Dragon Age: Origins

Is anyone else really excited for this game? I mean, from what I've been reading about it, it's basically the game I've been waiting for since I started playing them.

"I can't imagine what Hell will have in store, but I know when I'm there, I won't wander anymore."

I want to get it, but it's not "zomg wantwantwant" for me. (It actually was early in the year, but I ran out of excitement after it got delayed.)

Oh, and that trailer was awful. Not that that really says anything about the game.

I guess it is.

Yeah, Dragon Age looks like exactly what the doctor ordered.

I'm also really, REALLY hoping that it'll succeed, as there hasn't been a party-based isometric RPG in ages. Reading the comments at various sites' preview coverage seems to indicate that people are too stupid to play something like this now, but maybe when it comes out it'll just floor everyone with its awesomeness and bring the genre back to life, like Bioshock did with think-y FPSs.

Eric,

The most recent trailer is fairly obviously an attempt to appeal directly to those who wouldn't otherwise be interested in such a game; it has the unfortunate effect of actively repelling (rather than just being acknowledged as a poor trailer) by a few who seem to believe that anything that may be liked by the mainstream must surely be awful.

But the one interesting thing from it is that it seems to imply that the villain/antagonist of the game will be one of the main characters of the prequel novel. I mean, I know that the Mass Effect prequel novel had Saren as a fairly major character, but he was fairly obviously a villain throughout that.

The other thing that really inrigues me is just how the class system will work. Looks like there's only the choice of Fighter/Rogue/Mage, so it'll be interesting to see how that works out.

You can further specialize and customize each class, since they branch into more advanced classes later on.

There's also feats and skills and stuff - some are universal, other are class-related.

Fighters can't do magic. Anyone can wear any armor or wield any weapon as long as he has the strength for it.

Then there are the origin stories. Chris Priestly mentioned on the forums that it took him around 70-80 hours to finish one of his test playtroughs...with cheats!

I'm not sure if I'd agree. I think that if you read the novel without having played the game he'd just seem like a Heroic Sociopath. It's only really the last chapter that hints at him being evil evil. Maybe I'm misremembering though, it's been a while since I read Revelation.

edited 9th Jun '09 1:43:20 PM by Nyktos

I guess it is.

Has anyone else downloaded the character creator? It's available for download on the main dragon age site.

After fiddling around with it for hours, I can confirm two things:

One, the DA creator is better than Oblivion's or Mass Effect's; it's better than Mass Effect's because you can freely rotate your character's face and there are far more options this time around. The necks on the females still seem way too thin though.

And two, there are actually female dwarves in this game. Not that I care much for dwarves either way, but I thought I'd put out this mind-boggling revelation all the same.

Overall, it could be better, but after the grief I experienced with Mass Effect's creator, I'm grateful for what I'll be getting in DA.

EDIT: Oh, and there's this weird thing that happens when I try to review my female elf characters. Their eyes always revert to the God-ugly ones I changed them from, and the thing is the eyes I like only come with one of the preset faces for some reason. So when the time comes to upload my character to DA and I find it's still like that, I'm gonna have to change them using the preset again and undo all my hard work. Wah.

edited 16th Oct '09 6:36:01 AM by ChroniclerKaitos

I'm slightly interested in it. I'm not sure I like how they've been advertising the game, though, and it makes me rather cautious about looking into the game itself.

Preordered yesterday... don't normally preorder, but apparently there are extras you can get from preordering... free extras that would end up costing Microsoft points to me in the long run... considering the proven value of Bioware products, I'm making an exception.

"The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules." - E. Gary Gygax

I'm interested, but reserved. None of the romances look remotely compelling and fall into stereotypes we've all seen before in Bioware/Obsidian works, the token dwarf is also a stereotype, and overall I'm just not seeing any glimmers of creativity with the NPC companions-with the protagonist and the game world, yes, but not with the party members.

Even if the party members are a retread (which I have no idea of), they're a retread of games that are 10 years old. I think I'm okay with an updated version of Baldur's Gate 2's character interaction.

"The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules." - E. Gary Gygax

I've preordered this. Got the special edition on Steam, because I apparently like wasting money.

Giant Bomb has a nice look at the combat, which looks cool. I'm looking forward to the AI customization, which reminds me of FFXII's gambits, but with more sophistication.

Torment liveblog is still hiatusing. You can vandalize my contributor page if you want something to do.

It seems the more I hear about the game, the less and less I want it...

So the game's out now, and it seems great so far. My human noble character has a dog. I named him Interceptor.

My only complaint is that everyone is constantly spattered with blood after battle, and it makes dialogue kind of weird.

Torment liveblog is still hiatusing. You can vandalize my contributor page if you want something to do.

I got it and spent an hour or so installing the bonus content I recieved for free when I pre-ordered. Then I played about half an hour of the female city elf origin.

The graphics seem a little choppy on my 360, and I kinda missed the cinematic conversation style of Mass Effect, but so far it seems like my kind of game.

"The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules." - E. Gary Gygax

Am I the only one who got a vibe of "Claymore meets A Song of Ice And Fire"?

The Grey Wardens seem like they'd go well in A Song of Ice and Fire, sure.

Me, I am seeing a merge between The Witcher and Baldurs Gate.

"The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules." - E. Gary Gygax

I've heard it described as the offspring of Eberron and Warhammer.

Been keeping a small eye on it for a while, probably the next game I'll pick up before Christmas, but I'm just curious; I hear the combat isn't up to scratch. Is that true? I don't mind slow combat as well, but my friends do...

On the other hand, you have different fingers.

Combat doesn't seem all that slow to me? That said, I only have Torment to compare it to.

Ah, shouldn't have tried to be helpful. Morrigan disapproves (-10). (Anyone else finding her relationship meter difficult to work with?)

Torment liveblog is still hiatusing. You can vandalize my contributor page if you want something to do.

Combat is actually fairly fast so far... Again, I'm more of a turn-based player, so the fact that the pause function is significantly weaker than it is in Infinity Engine games makes this pretty quick-paced to me.

The programmed tactics will be pretty cool when I have the skills and gear to really work them. It's nice to not have to micromanage NP Cs all the time.

I just became a Grey Warden (and yes, I was correct, the Grey Wardens are much like Witchers, right down to the often fatal creation ceremony), and right before the big battle I got my first relationship adjustment: Alastair disapproves (-5). Not surprising, since my PC just went through the City Elf prologue and she Does Not Like Men much (for some pretty obvious reasons).

"The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules." - E. Gary Gygax

FUCK YEAH AWESOME!

YOU GET A DOG AS A PARTY MEMBER WITH SPECIAL DOG TALENTS AND DOG-ONLY EQUIPMENT.

I HOPE A MERCHANT STOCKS DOGGLES.

Oh, and Morrigann is pretty good too I guess.

Heck, there are dog-only potions. I bought the recipe for one of them, in anticipation of getting a dog.

"The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules." - E. Gary Gygax

The dog version of the Injury Kit is a dog biscuit. And you can make it without flasks, which is great when you're running through the first dungeon after you become a Warden and you don't have any.

Speaking of dogs and that tower, one of the floors has a bunch of cages with dogs in them. You can let the dogs out, and they slaughter everything. It's awesome.

Sadly, I don't have room for Interceptor in my party at the moment, since it swelled to six members before I made it out of the second town. I might put him back in for Sten, though, since he keeps dying.

edited 5th Nov '09 10:40:33 AM by Comonad

Torment liveblog is still hiatusing. You can vandalize my contributor page if you want something to do.

Finally, another game realizes the greatness of FF 12's Gambit system.

I really like the voice acting so far, the scene where Human Noble's mom chooses to stay behind with her husband actaully made me feel sad for them both and the player character, no game's ever made me feel that way before.

Though it seems every character I grow even a little liking too seems to end up dying in some way. Mom, Dad, Jory, Dareth, I'll be surprised if the generic circle mage manages to leave my party alive, The player character is like some sort of death magnet for guest characters. (Why can't it kill Alistair so it can just be me, my dog, and the dude with no name)

The Grey Warden's are so obviously Witchers I was half-tempted to play as Geralt.

I love how everyone hates on the elves, I hate elves too and I always see them being treated as trash as a good sign.

The talent system is a nice change from the usual rpg practice of giving mages a hundred thousand different spells to fuck over their enemies in fun and very devastating ways while warrirors only learn how to do their basic attack but better. (You know, like what 4th edition D&D did only without angry nerds screaming so hard cheetoe crumbs fall out of their mouth and collect in their beards)