The North’s Niche Market

Sticking with their recent BioWare theme, Critical Gamer has penned an editorial titled “The North’s Niche Market” that explains why they think the Canadian developer is “a prime example of tradition, niche, and success.”

The company’s most recent endeavours, Dragon Age: Origins, and Mass Effect 2, released only a handful of months apart, managed to once again capitalise on this formula by drawing gamers a picturesque story-scape which could be wholly unique to each individual player.

Users were able to shape just who joined their party and, to a limited extent, cultivate them into what you wanted them to be based on your own narrative decisions. If you were in a rush, the game might be more difficult and lack several key story components, delivering a less than satisfactory experience.

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ME was always envisioned as a trilogy, however, in order to make that happen, some important gameplay facets also needed retooling. The action sequences in ME2 had managed to become much quicker and smoother, and to a certain extent, almost more (arcadey.) Regardless of the simplistic and repetitive nature of combat, gamers flocked to the title in record droves, and it became the first critical release of 2010.

DA:O, on the other hand, while still selling well enough to merit a sequel, was not quite the smash hit that ME2 was almost overnight. While ME2 had strove to become almost the norm (but with BioWare’s unique focus points), DA:O tried to harken back to the days of Baulder’s Gate, and did so very well. It is in fact, considered by many to be the top RPG of 2009, even despite its being geared to an extremely hardcore, or traditional audience. BioWare hasn’t forgotten their roots.

If I had a nickle for every time Baldur’s Gate has been misspelled on the Internet…