Dragon Age Gamespot Review

[draexem]

"Theoretically you could complete Fallout 3 without killing anyone... "

No. This is a bullshit lie.

Yeah, that's why I said theoretically.

 

[racofer]

More generalising bull from Racofer, who likes to projects his own faults on to others.

I don't trust the majority of this forum to deduce their way out of a (very large) paper bag.

Irony-meter tingling again.

 

[draexem]

Irony-meter tingling again.

Hypocrisy metre tingling again.

 

[MetalCraze]

DA:O is the best RPG to come along in fucking years regardless of weather it fits into your strict mould of rpg game mechanics - deal with it

Risen is far better game than DA and from what I read on Codex KotC rapes the shit out of DA too. Both came out this very year. Surely by "in fucking years" you meant "last month"?
Ah but of course who cares about them - IGN/Gamespot said that DA is the one true game to play.

 

[racofer]

Irony-meter tingling again.

Hypocrisy metre tingling again.

What's a metre?

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

KotC, for all of it's quality, will never get much mainstream press. That is a shame, but it doesn't enter the discussion on mainstream RPGs.

I haven't played much of DA yet, but Risen was a very good game. DA has the potential to top it so far, and Risen isn't without it's weaknesses. Hell, I haven't even played much of DA yet... it may end up being

Banal.


Shit.


Boring.

 

[racofer]

DA:O is the best RPG to come along in fucking years regardless of weather it fits into your strict mould of rpg game mechanics - deal with it

Risen is far better game than DA and from what I read on Codex KotC rapes the shit out of DA too. Both came out this very year. Surely by "in fucking years" you meant "last month"?
Ah but of course who cares about them - IGN/Gamespot said that DA is the one true game to play.

Yes, and three months from now we will all see those same review sites and posters around here complaining about the flaws in DA and how ME2 improved on all that, making it the superior game.

 

[Volourn]

Racofer wrote the following: "
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

[racofer]

I have cast protection from prettiness. Your pitiful spells have no effect on me, princess.

 

[DaveO]

One Dragon Age to rule them all, One Dragon Age to find them,
One Dragon Age to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of BioWhore where the Shadows lie.

 

[AlaCarcuss]

COMBAT

I've seen several videos. I've read the first impression from Codexers.

1) It's realtime.
2) You need to drink potions = pinnacle of tactics
3) You have levelscaling and auto-regen

See?

That in some occasions I have to order the melee guys to stand fast infront of a door so mobs can't surround me isn't really anything to pat yourself on the back about. It's really basic stuff.

How about improving AI so that enemies avoid fire instead of running through it to get you? How about some open levels where you can use terrain to your advantage? How about enemies who ambush you? How about NOT forcing the player to have a chat with those extremely suspicious looking dudes blocking that bridge?

...............

DIALOG/PLOT/VA

Again, videos. The Gaider-books. Dev-chats. Hey, it's ANCIENT EVIL (tm) coming again! But it's not orcs, it's ZOMBIE ORCS! And hey, mysterious underground badass organisation will fight it and YOU GET TO JOIN! Except the good king IS BETRAYED BY HIS EVIL ADVISOR! AND THE WIZARDS ARE SCHEMING IN THE BACKGROUND! And there's a dragon. EXCEPT IT'S MORRIGAN's MUM!

So, do we really have to go over the plot?

VA - according to videos it's woodenm, nonchalant and the actual reviews have already confirmed that it's "not a strong point for the game".

Dialog. As per shown in the videos, which depict events between major characters AND the banter between party members, again nothing to write home about. Maybe it's not utter shit like F3 but like in combat, that's really not an achievement.

Jesus GarfunkeL, I thought you were better that this.

Look at how many time you mention "based on videos" or "according to..." - it's all fucking hearsay. Just PLAY THE FUCKING GAME for fucks sake! Make up your own mind - then your arguments may carry more weight, though you seem to have made up your mind regardless.

Regading the combat, what you posted is just utter bullshit. I think I've used all of 3 potions in the 25hrs I've played - though my mage is healing focused.

I havn't even noticed the level scaling either, due to the fact it's area base and very limited - it's almost irrelevent.

The AI is very good too. They don't just rush your casters (or you). In fact the bastards do stuff like lay traps and lure you into them. E.G. I came across a caster that took pot shots at my party and when we approached to attack he ran, so we chased - he led us straight into a fucking ambush and we got wiped. In another example, I had my rogue stealthed and approached an enemy archer from behind for a back-stab, which succeded, but before I could take another action - a darkspawn rogue materialised behind my rogue and did the same to him.

I use the terrain all the time - it makes a huge difference. In one battle I had my rogue positioned one one side of a ravine with a bow and fire arrows, while my character (a mage), was one the other and had my warriors met the darkspawn head on in the middle. The terrain just opens up all sorts of opportunites for tactics, like ambushes and stuff - it's awesome. The levels are very open - for god sake, don't just go by videos.

The tactics system is fucking brilliant also. So many options for setting up you party's AI - and it's just stuff you would do manually anyway, so it just takes the tedium out of micro-management. You can of course turn it off completly if you'd prefer.

I'm also loving the story and dialog, but that may just be a matter of taste. The voice acting is (mostly) terrific and the story has really sucked me in.

Just play the damn thing and come back when you actually have something to say that has any relevance....

 

[AlaCarcuss]

I reckon if you're bashing a game you have little knowledge of, people should be allowed to call you out and expose you as a complete and utter heretic.

Erm so, all those excerpts from the books and the games and all that information divulged in the numerous reviews so far have given people next to no knowledge whatsoever so far? I suppose somewhere along the way of your bizarro claims, humans suddenly completely lost their ability to deduce a goddamn thing.

No, not humans - just you.

 

[AlaCarcuss]

DA:O is the best RPG to come along in fucking years regardless of weather it fits into your strict mould of rpg game mechanics - deal with it

Risen is far better game than DA and from what I read on Codex KotC rapes the shit out of DA too. Both came out this very year. Surely by "in fucking years" you meant "last month"?
Ah but of course who cares about them - IGN/Gamespot said that DA is the one true game to play.

Are you seriously saying now that you havn't even played KotC either and now want to compare two games - NEITHER OF WHICH YOU HAVE PLAYED!

Well then, I HAVE played both - I love the combat in KotC, but that's pretty much the ONLY thing it has going for it, it is definately NOT a better game than DA:O - not by a long, long shot.

I also played Risen for the first 2 chapters (about 20 hrs - I'm already further into DA), until it begame a boring grind fest - again, definately NOT a better game than DA:O by a long shot.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Well now, there's something reasonable at last.

I think I've used all of 3 potions in the 25hrs I've played - though my mage is healing focused.

That contrasts everything that I've learned about the game so far, which was the "it's impossible to avoid damage" and "it's so challenging you need to drink potions". Does your mage spam healing? Or your melee guys can avoid incoming damage?

The AI is very good too. They don't just rush your casters (or you). In fact the bastards do stuff like lay traps and lure you into them. E.G. I came across a caster that took pot shots at my party and when we approached to attack he ran, so we chased - he led us straight into a fucking ambush and we got wiped. In another example, I had my rogue stealthed and approached an enemy archer from behind for a back-stab, which succeded, but before I could take another action - a darkspawn rogue materialised behind my rogue and did the same to him.

I use the terrain all the time - it makes a huge difference. In one battle I had my rogue positioned one one side of a ravine with a bow and fire arrows, while my character (a mage), was one the other and had my warriors met the darkspawn head on in the middle. The terrain just opens up all sorts of opportunites for tactics, like ambushes and stuff - it's awesome. The levels are very open - for god sake, don't just go by videos.

Again, that is something that hasn't popped up in any video or review so far. Not once has there been talk that terrain actually matters, except the "grease interacts with fire"-gimmick hyping.

true real-time too, not phase or round-based like BG and NWN, which supprisingly makes the combat flow more freely and is easier to manage. You characters act almost immediately after issuing commands and don't wait around for thier turn.

Can you chain actions? IIRC, that isn't possible.

See? If you had posted that stuff few hours before, I would not have had to post anything bad about DA:Os combat :D

 

[MetalCraze]

Well then, I HAVE played both - I love the combat in KotC, but that's pretty much the ONLY thing it has going for it, it is definately NOT a better game than DA:O - not by a long, long shot.

Hah what? Combat is a real-time NWN2-like grindfest shit in DA, character development is much more inferior to the variety that KotC and DnD provide, DA is dumbed down to the max with regens and the retarded plot about you joining the Jedi Order to fight the darthspawn or whatever ancient evil waking up this month. So what is better in DA? Graphics?

I also played Risen for the first 2 chapters (about 20 hrs - I'm already further into DA), until it begame a boring grind fest - again, definately NOT a better game than DA:O by a long shot.

Why is that? DA is just as boring grindfest - except in Risen there is also an interesting exploration and the lack of shitty larping present in DA which already puts it 10 times higher than Bioware excrements. You can't have buttseks in Risen though so I can see where it fails.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

grindfest shit

dumbed down

retarded

grindfest

shitty larping

excrements.

buttseks

 

[AlaCarcuss]

Hah what? Combat is a real-time NWN2-like grindfest shit in DA, character development is much more inferior to the variety that KotC and DnD provide, DA is dumbed down to the max with regens and the retarded plot about you joining the Jedi Order to fight the darthspawn or whatever ancient evil waking up this month. So what is better in DA? Graphics?

Why is that? DA is just as boring grindfest - except in Risen there is also an interesting exploration and the lack of shitty larping present in DA which already puts it 10 times higher than Bioware excrements. You can't have buttseks in Risen though so I can see where it fails.

Skyway, I'm sorry - but you are not even worth responding to. Everything you say is a total irrelevance. You're just a fucking troll of the highest order.

Even blobert makes more sense than you do - like I told you before, get some help man....

 

[MetalCraze]

So DA is a better game because....ah fuck this you are just a troll skyway don't touch my favorite gaem waaaaaa

 

[baronjohn]

Skyway is right. Risen wasn't that great, but it was way better than DA:O.

 

[AlaCarcuss]

Well now, there's something reasonable at last.

I think I've used all of 3 potions in the 25hrs I've played - though my mage is healing focused.

That contrasts everything that I've learned about the game so far, which was the "it's impossible to avoid damage" and "it's so challenging you need to drink potions". Does your mage spam healing? Or your melee guys can avoid incoming damage?

The AI is very good too. They don't just rush your casters (or you). In fact the bastards do stuff like lay traps and lure you into them. E.G. I came across a caster that took pot shots at my party and when we approached to attack he ran, so we chased - he led us straight into a fucking ambush and we got wiped. In another example, I had my rogue stealthed and approached an enemy archer from behind for a back-stab, which succeded, but before I could take another action - a darkspawn rogue materialised behind my rogue and did the same to him.

I use the terrain all the time - it makes a huge difference. In one battle I had my rogue positioned one one side of a ravine with a bow and fire arrows, while my character (a mage), was one the other and had my warriors met the darkspawn head on in the middle. The terrain just opens up all sorts of opportunites for tactics, like ambushes and stuff - it's awesome. The levels are very open - for god sake, don't just go by videos.

Again, that is something that hasn't popped up in any video or review so far. Not once has there been talk that terrain actually matters, except the "grease interacts with fire"-gimmick hyping.

true real-time too, not phase or round-based like BG and NWN, which supprisingly makes the combat flow more freely and is easier to manage. You characters act almost immediately after issuing commands and don't wait around for thier turn.

Can you chain actions? IIRC, that isn't possible.

See? If you had posted that stuff few hours before, I would not have had to post anything bad about DA:Os combat :D

See skyway - this is how to have a constructive argument.... thanks GarfunkeL.

And no, you can't queue up actions - which disappointed me also. However, the tactics system goes a long way to allieviate that....

I wouldn't say my mage spams healing - she does a fair amount of damage as well. But I do use her to buff up my guys and keep them alive with the occasional heal. Even with that though, my party's been wiped a few times - or just escaped a full wipe by the skin of our teeth. The combat can be quite challenging. I'm playing on hard btw - which not only make enemies hit harder and have more HP, but seems to greatly improve thier AI in regard to tactics.

 

[MapMan]

What's a metre?

STUPID AMERICAN!!!!1

 

[Grunker]

Risen is far better game than DA

Please go find the fucking dialogue options in Risen that are so great. Not only is the game's content significantly smaller - putting up with your main characters retardation a limited number of responses is so tiresome you feel the need to bite off your arm.

 

[Darth Roxor]

I'd rather have one response than four that do the same thing.

 

[MetalCraze]

Please go find the fucking dialogue options in Risen that are so great.

If you mean writing than it is typically Gaiderish cringeworthy. But I'm sure you mean actual LARP'ing - and you know - thanks god there is none of that in Risen. Again it is one of the reasons why it is better - there is no LARP'ing filler where 4 options mean 1 thing.

Not only is the game's content significantly smaller

So what? I'd rather take 10 hours of gameplay over 20 hours of clicking through filler dialogue trees and watching cutscenes.

putting up with your main characters retardation a limited number of responses is so tiresome you feel the need to bite off your arm.

Wait - this part was about DA right?

 

[kris]

"Theoretically you could complete Fallout 3 without killing anyone... "

No. This is a bullshit lie.

Yeah, that's why I said theoretically.

If you with "finish" means "turn off game" then yes it is possible. Otherwise no.