(01-30-2015, 05:01 PM)Naunet Wrote:(01-29-2015, 07:06 PM)Kilborne Bloodbane Wrote: For a heavily story based game like Dragon Age, I doubt Bioware could incorporate co-op into their single-player campaigns without ruining what made them so great in the past: YOU are the savior of the world/galaxy and YOUR choices matter (sadly, this isn't really the case with modern Bioware). If you had someone playing as Joe Schmo random soldier guy, you'd either have to give him dialogue options that take away your agency as a player, or just make him an invisible character. In the latter case, what would the point of having him around be? I kind of have that old school "single player experiences should stay single player experiences" because I honestly can't see what co-op adds to these games other than further assimilation into Co-Op Killing Game #345987
You see no appeal in being able to play with your significant other/friend? I want to enjoy the story with my husband. We want to run around in the world together.
I personally think it would be really fun if co-op campaign let multiple characters contribute to conversations. It would lead to some really interesting results, with one player's character maybe trying to convince an NPC of one thing and another player's character either agreeing and encouraging, or perhaps trying to pull in another direction. They could compete for love interests. They could work together. It sounds to me like a really fantastic game experience.
It would be a complex task but well worth it.
As it is, I can't go five minutes playing this game - even with my husband sitting right next to me and watching - without thinking, "This would be so much better if we could just play it together. Look at this empty building, at these benches, at all these world touches that are nothing more than set pieces that serve so little purpose but with another person could be the source of such fun!"
So screw the idea that co-op somehow ruins your game. It's not like you'd be forced to play co-op and I don't think it would mess with the story at all. I'm not asking for the ridiculously idiotic style of competitive dungeon crawling that Bioware implemented. I want co-op campaign.
Just look at Diablo III. You can play the story solo, or you can play it co-op. It doesn't hurt the narrative at all.
I wouldn't say Diablo 3 was hailed for its riveting narrative. It's a kill, loot, repeat game. To use a better example: Dead Space 3. Horrid, horrid co-op integration. You missed out on a significant amount of content if you didn't have the urge to play online with some random stranger, since couch co-op wasn't supported. Every co-op mission was the same, and the story barely changed with the inclusion of one more person who said "yeah we got to do the thing" but with a space marine-type personality.
Or Fable 2 and 3. Aside from being bad games, the co-op was just a game of tug of war with one camera. Your buddy couldn't do anything but help you in combat and also kill important npcs in your world. Riveting.
I'm not saying it's impossible, Divinity: Original Sin actually did it decently. It's just that most devs will never put the time or effort in to make it good. Easier to put in a shitty multiplayer mode with microtransactions.