes and does nothing that pushes it as an entertaining Universe. The singular big bad is just that, a big bad. A boss enemy doens't make a universe good or engrossing.

Tropes Are Not Bad

It's no different from how nearly every medieval fantasy setting has the same races all based on Tolkein's books, or how fantasy video games usually have some variant of wizard/warrior/rogue as character classes. I understand craving some more originality, but it's okay if you do stick to well known tropes if you make sure the rest of the story is original.

 

[micrometers]

Says the guy who loves Star Wars, which has magic the Force that can only be wielded by nigh-invincible wizards Jedi.



Tropes Are Not Bad

It's no different from how nearly every medieval fantasy setting has the same races all based on Tolkein's books, or how fantasy video games usually have some variant of wizard/warrior/rogue as character classes. I understand craving some more originality, but it's okay if you do stick to well known tropes if you make sure the rest of the story is original.

Star Wars does not have any perfect person. Han Solo is a scoundrel. Luke whines and complains. Vader is evil. The tin man is cowardly, etc etc.

In Mass Effect it is all perfectly executed professionalism. Very boring.

 

[Gooberlx2]

In Mass Effect it is all perfectly executed professionalism. Very boring.

Then you played a boring Shepard. Mix up your renegade/paragon choices a bit.

 

[Red Storm]

So? Calling out the use of tropes as criticism is fucking lazy. You mean to say ME might have employed common conventions and devices used in sci-fi and other genres, across all mediums? Holy shit!

It's not like ME is recycled work. Why don't you be more specific about your dissatisfaction?

Yeah, and it's doubly lazy to say something isn't original and then have nothing to offer as an example of original.

 

[yllus]

Star Wars does not have any perfect person. Han Solo is a scoundrel. Luke whines and complains. Vader is evil. The tin man is cowardly, etc etc.

In Mass Effect it is all perfectly executed professionalism. Very boring.

How so? Ashley has a strong anti-alien bias. Garrus is a failed Citadel operative who gets his entire team killed (twice) and ends up a loner. Mordin broods over very morally questionable choices in enforcing xenocide on another race. And perfectly realistic politics swirl it all together, with bureaucrats sitting and arguing over nothing while soldiers watch their enemies press ever closer.

Star Wars is really one of the worst sci-fi universes out there - it's big saving grace is the introduction of lightsabers. Otherwise it's basically designed for 10-year-olds.

 

[Red Storm]

Star Wars is really one of the worst sci-fi universes out there - it's big saving grace is the introduction of lightsabers. Otherwise it's basically designed for 10-year-olds.

This. It's ridiculously unrealistic. Not the sci fi aspect, but how black and white the story is.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

I love Dragon Age for its gameplay and story. Its setting was for sure cliche. LOTR setting with big dragon killing everything. Seen that a few times.

I love Mass Effect for its story and setting. The setting in ME was well done and well explained. The alien races were believable, interesting, and unique. The story and characters of the first two games were very engaging. The gameplay ranges from clunky to typical shooter throughout the series.

 

[micrometers]

Then you played a boring Shepard. Mix up your renegade/paragon choices a bit.

Even when he's being a badass, he never messes up. He does everything that he intends to do. I dunno, I personally would have preferred a more goofy space hero.

As for SW, well, one great thing about the KOTOR games is that it gives so much scope because it ties into the films and the rest of the EU.

And it is fantasy. Which is also about action. In reality, we mostly settle conflicts through negotiation and democracy, but that's not really interesting, now is it? The point is that shades of gray are often not very interesting, and really shouldn't be the focus in a fantasy setting.

 

[Red Storm]

Even when he's being a badass, he never messes up. He does everything that he intends to do. I dunno, I personally would have preferred a more goofy space hero.

As for SW, well, one great thing about the KOTOR games is that it gives so much scope because it ties into the films and the rest of the EU.

And it is fantasy. Which is also about action. In reality, we mostly settle conflicts through negotiation and democracy, but that's not really interesting, now is it? The point is that shades of gray are often not very interesting, and really shouldn't be the focus in a fantasy setting.

I completely disagree with you, as I seem to always do on any matter that involves gaming.

Games have been doing the black & white settings forever, it's refreshing to have more "shades of gray" options. I can actually relate to a game like that, not one that's black & white "this is good, that is evil".

 

[micrometers]

I completely disagree with you, as I seem to always do on any matter that involves gaming.

Games have been doing the black & white settings forever, it's refreshing to have more "shades of gray" options. I can actually relate to a game like that, not one that's black & white "this is good, that is evil".

Like, I've always been a fan of gray jedi and stuff, but my issue is that Dragon age is entirely gray. Heck, one of the main groups is called the "gray wardens".

I think dragon age goes a little too far in the subtlety gray aspect, basically.

 

[Fritzo]

Those are all tropes and have been done before and it just so boring and unimaginative. The attempts of ME to justify their tech is pretty shitty.

ME has no real anything going for it. It's just a generic sci fi universe with no real hook.

....and yet it's selling millions of copies and is one of EA's best selling series of all time.

Hmmmmmm............

(According to the laws of the Internet this is the part where you say that most people have no taste because the vast majority disagrees with you.)

 

[NikolaeVarius]

....and yet it's selling millions of copies and is one of EA's best selling series of all time.

Hmmmmmm............

(According to the laws of the Internet this is the part where you say that most people have no taste because the vast majority disagrees with you.)

Appeal to popularity is a double edged sword. I assume you also think that twilight is an amazingly written piece of literature. I don't care what sales say, I think the ME universe is extremely boring and there simply is no hook for me to care at all. It's your standard clean bright universe with a collection of aliens who have differing views on each other and overcome those to overcome a single threat.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Even when he's being a badass, he never messes up. He does everything that he intends to do. I dunno, I personally would have preferred a more goofy space hero.

I see. There's some occasional dry humor to go along with Shep's badassery, but his attempts at cracking jokes are about as good as his dancing. I feel that's just the way his character is supposed to be. IMO, the gamut of other characters round out what Shepard lacks, like with most ensemble cast stories.

Still, I get that ME has a very serious tone and affords far fewer light-hearted moments than a lot of sci-fi. I didn't think there was a ton of humor in BSG either, but I loved it. Some attempts at wit, but a character like Wash from Firefly would've been out of place. Joker is a much more cynical and surly version of Wash, imo.

 

[Red Storm]

Appeal to popularity is a double edged sword. I assume you also think that twilight is an amazingly written piece of literature. I don't care what sales say, I think the ME universe is extremely boring and there simply is no hook for me to care at all. It's your standard clean bright universe with a collection of aliens who have differing views on each other and overcome those to overcome a single threat.

That's your opinion and you're definitely entitled to it. We're both right because at the end of the day they're just opinions. But, do you have any examples of sci fi works that you felt were good?

 

[NikolaeVarius]

That's your opinion and you're definitely entitled to it. We're both right because at the end of the day they're just opinions. But, do you have any examples of sci fi works that you felt were good?

40K universe. You know why? Because there are no good guys or bad guys. The entire universe is a race to the bottom, a race to see who will be able to survive and who cannot. The "good" guys (a.k.a the guys who we are supposed to root for) is run by a genocidal, facist, inefficient, all-powerful government which thinks nothing of killing billions of civilians to prevent even a single loss to its overall influence

The "bad guys" are the ones who are fighting for the freedom to live and fight the way they want to or were cast out by society and are persecuted for something they can't even control.

No matter the sacrifices, no matter the pain caused, and victories attained, peace is unattainable. Every sacrifice is in vain and every single soldier is merely a cog in a bureaucracy that is so slow that entire planets can go missing in the paperwork.

This is a universe where blatant racism, witch hunts, the torture of billions, and the systemic rape of entire systems of people was the ultimate saving grace of mankind. Without the deaths of billons of people for being "different" mankind would have been destroyed.


The universe uses many tropes and cliches, but combined with its unique setting, there is nothing quite like it out there. No other universe really gets across that the galaxy is a huge place filled with conflict. No soldier, no matter how powerful or influential, can change the outcome of a war. How does a single person stop an invasion that is happening simultaneously across the entire galaxy? How does a single person, no matter how strong, stand up to a orbital bombardment? The fact that the universe acknowledges that nothing anyone can ever do can stop the entire galaxy from continuing its everlasting war is what is so interesting to me. Its a deconstruction of the clean and happy sci fi that is prevalent.

 

[surfsatwerk]

Blood for the Blood God imo.

 

[RampantAndroid]

skip DA:O, and go straight to DA2.

Really? What the heck? DA2's combat was terrible with enemies just spawning...

....and yet it's selling millions of copies and is one of EA's best selling series of all time.

Hmmmmmm............

(According to the laws of the Internet this is the part where you say that most people have no taste because the vast majority disagrees with you.)

People buy COD and I think we all agree it's terrible.

 

[Fritzo]

Appeal to popularity is a double edged sword. I assume you also think that twilight is an amazingly written piece of literature. I don't care what sales say, I think the ME universe is extremely boring and there simply is no hook for me to care at all. It's your standard clean bright universe with a collection of aliens who have differing views on each other and overcome those to overcome a single threat.

Well done! You followed the Internet roolz!

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I would have to suggest you don't know the Mass Effect fiction that well. There's a fleshed out reason for humans being looked down upon by the other races: We're newbies, and violent ones at that. At the moment that the first Mass Effect game kicks off, humans have only discovered Prothean ruins 35 years prior, and use that technology to achieve faster-than-light travel. A decade or two later we kick off and lose a war with the turians.

If not for the krogans, humans would be the lowest major race on the totem pole - and arguably deservedly so.

Yea I know all of that but humans are also looked down as inferior and in ME1 they wanted to work their way into galactic politics.

 

[Dumac]

Neither DA or ME have great universes; both are very generic.

In my opinion, ME makes more flaws with its universe. A lot of things make no sense, and the writers really got lazy and inconsistent with most of their races. The ME plot is just terrible as well, apart from the sub-mediocre background.

DA is just generic, but the better dialogue choices and gameplay make up for it. ME's dialogue choices are more restrictive (screw that stupid wheel) and less interesting, with many choices leading to the same outcome anyway. Plus, the ripping of RPG elements from the game caused ME2 to be pretty boring to play. I just turned my mind off and shot streams of geth.

Btw, when I say DA, I mean DA:O. In my mind, I pretend that the abomination that is DA2 never existed.