Dragon Age III: Inquisition

PhroX said:

While I'm one of those weird people who thinks DA2 was a very good game (not perfect, but I thoroughly enjoy it), I agree with you on Awakenings. Crap story, bad fights, stupid design decisions - for example, why can't you import a game from DA:O, yet start a new warden? Several of the epilogue dialogue options in Origins would imply that the original warden wouldn't accept the post as warden commander (eg, going off to travel the world), and of course, the warden might well be dead. Yet the only way to start a new character in Awakenings is to throw away your actions in Origins and start with a generic background. About the only good thing about Awakenings is the fact that is has the best party member in the series*: Sigrun

*excluding Dog of course

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You're not weird, I like DA2 as well. If there had been no origins I think most people would have liked it with reviews like it's a good game with several flaws. Instead reviews are like, how could bioware release this piece of crap and totally ruin the series?!?! It's tough when origins was such a great game players loved to judge DA2 independently of that.

civvver said:

You're not weird, I like DA2 as well. If there had been no origins I think most people would have liked it with reviews like it's a good game with several flaws. Instead reviews are like, how could bioware release this piece of crap and totally ruin the series?!?! It's tough when origins was such a great game players loved to judge DA2 independently of that.

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To be honest, I feel Origins is rather overrated. I mean, it's good, maybe very good, but I wouldn't put anywhere near to my "best games ever". It ain't a patch on classic CRPGs like Baldur's Gate 2.

I'd probably put the two DAs about equal - DA:O is consistently good but not brilliant, DA2 is more uneven with some stuff that I love and other aspects which ain't great.

If Dragon Age Origins is overrated so is Baldur's Gate 2.
There, I said it !
BG 2 suffers from a lot of gameplay and balance issues and a UI that's frankly obsolete nowdays, and a good part of the perceived epicness is due to NostalgiaFilter.

I love BG2. But i hate playing it.
I think DA:O is great. And i like playing it.
I never played 2 because of what i read about the gameplay ... Same story with Mass Effect 2&3.

Mass Effect 2 & 3 actually improved the gameplay... mostly anyway.

Nintz said:

A fair statement, but I honestly could never get into Witcher. It just seemed lackluster for some reason, which I find odd considering most people absolutely loved it. I have a similar problem with Fallout. I have a completely irrational dislike towards a few games most people love.

I must say however, which announcements in particular actually made you shy away from the game? Most of what I've personally heard is exactly what I've wanted to hear. Unless I've missed something?

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Not even Fallout? Shame? I mainly like the Witcher because it's different than Bethesda and Bioware. It's nice to have more than 2 companies doing RPG's. I like the adult content, and style of the Witcher. The biggest drawback is replayability. I can't play anything other than the witcher. I only played the Witcher 2 twice. One focusing on sword play, the second specializing in potions. I may do one more specializing in signs.

I think replay is a tad overrated though since most rpgs are pretty long. I started over a dozen ME2 characters to try out different classes and builds but only got past horizon (a major plot point about 5-10 hours or a third of the game in depending on side missions) on three of them and only finished the game with one.

Same with dragon age origins, played the origin story for every race, only finished the game once, didn't even start the landsmeet with other characters. Most died out around the mage tower for me. The origins are fun but honestly I have mages in my party I can control, I don't need to do a whole play through as one for example.

That's because there isn't THAT much replayability in Bioware games. They tend to have the fairly black and white good and bad playthroughs, and then booting them up every now and then for a replay over the years. YMMV though.

There are quite a few different endings to Origins. I was surprised. I played that game all the way through at least 5 times. The biggest problem is the rest of the game is the same up to landsmeet. Much better than DA2, where either side you choose you still have to kill Meredith (and the mage guy). To be fair, even in Origins you had to battle the Archdemon and battle what's his face (I can't remember his name, the main antagonist who lets the king die).

A true role playing game is Fallout (specifically fallout 2), where you can even do peaceful games. I've never done it, but the option is there.

Same with dragon age origins, played the origin story for every race, only finished the game once, didn't even start the landsmeet with other characters. Most died out around the mage tower for me. The origins are fun but honestly I have mages in my party I can control, I don't need to do a whole play through as one for example.

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I hear you there. But I try to utilize the scripting automatic controls (can't think of the name right now) as much as possible. And I try to only control my character, not the rest of my party. Although with mages, I prefer to heal manually, that, I have to micromanage.

GoodSarmatian said:

If Dragon Age Origins is overrated so is Baldur's Gate 2.
There, I said it !
BG 2 suffers from a lot of gameplay and balance issues and a UI that's frankly obsolete nowdays, and a good part of the perceived epicness is due to NostalgiaFilter.

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Completely disagree. I re-played BG2 earlier this year after not having played it for 5+ years, and if anything it was even better than I remembered. It's still probably the best game ever made, no need for any colored glasses to say that. DA:O on the other hand hasn't aged nearly as well, nor was it ever at BG2 level.

Zilkin said:

Completely disagree. I re-played BG2 earlier this year after not having played it for 5+ years, and if anything it was even better than I remembered. It's still probably the best game ever made, no need for any colored glasses to say that. DA:O on the other hand hasn't aged nearly as well, nor was it ever at BG2 level.

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Well, I personally still put PST very very slightly above BG2, but yeah, I replayed the latter pretty recently too. Before I played, I was wondering how much of my love was just nostalgia. The answer was, of course, not much. BG2 is still a phenomonal game: fantastic story, great charcters and enjoyable combat. All you could really want from an RPG. I don't feel BG1 has aged quite as well - things like the lack of interaction and charcter development from your party members makes it feel a bit empty compared to it's sucessor (though there are mods to address that) - but I stil enjoyed it.

Zilkin said:

It's still probably the best game ever made, no need for any colored glasses to say that.

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Nope, this title is firmly held by Planescape : Torment.

I agree that the UI from BG era is actually much better than the console-based sh... we have got these past years.

Meh. I just cannot get interested in this game. DA:O was interesting purely on a nostalgic level, of resembling past Bioware games I've enjoyed. DA2 was a generic console hack and slash. I don't see how DA3 is going to offer anything of interest. I've already gotten my nostalgia fix with Origins, and there are plenty of other generic hack and slashers out there.

Perhaps if it were somehow rivaling the enjoyment of BG2, but let's be honest: That was a different age of gaming. Over-priced DLC's, console-friendly interface, and over-the-top button-mashing gameplay will never allow for a modern game to ever rival a game like BG2. For that, I have more hope in indie developers, not Bioware.

Matthew. said:

Meh. I just cannot get interested in this game. DA:O was interesting purely on a nostalgic level, of resembling past Bioware games I've enjoyed. DA2 was a generic console hack and slash. I don't see how DA3 is going to offer anything of interest. I've already gotten my nostalgia fix with Origins, and there are plenty of other generic hack and slashers out there.

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There aren't too many good-looking open world sandbox fantasy setting non-MMO games out there. If DAI is as good as Skyrim I'm fine with it. Combat and gameplay probably won't be spectacular, but they weren't that on Skyrim either.

BG2 was a great game, not the best imo, but very good. I've played through it once and didn't bother with Throne of Baal. I believe I've got it somewhere though. Now Steam is about to release the 'updated' version in November. I'm a bit interested in buying it, but I doubt I'd get very far in it.

Did any of you get the new release of BG? Does the gameplay hold up today?

I think all they did was enhance the graphics, mainly provide support for higher resolutions and maybe some spell particle effects. There's also a tutorial, not sure if that was in the original.

I believe there is some new content - a couple of areas, a new NPC or two. I didn't buy it as I already had the GOG release of the original - pretty much all the stuff from the "enhanced edition" can be done with mods.

Loppan Torkel said:

BG2 was a great game, not the best imo, but very good. I've played through it once and didn't bother with Throne of Baal. I believe I've got it somewhere though. Now Steam is about to release the 'updated' version in November. I'm a bit interested in buying it, but I doubt I'd get very far in it.

Did any of you get the new release of BG? Does the gameplay hold up today?

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I got it. To be honest i expected more, although im a vet of the series and love it to pieces. I think they could have done more with voice acting, more with animations, and just more of everything really. The did improve the interface, but some of the glitches from the original still exist. Its a shame really. All they basically did was take a selection of mods that were out there for free, stick them together with glue, then release them and charge £20 for the pleasure. If you are mod savvy, my advice is to stick with the original and download mods. If you cant be bothered with all that and want something that works better, then buy the enhanced edition (steam had it for £3.75 recently).

The gameplay has aged a bit, but then if you ask me dragon age has not held up too well either, and BG is at least less complicated in some senses and thus easier to hold together.

On the subject of mods, if you want to see an interesting take on baldurs gate 2, then you should definitely watch this video:

I think had they done something like this for the enhanced edition, and chucked a whole load of voice acting into it, it could have been really good. It breaks the game somewhat though, because you cant have 6 people in your party (becomes too complicated).

I just finished up to act 6 in BG2 last Spring. I get kind of burned out finishing the game, and even though I've only played the expansion a couple of times (and I do like the expansion), I never seem to actually play it. The base game is so long (yes I do every single quest I can), I'm burned out by the end. Same thing with BG1 (I do every quest and explore every square inch of every map I can). If anything BG2 is too big. I can't believe I'm saying a game is too big. BG1 (with tutu) is just as good as BG2 imho.

BG2 is an amazing game. It's not fair to compare it to modern games. My main complaint is my characters are so small, I can hardly see them. To be expected in a squad level game I suppose. It's greatest strength is the story (and the sound is pretty good), and decent implementation of the D&D system. Graphics aren't all that hot.

Planescape Torment would be a better game for me if you had more character options (only 3 classes), and better combat. Story is top notch though.

I'm a big fan of Dragon Age Origins because it felt like a step in the right direction for Bioware (sadly they went back the other direction with DA2). I liked KOTOR, but admittedly it's designed for consoles, and not as rpg'ish as I'd like. Origins was a step in the right direction, and close to the BG2 days I loved so much. It had graphics that I still find very entertaining to this day. And this is a rpg I regularly play along with Fallout: New Vegas. In fact, I don't think we'll ever get rpg's as good as those 2 games again. For the record, I did not buy Awakenings expansion for Origins. I may get it if I can get it discounted, but Bioware is still trying to sell this thing at full price. Annoying for only 10 hours of gameplay.

both Origins base game and Fallout: New Vegas base game are the best rpg's in my opinion. Since they came out, nothing has surpassed them. The golden age of rpg's may be dead.

Awakening is $8 on amazon. It's always on sale.