I did not even know that they removed healing spells, but basically their argument for this is: "healing increased the complexity of combat balance, hence it got removed".
First, their argument is flawed, i.e. they assume health points are immeasurable with healing spells, even if in most games healing takes a finite time, during which any other action is prohibited, which both puts an upper limit on the number of health points available in finite duration combats and balances health gained with damage dealt. Second, they still allow potions, which defeats the original purpose of removing healing spells. Third, and most importantly, it is a cop out. Plenty of other games, including Bioware ones, have shown that combat can be kept balanced despite of healing abilities.
I hate to be harsh, since I like Bioware games in general, but them admitting that they cannot balance combat with healing spells essentially means that their skills as game developers have diminished, the creative fire has dimmed. Modelling combat with a wide variety of skills, including health management, really is at the core of what game designers should be able to handle. If they cannot do this without taking short cuts that significantly reduce combat complexity also for the gamer, it is a failing.
Now, I hope to be wrong, but reading about the blandness of combat in the
first article seems to confirm that thesis. I must admit that I am much less eager to get my hands on the game now. I will wait for actual reviews.
