Support NeoGAF

[hersheyfan]

This thread was born out of a heated discussion I had with my friend offline about our favorite developers, specifically how much they affect our purchase intent. The top devs topic has been done before on NeoGAF, but we found the topic was much more focused when we limited the discussion to a specific, less-expansive genre (in this case, RPG’s). We noted that perception of RPG quality is far more subjective than that of action games (ex. I strongly disliked Crimson Shroud, but I acknowledge that it has a rabid fanbase that loves it deeply and that it's just not my "thing"), so a thread on the subject will hopefully produce more interesting responses than people fellating Platinum Games ad infinitum.

We split the developers into four tiers, A through D, with each tier having a lower capacity of taking our hard earned shekels than the last (i.e. Tier A is basically “Shut Up And Take My Money” sight unseen, and Tier D is “You Might Need to Pay Me To Play This”).

The only rules:

- When classifying a developer, you must segregate them as to how they affect your own purchasing decision. Ask yourself: would you really buy this developer’s game based on blind trust, just because their name’s on the box? If not, how much additional convincing would you need to get you to purchase that particular developer’s game? Then classify accordingly.

- The developers you list must still be operational as of today: they can’t very well shut up and take your money if they no longer exist.

Based on the ground rules above, this is what I came up with. How about you guys?

----------

Tier A: Developers in this tier have my money, without reading reviews. Like, I’ll buy their new stuff the day it releases, with zero feedback.
- P Studio
- Square Enix (the Dragon Quest team)
- CD Projekt Red
- Falcom

NOTE: Blizzard would also be in this category, by virtue of the Diablo franchise (I don’t like WoW), but I decided to exclude them as their output is too varied to pigeonhole them as an “RPG developer”.

Tier B: Devs in this tier I’m generally a fan of, but I have to be sold on the specific game they’re releasing to buy in at launch (video previews with gameplay that appeals to me, positive feedback from trusted sources, etc.):
- Atlus (all non-Persona teams: Shin Megami Tensei, Etrian Odyssey, etc.)
- Bethesda Game Studios
- Bioware
- Obsidian
- Nippon Ichi Software (the developer, not the publisher – aka the Disgaea guys)
- Zeboyd Games
- Monolith Soft
- From Software
- Silicon Studio
- Tales Studio, or their equivalent Namco Bandai team
- Level-5
- Vanillaware
- Game Freak
- Square Enix (the mainline Final Fantasy team)

Tier C: For devs in this tier, I would need multiple accounts from trusted sources that the game is phenomenal (or at least, enjoyable in a quirky/different way), and even then I’m most likely still waiting for a sale.
- Tokyo RPG Factory
- Larian
- TopWare
- Spiders
- Compile Heart
- Tri-Ace

Tier D: Devs in this tier would need an act of God for me to buy another RPG made by them.
- Kemco (modern day)

 

[Mephala]

None but instant interest list is pretty long.

 

[Com_Raven]

Will absolutely blindly buy anything from BioWare, Blizzard or CDP (after Witcher 3) on day 1. Same for any Elder Scrolls title from Bethesda. And anything Obsidian immediately has my attention (and I ended up buying most of their recent games on day 1 as well).

Edit: Can't believe I forgot Harebrained, thanks Mass_Pincup Backed all four of their Kickstarters, and pre-ordered Necropolis, so they are one of the few devs I always support ahead of release.

 

[Cytezan]

Due to Divinity 2, I think Larian are now on my Insta-buy list.

Definitely not Tier 3 for mine.

 

[Mass_Pincup]

So for me it would be something like that:

Tier A:
Atlus
Bethesda
Bioware
Harebrained Schemes
Intelligent Systems
CD Projekt Red

Tier B:
Larian
Falcom
Obsidian
Square Enix
Monolith
From Software
Level 5
Tri-Ace

Tier C:
Gust
Tales Studio

Tier Z:
Compile Heart

 

[vocab]

Larian in the same tier as tri ace. Wow.

 

[HK-47]

Harebrained Schemes and Obsidian are at the top currently. After that it's on a series basis though

 

[NoblesseOblige]

Tier A:
Obsidian

Tier Other:
Everything else

 

[Renekton]

Everything is Tier B for me.

 

[Staf]

A
CD Project Red
Larian
Obsidian

B
Bethesda
Bioware

 

[texhnolyze]

Tier A:
- CD Project Red
- From Software
- Bioware
- Atlus
- Larian

Tier B:
- Square Enix
- Platinum Games
- Bethesda
- Obsidian
- Blizzard
- Falcom
- Monolith Soft
- Intelligent System
- Tales Studio

Tier C:
- Koei Tecmo

Tier D:
- Pyranha Bytes

Koei Tecmo is a difficult decision for me, as I adore Nioh (my GOTY), but I don't care for the rest of their library. Larian is my new favorite developer. Not only because of the quality of their recent RPGs, but also the sublime gamepad support for cRPG which is a rarity. Blizzard is somewhere between Tier A and B, as I don't see them making another RPG in the next couple years or so.

Anyhow, I'll follow Bioware even to the depths of hell.

 

[Alexander DeLarge]

A
CDPR
From Software
Larian
Monolith Software
Obsidian
Piranha Bytes

B
Atlus
Square Enix

C
anything else

 

[Durante]

Larian (since way back, I'm a hipster Larian fan)
Obsidian

That's the long and short of it. If Harebrained Schemes make a Shadowrun RPG I'd also instabuy it, but with something else maybe not.
No JRPG developer is consistent enough to make it - Gust used to be in the middle of the PS3 era, but they declined a bit recently (or maybe spread themselves too thin).
Bioware has the distinct honor of having made it to my "actively avoid" tier.

 

[super-famicom]

S Rank: FROM Software

 

[RespectThySole]

Tier 1:

CD Projekt Red
Falcom
From Software
P Studio

Tier 2:

Obsidian
Larian
Monolith

 

[m_dorian]

Tier A.
CDPR

Tier B.
Bethesda
Obsidian
Larian
Hairbrained Schemes
Edit: Inxile

Tier C.
TopWare
Bioware
SqEnix
Blizzard Entertainment.

 

[Yazuka]

A
- Monolith Soft
- Tales Studio

For the last couple of years, only Monolith Soft and Tales Studio seems to deliver the JRPG that I get truly excited over. I love their games and will support them day one.
While I do like many of the other developers titles too, those two studios always have and automatic purchase from me.

B
The rest of the Japanese developers

C
Western developers
I'm not just that fond of WRPGs.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Well I didn't buy Tyranny but I backed both Pillars of Eternity as soon as I was able. What does that make me?

 

[jem0208]

Bethesda.


That's about it.

 

[Staf]

Well I didn't buy Tyranny but I backed both Pillars of Eternity as soon as I was able. What does that make me?

A decent person.

 

[Stygr]

Tier A.
Obsidian
Larian
CDPR

And i'll put all the others below this tier.

 

[His Majesty]

Tier A:
CD Projekt Red
Larian

Blind purchases. I've been a Witcher fan from day one and I fell in love with Larian games after starting with Divinity 2: The Dragon Knight Saga. Both amazing and very consumer friendly developers who put out super ambitious games.

Tier B
Harebrained Schemes
Obsidian
Piranha Bytes

Shadowrun games are an instant buy but I am not really interested in HBS' new project. Obsidian has been hit and miss lately. And Piranha Bytes is like a drug addiction, I keep buying their games and even enjoy them for a good while.

Tier C
Others

Not specifically interested in these games unless they review very well. Spotty track record.

 

[patapuf]

Larian and CDPR are top.

After that

Harebrained Schemes
Obsidian

They are very good but not everything they make appeals to me.

I don't think there are other devs i'm willing to blind buy from. RPG's are quite long and i usually like knowing what i'm getting into.

 

[Keasar]

Tier A:
CD Projekt Red (the Witcher 3 is one of the best written RPGs of all time, I will be there day 1 for Cyberpunk 2077).
Obsidian (still makes excellent classic CRPG games)
Larian (Divinity: Original Sin had some flaws, 2 has some bothersome difficulty flaws as well, but their focus on reactivity, freedom to interact with the world is top notch)
Harebrained (Shadowrun: Dragonfall is probably one of my all-time favourite RPG stories)
Platinum Games (they've only made Nier: Automata among RPGs but holy fuckshit they keep Yoko Taro on the line for new projects down the line and it's a instant buy)

These are the developers I turn to when I want a proper RPG game and they so far have been quite safe bets.

Tier B:
Everyone else.

Always interested in what everyone else makes, there are tons of cool concepts being developed by other developers. Doesn't always work but it's always interesting. Except two developers:

Never Again Tier:
Bethesda.
Bioware.

RPG Developers? What I've seen from them lately is watered down shooters. Their games are buggy but somehow accepted while other games equally buggy are slammed for "poor quality" (never forget Fallout 3 vs. Fallout: New Vegas). They make half-assed shooting mechanics that neither feels like a good RPG experience or a shooter experience, just some mediocre middle thing. The worst offender however is that they write bad stories, bad quests, one or two maybe interesting characters but the rest is usually crap. These are some of the worst stories I have ever slogged through. They never seem to be able to nail a good antagonist, a good main quest storyline, good sidequests with interesting twists and dilemmas. It's all the most basic stuff you can think of in writing.

I like Bethesda as a FPS game publisher, they clearly have an eye for talent there, but making their own games they just can't. And Bioware have just fallen from grace.

 

[Yeul]

Based on stuff I play the most often I’d probably say:

Tier A:
BioWare
CD Projekt RED

Tier B:
Bethesda
Obsidian
Square Enix
I guess Larian now since I’ve never played anything from them before other than the new Divinity: Original Sin 2, but I’m pleased with what I’ve played as of now to keep an eye out for future stuff.
Atlus

As for everything else I guess it’s just a play it by ear thing so they’d hover in between Tier B and C.

 

[Bedameister]

Bethesda
CD Project Red

 

[lumzi23]

Tier A:
Bioware
CDProjekt

Tier B:
Obsidian
ArenaNet

Tier C:
Level 5
Bethesda Game Studios
Square Enix

 

[CecilRousso]

CD Projekt is probably the only instabuy tier in this genre for me.

Obsidan is close, but I'm much more a fan of games like Alpha Protocol and New Vegas then of games like Pillars of Eternity and Tyranny.

Bethesda was tier A, but is tier C, if even that, after showing what direction they intend to go in, with Fallout 4.

Larian are interesting, but the only game that I actually played from them is Dragon Commander, and I quite that after 2h of just being frustrated.

Dragon Age: Inquisition put Bioware in tier C for me, and if Anthem is a sign of where Bioware are heading, then they're not even that for me.

 

[foxuzamaki]

Monolifthsoft, all they have to do is say that they are working on a game.
Im there, day zero

 

[aravuus]

Tier 1:
CDPR (I don't think TW3 was GOAT, but it's very good)
From Soft
Larian (dunno about their earlier games, but DOS2 is amazing)
Obsidian
Atlus (totally forgot about Persona lmao)

Tier 2:
Harebrained
Tales guys
Monolith Soft

Tier 3:
Square Enix

Tier "the rest":
The rest

Bioware and Bethesda are probably in tier Very Likely Never Again Touching These Fuckers for me, too. I might buy the next Dragon Age at some point after returning to DA:I a while ago with a weird "fuck everything" mindset and actually enjoying it. FO4 was such trash Bethesda's gotta do something pretty interesting to get me back. I fucking hated Cold Steel 2 with such passion that Falcom is definitely in this tier too, though I'll buy Ao and Zero day zero if they're ever available in English.

It's interesting to see how tastes change and evolve over time. 5 years ago this list would'be been full of JRPG devs.

 

[Danjin44]

Tier A:
Atlus - Katsura Hashino & Kazuma Kaneko
Square Enix - Yoko Taro
CyberConnect2 - .hack team

Tier B:
Atlus - SMT IV Team
Level 5 - Ni no Kuni team
Square Enix - Tetsuya Nomura & Silicon Studio


Tier C:
Tales Team

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

TIER A:

CDPR
BioWare
Larian
Bethesda, Fallout

TIER B:

Obsidian
Square

TIER C:

BANDAI NAMCO
From Software
Bethesda, Elder Scrolls

 

[N.A]

Tier A
CD Projekt Red
Atlus Persona Team
Larian (after D: OS 2)
Monolith Soft

Tier B
Square Enix (main FF & DQ teams)
Bethesda Game Studios (even if Fallout 4 was average I still got 100 hours out of it)
Bioware
Obsidian
Atlus (non-Persona games)

 

[Infinite_Daremo]

Tier A:

CD Projekt Red - The quality of the Witcher titles
Larian - The Divinity games have been a great surprise and added coop to an RPG like them is amazing

Tier B:

Obsidian - Great RPG makers but often release buggy as shit games.

Relegated to review/sales:

FROM Software - The Souls formula has gotten 'samey' to me. I jus't don't see the magic in it anymore.
Bethesda - Their last few outputs have been initially fun but after extended sessions you realised how shallow they are as RPG's. If the next Fallout is dumbed down anymore i'll be abandoning Bethesda for good.

 

[Primate_Ryan]

Larian used to be in tier A. Bought Divine Divinity, Beyond Divinity, Divine Divinity 2 & its expansion and Original Sin at launch. Haven't done so with Original Sin 2. Not because of any perceived lack of quality, but because I find it hard to really delve into RPGs these days (not because of time limitations), while it used to be one of my favourite genres.

But my general rule of thumb is to trust no developer blindly. I judge every game on its own merits, not on the pedigree behind it. So practically all games/developers are in tier B for me.

 

[TatteredHat]

Tier A

CD Project RED - Witcher 3, still need to play the DLC.
Larian - Divinity: OS2 is phenomenal, would kickstart again.
Square-Enix / Yoko Taro - All his games are always an experience.

Tier B

Atlus - Used to be Tier A but looking back I think Persona 5 ended up being about 20 hours too long for its own good.
FROM Software - I'm suffering from Dark Souls burnout, would probably still buy a new Bloodborne at launch tho.
Capcom / Monster Hunter team - Same as FROM, series burnout.

edit:
Tier C
Blizzard - Used to make good RPGs in the past, too focused on micro-transaction filled multiplayer gaming now.
Bethesda - Didn't enjoy Fallout 4, Oblivion was aight.
Bioware - Recent entries haven't been great.

 

[Drillary Clinton]

Tier A:

Obsidian
CD Projekt Red
From Software
Larian

Tier B:

Bethesda
Bioware
Monolith
Square Enix
Atlus

Tier C
TopWare
Spiders
Platinum (Just in regards to RPGs)

Tier D
Tri-Ace

 

[Durante]

Atlus - Used to be Tier A but looking back I think Persona 5 ended up being about 20 hours too long for its own good.

I haven't played Persona 5 yet, but from where I'm standing that sounds like an upgrade from 4 which was 40 hours too long for its own good

 

[lordfuzzybutt]

Folks with Larian and CDPR in their top tier are okay people in my book.

For me it'll be:

Tier 1:
Larian
CDPR

Tier 2:
Obsidian
Piranha Bytes

Tier 3:
Bioware

If this were during Dragon Age Origin era then Bioware would be in my top tier. A bloody shame.

 

[hobblygobbly]

I find that the only studios bothering with actually making full experience RPGs nowadays is Obsidian, Larian, and to some lesser extent CDPR (which I hope they prove with Cyberpunk, TW is still not a complete RPG experience). inXile is worth a mention too even though I did not enjoy Wasteland 2 much but loved new Torment. I find that getting full RPG experiences and not this pseudo RPG nonsense has become a rarity, very prevalent in large studios like Bioware.

There are promising smaller studios emerging like Iron Tower (The Age of Decadence) who are working on their next RPG too.

 

[City 17]

Tier A
CDPR & Larian

Tier B
Obsidian & From Software & Harebrained Schemes & Piranha Bytes

Others heavily depend on the game.

 

[Thud]

Falcom
Atlus
P-Studio

I have yet to play a bad game from them.

 

[Starfield]

Tier A:
Bethesda
Bioware (Mass Effect series)

Tier B:
CDPR
Obsidian

 

[RoyaleDuke]

Obsidian
CDPR


Anything they do pretty much always instantly interests me.

 

[KainXVIII]

None, because RPG genre depends on huge amount of patches before you can play it normally.

 

[Fantastapotamus]

A Tier aka Day 1
Obsidian
Larian
CD Projekt
Former Bioware
From Software (Currently I'm totally burned out on Souls games tho.)

B Tier aka wait for reviews
inXile
Harebrained Schemes
Piranha Bytes
Eidos Montreal

C Tier aka maybe when it's dirt cheap
Current Bioware
Bethesda (Elder Scrolls/Fallout Bethesda)

None, because RPG genre depends on huge amount of patches before you can play it normally.

Nope

 

[Karu]

Tier 1
Bioware - I just like the type of game they make, even if they end up being barely mediocre like Inquisition and Andromeda
CD Project Red (Based on TW2, The Witcher 3 & expansions. Will anticipate how they will fare with a different IP)
Yakuza dev

Tier 2
From Software
GameFreak
Many more like Atlus, FF main team etc., but e.g. the sample size of games I've played is too small that I don't feel compelled to rank them specifically

Tier 3
Bethesda Game Studios (verges on avoid, but then their games are too big and interesting on the outward, that I probably buy half of them anyway on Day One. Still, every game burns me anew)

 

[Alexander DeLarge]

Tier 3
Bethesda Game Studios (verges on avoid, but then their games are too big and interesting on the outward, that I probably buy half of them anyway on Day One. Still, every game burns me anew)

If you're on PC, it's better to wait a year (and get a CD key for $7.50) so you can play with the mods that fix their games anyways.

 

[Apt101]

Only Obsidian these days, I suppose. If I see they made a RPG, I must be powerfully persuaded to not buy it, which is the opposite of how rational people should approach a product.

I'll give every RPG from Bioware and Square Enix close scrutiny, but neither name fills me with the enthusiasm and excitement that they once did.

Honorable mention: CDPR. I loved Witcher 3 but it's the only game I've ever played from them.

 

[KainXVIII]

Nope

Tell that to Bethesda, Obsidian, CDPR etc