The Dragon Age: Inquisition Thread

For me exploring is the worst part of the game. In DA2 you at least didn't have to spend massive amounts of time wandering the countryside, the bad content was handed to you on a platter. Which is almost a form of politeness.

 

Yes. If I already don't appreciate the game - sure. If this was some sort of masterpiece, maybe I'd spend the time to "take it in." But it isn't. Do I have to spend time between boring and boring, just to get to more boring? I let the combat system do that.

 

Also, being dumbed down isn't necessarily bad. Complexity isn't a virtue in and of itself. Generally it's fake complexity, that ruins things, not simplicity. (though that's more true of narratives, than spaces)

EDIT: Then again, in a narrative medium, the space you play in IS part of the narrative. Losing momentum in a certain type of game, means losing half of the possible fun. (If that word can be used in DA:I thread)

 

Maze is the wrong word, but I agree with the sentiment. Why the fuck is there no topographical information on the minimap? WHY? I can't count the number of times I tried to jump up a slope--occasionally exploitily successful, sometimes because my party members just teleported up it and I switched to them--that I clearly wasn't meant to. Why is the Assassin's Creed-style "minimap that only shows location not the actual area" so popular, -particularly in a game that has a detailed full-size map of every area?-

above/below indicators would also have been helpful.

of course, it would also have been helpful if they just hadn't packed the game with a bunch of filler bullshit for me to OCDeal with.

forgiving him his probably non-native "weakly," he's right...ish. if backward. of course D&D shit was in part based on Gandalf. but the real point is the arbitraryness of what wizards in Middle Earth can do. I don't like it when non-game fiction goes on and on about the rules of magic, which ought to be -magical- and beyond explanation, but Gandalf is very much a victim of the "why don't the eagles just carry us to Orodruin?" factor. his powers seem kind of random. and wizardry isn't something you learn; it's something you -are.- which isn't expressed in the popular books at all. Tolkien appears to've strayed too far to the "don't explain magic" side of things, but in reality what he was doing was not -deciding- on magic.

imagine if D&D had decided that everyone in the wizard class was an angel.

 

I can't take this anymore.

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sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog sup Drog

 

but...it's not. there's no such thing as "devolution." it's a fictional concept. that which is more complicated does not necessarily work better than that which is less.

what's important is how all the pieces work in concert, not how many pieces there are. if there are hundreds and they don't interact meaningfully except when they're breaking shit--see IE games--then that complexity hasn't added anything. conversely, when there's just one or a handful that does/do exactly what it/they should, you've got a genuine blockbuster on your hands.

the fact that you can still have fun playing the original Mario when all it has is a run button and a jump button is evidence enough that overall design is what matters. in terms of economy of design versus portability of joy, I'm not sure Mario will ever be surpassed.

 

I'm not saying game/movie writers aren't able to come up with a great script. I'm saying that strip works of literature down to their scripts, and you quickly become aware that they're not all that impressive. High literature isn't evaluated on the basis of their scripts, but on the basis of their thematic ideas, imagery, wordcraft, composition, and socio-historical impact. For example, a chapter from Ulysses, which Wikipedia has done us the favor of summarizing the script of -

"The narrative shifts abruptly. The time is again 8 am, but the action has moved across the city and to the second protagonist of the book, Leopold Bloom, a part-Jewish advertising canvasser. Bloom, after starting to prepare breakfast, decides to walk to a butcher to buy a pork kidney. Returning home, he prepares breakfast and brings it with the mail to his wife Molly as she lounges in bed. One of the letters is from her concert manager Blazes Boylan. Bloom is aware that Molly will welcome Boylan into her bed later that day, and is tormented by the thought. Bloom reads a letter from their daughter Milly Bloom. The chapter closes with Bloom defecating in the outhouse."

Obviously GOTY material.

Now imagine translating that to... Video games. Yeah, it doesn't work. The script is banal. But the composition is masterpiece. Literature isn't the best medium with which to evaluate video game writing, and that's why I picked cinematic screenwriters, especially sci-fi/fantasy screenwriters, who are frequently tackling the same issues video game writers are - ie how to construct a dramatic story and endearing characters while presenting thought-provoking ideas. When evaluating against big names in cinema, PST stands up just fine.

The issue with video game writing has less to do with the writing than it does with the way the writing combines with the gameplay. PST is a nest of cool concepts and great ideas, but you don't feel it after slogging through the 1751th zombie.

 

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That's what she said.

But then again, I could be wrong. Maybe love is the answer to everything?

KUMBAYA MY LORD
KUMBAY-A

 

Monkeysattva

So you prefer a shit game with corridor linear content over a shit game with "non-linear" paths. Is this what you are saying?

 

Yup.

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I never had a problem with this. But it is hilarious that they have invisible walls on some hills. You can walk on the other side, but while you managed to jump up you hit an invisible wall that prevent you to jump down on the other side, instead you have to go back down again and walk around it. Happened to me several times.

 

I just find the areas tedious. Maybe its a question of atmosphere? I hated Skyrim, but I liked to wander around it. I hate wandering around DA:I. I find it boring, as is, the quests and the "content" withstanding.

 

generally speaking the hallways will waste less of your time. so...yes. unquestionably. why would you ever think otherwise.

 

I'd rather just play a good game.

 

I installed Dragon Age 2 again to see which of these two sequels I hate more. After putting 4 or so hours into DA2 last night and today I can say unequivocally that I think DA2 is a better game. Which is kind of amazing if you think about it, because DA2 is an objectively bad game. At least it has some semblance of quest design however, and a better plot, and halfway engaging combat at least some of the time.

Both these sequels are such shit though, god damn. Fire that Laidlaw guy FFS.

 

1 year ago, if someone told me that I'll agree with this kind sentence I smacked him good with my bear hands.
Now I concur :/

 

Hm yea im maybe converting to that opinion. At least DA2 had the tactics to fiddle with, which i liked alot, scripting the hell out it and watching it unfold in combat. Plus Dog, although he was neutered. And far better and diverse talents for mages. And essentially better quests because more focussed and involved (if you bought into the personal level non epicness they were striving for). The environments are a serious letdown though. While DAI has far more diverse sceneries they are pretty barren and often not very atmospheric. I liked the swamp area (the windmill made me think of Evil Dead 3(?)), which is relatively small and the bigger area with the dam alot. The rest not so much.

Dumbing down as such may not be evil incarnate as someone said but the degree as to which Biowart is committed to it can only lead to shit. Extrapolating this trend da will end up with 2 buttons: kill, talk. Because of consoles we cant have nice aaa games. Thank heavens for studios like Larian.

 

What? Dont walk in a straight line up a hill and instead around it. Problem fixed.

 

Simple doesn't necessarily mean dumbed down. You can have a simple narrative and a by and large simple game that's fun because the content is high quality, the story compelling and the game play solid. Shallow false complexity is dumbing down.

 

Maybe that is Bioderps secret agenda. Make even shittier games, so in some twisted way we can appreciate the not so shitty work they did in their previous game. Genius evil masterplan!

 

Annoying: I was playing yesterday and decided to try to fight the Hinterlands dragon at level 10. I took 2/3 of its life and then died. Decided to go back to Haven and craft some gear specifically for the fight. I complete my crafting and I notice that you don't see stat changes from crafted gear when comparing to non-crafted items. I don't know how they missed this. It's not like I can't see the changes, but them missing something like this surprised me.

I don't mind the exploring. Some environments look nice. Some of the party banter is decent. Even some of the companions are decent. Unfortunately, I met Dorian, Sera and Iron Bull. I only let them join thinking that they might give me power points or more help in the overall Inquisition building, but I am never going to use them. Cassandra is a bit annoying, but I can tolerate her. Varric, Solas and Blackwall are now the ones in my party. Vivienne and Cassandra rotatesI with them.

I will also say that the music is decent.

I am also playing Baldur's Gate II and Drakensang: River of Time on and off. I keep thinking to myself that Dragon Age: Inquisition could have been a better game if the tactical camera actually worked properly and combat was reworked.

 

*I hope Bioware will release a game with a deep tactical combat like DA2 again, one day*

Oh god, the horror.

 

Made an account just to say this. I played for a couple of hours and the combat seems like an abomination- it's mostly mashing the attack button and skills. The tactics camera is largely useless and it's hard to see what's happening during the combat. The enemies seem to have a crapload of health and killing them feels a lot like grinding in an mmo.
The side quests are also very boring. It's trying to be like skyrim but even skyrim has better quests and combat...how is that even possible? XD

Does it get any better or am I wasting my time?

P.S. I like games like KotOR, DA:O, BG2, Witcher, Divinity. I also recently got Valkyria Chronicles and it seems to be a good game.

 

"Man, Dragon Age 4 is pretty good hiking sim, but it'll never compare to Master pieces like Oblivion and Fallout 3, what with their well designed quests, deep plots, and excellent humor".

 

491 pages of discussing pile of shit.

Codex, there are actually good games to discuss, wake up.