11-30-2009, 11:15 PM
Quote:The setting is... Underwhelming. Dark and Gritty could have been handled far better - instead, it seems uninspired, somehow. We've got the classic Bioware GOOD or EVIL solutions, with a bit of bait and switch. Some quests try to place you into a "Lesser of two evils" dillema... And then, make the right dialogue options, and you'll squeeze out the Goodie Two Shoes option, which is considered a valid solution, even when its nonsense. Spending a day and a half to travel to the Circle Tower to get lyrium, to save one person, while there's a demon loose, that's been killing people. Yeah, that sounds like a fantastic idea. What I get out of it is, sadly, "We don't want the player to be forced to commit an, eh, evil act. Let's give him a unrealistic goodie two-shoes option. Look! Dark and gritty!"I think the idea behind the writing was to add more realistic choices that the player can take, rather than just the "Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader" options. But if you simply wipe out the "Jedi" path, you alienate a very large segment of the audience. Most people playing through RPGs want to play a moral character, and if you don't let them, or make every choice an impossible moral dilemma, you're going to end up with a frustrated audience.
-Jester