HH

i don't think this matters really, in Bethesda games it's always been possible to ignore the opening, just play through it, then you're out, you can ignore the main q completely, and you're whoever you want, doing whatever you want.

i agree with the OP, i'm all for a silent protagonist, and i really don't like being a shepard or a geralt, someone else's - actually some committee's - idea of a character. there's no fun or play in that for me. creating odd characters is what i look to rpg's for.

i was glad there was a voice option in Inquisition initially, but i just ended up being commander shepard all over again anyway, so even that is not enough. i really hope Bethesda sticks to their guns on this.

yup, same

i played so much of it already i'm gonna hold off until release before i go back to it. front runner for game of the year for me.

weakness and death build despair, and despair is where the game is set. imagine a lovecraft story where nobody dies or gets victimized, it wouldn't make sense. the bigger the graveyard, the bigger the pathos for heroes that do survive long enough to level up.

i'm not happy about about the exclusive, but it looks awesome.

is controller support likely?

i'd like to be able to level out and control the camera more during my turn, the same way it behaves when it cuts to those slo-mo movies when you hit sometimes. no idea if that's possible, but it's got sky and full backdrops in those cut-aways, and they're all map accurate.

i've also been hooked by the Ultimate Evil edition on ps4, after trying and failing to get into the pc and 360 versions, but i've got to say i find the end-game a little odd. the greater rifts scale in difficulty at such a steep curve once you get to the mid thirties it more or less negates any defensive strategy you have by one-shotting your dude with almost everything. effectively you're throwing yourself at a wall, courting death constantly, which i find a little disheartening for an endgame set-up.

also the item sets become essential for progress, but they really narrow down your build options. I have a lvl 70 wizard and witch doctor that are pushing into greater rift 40 +, i also have a character of every other class leveling up smoothly and quickly in adventure mode, but i can see myself leaning more towards hardcore characters in future, because outright survival rather than progress might just allow for more build flexibility, and that's what i like most about the game - how customizable the gameplay is with elective mode.

@fredchuckdave: i will never budge on my stance that an rpg should have grown-ups swinging swords and not children. call me crazy.

@fredchuckdave: looking at your list i imagine your laughter in squealy jrpg tones, you'll have to do better than that sir!

@baal_sagoth: fair enough, but aren't there only so many combinations of story available to the player in those games? even when it's as intricate as that? i am 100% certain nobody has the same skyrim character as my main (especially considering the path that he took), and i'd say maybe one of my shepard builds is quirky enough that not many people ended up with the same thing, but when it comes to a pre-defined story, even one with many branching outcomes, without character design and gameplay variety the fact that it's me playing and not somebody else is a lot less relevant. anyway that's just how i see it.

@tothenines: re saints row the third, i actually thought GTA V had a far better set-up for roleplay than most rpg's have, i'd love to see that character switch feature become more common.

re ME2, i'm not challenging your stance here, i agree that the definition gets overlooked too easily, but for me the worst offenders are the witcher games. At least in ME2 you choose your class, your weapons, your team-mates, in the witcher you don't choose anything about your character beyond some give-or-take skill trees.

the essence of an rpg for me is player input, and i'm not talking about story choices, i'm talking about gameplay, we all know how narrow story choices end up being in games due to the restraints of development, and i've never been moved by a story choice in a game, but i have been moved by intricate character customization and a certain amount of gameplay variety, enough to give me the impression i have crafted something unique.

both CDPR and Bioware seem more concerned with their vision than with player input overall, but to me ME2 just about qualifies as an rpg, and the witcher does not.