BioWare’s New IP: Anthem

Before it got showed off at E3, I wasn’t really aware that BioWare was working on a new intellectual property. After all, they just released Mass Effect Andromeda and though we haven’t beaten it, it sounds like it’s open to sequels. Meanwhile, the ending of Dragon Age Inquisition definitely sets them up for Dragon Age 4. So they have two large universes they are continuing on with, which seems like a lot to be working on.

So with those two games being similar sorts of party-based RPGs, just one fantasy and one science fiction, I suppose it makes sense that if you were to be making another game, you would try to step out of that genre a bit. Enter Anthem.

The early reactions to this game compare it to Destiny, although I couldn’t quite tell if it was an MMO or more just multiplayer up to a certain number, a la Borderlands. Unfortunately, I’ll bet it’s not split-screen like Borderlands is, meaning that the odds of Holly and I playing this one are low.

Which is sad, because this game looks great! It further pushes some of the movement elements that we’ve really enjoyed in Andromeda (and which Holly used even more in playing Re-Core). It’s a big open science fiction world. And the loot!…

Basically, it looks like you’re playing Iron Man.

Different suits, different weapon loadouts, class-like functions on them (like the big old tanky one). I mean, even multi-target targeting and shooting missiles out. Very Iron Man. But like, in the, wouldn’t it be fun to be Iron Man sort of way.

Found on http://www.gamesradar.com/bioware-anthem-will-be-penned-by-the-writer-of-kotor-and-the-first-two-mass-effect-games/

It took me a while watching the video to quite realize that what I was hearing was the players, and not the characters, chatting. Still, it sounds like the main writer from KotoR and Mass Effect is working on this one, so story should still be important. Honestly, I would expect nothing less from BioWare.

If there’s a single player campaign, we might still end up getting this one and playing it that way. If there’s split-screen, we’re absolutely getting this one. If it ends up on our Mac computers, we could play this one. But requiring two X-Box One’s (or PS4’s) for a married couple in a single household? There’s a whole host of games that we can’t play because of the multiple consoles needed. So we’ll see where this one ends up!

Anthem is currently expected late 2018, so plenty of time between now and then (or possible delays) for all these details to sort out.

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Awkwardly: Still a Work In Progress. Re-Playing Mass Effect 3 for Throwback Thursday

We’ve been thinking and talking a lot about Mass Effect lately, what with the new game out this week. Which has had me thinking a lot about my re-play of Mass Effect 3… and the fact that I haven’t finished that. The whole point of it was to get to the end and see the “new” ending, but before that I got lost in the new DLC’s and all. I apparently stopped right before the best bit of the best one! 

With Andromeda out, I don’t know when I’ll be back to this game… but my initial thoughts on the re-play were interesting for me to re-read, so hopefully you’ll enjoy them as well!

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I know, it’s happening. I’m going back to Mass Effect 3.

And I’m playing FemShep with the default look, so… this one!

The timing of the creation of our blog is such that we haven’t necessarily talked much about Mass Effect 3. I don’t think any other game has ever received quite the backlash that this game did. I feel safe in saying that because few games have ever created as much anticipation and fan buy-in as the Mass Effect games – playing the same character, with that many choices and decisions, for that long, is pretty much unprecedented. We cared. And, never have we seen a response like we did with this game – the studio went back and made an “extended cut” ending, supposedly to make it make more sense.

I say supposedly, because I had beat the game and was pretty much done with it before this ending came out. As such, I haven’t seen it. That’s one of a few reasons I decided to replay Mass Effect 3! So let me lay out some reasons, and then share some of my initial experience with the play-through, and maybe you’ll decide you need to re-approach this title as well!

Console Seller, Indeed: Zelda, Breath of the Wild

No, we haven’t bought a Nintendo Switch yet. Though we have discussed doing so. Perhaps in the hope of not making ourselves too excited for a game we otherwise would not be able to play, we haven’t looked up gameplay videos, or even trailers – though we’ve seen things indirectly, through looking up the Nintendo Switch itself. Having the new Zelda title as a release game seems like a good plan, and having it be a really really good Zelda game would of course help. Which seems to be what’s happened…

I mean, we watch most of the React Channel videos, so when we saw it was Zelda: Breath of the Wild, I pushed for us to watch it. Dang it! That game looks absolutely great! The idea that this is a console-selling game looks to be completely valid, especially when you add in the potential for other interesting and good games down the line.

Something we had not at all realized until watching this video: this game is far more of an RPG, or JRPG, than previous Zelda titles have been. Watching Link collect clothing items, weapons off of defeated enemies, things like that – they’re all strong elements of the RPG video game, but not necessarily of past Zelda games. This both fascinated us and made us want the game a bit more, I think.

Do you have Breath of the Wild yet? Is this game making you strongly consider a Nintendo Switch? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

Tabletop RPG Storytime – Comparative Opinions Episode 35

Welcome to the Comparative Opinions podcast! Hosts Holly and David are considering a tabletop roleplaying campaign, and take some time thinking back on game systems and campaigns they’ve played. Reminisce, consider systems, and join in the nostalgia! Let us know what your favorite RPG stories are, or what systems you recommend!

Comparative Opinions is a weekly half-hour-ish podcast hosted on ComparativeGeeks.com. Subscribe for new episodes every Sunday!

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Music is by Scott Gratton: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Scott_Gratton/Intros_and_Outros

What to do for a new Roleplaying Game?

The thought, the opportunity, to play in another tabletop roleplaying group is upon us. It’s been a while – our last group collectively ran into The Real World and haven’t been able to reconnect. But it’s always a fun thing, and something we would not be opposed to finding time for in our lives.

We were playing a combined in-person and online campaign, and using 4th Edition D&D rules, and online interfaces like Roll20.net. We have a lot of the base 4th Edition books because of this, and that does make the ruleset intriguing to fall back on… however, there are some other inherent problems in the system that I’ve talked about before.

We also happen to still have a bunch of materials for D&D 3.5, still an incredibly popular system. We don’t have anything for Pathfinder – the variant of those rules that is most popular still today. Which means we’d probably want to stay in the D&D realm of things.

And since then, 5th Edition has come out – and has been lauded for its cleaned up rules and re-emphasis on the roleplaying aspect. Combat is fun, but when you really get into it can also take hours. Also, the base rules for 5th Edition are available free online, so we could look into it more and see if we like it before having to invest any more…

Which leaves these three all as viable options. So I thought I would ask you, dear readers, which system you would suggest. Leave your thoughts in the comments below, or at least, vote in our poll!