A pack of wolves can end a Baldur’s Gate 1 playthrough a mere five minutes after the tutorial ends. A squadmate you didn’t bother checking in on in Mass Effect 2 can die permanently during a mission you don’t get to redo. And a Sonic RPG on the Nintendo DS can end its story with the good guys saving the universe…then coming home to find someone named Eggman conquered Earth while they were gone.
Most people know BioWare as the Mass Effect studio, which is incredible on its own — but that undersells the vast range that built the studio’s reputation in the first place. Party-based dungeon crawling, approval systems other RPGs are still copying, martial arts combat, even one of gaming’s most infamous flops hiding a superb flight model: All of this and more is in BioWare’s back catalog. Not everything BioWare made held up fabulously.
Dragon Age 2’s rushed development cycle is still a go-to example of what happens when a good studio doesn’t get the time it needs. But that’s not a knock against BioWare. The studio’s less-stellar titles provide contrast that make BioWare’s lineup of all-time bangers look as good as they do.
These following eight games worked well and changed the gaming industry — not to mention entire generations of gamers — forever. Whether you’re more into CRPGs, space operas, or Sonic, each of these are worth your time today. You’ll still be thinking about years after the credits roll.
Why it still holds up: Skip a loyalty mission, and that squadmate can die for good in the finale. Ignore a squadmate’s personal quest, and you’ll feel it later. Not through a stat penalty, but through who’s alive at endgame…no pressure.
In Mass Effect 2, Commander Shepard spends the entire game recruiting a team of specialists for a mission against the Collectors, a mission the game makes clear most of them aren't expected to survive. These include Mordin the salarian scientist with a moral debt to pay, Legion the geth who’s just trying to understand their own kind, and Thane the dying assassin looking for a moment’s peace. Every hour spent earning their loyalty pays off (or doesn’t) during the game’s final assault on the Collector base.
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