Dragon Age:Origins

DarQraven · 2nd Nov 2009, 10:27 PM

Link

So, anyone playing this? I figured it's by Bioware, so I couldn't really go wrong there.

So far I've completed the prologues for Elven mage and Dwarven Rogue (wasn't sure which to pick), and I immediately noticed three things.

1) This is VERY Neverwinter Nights-ey. This is a good thing. Nice atmosphere, pretty complicated and varied skilltrees, weak-ass characters in the beginning.

2) Although it seems to be based on typical D&D rules, the system handled here is a lot smoother. Basically you pick one of three classes (warrior, mage, rogue), and only after you've played for a bit do you narrow down your skills into your final 'traditional class' (bard, druid, shapeshifter, etc).
Personally I thought this was helpful, since I often end up replaying the same boring early game with new characters, because I ended up not really liking it's skills.

This way, you're going to spend time figuring out which class you want while playing, instead of looking at a dull menu.

3) Even after this streamlining, combat seems to offer quite a bit of depth. With my current party of 2 mages and one rogue (all at level 3), already combat offers quite a few options. Focus-firing the strongest enemy until he's dead has a different outcome and requires different input from the player than, say, debuffing with one mage while the other one attacks and the rogue stuns/holds any other enemies at bay. Other approaches seem viable as well (meatshields + splash damage to take out groups, for instance).

This is promising, considering my party only has a grand total of 6 different spells/skills at the moment.

dragonfliet · 2nd Nov 2009, 11:37 PM

I practically salivate when I think of this game. Sadly, there is no time. Alas, alas.

~Jason

flo0tz · 2nd Nov 2009, 11:56 PM

I bought the game on steam, only to find it's a whopping 20gb download. My current ****ty internet is capped at 15gb.

anaemic · 3rd Nov 2009, 05:51 AM

read the blurb

Quote:

From the makers of Mass Effect™, Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™, and Baldur's Gate™

am getting based on that line alone

shadow_dragon · 3rd Nov 2009, 06:11 AM

I tried the character creator out and seen all the trailers but was left a little bewildered.
It looks nice but I never really got a grasp on how it plays from the trailer, only that there is a bunch of female characters that get laid in cutscenes...

the trailers are filled with marilyn Manson-esque guitar sections, presumably to make it look cool, which it does a bit but I assume the game itself is the usual fantasy affair. And electric guitars are entirely absent in game?

Looks interesting, I'll wait for more reviews and comments on it before I invest though.

Jackal · 3rd Nov 2009, 07:07 AM

no time atm.

Borderlands/L4D2 etc

shoptroll · 3rd Nov 2009, 07:39 AM

Pre-ordered last night. Glad to hear it's a streamlined version of NWN, since I found that game a little unintuitive and I didn't have the patience to give it much of a chance.

It'll get parked in the backlog for a little while I'm afraid but looks like it'll be fun.

DarQraven · 3rd Nov 2009, 08:25 AM

Yeah, I was a little confused by the trailers as well.
The cinematic trailer made it look like it was basically a God-of-war-meets Diablo crossover, but thankfully it's not. It was probably meant to attract the OMGVIOLENCE!!!! crowd.

6 Hours into the game, and not a single electric guitar

Al · 3rd Nov 2009, 09:35 AM

I'm tempted.

Al · 3rd Nov 2009, 10:13 AM

GameSpot gave it a 9.5

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/dragonage/review.html

Slainchild · 3rd Nov 2009, 10:21 AM

This reviewer spends 3 pages writing about a 6/10 game then gives it an 8.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/dr...-review?page=1

KaiserWarrior · 3rd Nov 2009, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slainchild

This reviewer spends 3 pages writing about a 6/10 game then gives it an 8.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/dr...-review?page=1

Wow, no kidding.

"This game is full of hackneyed cliche, the art is technically sound but creatively flat, the voice acting is good but the dialogue is stilted and feels artificial, the sidequests are uninteresting filler, HEY IT DESERVES AN 8!"

DarQraven · 3rd Nov 2009, 01:08 PM

Seems to me that the reviewer in question simply doesn't like games like these.
It's quality is apparent, hence the high final grade, yet it's hard to write a convincing and enthusiastic review about something you don't particularly enjoy.

Most of his arguments are "basically, it's all good, except I don't like it" :/

Kaleena · 3rd Nov 2009, 01:48 PM

Good thing the game doesn't have DRMs but...

Yeah? Keeps happening several times in the game, wow that's great for a single player ROLE Playing Game. Way to break the immersion...

And of course the warez version has all the dlcs included for free...

shadow_dragon · 3rd Nov 2009, 02:51 PM

Eh? It's only available for pre-puchase where i am how can it have justifiably costworthy DLC's already?

shoptroll · 3rd Nov 2009, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadow_dragon

Eh? It's only available for pre-puchase where i am how can it have justifiably costworthy DLC's already?

Two of the DLC packs are included in the retail box so you have to put in a code to activate them. Theory is that they're doing this to make money off second-hand sales from PawnStop

Sjosz · 3rd Nov 2009, 03:41 PM

The DLC was scheduled to be released a month or more after the game's release, but then the game got pushed back. So why isn't it on the disc from the start? Managing space on a disc is hard, especially when there's content later that wasn't planned to be on disc prior to the delay to ship the game on all 3 platforms at the same time.

The fact that there's some dialog ingame to point you to the DLC is to show players it is available, as another layer of visibility.

I picked up a couple of PC CE copies today for when I go back home for Christmas. Should be a nice christmas gift, no?

Trynant · 3rd Nov 2009, 03:47 PM

I picked the game up today. I want to say that I will wait until Friday and do my schoolwork and such instead of playing this, Demon's Souls, Brutal Legend and Borderlands; but let's be honest here. I'm screwed

Sjosz · 3rd Nov 2009, 04:09 PM

Unboxening!

http://twitpic.com/o5y8c/full

daloonie · 3rd Nov 2009, 04:17 PM

Ordered it.

2nd Nov 2009, 10:27 PM	#1
DarQraven Registered User Join Date: Jan. 20th, 2008 Posts: 829	Dragon Age:Origins Link So, anyone playing this? I figured it's by Bioware, so I couldn't really go wrong there. So far I've completed the prologues for Elven mage and Dwarven Rogue (wasn't sure which to pick), and I immediately noticed three things. 1) This is VERY Neverwinter Nights-ey. This is a good thing. Nice atmosphere, pretty complicated and varied skilltrees, weak-ass characters in the beginning. 2) Although it seems to be based on typical D&D rules, the system handled here is a lot smoother. Basically you pick one of three classes (warrior, mage, rogue), and only after you've played for a bit do you narrow down your skills into your final 'traditional class' (bard, druid, shapeshifter, etc). Personally I thought this was helpful, since I often end up replaying the same boring early game with new characters, because I ended up not really liking it's skills. This way, you're going to spend time figuring out which class you want while playing, instead of looking at a dull menu. 3) Even after this streamlining, combat seems to offer quite a bit of depth. With my current party of 2 mages and one rogue (all at level 3), already combat offers quite a few options. Focus-firing the strongest enemy until he's dead has a different outcome and requires different input from the player than, say, debuffing with one mage while the other one attacks and the rogue stuns/holds any other enemies at bay. Other approaches seem viable as well (meatshields + splash damage to take out groups, for instance). This is promising, considering my party only has a grand total of 6 different spells/skills at the moment. __________________ Last edited by DarQraven; 2nd Nov 2009 at 10:31 PM.

3rd Nov 2009, 06:11 AM	#5
shadow_dragon is preposterous! Join Date: Apr. 26th, 2000 Location: "The cold neon research lab of your betrayal" Posts: 3,577	I tried the character creator out and seen all the trailers but was left a little bewildered. It looks nice but I never really got a grasp on how it plays from the trailer, only that there is a bunch of female characters that get laid in cutscenes... the trailers are filled with marilyn Manson-esque guitar sections, presumably to make it look cool, which it does a bit but I assume the game itself is the usual fantasy affair. And electric guitars are entirely absent in game? Looks interesting, I'll wait for more reviews and comments on it before I invest though. __________________ "Welsh, raggae, metal, punk, hip-hop!" "Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill the trolls, hunt them down, there will be no clemency, kill, kill, kill, kill, killl the trolls, look under the bridges, for that's where they hide!"

3rd Nov 2009, 07:39 AM	#7
shoptroll Registered User Join Date: Jan. 21st, 2004 Posts: 1,632	Pre-ordered last night. Glad to hear it's a streamlined version of NWN, since I found that game a little unintuitive and I didn't have the patience to give it much of a chance. It'll get parked in the backlog for a little while I'm afraid but looks like it'll be fun. __________________ "Like I always say, there's no 'I' in team. There's a 'me', though, if you jumble it up" - Dr. Gregory House, House, M.D.

3rd Nov 2009, 08:25 AM	#8
DarQraven Registered User Join Date: Jan. 20th, 2008 Posts: 829	Yeah, I was a little confused by the trailers as well. The cinematic trailer made it look like it was basically a God-of-war-meets Diablo crossover, but thankfully it's not. It was probably meant to attract the OMGVIOLENCE!!!! crowd. 6 Hours into the game, and not a single electric guitar __________________

3rd Nov 2009, 09:35 AM	#9
Al ‏ Join Date: Jun. 21st, 2005 Location: Philadelphia, PA Posts: 2,588	I'm tempted. __________________ [Ci]Al \| Carpe Imperium

2nd Nov 2009, 11:56 PM	#3
flo0tz Registered User Join Date: May. 1st, 2004 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 833	I bought the game on steam, only to find it's a whopping 20gb download. My current ****ty internet is capped at 15gb.

3rd Nov 2009, 07:07 AM	#6
Jackal JACKAL Join Date: Nov. 13th, 2003 Location: Somewhere over the rainbow...where skies are blue. Posts: 6,802	no time atm. Borderlands/L4D2 etc

3rd Nov 2009, 10:13 AM	#10
Al ‏ Join Date: Jun. 21st, 2005 Location: Philadelphia, PA Posts: 2,588	GameSpot gave it a 9.5 http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/dragonage/review.html __________________ [Ci]Al \| Carpe Imperium

3rd Nov 2009, 01:08 PM	#13
DarQraven Registered User Join Date: Jan. 20th, 2008 Posts: 829	Seems to me that the reviewer in question simply doesn't like games like these. It's quality is apparent, hence the high final grade, yet it's hard to write a convincing and enthusiastic review about something you don't particularly enjoy. Most of his arguments are "basically, it's all good, except I don't like it" :/ __________________

3rd Nov 2009, 01:48 PM	#14
Kaleena Unregistered User Join Date: Feb. 17th, 2008 Posts: 204	Good thing the game doesn't have DRMs but... Yeah? Keeps happening several times in the game, wow that's great for a single player ROLE Playing Game. Way to break the immersion... And of course the warez version has all the dlcs included for free... Last edited by Kaleena; 3rd Nov 2009 at 02:09 PM.

3rd Nov 2009, 02:51 PM	#15
shadow_dragon is preposterous! Join Date: Apr. 26th, 2000 Location: "The cold neon research lab of your betrayal" Posts: 3,577	Eh? It's only available for pre-puchase where i am how can it have justifiably costworthy DLC's already? __________________ "Welsh, raggae, metal, punk, hip-hop!" "Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill the trolls, hunt them down, there will be no clemency, kill, kill, kill, kill, killl the trolls, look under the bridges, for that's where they hide!"

3rd Nov 2009, 03:41 PM	#17
Sjosz Paragon Join Date: Dec. 31st, 2003 Location: Edmonton, AB Posts: 1,728	The DLC was scheduled to be released a month or more after the game's release, but then the game got pushed back. So why isn't it on the disc from the start? Managing space on a disc is hard, especially when there's content later that wasn't planned to be on disc prior to the delay to ship the game on all 3 platforms at the same time. The fact that there's some dialog ingame to point you to the DLC is to show players it is available, as another layer of visibility. I picked up a couple of PC CE copies today for when I go back home for Christmas. Should be a nice christmas gift, no? __________________ \| UCMP \| BioWare \| Portfolio \| Prometheus \|

3rd Nov 2009, 03:47 PM	#18
Trynant BREEDING Join Date: Jan. 31st, 2002 Location: In a computer. Posts: 1,595	I picked the game up today. I want to say that I will wait until Friday and do my schoolwork and such instead of playing this, Demon's Souls, Brutal Legend and Borderlands; but let's be honest here. I'm screwed __________________ "This has always been the deciding factor; if a game is fun, it's a good game. If it's not fun, it's bad. This, though, is an almost farcically bad way to judge art." -Brendan Lee, "Gaming's Missing Kane" There's a mugged leprechaun at the end of every rainbow. "I go where the games are." -Scott Ramsoomair

3rd Nov 2009, 04:09 PM	#19
Sjosz Paragon Join Date: Dec. 31st, 2003 Location: Edmonton, AB Posts: 1,728	Unboxening! http://twitpic.com/o5y8c/full __________________ \| UCMP \| BioWare \| Portfolio \| Prometheus \| Last edited by Sjosz; 3rd Nov 2009 at 04:18 PM.

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