[aries323]

Yes, DA: Origins and Mass Effect 2 will be DRM free - with just the basic disc check. Bioware has made the installer for DA: Origins themselves, there's no online authentication, you don't have to be online to play.

Now DA: Journeys, on the other hand is a totally different story. It has just been released; about a week ago or so). I've played a bit of it; it is really, really nice and a quick fix for those who can't wait playing DA: Origins. It is a true turn-based game...

As for the PC Gamer UK review, yes it is a very good review, so is the review from Gamestar.de and other places.

It is, mentioned, in the PC Gamer UK review that even on easy, this game will require you to pause the game at some moments in the game. This seems to be exactly the kind of game I've been looking for.

You can either micro-manage your party, or you can let the AI do it for you; putting more points into Tactics opens up more tactical options for your characters such as 'heal when below 25% hitpoints'. It work like the Gambits in Final Fantasy 12, I think?

edit:

I also have a single core computer....and as such can't play the game. One day, hopefully

[Bastich]

Thanks for the DRM confirmation, Intrepid. I just ordered the Collector's Edition from EA's site. I rarely get to buy games much anymore due my activist stances, so I decided to splurge on this one.

I would have preferred to get the download version rather than the physical, but I don't approve of the activation system.

Actually, I guess I inadvertently lied. I have purchased about 20 games from Gog.com this year. I rarely buy new releases anymore would have been more accurate to say...

[Intrepid Homoludens]

3 more days....... GAWDAMMIT I HATE ALL THIS WAITING!!!!

[aries323]

Updates system requirements available here:

http://daforums.bioware.com/forums/v...forum=135&sp=0

Apparently, you no longer need a quad core computer for the recommeded specs; minimum specs now only talk about a single core pc, although a core 2 one.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Greetings from Amazon.com.

We thought you'd like to know that we shipped your items, and that this
completes your order. Your order is being shipped and cannot be changed
by you or by our customer service department.

The following items have been shipped to you by Amazon.com:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Qty Item Price Shipped Subtotal

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Amazon.com items (Sold by Amazon.com, LLC):

1 Dragon Age: Origins XBox 360 $Money 1 $Money

Shipped via FedEx

It should arrive tomorrow morning, on release day.

[D.C.]

Exciting times! The Australian release date is on Thursday, so I've been keeping myself distracted with GTA: Episodes from Liberty City.

Edit: Turns out it was released today in Australia! Consider me shocked. It's now installed and ready to go. Sorry Gay Tony, but your Ballad will have to wait.

[AndreaDraco83]

For those of you lucky enough to be already playing the game, please keep up posted!

[orient]

Want this game! However, I just started playing The Witcher, which is just fantastic, so I'm going to have to wait.

Web reviews for Dragon Age have been coming in:

Spoiler:

IGN AU: 8.4 (Xbox360)
Eurogamer: 8.0 (PC)
Gamespot: 9.5 (PC) 9.0 (PS3) 8.5 (Xbox360)

[booB]

Originally Posted by orient

Want this game! However, I just started playing The Witcher, which is just fantastic, so I'm going to have to wait.

Me as well. I'm about halfway through Chapter III. Plus I want to play KOTOR and, possibly, Mass Effect first. The up-side is that I probably won't have to buy Dragon Age until the price drops a little, or until it goes on sale at Steam.

[RxBandits123]

The Witcher was probably the most enjoyable RPG i've played in a while. It was more linear then a Fallout 3 or Oblivion but I found the story to be more engaging then those two.

[Niko]

I've been told my copy is on its way. however there are postal strikes here, but fingers crossed it will come in time, or a day late

[Intrepid Homoludens]

I have it. Just popped it into the X360.

Will post first impressions soon (will probably take me about an hour to create my hero, then an other couple hours to experience my particular hero's origin story before setting out on the main story line).

w00t!

[Lucien21]

I havn't decided which version to get, but from what I hear the 360 version is the weakest.

Let us know what it's like Trep.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Playing an male elf Mage and just started the Harrowing (that deadly rite of passage the Circle of Magi and the Templars ritualistically put all students of magic through; if the student survives he becomes a full Mage).

OMG, my character's gorgeous! LOL! His name is Wynter.

[Bastich]

I have the game now too, and it doesn't have any DRM as far as I can tell. I have already made a backup and will try to install from it soon.

I'm not too impressed with the Collector's Edition so far. The soundtrack is in MP3 format, for instance, and the cloth map is really cheap. There were threads of it actually hanging outside of the packaging before I opened it. Maybe the video content is good, but I generally don't care for that type of stuff much. I think I may have been better off with the regular version. None of that has any impact on the quality of the game itself though...

I wonder if it is possible to back up the downloaded content? I'll have to test it out...

Anyway, I will be playing this tonight, assuming nothing goes wrong...

[AndreaDraco83]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

OMG, my character's gorgeous! LOL! His name is Wynter.

Cool name! When I created an Elf Mage with the Character Creator I named him Alqua, which is (in a slightly modified version) Quenya for 'swan'

I'm really curious about your (Intrepid's and everyone's) opinion and, in the meantime, I'll chance the thread title to represent the new general tone of the conversation!

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Still in the Harrowing. Wow, this feels A LOT like an adventure game! The voice acting is sweet! I want my own demon bear! Oops, tiny spoiler.

[Denaron]

I've just finished it. Was awesome!

LOL, joking... Probably i'll get my PC version tomorrow! Wohoo \o/ It's nice to play and discuss games with other people while everyone still playing it.

[orient]

Originally Posted by RxBandits123

The Witcher was probably the most enjoyable RPG i've played in a while. It was more linear then a Fallout 3 or Oblivion but I found the story to be more engaging then those two.

Fallout 3 turned out to be one of my favourite games of all time - which was a complete surprise to me because beforehand, I had played very little PC RPG games and even less first-person games.

There are a few places The Witcher succeeds where Fallout sort of failed in my opinion, one of which being the population of the game world. The settlements in Fallout 3 felt like they were seriously underpopulated and small in comparison to how NPC's would describe them before you got there. Rivet City for example is made out to be this huge place - and it certainly looks huge from the outside, but once you enter, it's not very big at all and instead of hundreds of people walking around, there's only a handful. It becomes even stranger when you stumble upon the smaller settlements and realize that there are literally only 5 people living there, yet somehow people all over the wasteland have heard of it (like Big Town, for example).

Vizima on the other hand - the big town that I've just entered in The Witcher, seems adequately brimming with life. It feels lived in and full of detail. I'd gladly take a smaller world map in Fallout if it meant the environments would be as realistic as this.

Another thing I like about The Witcher is that the game world carries on around you when in a conversation, whereas in Fallout 3, everything pauses, which seems rather silly to me.

Woops, yeah so...Dragon Age, eh?

[Zack]

I do want to play Dragon Age because Bioware is one of my favorite developers. However, after watching a couple of great Video Reviews, I'm worried that the Combat is going to be too hard.

The Voice acting and the storytelling is the main reason why I want to play the game.

How does the combat seem to you Intrepid?