I can't say I held any love for modern Bioware, not after having actually played the disasters that are Anthem and Mass Effect Andromeda (though I will note that the Mass Effect Andromeda books are reasonably entertaining for what they are).
That said, I've enjoyed a lot of past Bioware games. I believe my first game of theirs was the original Knights of the Old Republic, back when I still played PC games (hey, my username had to come from somewhere). That game's writing really captured the wonder of the Star Wars universe, and while Bioware didn't make the sequel that was only compounded in KOTR 2 when I saw locations and characters I'd only heard of in the Star Wars Expanded Universe comics/audio dramas.
Never got around to playing Jade Empire, though I do own it on my Xbox One. Like most, though, my heart from that time belonged to the original Mass Effect, where I got to see them do for Star Trek what they had already done with Star Wars. It may seem a silly thing, but the thing that told me that ME would truly be for me? The first time I unlocked a Codex entry, opened it up expecting to see another ream of text I'd barely skim and forget in 5 seconds, and instead being treated to a fully-voiced data log explaining a fascinating aspect of the game's universe. It's that level of craftsmanship, that attention to detail, that really sold me on Bioware.
Before too long, I'd read all the books (aside from the one that was recalled due to being written by a fraud), and I was even working at EA when both Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 2 released. DA 2 rightfully gets a lot of **** for all the corners cut in its development, all the recycling of dungeons, and the extremely limited play space. However, I found the writing as strong as ever, and it's still the only game in the series I've managed to get through (I bounced off the 1st DA HARD, as I like to play as a mage and the mage's origin both looks and plays like ass). It also allowed me the rare flexibility to play as both a hero and a total smart ass. So many RPGs are so incredibly serious all time. It's also the rare RPG where you get to see a central location change over a long period of time as you build and grow relationships with a small cast of characters that have their own lives beyond you.
As much as I loved the original Mass Effect, for all its faults, Mass Effect 2 was the one that really got its hooks in me. While it was a shame to lose the total freedom of exploration the 1st game had, ME 2 just plays so much better, and I found the game's strong emphasis on character-specific quests very rewarding. It reminded me of how Majora's Mask based everything on building personal connections through small personal stories.
Unfortunately, then Mass Effect 3 happened, and while I won't call the game a total travesty (like many would) it was still such a profound disappointment. So much build-up across 2 games and 3 books ("4, sir!" "Shut up!") for so little payoff. I've always heard the DLC redeems that game somewhat, but those came out long after I was done with that game, and considering how that game ends I just couldn't find the desire to roll back the clock for more adventures before The End. I would have enjoyed doing them as I did my original playthrough. It's pretty much why I can't get behind all the stuff Nintendo's adding to the Xenoblade Switch 2 versions. Yeah, all that stuff sounds cool, but I did my time with those games. The emotional investment is gone, and I have little interest in starting fresh again.
Also...
Where are my Krogans riding genetically-engineered Dinosaurs in the final battle cutscenes, Bioware?! YOU PROMISED ME KROGANS RIDING INTO WAR ON GENETICALLY-ENGINEER DINOSAURS!
*ahem*
Nothing Bioware made after that really interested me. Yeah, I picked up Dragon Age Inquisition: GOTY edition. It's there on my shelf to get to...some day, but I have to say all the years of "GET OUT OF THE HINTERLANDS" kind of dampened my desire to ever start that game. Then Andromeda came out and was just awful. They took a focused narrative experience with the original ME trilogy, and they followed it up with Open World bloat featuring characters I just couldn't care about. Played the game for a few nights and then just gave up on it, but like I said...the 3 books set around it are pretty OK if you're into that sort of thing.
Tried Anthem earlier this year to see if I wanted to try to hunt the Plat before the servers got shut down. After 2 missions, I knew I never wanted to see that game ever again.
Setting aside the negative reception of Dragon Age: The Veilguard at launch, I couldn't muster up interest in it because I never got around to playing the game that set it up: Inquisition.
Overall, I'll miss the Bioware that reignited my twin loves for Star Trek and Star Wars in the 2000s when both were going through a rough patch. One day, I hope to do a critical reappraisal of the Mass Effect Trilogy through that copy of Legendary Edition sitting on my shelf. That said, it's been no secret that the studio has been hemorrhaging talent for years, most notably to Archetype Entertainment and its upcoming Mass Effect spiritual successor, Exodus. The studio's last 3 major projects have all been high-profile bombs. They haven't had a hit since Inquisition in 2014, and to be frank that year was full of so many AAA disasters (Destiny 1, Assassin's Creed Unity, Watch_Dogs) that its only serious competition for GOTY was a mediocre Assassin's Creed/Batman knockoff (LOTR:Shadow of Mordor).
I hope that the people still at Bioware that had the talent and the passion find gainful employment elsewhere, but I won't miss what Bioware became in its later years. Sure, you can blame EA's idiotic engine and service model mandates for a lot of it, but Bioware's historic strength was its writing and from all accounts the writing in Veilguard was considered poor, and I can personally attest that Andromeda's and Anthem's were awful from what I saw. I can't say I'd want to see another poorly-written Mass Effect game after Andromeda.
Topic: R.I.P. BioWare: A Studio Rarely Seen on Nintendo Consoles (Read 200 times)
