Dragon Age impressions

[Grunker]

So far the difficulty IS above Baldur's Gate's. I would say Fallout was harder though...

What's your party-composition? And what's the stats on your own character?

Rogue with high coercion, lock picking, cunning, and dexterity, I guess doing what you want is a major mistake here? I pretty much always have the mage with me, and the rest are melee.

The game isn't easy if you read easy as simply walking into the fight and clicking all abilities, I guess. Bascially you need to develop disabling abilities and tactics fast. e.g. knock someone down and switch to his next buddy to finish him before the other gets up again. Or the various disabling and debuff spells. Also good to go after the huge damage dealers first e.g. Hurlocks. While I would have LOVED to paly the system as turn-based combat it isn't as bad as I feared it to be.

Yeah, I figured I just specced wrong, which is kind of a pain in the ass. It just feels like I'm four boxing a World of Warcraft dungeon with all rogues and no healers. Is there a character editor that will let me respec, or do I just kind of have to start over?

I just thought having lock picking and coercion would let me get some awesome weapons early on, but even with that stuff (and there isn't much) it just feels like the entire combat system revolves around stuns and little else.

Yeah, they are important. The coercion and lockpicking doesn't matter, since they're not in the combat trees, although some Combat Training does help. It is important to get a few stuns though.

But the game is supposed to be hard. In my first encounter with an Alpha Hurlock I had one character down, and used every single healing potion I had.

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

Explain.

I think that unlike the previous Bio games, combat is very well done and my party members frequently use their abilities and are able to fight independently. The tactics slots make that even easier. So, what is your problem with DA?

Nothing to explain there. Just a personal quirk of mine. RTwP always sounds great when people talk about it, but when I try playing a game with it, things go like "Stop, stop, STOP DOING IT, YOU IDIOT! Why did you decide to run off to the other side of the room to kill an archer that I don't care about when a giant brute with an axe is cutting my mage in half two goddamn steps away from you!". It always feels like the pause is there to make fixing the mistakes done by your party's AI easier, something that wouldn't be necessary if the whole thing was turn-based, as God intended, in the first place.

 

[Trash]

SPOILERS

You know what? Ignore everything I've said in this and other threads. Like I said, I uninstalled the game shortly after the Joining and had no idea it would go in this new, admittedly rather cool, direction.

Although it quickly starts to feel like you are traveling the land looking for pieces of the starmap or the last of the jedi council. Then the game amazes you with the sheer amount of content it throws at you. Up and down it goes.

 

[Worm]

Yeah, they are important. The coercion and lockpicking doesn't matter, since they're not in the combat trees, although some Combat Training does help. It is important to get a few stuns though.

But the game is supposed to be hard. In my first encounter with an Alpha Hurlock I had one character down, and used every single healing potion I had.

I wouldn't mind if it was this hard on hard, though it being this hard on normal and easy is pretty obviously a result of them not thinking the PC version through well enough. I mean I'm running into stuff on the main quests (Dwarves, Redcliff, etc) that is just freaking obscene. My major lack of "game skill" comes down to not min maxing from level one.

I guess I'll restart as a ranged character or something. I just seriously feels the game might have been balanced with console enemy numbers in mind, and then no re-balancing took place when extra enemies were added for the PC version.

I kind of understand how I have to play, though I just don't enjoy the idea of having to rotate stunlock CDs on four characters like a fucking mad man because the game was balanced poorly. Every large group of bandits needs to be handled like a freaking final boss fight, then on a boss fight you'll have no issue because it's ONE ENEMY and therefore properly balanced for your difficulty level.

 

[Trash]

Positioning your troops works. Also don't rush into every battle. Engage enemies at a distance with arc.hers. Let them come to you. Sometimes enemies run away, don't go charging after them as you're sure to run into an ambush. If something is killing you make sure you take it down instead of the weaker enemies around it. Buffs are your friend. Review the tactics you have your party use, the basic ones are ok but defenitely not optimal. Alternatively micromanage a few fights with the almighty spacebar. Good luck.

 

[Grunker]

Yeah, they are important. The coercion and lockpicking doesn't matter, since they're not in the combat trees, although some Combat Training does help. It is important to get a few stuns though.

But the game is supposed to be hard. In my first encounter with an Alpha Hurlock I had one character down, and used every single healing potion I had.

I wouldn't mind if it was this hard on hard, though it being this hard on normal and easy is pretty obviously a result of them not thinking the PC version through well enough. I mean I'm running into stuff on the main quests (Dwarves, Redcliff, etc) that is just freaking obscene. My major lack of "game skill" comes down to not min maxing from level one.

I guess I'll restart as a ranged character or something. I just seriously feels the game might have been balanced with console enemy numbers in mind, and then no re-balancing took place when extra enemies were added for the PC version.

I kind of understand how I have to play, though I just don't enjoy the idea of having to rotate stunlock CDs on four characters like a fucking mad man because the game was balanced poorly. Every large group of bandits needs to be handled like a freaking final boss fight, then on a boss fight you'll have no issue because it's ONE ENEMY and therefore properly balanced for your difficulty level.

The console enemies have been buffed, to make up for the lack of numbers. Plus, the console version is ported, not the PC one.

The combat isn't amazing, I agree completely here. It's nothing to the strategic combat of Baldur's Gate or ToEE, at least. This has something to do with the lame self-generated system they made. I don't buy their excuse. Of course some idiot developers at Bioware can't make a sturdier system than rulesystems developed by professionals and that have been around for ages.

So while combat techically is very fun - the rulesystem ruin it to an extent, especially because of the necessity of stun.

 

[Silellak]

Explain.

I think that unlike the previous Bio games, combat is very well done and my party members frequently use their abilities and are able to fight independently. The tactics slots make that even easier. So, what is your problem with DA?

Nothing to explain there. Just a personal quirk of mine. RTwP always sounds great when people talk about it, but when I try playing a game with it, things go like "Stop, stop, STOP DOING IT, YOU IDIOT! Why did you decide to run off to the other side of the room to kill an archer that I don't care about when a giant brute with an axe is cutting my mage in half two goddamn steps away from you!". It always feels like the pause is there to make fixing the mistakes done by your party's AI easier, something that wouldn't be necessary if the whole thing was turn-based, as God intended, in the first place.

I believe the configurable party member tactics do help make up for this - you should be have a pre-set order for your melee people to protect the magic user (or player character) when health drops below X%. I haven't gone TOO into depth regarding these options, but so far they seem pretty comprehensive.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

I've played it for five hours and i must say that the game's combat is on the mass effect scale of boredom.

Fuck level scaling. That is all.

 

[vrok]

Get the healing spell for Morrigan and go to the mage tower and get Wynne the spirit healer.
Set up tactics for both that makes them autoheal at 75%.
Give your tank the threaten ability.
Steamroll.

This is what I'm currently doing on hard with a templar/champion uber tank PC, everything really becomes much easier with a second mage (with healing spell) in the party because of the cooldowns on spells. Would consider bumping to nightmare if it wasn't for those fucking dragons. Would probably be even easier with three mages if you play one yourself.

 

[Phelot]

Yes, I'm a huge graphics whore. Why does this look so bad? Look at the tent entrance.

I tried to make Arnold, but it didn't work out.

I've been trying to read through the codex so I could maybe get drawn into the story a bit. I don't know... things like "Darkspawn" and "The Maker" seem a little boring. I really enjoyed reading Morrowinds books on religion. They were filled with clever analogies and believable "tribal" like stories. DA religious writing just seems to be a really bad impersonation of the bible. Like the bit on the Maker "In my image I forge you." On and on about how there was no sea or earth only silence. If I was going to make up a Creation myth, why would I want to copy the Christian one? We've all heard it before, it's kind of old now. This is suppose to be the new... what was it again? Stuff? The new stuff.

I started a Dwarf low class little bitch. Dwarves are certainly a bit different, but the whole "WE CAN DO IT TOO" is kind of tired and very 21st century. Also, these dwarves sound like Americans. It's kind of off putting, like that's the one thing that they changed about the stereotypical dwarf and it's probably the one thing they shouldn't have. This guy Leske... his voice doesn't fit him and he talks like that awkward guy at a bar that tries to fit in but fails.

I'll stop. Sorry.

But wait, I do like the fact that weapons and armor show what material they're made of. I'm hoping for some decent smithing in the future? Also, many of the descriptions for items are nice and it's certainly a plus that they even bothered to have descriptions.

 

[Silellak]

Yeah, some of the randomly-placed low textures are pretty jarring. It's the only time the extreme (lolz) level of polish in the game starts to dim. It's almost like they are low-res placeholder textures that they forgot to finalize.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

ok. so...the blood is fucking ridiculous in this game. i actually looked to see if there was a setting that was stuck on "horribly over-the-top" so i could switch it to "realistic" but no such luck.

 

[baronjohn]

ok. so...the blood is fucking ridiculous in this game. i actually looked to see if there was a setting that was stuck on "horribly over-the-top" so i could switch it to "realistic" but no such luck.

Get the fuck out. You're not mature enough for this game.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Define "realistic"

stabbing people with a kitchen knife can leave a mess, I figure hacking their heads off / their torso in half with a sword might do the same, at least

 

[Gay-Lussac]

ok. so...the blood is fucking ridiculous in this game. i actually looked to see if there was a setting that was stuck on "horribly over-the-top" so i could switch it to "realistic" but no such luck.

I'm pretty sure someone mentioned a violence slider.

 

[Phelot]

Remember how awesomely gory Soldier of Fortune 2 was? It was all realistic looking and shit. Why can't they do that for modern games?Have people's intestines and still beating heart fly out. That was awesome gore. It was over the top and that's what made it cool.

 

[Overweight Manatee]

Playing an elven mage on Nightmare difficulty, finished everything up to the part where you get access to the world map. Anyone who bitches about this game being hard should be ashamed, I haven't used a single potion or manually commanded anyone other then myself (except to stop them from running off like retards halfway across the map). Its possible that my strategy of "take a disabling spell and a nuke" shows a tactical ability far beyond most players.

Still, I have to say that it feels well balanced. Not really hard, but well balanced. So far there aren't any stupid "smack this monster on the head for 10 minutes" sections, and its not like BG where for the first 5 levels a single arrow kills you instantly. That said, the ogre boss I faced was stupid. All that happened was I cast a single horror spell to disable it for about 5 seconds, then it apparently decided I was the biggest threat (probably true), and proceeded to chase me in circles for a few minutes while the 3 warriors sliced his back. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid.

The storyline could have been decent. it seemed mildly interesting at first, but then it felt like Bioware decided that in addition to whatever sane person wrote the story for DA, they also needed someone who's job was to make the game appeal to 13 year old. So insert multiple random *OMG AWESUM BLOODZ" event that comes out of nowhere, makes no sense, that everyone in the world accepts as perfectly normal. Then there are the usual bioware fake choices which are put into the game for absolutely no reason other then to pad the chat window. A few examples of complete stupid in the game:

How is it that absolutely noone knows about the grey warden initiation BS? I mean, we see people dieing around the fucking camp because the darkspawn (wtf kind of crappy 13 year old name for a creature is that? Darkspawn?) blood got on them, by any measure half of those people should end up grey wardens.

I come across some bandits trying to charge me a toll to cross a bridge. Fair enough. I'm a mage, they are scared, I walk past. I rob their chests, they get angry, a single spell pretty much ends the fight. The bandit leader is pleading for me not to kill him. I ask him a few questions, then I get the option to ask him to join me. I'm thinking "cool, maybe I found a new party member". Nope, for some reason the bandit would rather have his body exploded then join me. Why even give me the fucking option if the result was going to be "No, you can't have this person in your party because we say so"?

Technically, the game looks fine to me. I could care less about random slightly low res textures. The blood effect on the person is retarded, but it can be disabled.There are a few hilariously bad animations (mage running movement during battle), the rest mostly decent to good. Contrary to what many others are reporting, my loading times so far are on the order of 5-10 seconds.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

Define "realistic"

well by realistic i mean being entirely covered in fucking blood after killing a few rats.


oh wait.

 

[Silellak]

The storyline could have been decent. it seemed mildly interesting at first, but then it felt like Bioware decided that in addition to whatever sane person wrote the story for DA, they also needed someone who's job was to make the game appeal to 13 year old. So insert multiple random *OMG AWESUM BLOODZ" event that comes out of nowhere, makes no sense, that everyone in the world accepts as perfectly normal. How is it that absolutely noone knows about the grey warden initiation BS? I mean, we see people dieing around the fucking camp because the darkspawn (wtf kind of crappy 13 year old name for a creature is that? Darkspawn?) blood got on them, by any measure half of those people should end up grey wardens.

Spoiler

When you ask Alistair about creating more Grey Wardens, he reveals there's more to it than just drinking the blood, and that there's no left alive in Ferelden that knows the full ritual anymore. It's implied that the mages who were in the Fade at the war camp before you go out into the Wilds were helping prepare the ritual, and that it also involves Lyrium in some way. So it's not just as simple as injesting the Darkspawn blood.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Define "realistic"

well by realistic i mean being entirely covered in fucking blood after killing a few rats.


oh wait.

Well, are these regular ats, or the giant-ones-that-jump-on-your-face kind?

I'm not trying to be an ass, just asking

 

[TNO]

X-TREEM rats, obviously.

 

[Jim Cojones]

Remember how awesomely gory Soldier of Fortune 2 was?

Or Fallout. Or TOEE.

 

[racofer]

Remember how awesomely gory Soldier of Fortune 2 was? It was all realistic looking and shit. Why can't they do that for modern games?Have people's intestines and still beating heart fly out. That was awesome gore. It was over the top and that's what made it cool.

http://www.mobygames.com/images/i/30/04/256104.jpeg

Yes but, Q3 engine is too old and doesn't support HDR nor eye-bleeding levels of Bloom to be acceptable nowadays. Now game developers have to face all the challenges of yesterday once more with their new, better engines on next-gen hardware. Developing such levels of gore would consume several years of project since new shader technology would be needed to meet today's standards.

 

[Freelance Henchman]

OK niggers, installing DA:O currently. Wish me luck.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

Just finished, game is pretty awesome.

 

[Satori (original)]

Just finished, game is pretty awesome.

Which party members do you feel offer the best banter?