New Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and Elder Scrolls all in the same year

[IronMexican]

Pretty magical. Which one do you think is going to be the best? It's been 5 years since Oblivion, so it better ing be Skyrim.

[MannyIsGod]

The new Mass Effect.

[resistanze]

The new Mass Effect.

God I hope so. I can't shake the horrible feeling of a possible Matrix Revolutions end to the trilogy.

[DJ Mbenga]

cannot wait to play me3. my albino character with a red mustache banging that chick was hilarious. awesome game.

[symple19]

Skyrim, and it won't even be close

might wanna throw Diablo 3 into the argument as well, if it actually comes out this year

[Ozzy]

There is also Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning planned for fall 2011, which has some high profile people behind including Ken Rolston (lead designer of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion).

[z0sa]

should be skyrim. Oblivion (IMO) is the best RPG of all time, so if Skyrim just does things as good as 4 did + delivers with the updated engine it will be far and away the best of these three.

DA I still need to beat the first, though it was truly great as well in the 30 hrs or so I put in.. why can't console players queue commands for godsakes?!?1!

[z0sa]

Plus, skyrim will have scaled leveling now. That in and of itself will improve the gameplay. Nothing more tiring than turning the difficulty up in Oblivion and random passersby murdering you even though you're high level and have a bunch of badass gear and magic.

[redzero]

I will pur--get all of them.

[symple19]

I will pur--get all of them.

i prefer the term, "acquire"

lulz

Seriously, I will definitely purchase all three. Those devs are worthy

[Mister Sinister]

Plus, skyrim will have scaled leveling now. That in and of itself will improve the gameplay. Nothing more tiring than turning the difficulty up in Oblivion and random passersby murdering you even though you're high level and have a bunch of badass gear and magic.

Yeah, I was playing Oblivion last night, ran into 1) A pack of goblins packing elven and glass weaponry, and 2) bandits with orcish and ebony equipment.

[Xevious]

I'll play the out of all three, but I'm least looking forward to Skyrim. One could argue that Elder Scrolls is the better RPG, but the storylines and character interaction in Bioware's games are unbelievable. Mass Effect especially holds a special place in my heart.

[NASpurs]

I wish I could play these games but I don't have the attention span to put in 40+ hours into these games.

Saying all that, I've beaten Mass Effect already and thought it was alright. On deciding whether to play the first Dragon Age or Mass Effect 2, which did you guys like better who played both?

Don't get me wrong though. I thought ME was a good game, just a tad bit over rated and too sci-fi for my likings plus the shooting part of the game seemed kind of clunky. Is ME2 that much better or should I play the first Dragon Age?

[MannyIsGod]

I'd personally go with ME2. I liked Dragon Age but I too don't want to devote 100 hours to defeat a game. I just started ME2 but I'm hoping its not that long.

I played Oblivion on the PC and while it was OK I don't share nearly the love others on here do. I guess I'm just not that into open world RPGs.

[Xevious]

I wish I could play these games but I don't have the attention span to put in 40+ hours into these games.

Saying all that, I've beaten Mass Effect already and thought it was alright. On deciding whether to play the first Dragon Age or Mass Effect 2, which did you guys like better who played both?

Don't get me wrong though. I thought ME was a good game, just a tad bit over rated and too sci-fi for my likings plus the shooting part of the game seemed kind of clunky. Is ME2 that much better or should I play the first Dragon Age?

The combat in ME2 was completely overhauled and the skills you can train were reduced and streamlined. It actually feels more like a tactical shooter than an RPG now. So that shouldn't be a problem for you. Dragon Age has the exact same game mechanics as Knights of the Old Republic (if you've played that). It's like a real-time, turn-based system. Dragon Age 2 is going to undergo a similar overhaul that happened between ME and ME2 from what I hear.

Apart from that, it's a matter of preference as far as sc-fi vs fantasy sword/magic goes. Both games are excellent IMO. Top notch storytelling and character interaction.

[DarkReign]

I'll play the out of all three, but I'm least looking forward to Skyrim. One could argue that Elder Scrolls is the better RPG, but the storylines and character interaction in Bioware's games are unbelievable. Mass Effect especially holds a special place in my heart.

Damn near ditto. I never really understood how important a story can be until you have even this infinitesimal amount of control over it.

Mass Effect 3. I'll replay it at least 4 times.

[sinok]

I might go with The Witcher 2 that is due this spring. The fights look quite dynamic, the graphics are frigging good looking and the first one was already a freaking great game.

[symple19]

^ agree, the witcher 2 looks sick


........but it won't be Skyrim. ES is the gold standard

[vander]

I wish I could play these games but I don't have the attention span to put in 40+ hours into these games.

Saying all that, I've beaten Mass Effect already and thought it was alright. On deciding whether to play the first Dragon Age or Mass Effect 2, which did you guys like better who played both?

Don't get me wrong though. I thought ME was a good game, just a tad bit over rated and too sci-fi for my likings plus the shooting part of the game seemed kind of clunky. Is ME2 that much better or should I play the first Dragon Age?

ME was far greater than ME2, IMO they stripped out everything that made ME great, ME2 had that typical EA streamlined, dumbed down, big budget, hollywood-summer-action-blockbuster feel to it.

almost as big of a follow up failure as Deus Ex 2 IMO

[mingus]

i'll probably end up liking Mass Effect more. Maybe i'll be able to get into Elder Scrolls this time around. i bought it way after release date for the previous one and i had a lot on my plate at the time.

[Brutalis]

Skyrim will easily be the best game of the year.

[Kai]

Yeah I love all the Bioware games, but with that being said, I'm more looking forward to playing Skyrim than ME or DA. I lost myself in Oblivion like I've never lost myself before.

Also, Star Wars: The Old Republic is slated to come out in the Spring (if not delayed till holiday 11). Bioware has spent somewhere north of $150 million on the game and it's enormous. If anyone is interested in the MMO scene, I highly suggest trying it out.

[NASpurs]

I ed up. I got Dragon Age Origins, played 3 hours straight because I got hooked and remembered this game is one of those 50+ hour game. Damn story is like playing in a Lord of the Rings setting. I find it engrossing.

Ugh I'm one of those people who picks up a game, plays it for a little while, puts it down, picks it up again, rinse and repeat. It's going to take me months to finish this.

[Cry Havoc]

should be skyrim. Oblivion (IMO) is the best RPG of all time, so if Skyrim just does things as good as 4 did + delivers with the updated engine it will be far and away the best of these three.

DA I still need to beat the first, though it was truly great as well in the 30 hrs or so I put in.. why can't console players queue commands for godsakes?!?1!

Man, I just couldn't get into Oblivion. One of the things that bothers me most about it is that you can get really high in level and then suddenly random bandits in the forest have ultra-rare armor on. Totally killed the atmosphere of that game for me.

[phyzik]

Man, I just couldn't get into Oblivion. One of the things that bothers me most about it is that you can get really high in level and then suddenly random bandits in the forest have ultra-rare armor on. Totally killed the atmosphere of that game for me.

There are mods that fix the leveling crap. I agree too that it was pretty bad in vanilla Oblivion, but just install a few player made mods.

Try Francesco's leveled creatures/items mod

http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.co....Detail&id=268

Tired that nearly all creatures level up with you? Bored that at level 25 all bandits of the world are god-like ones with daedric equipment? Than this mod is for you.
I think that the game has to be challenging but that not every fight has to be an epic one. This mod aims to create a more realistic and enjoyable experience, it will not make the game easier, just more credible (actually it can make it harder depending on the parts you decide to install)

This mod changes nearly all creatures lists to provide a more static, non leveled, experience. At higher levs you will still find very strong stuff but you will often (for example) find normal skeletons and zombies in dungeons, common wolves in the wilderness and so on.. not every NPC will level up with you... some of them will have level caps.. others will be completely static... on the other hand.. at lower levs life will be much harder as, depending on where you will adventure, you will be able to meet high level enemies. Items lists were changed with the same goal, in vanilla Oblivion at say level 20 you used to find only high level armors/weapons and low-mid stuff nearly disappeared from the game, now it will be much harder to find high lev equipment, and low-mid lev one will still be common at high levs (you can also decide between 3 loot systems: normal/hardcore/extra-hardcore)

Its all in how you setup the mod though.

Or if you want to completely change things up, download the FCOM: Convergence mod. It adds the mod I listed above as well as 3 other huge mods.