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Old 01-21-2010, 01:03 AM   #261
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Quote:
Originally Posted by D.C. View Post
I think the first early reports of an expansion pack quoted 15 hours of content, but that didn't come from any official source. Doesn't mean it's not true, though. The interview I linked above gave the impression it'd be longer, so here's hoping!
Without absolutely confirming the 15 hour mark (and making no attempt to deny that length) there was an interesting developer comment on the social site. They basically explained that the price point was chosen not just in terms of hours of extra gameplay offered but rather the work that went into it.

Its not just an extra 15 hour adventure tacked onto the 'end' but has extra content that had to be folded into the original game. The fact that he picked the work involved to argue the price point and never once tried to deny the 15 hour estimate pretty much confirmed in my mind that its not a bad guess how long the extra adventure will run (hell maybe its even less than 15 hours).

I'll probably wait till its on sale for around ~$20. I plan on taking a much longer break before revisiting Dragon Age anyway.
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Old 02-06-2010, 09:23 PM   #262
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I completed my first playthrough of Dragon Age: Origins, yesterday afternoon, as a Dwarven Warrior Noble called Barnabus. I was so relieved and excited when I finally defeated the Archdemon. It took numerous restarts because he kept killing my crew and I, but I eventually managed to defeat him with just my lead character and Morrigan.

Here's some of the decisions I made that I remember to the best of my abilities:

Spoiler:

1. I chose Lord Harrowmont as the king of Orzammar.
2. Anora became the new queen of Ferelden, and I spared Loghain's life, which infuriated Alistair so much that he left, and I never saw him again.
3. Morrigan and I made a ritual that would spare my life against the fight with the Archdemon. She left after the battle.
4. I sided with the Werewolves, instead of the Elves.
5. Branka stayed behind in the Deep Roads, and forged the stone golems.

My thoughts of my crew.

Alistair: I liked him at first, but then I eventually found him to be a whiny bastard, and he became irritating. I'll do my best to get him on his good side next time.

Morrigan: She was fascinating, and scary at the same time. One of the most complex characters I've ever met in a role-playing game.

Thunder: I loved having a dog by my side, and he was a pretty tough fighter, too.

Oghren: He was kind of like the comic relief in the game, very entertaining to have as a partner.

Finally, there's sten. I didn't use him very much, because I found him hard to warm up too. He was a tough fighter, though.

Loghain was a last minute addition to the crew. I never met Leilianna, or anybody else who could join my crew.

All in all, I thought the game was very good, but not one of the best games I ever played. It had a great story, and likable characters. My only complaint was that the combat was very hard, even on Casual mode. Also, I think I prefer guns, and lightsabers over swords. Regardless, I do plan to play the game again someday, maybe as a human.

4 out of 5 stars.

Last edited by Dale Baldwin; 02-07-2010 at 08:12 AM. Reason: I'm neither fov nor trep :P
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Old 02-06-2010, 09:28 PM   #263
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By the way, fov, and trep, feel free to put a spoiler tag, on the area where I wrote about the decisions I made in the game on the above post , in case It became spoiler-rific.
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Old 02-06-2010, 09:34 PM   #264
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I really love this game . Almost finished all of the origins, and half way through a solo nightmare game.
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Old 02-12-2010, 05:08 PM   #265
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I've been meaning to post my thoughts on Dragon Age for a while now:

My character was Chris Cousland, human noble origin. This prologue set the tone awesomely, establishing his background extremely well and introducing you to the gameplay piece-by-piece. It was great to explore the castle and meet-and-greet its various inhabitants. Although this origin was fairly short it did an amazing job giving Chris a unique perspective -- something else to fight for when the Blight wasn't enough, something that stuck with him through the entire game. The whole origin thing really helps make your character feel so different from everyone elses. I hope BioWare uses it again.

The storyline was all kinds of awesome and truly epic. My first play through took 80 hours to complete. (Although I like to take my time on the first play through, so that's no surprise. ) I wasn't bored once. Every location had something unique, every character was interesting. I was amazed at the huge freakin' scale of Dragon Age. I was expecting it to be good and it more than lived up to this expectation. Gameplay wise it was probably the most KotOR-like game since KotOR. Definitely a complement. The writing was so deep, complex and stunningly awe inspiring. I loved the sense of urgency that slowly built as the game progressed. The atmosphere had me completely immersed from the Battle of Ostigar all the way to the final show down.

I played the game primarily as a 'light side' character, but it became obvious early on that Dragon Age wasn't going to let you escape the moral grey that BioWare are so good at scattering through out their games.

I'm going to talk about some story specific stuff now, so be warned!

Spoiler:
Morrigan was my absolute favourite party member. I thought she was extremely well realized. My character persued her as a love interest -- trying to see beyond her damaged exterior, trying to save her and the like. She made her nature no secret, though. It was great watching them constantly struggle with each other over the choices my character would make and her unique perspective on it all. Somehow they still got along surprisingly well. It should come as no shock that things didn't exactly go to plan in their relationship, though.

After everything they went through, my character couldn't help but feel just a little betrayed when her true plans were revealed the night before the Denerim assault. Chris turned down her offer and she left, never to be seen again. It's interesting to contemplate whether she was a willing participant in this plan or if it was just another point-of-view deeply ingrained by Flemeth during her screwed up childhood. It's also interesting to speculate if she planned for Flemeth to take this baby as her new host, that Flemeth's death was something just conspired by the two all along.

Even though things didn't end well, I thought Morrigan was probably BioWare's most complex love interest to date. It felt very real that these fundamental issues beneath the surface would actually get in the way. Things weren't going to end well, which seemed almost inevitable. Wynne basically warned my character too, along the way. I think she was misunderstood, definitely damaged goods. It added so much depth having this aspect of the game to explore. I enjoyed every minute of it. Claudia Black's voice acting was incredible too.

I loved all the other party members as well. The wise advise of Wynne. The friendly banter and self-depricating humour of Alistair. (I loved the conversations between Alistair and Wynne too, particularly while on missions.) Although I never used Bitey (the dog) much, I still appreciated having him at the camp and watching his crazy antics. (Not to mention Sten's bonding with him, they seemed to hit it off nicely. ) Oghren, Zevran and Leliana were great additions too. Every party member added something to the group. An insanely awesome line-up. I genuinely enjoyed talking to them and learning of their pasts, perspectives and etc.
I was impressed by how often things would come back to the origin story, how it served as a unique driving force that kept the character going. In fact it seemed pretty essential for him to have come from that origin. Things would not be the same otherwise. I noticed my sister got her dog party member a lot later than I did and there were pretty significant differences from my play through compared to hers as a City Elf.
Spoiler:
I particularly loved the scene in Haven when my character was asked if he felt responsible for his parents deaths, the moment with his father afterwards. He had carried this guilt around that maybe he could've saved them, not to mention the responsibility of the Cousland name. He had a pretty strong reason to want revenge against Howe and Loghain, but there was a whole lot more to it. The need to find his brother. His obligation to the Wardens and to Duncan for giving him a chance to take on the Blight. Plenty of motivation to go around.
Man, I feel like this is an epic ramble for the ages but I might as well continue.

Here are some of the key decisions my character made through out Dragon Age...
Spoiler:
I thought Alistair was the best candidate to install on the throne. Sure Anora might have the know how to be a good queen, but she proved that she was susceptable to being manipulated by outside forces like her father. She was ruthless, seperated from the people and a little power hungry too I think. (Her constant refusal to give up the throne and switching allegiences during the landsmeet only serve to prove that. )

It most definitely wasn't a black-and-white decision that some would have you believe, though. Alistair didn't want to be king and was unsure about himself, but every thing he did through out the game only served to convince my character that he'd make a good king. The only time I questioned that was when he killed Loghain afterwards. He more than had his reasons, though.

I destroyed the golem factory in Orzammar. Nothing good could come from it. I thought Orzammar in general required regime change too. It was clear the heir to the throne wasn't a worthy successor. All the evidence seemed to suggest that despite his flaws Harrowmont would've been the better ruler for his people. My character was sympathetic to the Circle of Magi. Any chance I'd get to help them I would. That includes releasing the blood mage from Redcliffe into the Circle's custody.

There was a very strong chance that the Denerim assault was going to be a suicide mission, atleast for one of the Wardens. Morrigan's plan was unacceptable to my character, especially after all they had been through. He truly throught that Alistair needed to be king too, so he sacrificed himself destroying the blight. It seemed like the right decision. He had dedicated himself from the very start to stopping the blight and was doing it for his family too. I replayed the ending seeing the alternative and thought this first ending I got seemed proper. Atleast for this character.

Last edited by D.C.; 02-12-2010 at 11:50 PM.
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Old 02-13-2010, 03:22 AM   #266
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Interesting insights, D.C. After an Elf Mage and a Dalish Rogue, I'm now playing a Human Noble Warrior and indeed this particular Origin story is both heart-wrenching and surprising, shocking and infuriating. Incredible, really, and probably the best Origin story I tried (I still have to play the two Dwarves Origins).
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Old 02-13-2010, 04:57 AM   #267
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Andrea, you will probably love the dwarven noble origin! Personally my two favourites are the human and dwarven nobles, although visually I prefer being a human because I somehow *feel* more for the character...
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Old 02-13-2010, 06:00 AM   #268
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I found the human noble origin exceptional. If the other origins are half as good then that's a whole lot of replay value right there. Plus Awakening will have another origin of sorts too.

Last edited by D.C.; 02-13-2010 at 02:10 PM.
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Old 02-13-2010, 07:27 AM   #269
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Yeah, I am really wondering what kind of new origin awakening will have. I mean, will we start as a lvl 20 grey warden and stroll in to see the final battle? Or will be start off as a rebel warden from Orlais at lvl 1 and somehow meet up with Duncan at Ostagar? I can't wait!
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Old 03-03-2010, 01:19 AM   #270
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I'm now deep in my fourth playthrough (pure Mage, female City Elf).

Anyone wanna share their favourite, non-plot specific little moments? (spoiler tags still apply)

One of mine was selecting the "Surprise me" option for when the madame at The Pearl brothel asked me what I prefer - the men, the women, a little of both, or "surprise me"? LMAO!!! ("A little of both" also had me loling so hard my stomach hurt)

Different strokes for different Grey Warden folks, it sees.
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Old 03-03-2010, 03:27 AM   #271
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Let's see, non-plot specific little moments?

Master Wade and Harren's constant bickering, and Harren saying to the player to go way in the most crude manner.

Spoiler:
The old couple finding a baby inside the meteor's crater


Spoiler:
The army of Zombie Cats! It was awesome!


These are the first that pop into my mind!

Anyway, even if I'm trying to finish Mass Effect 2 first, I'm still playing Dragon Age, and I'm the midst of my third and fouth playthrough, with a Human Noble Warrior and a (female) Mage, who'll specialize only in Creation and Entropy, avoiding spells for direct damage.

Spoiler:
I envisioned her something like a martyr, or a younger Wynne ^^, so I suppose that, in the end, after rejecting Morrigan's offer, she'll sacrifice herself.


Oh, and even if ME2 is being an amazing distraction, I can't wait for Awakening!
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Old 03-03-2010, 05:40 AM   #272
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Finished two playthroughs one a "good guy" and one as a "bad guy"! I already have Dragon Age Origins Awakening preordered on Amazon so I can't wait for the 16th!
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Old 03-03-2010, 04:03 PM   #273
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Spoiler:
I'm wondering if we can 'import' our characters into Awakening, Mass Effect style even if the character is dead. I don't mean play as the character, but atleast have all the decisions he made still there in the background.

Last edited by D.C.; 03-03-2010 at 04:11 PM.
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Old 03-03-2010, 04:38 PM   #274
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Spoiler:
This has already been confirmed: no. If you choose to import a Dead Warden, well -- suprise! The Warden is no longer dead! I know, I know: unfortunately it's a tacky thing, but the rest of the expansion seems so darn good that I'm more than willing to overlook it.
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Old 03-03-2010, 05:53 PM   #275
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Thanks for the heads up!
Spoiler:
I'd be willing to over look it too, if it wasn't for the fact I've only played through with just the one character so far. And he's dead. Maybe I'll reload a save game, change the ending and consider the expansion pack some wacky alternate universe!

Who knows? This new ending might even seem more appropriate for the character.
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Old 03-08-2010, 09:33 AM   #276
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After months of trying to find a proper fix for the lagging issues, I think I'm finally going to cave in and buy the console version! Ugh!
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Old 03-10-2010, 03:22 PM   #277
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New Dragon Age DLC: Nine new features!

Cawwwn't wait!!
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Old 03-10-2010, 04:18 PM   #278
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It seems BioWare has entirely too much time on their hands.
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Old 03-10-2010, 04:37 PM   #279
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Intrepid... for a moment, my heart skipped a beat!
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Old 03-10-2010, 07:59 PM   #280
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AndreaDraco83 View Post
Intrepid... for a moment, my heart skipped a beat!
Sucker!
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