Hooked Gamers - Dragon Age II: The Decline of the Classic RPG.
There is no question about it, the classic cRPG is dying out. So why bring it up now then? The reason is because one of the few big developers who have remained adamant about catering for players who want to play the classic cRPG is BioWare. Their breed of cRPG was popularised with the Baldur’s Gate series just before the new millennium. This consisted of some defining aspects: detailed character creation (not just customisation); immersive character interaction; strategic-based combat that required thought and timing; and a deep, engaging story that was shaped by the player’s choices. This was a game that could only truly be experienced on a PC. It required a fair amount of work on the developer’s part, but players were rewarded greatly for their efforts and paid the developers back justly.
killer_roach wrote on Mar 7, 2011, 14:47:
CRPGs aren't dead... so long as there's a market for them, somebody will make them. The question is whether the die-hard CRPG base is large enough to support such a title with top-tier production values and still present a large enough of a return on investment to make it worth the while of a major publisher. On that merit, I don't think so.
(I know you're going to throw the DAO sales figures back at me, but I'd also posit that the changes made to DA2, whether you like them or not, will be perceived by the majority of DAO buyers as a net positive for the game)