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Well, it took me a decade, but I finally beat Dragon Age: Origins

Ebonsword

Arcane
Joined
Mar 7, 2008
Messages
2,326
I bought DA:O when it was first released because, hey, it was a new Bioware RPG so why wouldn't it be good?

Unfortunately, I ended up hating it, and put it down after probably less than 10 hours of play.

In the ensuing decade, I haven't really thought much about it, and never paid much attention when the various sequels came out.

Over the holidays, though, I was looking for a new RPG to play. Seeing this on my shelf, I thought "Eh, it's been ten years, maybe it's worth another shot?".

Initial impressions were not good. I quickly remembered why I didn't like it the first time around: the combat is kind of a clusterfuck (although, I don't know why I would have expected anything else from RTWP). Still, I endured. And the game started to win me over a bit. The combat still sucked, but, hmm, these characters are kind of fun and, gee, exploring these dungeons and finding all kinds of new gear is kind of satisfying.

Then I hit a point about 20 hours in where the combat just became unbearable (this was during the Brood Mother fight). I should say that, when I play through a new RPG, I almost always go for a standard warrior type (it just seems easier to learn the mechanics of a new game when you're not so dependent on an in-depth understanding of the magic system). Well, that was clearly not working here. With all of the crowd control that the game tosses at you, I was spending an annoying amount of each fight either immobilized, stunned, frozen, or otherwise incapacitated.

Deciding that I had built my party utterly hopelessly, I restarted the game, this time as a mage.

Wow, what a difference!

Instead of suffering all of that nasty CC, I was suddenly the one dishing it out. Instead of just charging the most dangerous foe and beating on them, I was hanging back, throwing out a Fireball at a group of archers, dropping a Crushing Prison on the enemy mage, and then neutralizing their toughest warrior with a Force Field. Fights that had been frustratingly difficult on my first playthrough became a breeze.

And I found myself really enjoying the game. For a good while, at least.

But then the endgame hit. And it was kind of awful. Instead of exploring ancient ruins fighting cultists and werewolves I was suddenly wandering around noble estates and human cities fighting boring humans. And then I started wandering around those same cities and estates fighting darkspawn (who I'd already had my fill of fighting in the Deep Roads). And then the game thought it would be fun to hit me with boss after boss after boss until it culminated in the final boss battle which was a terrible exercise in tedium. And did I mention all of the "epic" choices the game forced me to make in the last few hours because it suddenly remembered that it was supposed to be a "serious" fantasy world so a happy ending wouldn't be allowed? Ugh.

So, yes, I did manage to finish the game I first played a decade ago. And, while I have to admit that I had some good fun with it, the ending really soured me on the whole thing and I'm not sure I will ever play through it again. Well, at least not for another decade.
 
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Fedora Master

Arcane
Patron
Edgy
Joined
Jun 28, 2017
Messages
27,819
e26.jpg
 

Mexi

Dumbfuck!
Dumbfuck
Joined
Jan 6, 2015
Messages
6,811
Arcane Warrior was a really good playthrough. Blood mage+arcane warrior is ridiculously overpowered, but fun as hell. I go with the spirit healer+arcane warrior on my main build, though. Fireball is satisfying as all hell when you line it up right and it hits all the enemies except your allies. I don't think anything beats that feeling.
 

Chippy

Arcane
Patron
Joined
May 5, 2018
Messages
6,037
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Ray Muzyka & Greg Zeschuk: "Ok team: what do you think worked really well in the BG saga, and will transfer into it's spiritual successor?".
Team: "Character continuity, the magic system, party members for all personality types, background lore and politics with a story that's personal to the player, functioning/efficient UI, camera system that doesn't make the player work, etc".
Ray Muzyka & Greg Zeschuk: "Ok then! Just keep adding to that list and make it happen!".

*Game ships and results vary*

I miss those doctors. But salute them for getting out while the getting was good.
 

Poseidon00

Arcane
Joined
Dec 11, 2018
Messages
2,039
I played through one time, as a female Dwarven Noble Ranger. I had alot of fun with the story but it felt linear enough that another run was unwarranted. Good god did they ruin that series quick.
 

The Avatar

Pseudodragon Studios
Developer
Joined
Jan 15, 2016
Messages
336
Location
The United States of America
For RTWP, Dragon Age Origins combat isn't all that bad. Part of it is the customizable AI system so you don't have to micromanage as much. Just let the AI do it for you. I also liked the spell system so you don't have to pre-buff before every combat. You're right that mages are OP, but that's how it's always been since the dawn of fantasy literature.
 

Poseidon00

Arcane
Joined
Dec 11, 2018
Messages
2,039
For RTWP, Dragon Age Origins combat isn't all that bad. Part of it is the customizable AI system so you don't have to micromanage as much. Just let the AI do it for you. I also liked the spell system so you don't have to pre-buff before every combat.

A good set of customized a.i scripts turned fights from a clusterfuck into an organized curb stomping. Good times with that
 

Trashos

Arcane
Joined
Dec 28, 2015
Messages
3,413
You have 2 companions who are mages, so you do not need to be a mage. But it has been a while and I do not remember how challenging the solo parts were.
 

Ladonna

Arcane
Joined
Aug 27, 2006
Messages
10,637
Ray Muzyka & Greg Zeschuk: "Ok team: what do you think worked really well in the BG saga, and will transfer into it's spiritual successor?".
Team: "Character continuity, the magic system, party members for all personality types, background lore and politics with a story that's personal to the player, functioning/efficient UI, camera system that doesn't make the player work, etc".
Ray Muzyka & Greg Zeschuk: "Ok then! Just keep adding to that list and make it happen!".

*Game ships and results vary*

I miss those doctors. But salute them for getting out while the getting was good.

Yeah, it must have been hard for the good Doctors to sell the company for big bucks and sail away into the sunset. I can almost hear the glasses clinking in their yacht...
 

Mexi

Dumbfuck!
Dumbfuck
Joined
Jan 6, 2015
Messages
6,811
You have 2 companions who are mages, so you do not need to be a mage. But it has been a while and I do not remember how challenging the solo parts were.
Arcane warrior is too fun to pass. I mean throwing a volley of fireball then rushing at enemies with a s&s was always fucking badass. IDK why you'd want to play a boring ass warrior or whatever; although, IIRC, 2-hander was actually really fucking fun. I think they get some badass spells and a partial-blood mage specialization. I've not played in forever, so I could be wrong.
 

Mexi

Dumbfuck!
Dumbfuck
Joined
Jan 6, 2015
Messages
6,811
Did you play solo? Because Morrigan joins you early in the game.
Her early game is boring, IIRC. Her specialization absolutely fucking sucks. For a main character and probably iconic, how the fuck could they have screwed up shape-shifter so badly. I went through several runs, and I never used her shape-shifting power.
 

Delterius

Arcane
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
15,956
Location
Entre a serra e o mar.

Tweed

Professional Kobold
Patron
Joined
Sep 27, 2018
Messages
2,838
Location
harsh circumstances
Pathfinder: Wrath
Dragon Age was OK. Dragon Age 2 was very special for me because it showed me I was getting older, showed me I actually had limits to the kind of bullshit I was willing to put up with. I dropped it somewhere in like, chapter 3 and never ever looked back.
 

Jack Of Owls

Arcane
Joined
May 23, 2014
Messages
4,274
Location
Massachusettes
For RTWP, Dragon Age Origins combat isn't all that bad. Part of it is the customizable AI system so you don't have to micromanage as much. Just let the AI do it for you. I also liked the spell system so you don't have to pre-buff before every combat. You're right that mages are OP, but that's how it's always been since the dawn of fantasy literature.

I remember playing the NWN premium module Darkness Over Daggerford then lost all interest because my wizard build was able to instantly take out entire hordes of fierce militarily trained orcs in very early levels with just a single fireball. I think I stopped playing wizards in D&D after that. No fun fishing in a goldfish bowl. No fun at all.
 

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