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| Post Number: 1
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Leisher 
Top 3%, yo.
Group: Super Administrators
Posts: 26651
Joined: May 2004
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Posted on: Feb. 03 2011,11:49 |
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How does this game not have a post here yet?
Specifics of the game:
RPG. Standard D&D rules. 4 person party, but multiple potential members. Multiple origin stories depending on your character's species and background. Each potential party member has back stories that you can talk to them about to earn more side quests. Expect to manage your inventory a lot. Lots of dialogue that seems to be a bit too wishy-washy to really specify what you might be wanting to say (at least on the "good" side).
Storyline:
You're _ a _ who _ and now you're given the opportunity to join the Grey Wardens and help to fight against the Darkspawn.
Again, those blanks get filled in based on your choices for your character.
This is an RPG along the lines of Neverwinter Nights and games like that, and it's great. This is that game that perfect when you're in the mood for a long term RPG with lots of storyline that you can immerse yourself in.
Of course, there are flaws...
I think the biggest flaw in the game, by far, is the uneven pacing. It's an open world, meaning you can go to any location right away. I believe this to be a huge mistake in games, particularly in RPGs. (We can get into that discussion another day.)
Where it really causes a problem is in the opponents you battle. Now we've all seen this sort of thing before in "open world" games, and it works great: "Well, I went left and got my ass handed to me, so I'll go right now and head back left later when I'm tougher." Here, not so much.
For example, right away on the world map the closest location to your starting point (after the hours of playtime that is your origin and the beginning of the actual storyline) is an area involving werewolves. I went there first, but got quickly bored by all the talking. I wasn't in the mood that night. Thus, I left those woods without doing the "dungeon" there (the forest), and went to another site where I was immediately in fights, which is what I craved that night. Long story short, I have completed two other huge chapters of the game and now I've returned to that forest. The werewolves don't stand a chance against me. My guys are way too high in level. Occasionally they'll get one of my characters down and overwhelm them (more on that in a minute), but for the most part I'm kicking ass.
Then I found a tombstone and a crazy man. The crazy man whooped my ass during my last 10 minutes playing last night, but I wasn't prepared for him, and with preparation I know I can beat him easily. So we'll skip him and just focus on the tombstone. Messing with the tombstone makes a few skeltons appear, and more importantly, a Revenant. He's the asshole.
Now I should note that not only is my main character a high enough level that I'm almost invincible against the werewolves in this area, but he's wearing Blood Armor, which was a special suit given via a DLC (part of the Steam package I bought) and is way better than anything else encountered in the game so far. He's also a warrior who is close to mastering shields. He is my tank.
So why can't he last 20 seconds against this Revenant? Especially when the Revenant is all physical damage! Why is there a creature here of this high a level in what is essentially a beginner's dungeon?
That's not the only example either. I have gone from walking my way through battles to a battle in the same place that takes me 12 tries and ALL of my healing potions to win. Ridiculous. I even had a random encounter while traveling once where I was attacked by enemies that
I couldn't even damage...
Now I realize the game has the pause button and it's there because in reality this is a turn based game, blah, blah, blah, but in all these battles I'm pausing the shit out of the game and shit getting manhandled. Maybe my tactics are off with my mages, but that's why I used my tank as the primary example. That's attack and defense against attack and defense. Me, a high level character in a dungeon for newbs, and I'm getting my ass kicked.
I realize the revenant might be programmed to be tougher based on my level, or maybe he was left there intentionally for a return trip later. If it was programming, it's too much. If it was left there intentionally, well that's another argument...
It seems like several places in the game and tasks require you to travel a bit too much. Almost every place I've visited so far I've had to visit again. This is fine in terms of storyline, but I've noticed vendors at different places stock "infinite" items of key ingredients for health potions and such. The vendor at this city will have flasks, and the vendor at this city will have elfroot (a key component), etc. I don't love that.
In fact, when it comes to RPGs in general, the more you make me micromanage, the faster I get bored with your game. I have to believe there is a HUGE audience for RPGs, however I have to think the audience that wants to micromanage every single item in their inventory for hours at a time is small. So can we please stop designing RPGs like that? I don't need minor, normal, and major fire resistance potions. I just need a fire resistance potion. Again, an argument for another time.
Back to DA:O, believe it or not, aside from the impossible fights, it's been great. The storyline is pretty decent, and reflects accurate human behavior (we're pretty stupid). I think they confused the story a bit too much with the DarkSpawn, the Fade, Demons, etc. because it's not clear (to where I am) whether it's all one phenomenon or a series of them.
I guess that what I'm trying to say is that while the developers do a good job of making sure the overall story is there and is told in what seems like a straight forward fashion, the side stuff goes everywhere and can confuse things. A lot like my rantings here.
Sorry, but it's a tough game to write about if one is honest. Yes, it's fantastic, but some of it's flaws could be avoided and/or seem like design decisions to make the game last longer...even if that means simply making repetitive trips to the store...
I'm not done yet, so no final review, but I wanted to get my initial thoughts out there.
If you're an RPG fan, this is a damn good purchase (so far).
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| Post Number: 2
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Leisher
Top 3%, yo.
Group: Super Administrators
Posts: 26651
Joined: May 2004
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Posted on: Feb. 14 2011,07:40 |
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After getting further into the game...
The pacing is still tough to deal with, but I think a lot of it is forced upon the game developers because of the nature of the genre. I've played for hours without a single scene involving dialogue, and played for at least an hour with nothing but dialogue (resolving quests).
And some of the encounters are still oddly placed. Even late in the game like this, I'll be walking through a dungeon that I apparently was supposed to hit earlier in the game, and come across one fight that actually requires effort. This is just odd, and the only explanation is that the developers want the players to avoid certain encounters so they have to travel back to that location later. This is silly. It seems like nothing more than punishment for completionists because you're wasting their time with travel to locations for a single fight when the dungeon doesn't otherwise respawn. It also seems like punishment for the casual player who will just skip that fight and continue on through the game, never remembering to return.
One thing I absolutely hate about the game, but I'm sure others will love is the lack of healing potions. Now granted, you can have mages in your party that can cast healing spells, but you don't have to have them in your party. Yes, you can buy them off of vendors, but they usually only have a handful and they never restock. Ever.
So how do you get new healing potions? You make them, which is cool, but not. Crafting in any game is pretty cool. You spend points towards the skill, and the more you put there, the better the skill. There's even recipes you can find throughout the land to make better potions. The problem is that you can make a ton of potions by simply traveling back and forth between vendors for the ingredients, which do restock. At that point, it's just a time killer. Especially when you consider that travel between the vendors will usually involve 0 or 1 random encounter. So what's the point except to waste the player's time? It's more annoyance than immersion.
Again, despite these annoyances, the game is fun and tells an excellent story. My origin definitely has an impact throughout. From dealings with just about every character to actual plotlines, everything is affected by who I am and where I came from.
The fights can also be tough as hell, which is nice. It's a bit different from other RPGs though. Ever played a Japanese style RPG, particularly ones for consoles? Your characters typically can handle most fights, but get in trouble with the big bosses. The normal fights only get to you after a while. It's like a battle of attrition. Not here. Each battle could mean your end. Sure, you will get to a level, or not depending on how many side quests you do, where you can deal with a lot of enemies quite easily, but you'll still face many battles where your party can easily be wiped out if your tactics aren't sound.
The use of the pause button to give commands is really key. You can also automate your guys somewhat via scripts. And weapons/armor/item loadouts are also critical.
This is not a casual player's RPG. I'll post more thoughts on the game after I finish it. I'm pretty close now. I think I'm deep into the second act.
P.S. Last night I hit that random encounter again where I couldn't even damage the enemies previously and obliterated them.
Edited by Leisher on Feb. 14 2011,07:40
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| Post Number: 3
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WSGrundy
Group: "Members"
Posts: 1506
Joined: Jan. 2005
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Posted on: Feb. 15 2011,13:39 |
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Have this sitting on my desk waiting to load.
How does the DLC work? Do you make an bioware account and it is tied to that, tied to email, or just on the disc for anyone who has it to use?
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| Post Number: 4
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Leisher
Top 3%, yo.
Group: Super Administrators
Posts: 26651
Joined: May 2004
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Posted on: Feb. 15 2011,16:56 |
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The DLC sucks to use, but is worth it for the Blood Armor, if you're using a warrior, of course.
You have to register your game and the DLC with them. Creating an account in the process. Once you're done with that, you're done. It hasn't asked me to go back for anything else.
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| Post Number: 5
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Leisher
Top 3%, yo.
Group: Super Administrators
Posts: 26651
Joined: May 2004
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Posted on: Feb. 28 2011,07:10 |
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Finished.
Truly one of the best stories I've played through in years. The final battle was really well done and gave the game an epic feel. I even had backup to call in when I needed help, which was really odd for an RPG. Even more so when you consider the backup would arrive in numbers near 50. 50! Your party is only 4 people and you can call in 50 additional people to fight at your side. Of course, at that point my group was a bunch of bad asses. The majority of the bad guys would drop with side hits, but they were so numerous we'd still get into trouble if I wasn't monitoring health.
Kill scenes on Ogres are entertaining every time. The final kill of the game is pretty cool too.
I still love that your origin truly changes just about everything in the game. If you're one who likes to do multiple playthroughs, this game is geared for you.
What I don't love, even though I know a lot of others do, is the multiple path endings that are set by your decisions far earlier in the game. I'll get into it more in another chain because it doesn't just apply to this game, but despite the fact that I'm an explorer and a completionist, I'm not a guy who replays games that often, especially not RPGs that take 100 hours to get through. There's simply too many other games out there.
Dragon Age: Origins is massive epic of an RPG with a deep story that is truly affected by your decisions, both actions and words. The story is original and beautifully told. The characters are, mostly, deep and some are very likable. The ones that stand out are Alistair, Lailana, Morrigan, Zevran, and Shale. Two of them are some of the more memorable characters I've ever seen in a game, and both affect the end game in a HUGE way depending on the choices you make. Hearing your backup characters bicker while you're adventuring is very entertaining.
If you like RPGs, this is a must play. Keep an eye on Steam for sales, especially with Dragon's Age 2 coming out soon.
9 out of 10.
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| Post Number: 6
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GORDON
90%
Group: Super Administrators
Posts: 36125
Joined: Jun. 2004
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Posted on: Apr. 14 2011,07:22 |
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The DRM broke and left a lot of users locked out of their game for days.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming....now.ars
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I don't give a fuck!
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| Post Number: 7
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TheCatt
Top 2%
Group: Super Administrators
Posts: 22951
Joined: May 2004
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Posted on: Apr. 14 2011,08:13 |
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Fuck them all.
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It's not me, it's someone else.
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| Post Number: 8
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GORDON
90%
Group: Super Administrators
Posts: 36125
Joined: Jun. 2004
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Posted on: Apr. 14 2011,09:23 |
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I should clarify: it locked out the users who had legally purchased the game.
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I don't give a fuck!
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| Post Number: 9
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TPRJones
I saw The Fault in our Stars opening night.
Group: Privateers
Posts: 12384
Joined: May 2004
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Posted on: Apr. 14 2011,14:19 |
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It's what they get for buying that crap.
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Vidi Perfutui Veni
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| Post Number: 10
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Leisher
Top 3%, yo.
Group: Super Administrators
Posts: 26651
Joined: May 2004
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Posted on: Apr. 19 2011,13:20 |
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I purchased this for almost nothing during the Steam Holiday sale and didn't even know it had DRM.
Had a bit of trouble initially figuring out how to activate the DLC, but never experienced an issue after that. Apparently, I beat the game with a few weeks to spare before this issue.
Still, I'm very much against DRM until they figure one out that actually stops piracy without punishing customers. So far, all these crappy DRMs have done is encourage piracy and punished legit consumers.
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| Post Number: 11
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TheCatt
Top 2%
Group: Super Administrators
Posts: 22951
Joined: May 2004
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Posted on: Nov. 14 2011,16:23 |
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I can't believe I didn't post on this earlier... Really?
Well, I'm going through DA 2 right now... almost done with Act 2, and it's as awesome as #1.
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It's not me, it's someone else.
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