Polygon's open-letter to BioWare regarding their open-world-like games.

I tried to play The Witcher 3 but couldn't finish it. It does seem like it's mainly catered to men. A male acquaintance of mine (a man in his late 40's) said 'I killed that bitch (Keira Metz) after I fucked her ass' with such savagery in his voice that just turned me off the game completely. I can't get behind a game that brings out the worst in people.

I come across victims of domestic violence at work and that one just cuts too close to the bone.

I haven't bothered to look at this silly thread for a day and it exploded into a nuclear war of BioWare diehards and CDPR diehards slapping each other silly.

I love both companies for different reasons and I don't see why others can't or at least respect their different properties. I also think this Polygon article is absolute crap because the author clearly doesn't like open world games. That's fine. It's his opinion.

I'm all for valid criticism, but can we not at least admit that MEA improved significantly in the open world design over DAI? If anything, I think BioWare is definitely on the right track and getting better with each game they make.

I tried to play The Witcher 3 but couldn't finish it. It does seem like it's mainly catered to men. A male acquaintance of mine (a man in his late 40's) said 'I killed that bitch (Keira Metz) after I fucked her ass' with such savagery in his voice that just turned me off the game completely. I can't get behind a game that brings out the worst in people.

I come across victims of domestic violence at work and that one just cuts too close to the bone.

While true, there are an equal number of Bioware fans who will circle the wagons and criticize TW3 any time anyone suggests that CD Projekt Red did something  better than Bioware, even if that was in fact, the case. Some haven't even played The Witcher 3, but they won't let that prevent them from arguing that Bioware did X or Y better.

I don't get blind brand loyalty either way, unless you're on Bioware or CD Projekt Red's payroll.

I can bet behind your sentiments, but I don't know how you can say that people should admit MEA improved significantly on open world design over DAI and they're on the right track. This is one of the things people are saying Bioware are not good at and definitely not improving.  

I will add a caveat that I have only played 3 hrs of MEA trial and have no plans to buy it so I cannot 100% say it's not better and it's not on the right track, but as I do with anything, I look, read and watch all info and sources then make an informed decision.

It doesn't chime with what you're thinking. 

As I said, maybe but I'm not convinced and I was worried as were other it seems that this would simply be DAI in space. 

The consensus seems to say it is with some saying better but some saying worse. 

On reflections I'm sure I remember an interview from Bioware after DAI was released mentioning this was the way they were going with their games now and cringing thinking I hope not. Looks like they followed through with it. 

I would say MEA is definitely worse than DA:I

I'm not sure I'd say significantly, or if it was significant, that it was enough, and in my opinion, any stride Andromeda made towards resolving Inquisition's mechanical problems were undone by a lack of polish and creative vision. The vaguely compelling crafting, the resource collecting, the crap sidequests, and the repetitive open world minutiae are all still there. They're mitigated by slightly better presentation and a slicker movement system, but these are signs that BioWare are attacking the symptoms, not the disease. BioWare can do their damnedest to spruce up their new favorite mechanics, but that doesn't change the fact that their quest design and progression systems are just inherently not that compelling. And what does all that work mean if the result is still a buggy, unpolished mess that seems to lack the original's confidence?

Moreover, BioWare aren't some kind of plucky indie studio with little experience but a lot of heart. They don't really deserve "they'll get it right next time" kind of treatment. They're a professional studio that shouldn't be making so many rookie mistakes, they're working on a franchise that's had three games to figure itself out, and they've failed twice to deliver on a genre of game that's has a fairly large history of successful precedents. BioWare can't keep releasing these sidesteps. They have all the information and all the money they need to make a good Mass Effect game, they just can't accept that there's something fundamentally incompatible with their classic formula and large open worlds.

"The author clearly doesn't like open world games." This comment never ceases to be disingenuous. People can easily dislike the recent BioWare games and still enjoy an open world. Compared to Horizon: Zero Dawn, Zelda: BOtW, GTA:V, Fallout 4, Skyrim, New Vegas, and all the other open world games from history (yes, even The Witcher 3), do you honestly think that Andromeda is stiff competition? It simply doesn't hold up. Yeah, the author doesn't like these open world BioWare games, because compared to other open world games, they aren't that good. More importantly, they just aren't as good as older BioWare games. They have their shining moments and their small array of improvements, but they feel like compromises: games that aren't quite there.

The amount of stupid shit that i read here and the reasons to hate on each game is too damn high.