The Bard's Tale - An Interview With An Archmage

Dwagginz said:

I disagree with her about C&C. The cutscenes with the actors have been a major part of the series since day one - The removal of 'em counted against C&C4, I believe, and the seriousness of C&C3 wasn't that well received. They're hammy, they're silly, but they engage you in the game. I'd rather have C&C cutscenes than a novel's worth of text telling me, basically, to blow shit up.

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Never thought I would agree with you but your right. The C&C is about cutscenes and base building. Look at how C&C 4 turned out many hated it. She does make a point about games being more interactive scenes and less gameplay. Why don't we go ask Squaresoft and how how much FF13 cost. Its all about shiny hd graphics.

Couchpotato said:

The C&C is about cutscenes and base building. […]Why don`t we go ask Squaresoft and how how much FF13 cost. Its all about shiny hd graphics.

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Hmmm… is it, or is it not then, make your mind up

Ever heard of this lil title called Final Fantasy VII? And how it conquered the West thanks to the shiny graphics? Yeah ,of course it had solid gameplay too, but the talk of the town were cutscenes. (same with Baldurs Gate "ZOMG 5 CD`S !!!11111!")
One doesn`t exclude the other.

I`ve not played FF13 yet so going out on a limb here, but it seems the reviews went a bit "with the flow" in it`s case. It`s perhaps worse than others in the series, but I doubt it`s as abysmal as some make it to be, apparently the gameworld opens up later on.
And as for the apparently heavy streamlining we can thank "ourselves"- there`s an extremely worrying trend in Japan now, where they start looking at ME2 sales figures and jackasses like Iwata babble on how they have to adapt…ugh

The complaint in the mid-90s by some game reviewers about RPGs behind behind the technology curve was largely due to the long development times of the RPGs coupled with the VERY major technological improvements each year brought to the PC. A game that took 2.5 years to make would look absolutely antiquated compared to one that was only one year in development.

I did a quick search for "Heineman" on the Codex and found this oooold news post. It links to this post in her blog about Interplays Rise and Fall. Interesting and well written.

zadokAllen said:

Ever heard of this lil title called Final Fantasy VII? And how it conquered the West thanks to the shiny graphics? Yeah ,of course it had solid gameplay too, but the talk of the town were cutscenes. (same with Baldurs Gate "ZOMG 5 CD`S !!!11111!") One doesn`t exclude the other.

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Somehow I doubt that Baldur's Gate and Final Fantasy VII appealed to many of the same people. BG didn't even have many cutscenes in relation to how long the game was.

I wouldn't put Fallout 3 in the same group as Wasteland if I remember correctly. Yes, they're "post-apocalyptic RPGs', but the similarities end there. Wasteland was a party based game, Fallout 3 is single character. Same with how the original Bard Tales have nothing to do with the last Bard Tale joke of a game.

I would most definitely put Wasteland and Fallout 3 in the same category. Combat aside they both have a campy post-apocalyptic setting. Well...there were many more puzzles in Wastleland than F3, but same setting (minus the 50's stuff that I'm getting a little tired of), same type of dark humor and off the wall monsters to battle.

Wasteland is far superior in the puzzle department, but I would definitely put them in the same group. Party vs single player isn't enough to separate the two.

JDR13 said:

Somehow I doubt that Baldur's Gate and Final Fantasy VII appealed to many of the same people. BG didn't even have many cutscenes in relation to how long the game was.

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Didn`t mean the exactly same crowd; just a concept how it got sold. As for Baldurs Gate- ok, not cutscenes, but voiceovers was the selling point and also graphics and general polish. I was working in a computer shop then and remember people who probably didn`t even know what an RPG is, lapping it up. It was also very well marketed...like an interactive, beautiful book or something.

(other factor, specific to my country which had rampant piracy back then, was that the game weight was 5 cd`s. Expensive to copy

skavenhorde said:

Wasteland is far superior in the puzzle department, but I would definitely put them in the same group. Party vs single player isn't enough to separate the two.

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Hmm... that's like saying Call of Duty is in the same group as Panzer General. To me party vs. single player is probably the most important difference between 2 RPGs, unless the 'group' is "post apocalyptic RPGs', which is too broad a theme I think.

I particularly like the fact that she is a markswoman.

As an avid gamer *and* an avid marksman, it always brings a smile to my face when I meet or read about others with the same interests as me. Shooting is a sport very near and dear to me.

Sorry she lost all of her gear in the divorce but that's an all too frequent story.

*big, big grin*: you go, girl.