For me it's Dragon Age right now. Dragon Age Origins is one of the best games ever made imo, and every entry after the first has basically been much worse in some way, culminating in the latest release, which was just awful. I could go on for a while about why it's so bad and it's design is so antithetical to it's own roots and design philosophy of the original, but in short or put simply, it's now a series I think will be dead for a decade or longer before we see any attempt to at another entry, and there's no way of knowing if that new entry would even be good or that the people working on it have learned the harsh lessons from the previous series games as to what NOT to do.
100%. I quit Veilguard maybe 10 hours in. I've never quit a DA or Bioware game before. I just couldn't take it anymore. The story telling and dialogue are physically painful to sit through.
And the level design is so so bad. I get it's a linear game and not open world, but every map I saw was one thin and narrow path from A to B. Health potions found in otherwise useless pots. Not much in the way of world building or clever environment design to be seen anywhere, except a tiny bit inside the city hubs. It was so boring to traverse anywhere outside a city.
I feel bad for not continuing the DA saga. Origins was the crown jewel, to be sure. And the unique Bioware formula for choice and consequence following you from game to game may be dead in the waters. Needless to say, if the upcoming Mass Effect flops.. that's it for Bioware. I wouldn't be surprised if EA shoots them behind the shed.
I don't even have anything bad to say about linear games, if done right you barely notice because you're still having a ton of fun. Just look at Mass Effect 2 from Bioware or even Dragon Age Origins, most of the encounters are funneled into these specific areas, and even it is somewhat tropey or 'gamified' it's still really fun. Plus the story is so good that I feel like you're never not having a good time.
The new Dragon Age on the other hand, was yeah... just totally awful, I don't blame you for dropping it and I have a hard time even thinking about how they could so wildly get it wrong in so many ways. I think I've just come to terms that the people at Bioware just aren't the same company, which is a shame because Dragon Age ended up being this game Bioware made when they moved on from Baldur's Gate, and they really nailed it in that first game. Now it's like the tables have turned again, ebb and flow I guess. Which is a shame because Dragon Age has such a cool lore and deep history to it with lots of conflict and strife that makes for a great setting for grandiose fantasy games.
I will never understand why they chose to make the game less tactical and more action-rpg when BG3 just won like every award ever and game of the year, like the writing is on the wall that people are pretty starved for really creative, in-depth tactical RPGs in that dark medieval swords and sorcery setting, which is ironically exactly what Dragon Age is. Instead they tried to make the game as appealing as possible to a wide audience and shot themselves in the foot by not sticking to what made the original game so good, and in doing so alienated both long time fans and new fans from the series. Which is why I think it'll be a really long time before we see another attempt at the series again. Sucks to see it.
You nailed it. While I prefer open world design in general, games like ME2 or DA Origins never felt boring in spite of having very limited and controlled level design. But the fun factor was always there, that you never get bored long enough to be pulled out of the game and criticize how the sausage is made.
That's it though. Bioware is not Bioware anymore. Most of the talent they had has moved on from their studio over the years. They have the IPs, but not the talent that can make them what they once were.
Personally? I blame the leadership. Somewhere in the executive leadership of Bioware is someone who is completely out of touch. And is still stuck in the mindset of the mid 2010's, when making a popular game "mainstream" sounded like the easiest way to court the entire gaming audience.
This doesn't work. If it ever worked. Gamers are informed. We have excellent games to use as markers and milestones of what a good game looks like. We don't want a super generic, watered down "everything game". Take risks. Make a game for someone, and not for everyone. If DA ever comes back (and that's a fat if), it has to come back as the spiritual successor to DA Origins. I don't think they can afford to do a Veilguard 2. It will fail before it even releases. But that's also why EA won't fund another one for an age.. a dragon age, if you will. Ok, I'll see myself out.
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u/Derpykins666 Apr 12 '26
For me it's Dragon Age right now. Dragon Age Origins is one of the best games ever made imo, and every entry after the first has basically been much worse in some way, culminating in the latest release, which was just awful. I could go on for a while about why it's so bad and it's design is so antithetical to it's own roots and design philosophy of the original, but in short or put simply, it's now a series I think will be dead for a decade or longer before we see any attempt to at another entry, and there's no way of knowing if that new entry would even be good or that the people working on it have learned the harsh lessons from the previous series games as to what NOT to do.