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.
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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