Preview EuroGamer get their dirty hands on Dragon Age

[DarkUnderlord]

Tags: BioWare; Dragon Age

"<a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/dragon-age-origins-hands-on">It's about time BioWare went back to its fantasy roots, and got the elves out for the lads</a>":
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<blockquote>During the presentation, those decisions were presented to us, as you'd expect, in the traditional dialogue tree. But to its credit, there was very little of the obvious good, evil, and neutral options that plague the genre. It was just options. And because the situation wasn't as morally straightforward as killing or rescuing a wide-eyed child, every side had a fairly valid point.
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Muzyka expands on that. "Dragon Age has got that optimistic side, but it's got a dark side. Every choice has a consequence, and you need to feel that there are no safe or perfect choices. No choice feels purely good: you've got to think about what you want, and how your choice might move you towards that. So you're going to get a very different experience, depending on what choices you make."
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So, I'm assuming you won't get to see much of the game just playing through it the once? "It's very replayable - right from the six Origin stories, which are several hours of hand-crafted gameplay, depending on which Origin you've chosen, from there, right away, you'll get to start making choices, and deciding how your player's journey is going to be different from everyone else's. And your own, if you're going to replay it." It's all, he says, about the internal debate that reasonable options cause.</blockquote>
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BioWare is the path to the dark side.
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Spotted @ <a href="http://www.rpgwatch.com">RPGWatch</a>

 

[Shoelip]

"Darkness shall envelope you!"

 

[ArcturusXIV]

Some of the mechanics sound good. Storytelling still bothers me, being as cliched as it is.

 

[MetalCraze]

Muzyka: Every choice has a consequence

in a Bioware game. Right.

 

[Shoelip]

Well yeah, sometimes they both have the same exact consequence, but the statement is technically true.

 

[Jim Cojones]

"Since Baldur's Gate, BioWare has been on a worldwide genre tour. It took on the mighty, crap-spattered Star Wars franchise with almost unqualified success. It weaved a fantastical Far East adventure, blending martial arts with fairy-tale machinery. It created a completely new space-fi world with Mass Effect, and... well, it did Sonic Chronicles, too."
Next game after BG was NWN, another title which story took place in FR.

"Your character - one of six races, each of which have a completely different opening experience"
Six origins, three races.

"even Sonic Chronicles managed to have a script more intelligent and entertaining than the gameplay"
It is probably the reason why people were reading the script instead of playing the game.

"nothing like a couple of naive wee hobbits chucking rocks at a Nazgul"
Can anybody tell in which game/book/movie there were hobbits chucking rocks at Nazguls?

And so on.
::declineofthegamingjournalism::

EDIT:
"Adding to the decisions you make in dialogue trees, everyone in your party will have a reaction to your in-game performance. If you let them die in battle, they'll be pissed about it."
I can understand this anger. I would be furious if somebody let me die in battle.

 

[Rhalle]

"Adding to the decisions you make in dialogue trees, everyone in your party will have a reaction to your in-game performance. If you let them die in battle, they'll be pissed about it."

I can understand this anger. I would be furious if somebody let me die in battle.

What's funny is that this bit of old-school challenge and goodness was confirmed yesterday on the Bioboards as having been removed from the game.

It is no longer a feature.

 

[MetalCraze]

Well why would dead people complain?

 

[Spectacle]

I can understand this anger. I would be furious if somebody let me die in battle.

What's funny is that this bit of old-school challenge and goodness was confirmed yesterday on the Bioboards as having been removed from the game.

It is no longer a feature.

Looks like they are putting the delay to good use by removing unfun, unaccessible features from this year's biggest console rpg!!

Seriously though, that feature sounded pretty stupid to me. It's the player, not the main character that controls everyone in battle, and having the cohorts complain to the main character about the player's poor performance is just horribly metagamey.

 

[MetalCraze]

No the real question is - how the fuck can they complain if they died?

Ah but it's a game of "Bioware-quality" and we will get the retarded auto-respawn upon winning the combat.

 

[Tigranes]

I can only assume that these 'complaints' will be very easily deflected / appeased, otherwise it would be just as effective as permadeaths at causing quickload frenzies. It'll just be something like:

"You let me die, Grey Warden! Is that all I am to you? Expendable?"
"I am a Grey Warden. So are you. We all do what we must."
"I suppose you're right."
"But that doesnt' mean I don't love you."
"I love you too. Want to fade to black?"

 

[ArcturusXIV]

I can only assume that these 'complaints' will be very easily deflected / appeased, otherwise it would be just as effective as permadeaths at causing quickload frenzies. It'll just be something like:

"You let me die, Grey Warden! Is that all I am to you? Expendable?"
"I am a Grey Warden. So are you. We all do what we must."
"I suppose you're right."
"But that doesnt' mean I don't love you."
"I love you too. Want to fade to black?"

The problem is, with the average IQ level in America, words like "expendable" have a few too many syllables to use in a game script. It'll probably be something more like this:

Caveman 1: Grunt
Caveman 2: Grunt Grunt
Caveman 1: Grunt grunt grunt!
Fade to black.

 

[Shannow]

No the real question is - how the fuck can they complain if they died?

Ah but it's a game of "Bioware-quality" and we will get the retarded auto-respawn upon winning the combat.

Breaking the fourth wall.

"nothing like a couple of naive wee hobbits chucking rocks at a Nazgul"
Can anybody tell in which game/book/movie there were hobbits chucking rocks at Nazguls?

Fallout 2. The children were played by hobbits (obviously) and on a good day my character had as much mercy and remorse as a nazgul.

The problem is, with the average IQ level in America, words like "expendable" have a few too many syllables to use in a game script.

Just because most people in America don't speak English doesn't mean that their languages consist of grunts nor that their IQs are low. If you think Portogese and Spanish sound grunty pronounce ArctURUS 5 times in quick succession and then feel the shame.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure that at least the scripts would be translated.

 

[Lesifoere]

Muzyka: Every choice has a consequence

in a Bioware game. Right.

I wonder when this whole "CHOICES HAVE CONSEQUENCES" buzz-phrase started getting into hypespeak. I'm not sure if they used it for, say, JE/KotOR/NWN PR, though admittedly I don't follow Bioware's announcements of announcements much. Has it been a trend for a while?

 

[MetalCraze]

Yes. They've used it for ME already.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Muzyka: Every choice has a consequence

in a Bioware game. Right.

I wonder when this whole "CHOICES HAVE CONSEQUENCES" buzz-phrase started getting into hypespeak. I'm not sure if they used it for, say, JE/KotOR/NWN PR, though admittedly I don't follow Bioware's announcements of announcements much. Has it been a trend for a while?

To my understanding Bethesda made this the new buzzword.

 

[kris]

No the real question is - how the fuck can they complain if they died?

I believe they thing they removed was death. Players don't like dying anymore judging by recent games were it is nigh impossible.

 

[hiver]

It created a completely new space-fi world with Mass Effect

ugh.

 

[Volourn]

Ugh? It's 100% true.

 

[larpingdude16]

don't lie t oyourself. it won't help

 

[deranged]

"Dragon Age has got that optimistic side, but it's got a dark side. Every choice has a consequence, and you need to feel that there are no safe or perfect choices. No choice feels purely good: you've got to think about what you want, and how your choice might move you towards that. So you're going to get a very different experience, depending on what choices you make."

I couldn't find a related example on that. I assume we'll just have to take their word for t?

How will my experience differ? Alternative sub-plots? Probably not...

 

[Thrasher]

So, no specific consequences to goodie two-shoes / evil baby killer roleplaying? Everything is a nebulous gray, and decisions should just be made to serve the PC characters end, and maybe gaining influence with NPCs?

Sounds like neutral-evil is it.

 

[hiver]

Ugh? It's 100% true.

Fred Saberhagen.

1. Berserker (1967)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Saber ... r_sequence

 

[Volourn]

Doesn't matter. The ME 'world' is still a brand new IP. It don't matter if it 'borrows', 'steals', or whatever ideas from other sources. It's still new. That doesn't mean it's the most original (it isn't); but most certainly is new.

 

[Thrasher]

Very few (if any) games have substantially original gameworlds.