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RPG dev teams: Which ones can get you to insta-buy?
- Thread starter hersheyfan
- Start date
Link1110
Member
A tier
Falcom
Atlus
B tier
Enix (yes, I still differentiate between square and enix)
Tales Studio (was a tier in the ps2 days, bit gameplay got meh in xillia then Zestiria happened)
Level 5 (was a tier until ni no kuni got ruined with bad Pokemon clone mechanics)
C tier
Square (oh how the mighty have fallen)
Compile Heart (please make something else as fun as fairy fencer f)
Game Freak (Pokemon games are way too samey for me)
Tri Ace (never seen a shark jump as big as start ocean 3)
Falcom
Atlus
B tier
Enix (yes, I still differentiate between square and enix)
Tales Studio (was a tier in the ps2 days, bit gameplay got meh in xillia then Zestiria happened)
Level 5 (was a tier until ni no kuni got ruined with bad Pokemon clone mechanics)
C tier
Square (oh how the mighty have fallen)
Compile Heart (please make something else as fun as fairy fencer f)
Game Freak (Pokemon games are way too samey for me)
Tri Ace (never seen a shark jump as big as start ocean 3)
BrassDragon
Member
I don't have anyone in Tier A... 'insta-buy' with zero awarness what you're getting is for suckers and ultimately detrimental to the health of the industry. Even crowdsourcing by trusted developers should require a solid pitch and plan.
Guess CD Projekt Red, Larian, Harebrained and Obsidian have earned their bonafides... for now.
Game companies and the people in them change over time. The Bethesda that gave me Morrowind is not the Bethesda that sold me Fallout 4; the BioWare that delighted me with Mass Effect 2 is not the BioWare that gave me Andromeda etc.
Conversely, any of the Tier C developers could capture lightning in a bottle and bring out something amazing in the future.
Guess CD Projekt Red, Larian, Harebrained and Obsidian have earned their bonafides... for now.
Game companies and the people in them change over time. The Bethesda that gave me Morrowind is not the Bethesda that sold me Fallout 4; the BioWare that delighted me with Mass Effect 2 is not the BioWare that gave me Andromeda etc.
Conversely, any of the Tier C developers could capture lightning in a bottle and bring out something amazing in the future.
Day one/pre-order (non-mobile):
- Yoko Taro
- Yakuza series
- Nioh guys
- From software
Hesitant to buy even on sale:
- Bethesda
- Bioware (sigh)
- Compile Heart
The rest depends if I like the theme and gameplay but would most probably buy on a sale due to time constraints. I'm more of a game-first guy, instead of platform or dev first so the lists above are exceptions rather than the rule.
- Yoko Taro
- Yakuza series
- Nioh guys
- From software
Hesitant to buy even on sale:
- Bethesda
- Bioware (sigh)
- Compile Heart
The rest depends if I like the theme and gameplay but would most probably buy on a sale due to time constraints. I'm more of a game-first guy, instead of platform or dev first so the lists above are exceptions rather than the rule.
TatteredHat
Member
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
Haha, honestly if you thought Persona 4 was too long then I wouldn't even start on 5.
Tier A:
- Falcom
- Square Enix (Mainline FF team)
- From Software
- Atlus (Persona team)
- Japan Studio
Tier B:
- 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)
- Monolith Soft
- Level-5
- Square Enix (the mainline Dragon Quest team)
Tier C:
- Tokyo RPG Factory
- Game Freak
- Tri-Ace
- Tales Studio
- Konami
- Nintendo
- Origin
Tier D: Devs in this tier would need an act of God for me to buy another RPG made by them.
- Blizzard
- Gust
- Falcom
- Square Enix (Mainline FF team)
- From Software
- Atlus (Persona team)
- Japan Studio
Tier B:
- 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)
- Monolith Soft
- Level-5
- Square Enix (the mainline Dragon Quest team)
Tier C:
- Tokyo RPG Factory
- Game Freak
- Tri-Ace
- Tales Studio
- Konami
- Nintendo
- Origin
Tier D: Devs in this tier would need an act of God for me to buy another RPG made by them.
- Blizzard
- Gust
Tier 1 / I'll buy everything, most definitely a CE if it exists, and I'll recommend and gift their games to friends and family:
- CD Projekt RED
- Larian
- Obsidian
Tier 2 / I'm going to buy their games, possibly day 1 even, but I might not play them right away:
- Eidos Montreal (I'd actually consider them Tier 1, minus the CE as they're usually horrid, but some of the recent decisions, like the stupid Breach mode in MD, worry me);
- inXile
- Harebrained Schemes
Tier 3 / It'll depend on the game and user reviews:
- Bethesda
- Piranha Bytes
- Bioware (I'm only including them hoping that they'll learn something for the next Dragon Age; I have no hope for anything else)
- CD Projekt RED
- Larian
- Obsidian
Tier 2 / I'm going to buy their games, possibly day 1 even, but I might not play them right away:
- Eidos Montreal (I'd actually consider them Tier 1, minus the CE as they're usually horrid, but some of the recent decisions, like the stupid Breach mode in MD, worry me);
- inXile
- Harebrained Schemes
Tier 3 / It'll depend on the game and user reviews:
- Bethesda
- Piranha Bytes
- Bioware (I'm only including them hoping that they'll learn something for the next Dragon Age; I have no hope for anything else)
Dandy Lyin
Member
Tier A
Bioware
Obsidian
Larian
CD Project
Tier B
inXile
Bethesda(after Fallout 4)
Harebrained Schemes
Tier C
Square Enix
Bioware
Obsidian
Larian
CD Project
Tier B
inXile
Bethesda(after Fallout 4)
Harebrained Schemes
Tier C
Square Enix
Tier A
- Obsidian
- CD Projekt RED
- From Software (but only if it's Souls-esque)
- Larian
Tier B
- HareBrained Schemes
- Red Hook Studios (sure, they've only made Darkest Dungeon, but that one's phenomenal, so I'm highly looking forward to what they will do next)
Tier C
- Bethesda Game Studios (used to be in Tier A for me, but they've been on a very steady path of decline ever since Oblivion, with Fallout 4 being the absolute low point)
Tier D
- BioWare (I don't think I've liked a single game of theirs since KotOR 1 and even then they were easily outclassed by Obsidian)
- Game Freak (Pokémon games are cool, but I strongly doubt I'll ever buy another one, I'm happy with FireRed/LeafGreen)
- Most Japanese RPG devs (J-RPG's just aren't my thing, at all)
The rest isn't really on my radar, I'll buy a game if it looks cool.
Witcher 1 and 2 are very good as well, but I actually understand this one. Since they have only ever made Witcher games, it's still a bit of a wait and see if Cyberpunk 2077 will work. I ave faith that they will pull it off though.
- Obsidian
- CD Projekt RED
- From Software (but only if it's Souls-esque)
- Larian
Tier B
- HareBrained Schemes
- Red Hook Studios (sure, they've only made Darkest Dungeon, but that one's phenomenal, so I'm highly looking forward to what they will do next)
Tier C
- Bethesda Game Studios (used to be in Tier A for me, but they've been on a very steady path of decline ever since Oblivion, with Fallout 4 being the absolute low point)
Tier D
- BioWare (I don't think I've liked a single game of theirs since KotOR 1 and even then they were easily outclassed by Obsidian)
- Game Freak (Pokémon games are cool, but I strongly doubt I'll ever buy another one, I'm happy with FireRed/LeafGreen)
- Most Japanese RPG devs (J-RPG's just aren't my thing, at all)
The rest isn't really on my radar, I'll buy a game if it looks cool.
Witcher 1 and 2 are very good as well, but I actually understand this one. Since they have only ever made Witcher games, it's still a bit of a wait and see if Cyberpunk 2077 will work. I ave faith that they will pull it off though.
Someone who needs to buy Tyranny.
A Tier
Falcom (I have pretty much blind faith in them and will try everything they put out)
Obsidian
CDPR (a little hesitant to put them up here since Witcher 3 is the only game I've played from them but it was really good)
B Tier
Atlus
Vanillaware
Intelligent Systems
Tales Studio
Gust
C Tier
Square-Enix
D Tier
Tri-Ace
Falcom (I have pretty much blind faith in them and will try everything they put out)
Obsidian
CDPR (a little hesitant to put them up here since Witcher 3 is the only game I've played from them but it was really good)
B Tier
Atlus
Vanillaware
Intelligent Systems
Tales Studio
Gust
C Tier
Square-Enix
D Tier
Tri-Ace
I'm just going to give examples of some of my favorites.
Nintendo (Monolith Soft, Pokemon and Fire Emblem teams, etc)
Cygames (even though they've yet to release their first AAA title, they are clearly making a footprint in that space)
Square Enix (I'd say a huge chunk of their teams... anything from Lost Sphear and Octopath Traveler to FF7 Remake, FFXIV, FFXII Remaster, FFXV etc)
Sega (Atlus - Persona team, Yakuza studio, Sonic, Phantasy Star team)
Capcom (Monster Hunter). Could be A Tier if they had released Deep Down and treated Breath of Fire properly.
Platinum Games (Granblue Fantasy Re: Link, Nier Automata specifically)...
Bandai Namco (CyberConnect2 with .Hack, From Software / God Eater titles, Level-5 with Ni no Kuni) Bandai Namco has a lot of shovelware too which is why they're B Tier for me.
Nintendo (Monolith Soft, Pokemon and Fire Emblem teams, etc)
Cygames (even though they've yet to release their first AAA title, they are clearly making a footprint in that space)
Square Enix (I'd say a huge chunk of their teams... anything from Lost Sphear and Octopath Traveler to FF7 Remake, FFXIV, FFXII Remaster, FFXV etc)
Sega (Atlus - Persona team, Yakuza studio, Sonic, Phantasy Star team)
Capcom (Monster Hunter). Could be A Tier if they had released Deep Down and treated Breath of Fire properly.
Platinum Games (Granblue Fantasy Re: Link, Nier Automata specifically)...
Bandai Namco (CyberConnect2 with .Hack, From Software / God Eater titles, Level-5 with Ni no Kuni) Bandai Namco has a lot of shovelware too which is why they're B Tier for me.
Not just the RPG genre. I mean Assassins Creed, Arkham Knight and other games have had issues too. Heck I can't really play Wolfenstein: The New Order on PC because of glitches related to simply owning an AMD card.
I dunno from what I understand Bethesda is still pretty good. I enjoyed my time with Skyrim and since then Fallout 4 is the only mess up (going by what people say as I haven't played it).
Regarding Bioware. They have only genuinely failed me twice: Jade Empire and Andromeda.
Regarding other maligned titles:
Dragon Age 2, I view as crap mostly based on reputation (I have only played a tiny bit of it).
Regarding Mass Effect 3, while I will agree that the ending sucked, it is overall one of my favorite games ever and the best of the Mass Effect games IMO.
Likewise, Dragon Age Inquisition is an underrated game. I was initially among the detractors but when I got past the whole MMO thing it turned out there was a chewier game at the heart of it.
Drillary Clinton
Banned
I actually thought DA2 was a solid game. It is a shame about the length coupled with the constant reuse of environments. But the combat was so so good and had it's own gambit system a la FFXII.
Tier A
Nothing. I don't have as much time for RPGs as I used to (I have six of seven evenings spoken for now, basically). The ones I get I tend to chip away at slowly but surely over time, so I avoid insta/blind buys.
Tier B
Harebrained Schemes (Shadowrun was a game I could play in bite-size pieces)
Monolith Soft
Obsidian
Square Enix (several recent releases, and the upcoming Octopath Traveler, have moved them from a C to a B to me)
Tier C
Nearly everyone else. Not because they're bad, but just because of a lack of time. They may be 'good' games, but I don't have an interest in 'just good', especially with the RPG portion of my backlog hitting triple digits.
Tier D
None. I don't know enough nowadays to class someone here instead of a C.
Nothing. I don't have as much time for RPGs as I used to (I have six of seven evenings spoken for now, basically). The ones I get I tend to chip away at slowly but surely over time, so I avoid insta/blind buys.
Tier B
Harebrained Schemes (Shadowrun was a game I could play in bite-size pieces)
Monolith Soft
Obsidian
Square Enix (several recent releases, and the upcoming Octopath Traveler, have moved them from a C to a B to me)
Tier C
Nearly everyone else. Not because they're bad, but just because of a lack of time. They may be 'good' games, but I don't have an interest in 'just good', especially with the RPG portion of my backlog hitting triple digits.
Tier D
None. I don't know enough nowadays to class someone here instead of a C.
Dandy Lyin
Member
Bioware is still one of my favorite developers, despite some mistakes. I loved Dragon Age Origins and Inquisition, and still liked DA2 despite all its issues. I also loved the Mass Effect trilogy, even though I thought the ending was a dud. Mass Effect Andromeda was their only major fuckup for me, and even that I had fun with... though I will probably never replay it.
My enjoyment of Bethesda's games is mainly just the TES series, all of which I had a blast playing. I didn't love either of their Fallout attempts, but I didn't think they were horrible.
Literally came to post this.
sixteen-bit
Member
When are they gonna reunite the chrono trigger dream team?
decoyplatypus
Member
Obsidian, Larian, and Harebrained Schemes can sell me an RPG on reputation alone.
Everyone else has to convince me. 10 years ago, I would have cited Intelligent Systems as a developer for which, even if I didn't automatically buy their games, I at least started out looking for a reason to buy. Now I'm not so sure there is anyone in that second tier. There are, however, a few developers who have produced RPGs so repugnant to my tastes that, no matter how high the review scores or how attractive the game premise, I will not buy their future output.
Everyone else has to convince me. 10 years ago, I would have cited Intelligent Systems as a developer for which, even if I didn't automatically buy their games, I at least started out looking for a reason to buy. Now I'm not so sure there is anyone in that second tier. There are, however, a few developers who have produced RPGs so repugnant to my tastes that, no matter how high the review scores or how attractive the game premise, I will not buy their future output.
Inyourprime
Member
I would've said Obsidian but that's not true, considering I haven't bought Tyranny and have no interest in it. So... nobody, I guess. But Obsidian, Piranha Bytes, CDPR, and Larian are studios I will pay attention to regardless of what they're making.
Mr. Phellps
Member
Bethesda and BioWare have a strong history of never giving me a game I hated (worst offender was ME: Andromeda, but I still enjoyed it), so they're the ones I could insta-buy, although I normally wouldn't do that.
CDPR if they release Cyberpunk someday.
CDPR if they release Cyberpunk someday.
Knuckle Sandwich
Member
CDPR and Obsidian.
Freyjadour
Member
This
Jim_Cacher
Member
Tier A
Obsidian
MonolithSoft
Intelligent Software
Tier B
Bethesda
Bamco team for Tales of
I will get into Divinity and Witcher series soon. So Larian and CDPR will probably be somewhere on that list.
Obsidian
MonolithSoft
Intelligent Software
Tier B
Bethesda
Bamco team for Tales of
I will get into Divinity and Witcher series soon. So Larian and CDPR will probably be somewhere on that list.
Shake Appeal
Member
Tier A:
CD Projekt Red
Harebrained Studios
Tier B:
Falcom
Obsidian
Tier C:
Everyone else?
Never Again Tier:
Bethesda
Bioware
CD Projekt Red
Harebrained Studios
Tier B:
Falcom
Obsidian
Tier C:
Everyone else?
Never Again Tier:
Bethesda
Bioware
Tier A:
Atlus (Etrian Odyssey only)
Aquaplus (DT only)
Tier B:
Atlus (DRPG only, SMT:SJ or Persona Q for example)
Falcom (Action RPGs only)
Vanillaware
NIS
Almost Human Games
Larian Studios
Afterwards i'd only check other action rpg or drpg releases and get them if/when i feel like it outside a few exception now and then, dungeon crawlers (Shiren the wanderer/Elona for example) or tactical mostly.
Atlus (Etrian Odyssey only)
Aquaplus (DT only)
Tier B:
Atlus (DRPG only, SMT:SJ or Persona Q for example)
Falcom (Action RPGs only)
Vanillaware
NIS
Almost Human Games
Larian Studios
Afterwards i'd only check other action rpg or drpg releases and get them if/when i feel like it outside a few exception now and then, dungeon crawlers (Shiren the wanderer/Elona for example) or tactical mostly.
Glass Rebel
Member
Not sure how their development teams are made up but I will insta-buy any mainline Shin Megami Tensei game and mainline Monster Hunter game.
Everything else... not so much.
Everything else... not so much.
Blizzard? RPG? Uhm... Paradox too.
Tier S: CDProjekt Red. I'll buy their urine if so they sell it.
Tier A: Obsidian. I'll still look at reviews, but those guys know what they're doing. I'd say Platinum counts here too, because Automata.
Tier B: Bethesda, Square Enix: They also known what they're doing. Bethesda's games are comfort food while SE's just scratch that traditional itch.
Tier C: Guerrilla and other interesting randoms. Yes, Horizon is an RPG. I'll totally going to buy the sequel if it's Witcher tier. The interesting randoms are the ones I'd say come from nowhere the way CDPR did ages ago. Stuff like the guys who male Kingdom Come Deliverance. Will surely buy an RPG from them if good enough. I guess Ubisoft Applies here if AC is a true RPG.
Tier D: Bioware. Not interested if they don't make another Jade Empire. I don't enjoy sci fi.
Honorable mentions: FROM and Larian. Both are excellent developers, but I wouldn't buy any of their games unless they are more accessible than they are right now. Still, I admire them both.
Tier A: Obsidian. I'll still look at reviews, but those guys know what they're doing. I'd say Platinum counts here too, because Automata.
Tier B: Bethesda, Square Enix: They also known what they're doing. Bethesda's games are comfort food while SE's just scratch that traditional itch.
Tier C: Guerrilla and other interesting randoms. Yes, Horizon is an RPG. I'll totally going to buy the sequel if it's Witcher tier. The interesting randoms are the ones I'd say come from nowhere the way CDPR did ages ago. Stuff like the guys who male Kingdom Come Deliverance. Will surely buy an RPG from them if good enough. I guess Ubisoft Applies here if AC
is a true RPG. Tier D: Bioware. Not interested if they don't make another Jade Empire. I don't enjoy sci fi.
Honorable mentions: FROM and Larian. Both are excellent developers, but I wouldn't buy any of their games unless they are more accessible than they are right now. Still, I admire them both.
KZXcellent
Member
S Tier
Square Enix Osaka Team (Kingdom Hearts)
A Tier
Square Enix (Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, ect.)
Atlus (SMT and Persona Teams)
Tales Studio
B Tier
FROM Software
Platinum Games
Monolith Soft
Game Freak
Level-5
C Tier
CDProjekt
Bethesda
Bioware
Obsidian
Tokyo RPG Factory
D Tier
Everything Else
Square Enix Osaka Team (Kingdom Hearts)
A Tier
Square Enix (Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, ect.)
Atlus (SMT and Persona Teams)
Tales Studio
B Tier
FROM Software
Platinum Games
Monolith Soft
Game Freak
Level-5
C Tier
CDProjekt
Bethesda
Bioware
Obsidian
Tokyo RPG Factory
D Tier
Everything Else
Dark_castle
Junior Member
Nothing is sacred anymore to me. I don't go by developers, I just go by game.
Are we counting Paradox as a RPG dev team nowadays? I mean, they would definity be in Tier A for me, but Crusader Kings 2 is pretty much the only RPG-esque game they made. I mean, you could make an argument for Stellaris I guess, but that's still a pretty long shot.
Interesting.
For me it's personally that when I play an RPG, I wanna be invested in the tale of the characters that I am following, both in the mainline story and all the side stories that pop up, and that is where I consider these two studios the weakest.
Bethesda in their latest 4 games have honestly produced high profile duds in storytelling. The main quests in Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 have been some of the weakest and lacklustre stories among RPGs I've heard. And it doesn't get better with their sidequests, how they treat the lore of Fallout in their games (a ghoul surviving in a fridge for hundreds of years still irks me, not to mention how they wrote The Enclave, the Brotherhood of Steel etc.) They have the weakest writing team for being such a prominent RPG making studio. I can't seriously recall much except the stuff that really stood out in how much I thought it was just absolutely stupid (the thief guild quest in Skyrim having basically one mission of actual thieving).
The same goes for Bioware. DA2 was overall a boring story despite them having all the groundworks for a pretty good one (a story centralized a city amidst a turmoil of hate between magic and non-magic users), not to mention the cheap look of the game, the weird detractions of art (that old lady dragon who suddenly turns out in super cleavage and giant hair horns in DA2) and more. DA:I had just a boring story with boring antagonist that wasn't the antagonist but I thought was the antagonist but have been told that wasn't so now I know not what the fuck was going on in there. And oh dear god I wanted to strangle some of the characters. Mass Effect 3 messed up just not the ending (which was an awful way of tying up a beloved series) but tons of plot threads from earlier Mass Effect games (the mystery of dark energy, what was happening with the star on the planet Tali was on in ME2 and much more). ME:A I don't have to go through at all it's just self-explanatory why that one fell on it's face.
I can see why people still like these two studios and it's fine, but personally they have just become, honestly, quite awful at writing their games which is a major important aspect of RPGs for me. When I spend so much time as a RPG demands of me, I want the story to be damn good or interesting. It's why I personally praise the shit out of The Witcher 3, especially Hearts of Stone which has one of the best antagonists, characters and stories of RPGs of all time. It's why I wish Bethesda would pull their head out of their ass and get Obsidian on making Fallout: New Francisco or something as they made the better of all 3 3D Fallouts (by freakin' miles).
archreaper93
Member
Atlus, From Software, and Intelligent Systems are basically instabuys for me.