The Dragon Age: Inquisition Thread

[Raghar]

There are people that played through the NWN2 campaign that wasn't MOTB? I was so sure 90% of people quit either after finishing the tutorial or reaching the bland as fuck major city.

I kinda liked it. But it might be because I created underpowered hybrid character and roleplayed. But of course there were some really bad decision, for example random thieves in random house that were level 15.

 

[Nikaido]

Did you like Derp Roads?:

Yes. Their length and issues are overstated here. It was actually a fairly well-paced quest and easily the most interesting lore-wise in DA:O. I suspect most people here hated it because they didn't like the gameplay to begin with, and the Deep Roads have A LOT of that gameplay.

This is precisely why it marked the memory of those who played it. DAO's combat was actually pretty bad, in that it lacked any sort of variety in terms of encounters (and I mean that mechanically, not necessarily in terms of pixel you're hitting.), so by the point they reached the deep roads, the glass was already full (so much mediocre filler with bandit etc encounters) and the deep roads tends to be the bit where it overflows.

With such a lack of variety in how you handle the fights and what kind of abilities the enemies have, you can only pad the game for so long before someone feels like throwing the computer out of the window after 30+ hours of repeating that. DAO had a *lot* of that samey combat padding everything.

So, you're right that there wasn't anything specific to the deep roads in themselves, it's just the point where most of those who hated DAO's gameplay felt like going postal.

 

[mastroego]

This cannot be legit.
It HAS to be a photoshop smear job.
No professional developer can be THAT incompetent. Right?

P.S.: do Bioware really use that rainbow banner? I mean, seriously??! They use it FOR REAL?

 

[I'm Big Into Anal]

is that triss?

shes yummy

 

[Bleed the Man]

Did you like Derp Roads?:

Yes. Their length and issues are overstated here. It was actually a fairly well-paced quest and easily the most interesting lore-wise in DA:O. I suspect most people here hated it because they didn't like the gameplay to begin with, and the Deep Roads have A LOT of that gameplay.

This is precisely why it marked the memory of those who played it. DAO's combat was actually pretty bad, in that it lacked any sort of variety in terms of encounters (and I mean that mechanically, not necessarily in terms of pixel you're hitting.), so by the point they reached the deep roads, the glass was already full (so much mediocre filler with bandit etc encounters) and the deep roads tends to be the bit where it overflows.

What about the fade sequence?
That was much worse in my book.

 

[Grunker]

DAO's combat was actually pretty bad

I disagree, but as I said I can understand why you'd dislike Deep Roads if you didn't like DA:O combat.

 

[set]

What's funny is that extended siege sequence is definitely worse compared to the defense of red cliffe in DA:O.

 

[Nikaido]

Did you like Derp Roads?:

Yes. Their length and issues are overstated here. It was actually a fairly well-paced quest and easily the most interesting lore-wise in DA:O. I suspect most people here hated it because they didn't like the gameplay to begin with, and the Deep Roads have A LOT of that gameplay.

This is precisely why it marked the memory of those who played it. DAO's combat was actually pretty bad, in that it lacked any sort of variety in terms of encounters (and I mean that mechanically, not necessarily in terms of pixel you're hitting.), so by the point they reached the deep roads, the glass was already full (so much mediocre filler with bandit etc encounters) and the deep roads tends to be the bit where it overflows.

What about the fade sequence?
That was much worse in my book.

The fade sequence happens early in the game way before anyone would've started feeling like putting down the game. Plus, for a first playthrough, when you're still ignorant of the setting, the exploration of the fade always made you wonder "what could come next", so you can only really think badly of it after it's done in retrospect. It all happens in a part of the game where you're still kinda curious and willing to overlook the bad.

It was pretty bad though, I agree. But I wouldn't only say "the fade sequence". Everything that led up to it was also pretty bad. Constant stream of mediocre combat. And in the end it didn't live to its potential outside of combat because you don't really get to experience anything of worth despite being made to enter a portal to another dimension.

 

[dryan]

For me the worst part about the Derp Roads is that it ruined the actually interesting part that came right afterwards, where you fight with that dwarf Legion on a bridge, then you go into those cool ruins and get the Broodmother section. By the time I got there I was so tired of shitty cave combat that I couldn't appreciate it, I just wanted it to be over already.

 

[Stainless Veteran]

I've played DAO on hard, IIRC, and the combat was just bland. Only thing that I actively disliked was HP bloat, but other than that it kinda played like a MMORPG. Levelling on trash mobs, aggro, boring encounters, fat bosses and other stuff. I've played with topdown camera and companion AI switched off, but still couldn't shake that feeling. Thing is, I don't actively dislike MMO-style combat, it just feels like a chore which needs to be done. Maybe because I used to it from aforementioned MMORPGs, dunno.

Now DA:I took it one (or more) step further, so the combat doesn't even feels like mediocre MMO, it feels like someone tried to crossbreed a slasher, some MMO combat, TES:Oblivion and added a number of fetch quests and node gathering to the mix. Let me tell you, it's not a good mix.

 

[Bleed the Man]

Did you like Derp Roads?:

Yes. Their length and issues are overstated here. It was actually a fairly well-paced quest and easily the most interesting lore-wise in DA:O. I suspect most people here hated it because they didn't like the gameplay to begin with, and the Deep Roads have A LOT of that gameplay.

This is precisely why it marked the memory of those who played it. DAO's combat was actually pretty bad, in that it lacked any sort of variety in terms of encounters (and I mean that mechanically, not necessarily in terms of pixel you're hitting.), so by the point they reached the deep roads, the glass was already full (so much mediocre filler with bandit etc encounters) and the deep roads tends to be the bit where it overflows.

What about the fade sequence?
That was much worse in my book.

The fade sequence happens early in the game way before anyone would've started feeling like putting down the game. Plus, for a first playthrough, when you're still ignorant of the setting, the exploration of the fade always made you wonder "what could come next", so you can only really think badly of it after it's done in retrospect. It all happens in a part of the game where you're still kinda curious and willing to overlook the bad.

It was pretty bad though, I agree. But I wouldn't only say "the fade sequence". Everything that led up to it was also pretty bad. Constant stream of mediocre combat. And in the end it didn't live to its potential outside of combat because you don't really get to experience anything of worth despite being made to enter a portal to another dimension.

I see your point, and I agree for the most part (but the way they handled the encounters in the fade just killed me. They're were designed to offer no challenge at all, but because Bioware doesn't like to keep you exploring and doing sort of curious puzzles without pointless fighting, they put the enemies only as a waste of time), but one minor thing, the fade sequence could be done before or after the deep roads. It's the usual standard Bioware design, choose between 4 mandatory paths in the order you like. You could do the deep roads right after... the first visit to Denerim? I can't recall when the game opend up.

 

[AwesomeButton]

I made an account in the Codex' forums after following this thread for the last 30 or so pages, and I came here to tell you:

do not buy this game. You will be cheated. I am about 30 hrs in, and the only really good thing I've found so far is the 3d/2d art, sound, music, and area design. The writing (script, characters, quests, lore) is unconvincing, the story is unoriginal, combat is unbalanced, the game has not been intended for playing with anything different than a controller, even their own, so-called "tactical" mode is badly executed with not all angles of the battlefield being possible for the player to see.

The loudly marketed, and admittedly beautiful open world is filled with shitty fetch quests, which, I wonder why, I can't remember being marketed at all. Wish they had told me about that in one of their sleazy twitch streams, where they constanty ignored questions which they didn't have pretty answers to. So even if you get over it and master the shitty pc controls, all you'll be doing is cruising around killing mobs through an awkward combat interface, because this game was never meant to be played on PC. It would surprise me if they've spent more than a week implementing and testing the PC controls. Their claims that the game was designed for-PC-first are contradicted by reality.

Come to think of it, the only two things that keep me going are the exploration of pretty looking environments, and the curiosity what will happen with the world at the end. I've done 2-3 playthroughs of DAO so I've gotten a little attached to the setting. Even though it's been hacked together by the kind of amateur writer-wannabe who presumes he has an idea of Western Medieval history, but the only thing he is good at is plagiarizing ideas from fantasy books, movies, and other games. And his writing skills are laughable. He even has the gall to present the setting as partly realistically hypothesizing on alternate history - remember his "What if the English had driven out the French in the end of the 11th century" pose?

So, this folks is the result of 3 years' development time and a budget in the seven-digit figures. For fuck's sakes, right? Honestly, I hope Bioware finally closes down after this failiure, and those creative geniuses find themselves on the same footing as some of the actually talanted game designers. It would provide me an inimitable perverse pleasure to see the likes of Gaider, Laidlaw, and Darrah, not to mention Cameron Lee be put out of a job and beg me for my money to finance their next Piramids of Giza of gaming. Oh yeah, it would! I wonder how much money would these losers raise on KS for the same concept and vision that they actually delivered with DAI.

 

[Nikaido]

There was a great incentive in doing the circle tower first because of its ties with the redcliffe stuff. "You could" put it off for after the deep roads, but I'd wager literally no one here did the deep roads first.

 

[Raghar]

This cannot be legit.
It HAS to be a photoshop smear job.
No professional developer can be THAT incompetent. Right?

Well, this is how it can look with few million budget when models is making someone competent.

 

[set]

But she's a barbie doll. Triss is way more attractive.

Also, I love how the DAI villian basically says, "I am evil because I can and you don't need to understand." This is ghost child all over again.

 

[Volourn]

Sounds like the Master to me.

 

[set]

Sounds like the Master to me.

The writing is just awful. He says, "Give me the thing! Give it to me!" and then he has it and it's like, "You can't give it to me. I already know that." Then what the fuck? It's just typical BioWare writing - grasping at straws to pad out dramatic music and crackling fire that's so fake it doesn't even damage your character.

Also, the soundscape I've heard so far in DAI is the worst one yet. At least DA2 had an absence of sound compared to all the disorienting spammy battle sounds, clashing flicks and whacks and slashes against zzzzip and zap.

 

[RK47]

 

[Ulrox]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. LOL WTF! :D

 

[DalekFlay]

So, this folks is the result of 3 years' development time and a budget in the seven-digit figures. For fuck's sakes, right? Honestly, I hope Bioware finally closes down after this failiure, and those creative geniuses find themselves on the same footing as some of the actually talanted game designers. It would provide me an inimitable perverse pleasure to see the likes of Gaider, Laidlaw, and Darrah, not to mention Cameron Lee be put out of a job and beg me for my money to finance their next Piramids of Giza of gaming. Oh yeah, it would! I wonder how much money would these losers raise on KS for the same concept and vision that they actually delivered with DAI.

Well in the general public it seems to be a hit, so I wouldn't call Bioware dead yet. Unfortunately.

 

[RPGMaster]

When will developers realize that scenes of you walking forward very slowly are COMPLETELY FUCKING SHIT?

 

[RK47]

When will developers realize that scenes of you walking forward very slowly are COMPLETELY FUCKING SHIT?

I know right.
I'm pretty much going through the motions now in every combat.
There's just very little to celebrate about this game.
Even the moment where they fellate you the Chosen One didn't engage emotions except for 'Not this shit again.'
I want to care about the story but the story is shit.
I want to marvel at the cutscenes but they were executed badly. (Seriously that escape is just amateur hour)
The only saving grace is the somewhat competent cast and VA direction that didn't kill my eardrums, and the occasional nice looking place to visit with tedious activities.
Otherwise the whole setup, the game, the exploration, the crafting, the level up mechanics are mostly shit.

GotY this ain't.
So tell me again, how baba your yetu?

 

[AwesomeButton]

Well in the general public it seems to be a hit, so I wouldn't call Bioware dead yet. Unfortunately.

I'll follow DAI's preformance as much as I can, I think even the general public can't be that dumb. Right...? I mean, ok, they paid off every remotely influential reviewer they could reach in the English-speaking world, apparently missed the German-speaking, hence 52/100 from 4players.de, but they can't pull of a Vladimir Putin scale lie about the real state of things, word of mouth has to get them. Even on the Bioware forums I see threads like "The game sucks". On the other hand, I don't have a base for comparison because I wasn't following the reaction to DA2 when it came out.

 

[Thane Solus]

so... Can you romance horses?

 

[Jaesun]

Well in the general public it seems to be a hit, so I wouldn't call Bioware dead yet. Unfortunately.

Yep, and that is the primary demographic for all BioWare games: The general public.

NOT people who actually like cRPGs.