[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by Fantasysci5

This picture scares me, for some reason. That his face is specked with blood, and he doesn't even seem to mind.

Go figure. It's a very dark and violent world they live in. The Blight is upon them (think Hell erupting from below like a massive apocalypse), darkspawn are popping up all over the place and trying to kill everybody.

So if you think about it, getting blood all over you from trying to defend your people is the last thing on your mind. This ain't no quaint little adventure game, my dear. This is serious war! Why are you even freaked out about blood splatter when you and your companions barely survived an attack and expect even more attacks and are trying to save lives?

[Fantasysci5]

When you put it in perspective, Trep, I see what you mean.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by Fantasysci5

When you put it in perspective, Trep, I see what you mean.

There's a lot of dark humour in this game. You get a dog, a war dog. He's so loyal to you and you can never turn him away. And you can have him lick all the blood off you () after each skirmish.

Oh, and watch this. There are many in-game scenes like this, stories within stories. So in between a lot of the violence are a lot of touching dialog moments where you choose what to say. It's also hilarious to hear your party members talk to each other during your travels. The writing is just so good!

[Crunchy in milk]

Originally Posted by Intrepid

Marjolaine SPOILER (highlight to read)

Spoiler:

Bitch got what she deserved. No one messes with my friends and gets away with it.

Spoiler:

I didn't. From Leliana's heartfelt plea to spare the lives of Loghain's men when we first met and her plea for the lives of the band of assassins that tried to kill us in the forest path, It seemed the wrong thing to do. She admitted to me she truly loved Marjolaine as well. Since there was no dialogue option for me to ask Leliana what she wanted to do with Marjolaine I just sent her on her way.

I wasn't going to kill someone she loved, mistakenly or not, and it seemed to perk her up in dialogue afterwards in camp. One of her major fears turns out to be if she herself could become as paranoid and callous as Marjolaine. Not murdering Marjolaine boosted her confidence she may not.

Regarding the boredom of Orzammar (or however its spelt). I didn't find it so bad nor so difficult, but it definitely lacks the polish of some other areas, IF you're playing as a non-dwarf. The political aspects aren't that interesting as a human or elf. What both candidates ask of you, without ever presenting their opinions and goals clearly, is insane (both of their mouthpieces and paid for criers just slander the opposition, there's no clarification of goals until after you're neck deep in the shit).

As a dwarf, from either origin (noble or casteless) there's a bit more of a connection and understanding. Especially the noble dwarf origin story...

----

I nearly have all specialisations unlocked now, so I'm hoping a later play through with whatever class I choose will be more interesting with the first specialisation able to be selected from 7th level.

Also there's a mod on the toolset forum which allows you to respec (pick class and stats etc from level 1) for your character and all party NPCs. If breaking with the plot doesn't upset you, you can for example, remove the shapeshifter specialisation from Morrigan in favour of another... and repick spells and skills too. No more tactics slots for Wynne! Something useful instead

[Bastich]

I have just finished the game and I got the “A Dark Promise” ending. This is definitely the best RPG I have played in the last 8 or so years.

Overall, I rate it a 9 out of 10 and it's the best game released in 2009 that I have played across all genres. I've only played 8 or 9 games from this release year though, so maybe there is something better out there...

A word of warning though. The $7.44 DLC for Warden's Keep only gets you about 1.5 hours of play. It's kind of a rip-off IMO. Of course, if value doesn't matter to you, go for it. It isn't bad, and you get a new specialization out of it if you so choose.

That said, I hope the sequel adds more features and realism to it to make it more like the Baldur's Gate series. It's definitely just a “lite” version of those games.

I'll probably play the game again after a few patches and maybe more DLC comes out.

[larissa]

I'm glad to read that so many people are enjoying this. Looks like it's worth getting (although I agree that the blood on Wynter's face is creeeeeepy).

[Crunchy in milk]

In the spirit of TES nexus & Fallout nexus those wonderful folk have launched
http://www.dragonagenexus.com/
The mods are a bit thin on the ground, but some of the more popular from the toolset forum are showing up there, as well as some I'd never heard of. They're not all quality but some worth a peek (imo) are:

-Freckles Plus (changes tattoos to freckle patterns, cute).
-No Starting Abilities (no fixed ability based on origin story, pick it yourself).
-No Follower Auto Level (pick all your npc's abilities when you meet them).

Those last two are gold. Its particularly annoying to have to have a shield ability if you play as a noble or an archery skill if you play as an elf, and as a mage, its nice to ditch that arcane bolt if its of no use to your build.

Some of the greats from the toolset forum that haven't made it to dragonagenexus, Camp Storage Mod, Respec Potion Mod.

I'm still trying to find a replacement skin for the terrible Blood Dragon Armor.



Freckles plus isn't just freckles...

[Christian IV]

I had my eye on several of these mods, and the freckles one is a blessing, i HATE tattoos and any kind of self abuse like that, and am very glad we dont have to face that in this remarkable game. Thanks very much for sharing that and I am glad that TesNexus started a new section for Dragon Age.

[Owskie]

This game reminded me why I hate Bioware, after it had me assuming they were making good games with what Mass Effect had shown me.

All of the conversational advances they had made in Mass Effect, they thew them out to favor their old system, and to top it off, what of all the cliche's? A silent hero? Have I been here before? You can't say this game has advanced anything of the genre, and in my opinion has taken a step back in many ways. Granted, the story is epic, it is amazing. Bioware has always made a great story coupled with broken, clunky gameplay. I don't know why I thought this would be any different, much like playing a Bethesda game I feel like I am playing an unfinished beta version of a game that has amazing potential. If we can't forgive Gothic 3 for being a buggy piece of poop, why should I forgive Dragon Age.

Sue me, I am still convinced that Bioware is one of many things wrong with gaming today. Expanding tedious game play with amazing stories that make you want to play through it. The entire time of playing Dragon Age, I couldnt help feel like I was playing a single player version of WoW... which single handedly destroyed deep and involving MMO's and doesn't fare well much in the single player realm either.

End Rant.

[Bastich]

Originally Posted by Owskie

All of the conversational advances they had made in Mass Effect

I haven't played Mass Effect and don't plan to. What advances did they make? I'm curious as to what I am missing...

I feel like I am playing an unfinished beta version of a game that has amazing potential. If we can't forgive Gothic 3 for being a buggy piece of poop, why should I forgive Dragon Age.

What bugs did you discover, if I may ask? I didn't find any that really affected anything.

There were 2 in the Fade I recall off hand...

1. There was a certain piece of the environment that I could get my character permanently stuck in, requiring a reload. It was repeatable every time. As it was off the beaten path, so-to-speak, I doubt many people have even discovered it.

2. I was able to go through a spirit door before getting the shape-shifting ability to do so. This was easy to accidentally do going through from the original location. Getting back required much effort though; lots of cursing and random clicking and running around the door for about 5 minutes. (I hadn't saved recently)

I also remember a few doors and items that didn't highlight when I hit the tab key as well as a quest in the Brecilian forest that I lacked the persuasion skill to complete. The bug was that the quest giver eventually disappeared after finishing a different quest but the journal never reflected that the quest was failed and the game didn't move it to the finished quest tab.

As for bugs in RPGs? They are pretty much a given as they are, by far, the most complex games to make. Overall, I would say Dragon Age was better than most.

If you want to criticize their game design, feel free, but if you think the game is buggy, at least give us some examples of it. None of the above was really a big deal to me.

EDIT: There is one bug I just remembered that IS really annoying. When you kill a creature, it can sometimes take over a minute for them to start sparkling so you can pick up the loot. I was once stuck in a room because I couldn't pick up the loot required to leave it. I almost reloaded, but after a really long time, it finally started sparkling...

[AndreaDraco83]

Originally Posted by Owskie

Bioware has always made a great story coupled with broken, clunky gameplay.

The beauty of subjectivity. I found their usual gameplay - heavy dialogue system, lots of exploration, tons of character interactions - amazingly perfect.

De gustibus non disputandum est

[Owskie]

You are right, bugs are prevalent in all RPGS. I haven't found any here that I wouldn't find in any other, so there is no point in clarifying what they are...

That being said, yes the game is buggy, but these RPG's have a tendency to get criticized for the same things this paticular game has wrong with it, from clunky design to buggy gameplay. Yet this is getting near perfect scores. Come on.

Then again, maybe I am insane, I thoroughly enjoyed the Gothic games, and they were extremely buggy, and people hated the game design.

[Owskie]

Originally Posted by AndreaDraco83

The beauty of subjectivity. I found their usual gameplay - heavy dialogue system, lots of exploration, tons of character interactions - amazingly perfect.

De gustibus non disputandum est

The dialogue system in Mass Effect was amazing in my opinion, I don't know why they took it back a few steps for Dragon Age. At least I feel they did.

However the exploration in Bioware games has nothing on RPG's of other companies with free roaming worlds and endless landscapes. Even the exploration in Dragon Age felt very console simplified even though it was PC dev'd.

Edit: I know Intrepid will come in here and make an arguement I will never be able to argue against so I will just forfeit now... Opinion stated.

[Christian IV]

I loved Mass Effect and all the other major Bioware Games ..AND I loved Gothic I, II and III and the expansions, AND the game design is some of the best ever. I fixed all the bugs by careful application of commuinty patches and will be happy to share that info with anyone interested. Havent played Dragon Age yet but will see how it goes. Sounds great.

[Roper Klacks]

Exploration is not and was never a strong point in any Bioware game. And thats fine, its a game design choice, its not necessarily a bad thing. Games that rely heavily in exploration like Oblivion are a complete boredom IMO. Bioware strong points were alawys the narrative, dialogue, character interaction and combat, lots of combat.

[Crunchy in milk]

The only difference between the dialogue in Mass Effect and that in Dragon Age is that the hero doesn't read the lines aloud in Dragon Age, you have to. It didn't bother me as much as it did others apparently.

Some people didn't like that in Mass Effect, every character you made had the same voice~ Can't please everyone.

Dragon Age's dialogue system stems from its Baldur's Gate/NWN roots. Characters can be made with different voice sets. Either they record every single line of dialogue for every voice choice, or they let you read it how you imagine it to sound and save time, money and disk space.

I played every inch of Mass Effect, and it was still only a third, getting close to a quarter of the play time a single run through Dragon Age offers. If they added to that, a lot of pointless free roaming with random spawns I doubt anyone would finish it.

Bioware don't do random spawns or pointless areas, side quests tie in to the main story, enemies are set up as situational challenges. You're not meant to fight something for its XP value but for a story reason. I really don't see any parallels to WOW other than the fact that there's a hot bar at the bottom filled with colourful shortcuts.

[AndreaDraco83]

I need to clarify my statement about exploration. Of course, BioWare's games feature a lot less free roaming than Bethesda's, but what I like about exploration in Bioware's is that, even with a strong narrative framework, they managed to convey a good sense of wonder/discovery upon entering a new location, which reward the player both in terms of storytelling and adventure of exploration something new.

[Bastich]

I THOUGHT I was done playing Dragon Age, but I made the mistake of clicking on that player profile thing and seeing all the achievements I didn't unlock and now I'm feeling an utterly irrational compulsion to unlock them.

So I've been playing all the character origins to get the achievements. I have to say that I recommend others play them as well even if you have no intentions of playing the game through a 2nd time. It is probably only a couple of hours to play through each one and you get to learn a lot more of the back stories of various characters in the game. It is definitely worth it.

[larissa]

Originally Posted by AndreaDraco83

I need to clarify my statement about exploration. Of course, BioWare's games feature a lot less free roaming than Bethesda's, but what I like about exploration in Bioware's is that, even with a strong narrative framework, they managed to convey a good sense of wonder/discovery upon entering a new location, which reward the player both in terms of storytelling and adventure of exploration something new.

What a nice, cogent comparison of the two--at least, based on my experiences.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by Owskie

However the exploration in Bioware games has nothing on RPG's of other companies with free roaming worlds and endless landscapes. Even the exploration in Dragon Age felt very console simplified even though it was PC dev'd.

Edit: I know Intrepid will come in here and make an arguement I will never be able to argue against so I will just forfeit now... Opinion stated.

LOL! Oh shush, you.

In the end it's really what you, as the individual player, want from the game and what you take from the experience. In a lot of ways you have to play the game on the terms of the people who created it and be open to what the possibilities are within those terms.

I certainly had comparably different experiences from RPGs like Oblivion, Jeanne d'Arc, and Dragon Age.

Oblivion opened up the world to be as free range as possible so that I could run completely off the beaten path and find things that I didn't expect to, like Ayleid ruins, critters to slay, caves, and such. But I noticed that the more I did that the less I cared about the main story I was supposed to follow.

Jeanne d'Arc is clearly the most restrictive RPG I've played so far. There's no freedom at all, I'm forced to stay on rails, and the story was told in non-interactive in-game cutscenes or anime style clips. It felt like how your typical adventure game plays out. But the strongest aspect of this game is the turn based combat with its chess-like tactics.

With Dragon Age the focus is on the story itself and your relationship with the characters to drive your experience and give meaning to move from one location to the next. I found myself wanting to forward the party and win fights to find out what happens next, and particularly how my characters react to decisions I made in terms of the conflicts in the story we were all a part of. I cared for my party members and for what happens in the world that changes according to what I did or did not do in the story.

And THAT is what makes Bioware so unique among the RPG developers, one of the most respected. They imbue their games with a human scope and design the player's experience around it.

The dialogue system in Mass Effect was amazing in my opinion, I don't know why they took it back a few steps for Dragon Age. At least I feel they did.

They didn't take it back, because it's not Dragon Age is about. It was never about that. Why would they take it back? After all, didn't you get it from them that that was not important to this game? I didn't miss it at all, it wasn't a deal breaker with me. That's because the focus is on the refinement of what they've always done in the tradition of the D&D style fantasy role playing game.

BTW, Owskie, have you actually played it? Even for just a few hours?