Dragon Age III: Inquisition

Maniacal said:

Origin didn't come out until two years after DAO

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Maybe it was something else. I remember having to download something to play it.

Don't mind the crazy man over here, I can barely remember things that happened last week, so expecting an accurate recollection of years ago from me is right out.

It was first required by Battlefield 3, and Mass Effect 3.

Installing it now.
Hey, anyone remember the good old days before DVD drives were widespread and a Bioware RPG would come on 4 or more CDs ?
Well, this one has 4 DVDs. I think it's about time to retire the format.

Wait, what? You actually got a physical copy of inquisition on dvds? I thought for sure buying the disc would just launch origin and a downloader like 90% of games do now. Amazing.

Anyway, I understand completely if you're anti origin because it's DRM and you just don't want ot have to use a client for your games, I get it. My point was it's not much different than steam now so I can't understand why you would pro steam but anti origin. That's all.

And dragon age origins didn't use origin client but it did use online authentication. It would log into EA servers. You can obviously play it offline but it has downloadable content that is managed through an EA account. I bought one dlc pack, return to ostegar so I know I had to make an account and put points on it through EA's website. You can do it through origin now. So it's possible that stuff was locking up on you. And there were some early bugs in it where people's items were getting deleted. Like you got the blood dragon armor for free with the game but you still had to link it to an account. For some if they played without being online later it would deactivate and delete the armor from their character's inventory.

I didn't read the angry joe blog yet but I agree with those ratings, 9 for DAO is a great game, 7 is average game but generally enjoyable and worth playing. I know some people on this forum think 7 is a good score and average should be like 5, but most reviewers don't and I lean towards those rankings where ~7 is average, 5 is poor, 8-9 are good to great.

civvver said:

Wait, what? You actually got a physical copy of inquisition on dvds? I thought for sure buying the disc would just launch origin and a downloader like 90% of games do now. Amazing.

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The game is about 30 gigabyte. Do you know how pissed I would have been if I had to download it through my crappy internet connection ? If I want to download a game I'll go on the pirate bay, thank you very much (obvious exceptions are heavily discounted steam sales and games I can pre-load and want to play as soon as they unlock).
It even has the different language versions. Many (steam) games here have only the German files on disc and if you're like me and don't like translations you'll have to download the original English files.

I didn't read the angry joe blog yet but I agree with those ratings, 9 for DAO is a great game, 7 is average game but generally enjoyable and worth playing. I know some people on this forum think 7 is a good score and average should be like 5, but most reviewers don't and I lean towards those rankings where ~7 is average, 5 is poor, 8-9 are good to great.

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I just substract 5 points and use it as a five star scale. Anything below 6/10 is crap anyway. No point pretending there's a difference between a 1 and a 4.

I'm extremely surprised it came on dvds is all. Last new physical games I bought were civ5 which was basically just a cd key for steam, and heroes of might and magic 6, which was basically just a cd key for ubisoft client. Both still required full game downloads. I've bought some older titles like bishock off amazon and heroes of might and magic 1-5 collection and those of course came on discs but I thought all the new releases were moving towards that. Refreshing to see it's possible to get a physical copy of dragon age still.

Steam or Origin or Uplay skipping the disc and going straight to downloading the entire game and not just the updates is a bug, they've just never bothered to fix it.

So far it's a really good game with some issues. My biggest gripe is the player character dialogue. Can we please go back to no voice acting and more and beter written options ? This is not Mass Effect, there is no canonical Commander Sheppard, and it just detatches me from my charater and makes him look less smart than I think I am. There's a lot that reminds me of Mass effect, and the whole War Table/Power/Influence system is like a much better version of War Readiness.
The pacing that was said to be bad is partially the player's "fault". The beginning drags mostly because the first large area is really large and you can find many diversion, but it can be completed much faster if you don't chase collectibles and side quests.

One note about Origin: I usually don't have a problem with it, but it really pissed me off when it crashed right after I won the first boss fight on my fourth try. Took me three more attempts to win again.

Awakenings has a few bugs, sometimes it starts to take a long time to save or even just to skip ahead a bit in conversations (I can read faster than they speak). It also has an unfixed bug that deleted all the gear my character has, I'm not impressed by that at all.

Thankfully the rest of the game is great.

hey hey, I'm back. I'm trying to get an unbiased review of this game as I try to decide. Although at this point I'm leaning towards asking for this game for Christmas. For the interests of this conversation I'm talking of the PC version, as I already heard about the controls. I'm certainly not going to buy a PS4 to play it. I feel a controller is an inferior input method to a mouse and keyboard. Although my stepdaughter disagrees, and refuses to play any pc game, and says things are easier on her ps3 controller. After trying dishonored on her ps3, I disagree. But maybe because I've been playing mouse and keyboard so long, it's second nature to me. And yes I'm married again (to the same woman), so my gaming time is limited, but I did have time to play Wasteland 2 (and it took me over 90 hours to finish).

Like Wasteland 2, I read all the negative views on Metacritic in an attempt to dissuade me from buying the game. Didn't work for W2 as most of those negative reviews said it wasn't like the Fallout games, which I'm okay with since I played the original Wasteland and expected it to be like that.

As you can see, I like old school rpg's. I loved DA: Origins and thought it was the perfect mix between action and turned based role playing, little did I know they would go even further into action based territory. But I can see DA:I does the same thing as DA2. Arcade like action combat. Sigh. I can deal with that if the story is good. So the basic question I'm asking is if the story is good. Or am I forced to sit through more annoying templars vs. mages conversation like DA2? Not to mention that game forced me to *spoiler* fight the main mage even if I sided with him making any meaningful choices in the game irrelevant. Or having to fight Meredith when I sided with her.

I'm okay with accepting the game as an action/adventure game. Because to me, it doesn't seem like a role playing game. As a warrior, I should be able to "role play" and be able to use what weapons I choose. A warrior that can't use a bow or 2 swords or a sword/dagger combo (dual wielding is what I'm referring to) is ridiculous. But I can put that aside if the story is top notch up to DA:O standards. And I've come to accept they just don't make games for people my age anymore. I have to either accept it and move on, or just give up on new games entirely. I have the same problem with movies, and I've come to accept new movies as violence filled, yet kid friendly silliness. Although I refuse to watch the new Hunger Games, I felt the first movie was vastly overrated, and didn't see what all the praise was for. I feel like the movie No Country for Old Men, although I'm not that old. Or I should say No RPG's for old men.

Anyways my dilemma has been reading the reviews on metacritic and reading the official forums. The official reviews say the game is amazing, but then one review said DA2 was like the perfect game, I don't trust such reviews. But the user reviews all seem to be haters and don't seem to be giving honest reviews. And some seem to be fan boy reviews.

It bothers me they will never make a game like DA:Origins or Fallout: New Vegas again. Even Skyrim was a dumbed down Elder Scrolls game (I enjoyed it, but only got 200 hours out of it). But I may have to accept RPG games are dead, except maybe for kickstarter games.

I guess I have to accept that Bioware thinks the population isn't capable of complex, yet fun gameplay. I get irritated that both Firaxis and Bioware think taking away choices (and taking away role play in Bioware's case) adds more strategic depth. I'm forced to rely on potions for healing is one example of taking away choices. Or being able to shoot only one rocket in X-com (2 with promotion, I know).

bhavv said:

Based on what you just said, that's why I can never take people who 'play games for the story' seriously. The story is the least important thing to me in a game, and I always find that games which prioritize it tend to be lacking in actual gameplay.

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I can't play a game unless it has a good story. I lose interest very rapidly. It's why shooter games never hold my interest. I have less than 10 hours played with both Doom 2 and Doom 3. I know there are better shooter games out there, but I'm not willing to plunge down the dough for something I will only get 5 hours on.

Not that gameplay should be neglected for story. I love Planescape, but the choice of only 3 classes leaves much to be desired. And combat in general is lackluster in that game. But I believe both can be achieved.

It was mentioned earlier that stories tend to be B movie quality at best, and that may be true. Especially if you were to view the dialogue in a movie format. But I find the stories are stories that are interesting and told in a setting in which Hollywood movies will not cover. And yes I know about Lord of the Rings, but that's only one set of movies, it's the only one they will finance it seems. And the ability to influence the story is huge with me. Another reason I prefer RPG's over shooters.

So when it comes to RPG's, I do play them for story. I don't do that with Civ type games obviously.

Stories I consider good are Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, NWN: Mask of the Betrayer, Knight of the Old Republic 1 and 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Fallout 1, 2, and New Vegas, Wasteland 2.

Not all games need a good story. I enjoyed Fallout 3 and Tactics despite the story being lackluster. But in Fallout 3's case, I have less than 80 hours played. Bethesda games don't do it for me precisely because of the lack of story. I do have 200 hours in Skyrim mainly because I feel that story is a little better than other Bethesda games, but it's still not a lot of hours compared to other games I've played. Especially for a game so highly rated. Although the combat in Skyrim can get repetitive too.

Congrats on your marriage, I suppose. I've become somewhat interested in DA: Inquisition, but I get the sense that the story won't hold up and after seeing that 'best sex scene of all time', I'm even more hesitant the game will keep my interest. I'll await your review. You seem to have missed out on the Witcher series altogether and to a lesser extent Mass Effect too.

I enjoyed it, but only got 200 hours out of it

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But in Fallout 3's case, I have less than 80 hours played.

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wtf? Is a game only good if you have 30 completionist playthroughs in it?

It is very much possible to get those hours on only one character. There is also a lot of content in both of those games, even despite their numerous flaws and mediocrity which outnumbers what they did right (Fallout 3 wasn't bad though).

Its certainly possible to spend a lot of time playing bad games, just look at how much time people spend on MMORPGs.

It's still ridiculous to view that as a small amount of time to spend in a game. Especially if it's with only one character.

Open ended sandbox games can have several hundred hours of gameplay easily. If they are done well enough to make multiple characters and play over and over again.

I never said otherwise. I only said that it's silly to complain that you got bored of a game after "only" 200 hours.

Loppan Torkel said:

Congrats on your marriage, I suppose. I've become somewhat interested in DA: Inquisition, but I get the sense that the story won't hold up and after seeing that 'best sex scene of all time', I'm even more hesitant the game will keep my interest. I'll await your review. You seem to have missed out on the Witcher series altogether and to a lesser extent Mass Effect too.

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Ahh I did forget about the Witcher series, I have played them. Initially I liked 2 over 1, but lately I seem to prefer the first one. 2 is flashier and has better graphics and combat, but I think I like the story in 1 better, and it offers more involved quests. But perhaps I just forgotten any complex quests in 2. I do want to replay that one before I play the new one.

Mass Effect is on my to do list. I do want to check those out some day.

wtf? Is a game only good if you have 30 completionist playthroughs in it?

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LOL no. I never said those games are bad. I'd say they are above average. But in the gaming world, both games are seen as near perfect, and I disagree. I have no regrets with either game. I still haven't bought the expansion for Skyrim, and I'm unlikely to.

Especially if it's with only one character.

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multiple characters actually. I have only finished Skyrim and Fallout 3 one time. But I have several games I'm still in the "middle". I did have fun creating a pure mage in Skryim, a pure 2 handed warrior (with the exception of restoration healing), a pure archer rogue type character. The character I finished the game with was more of a one handed fighter/mage. The games are good, but the stories don't hold me until the end. Trying out different fighting styles is quite fun. No complaints. I just have no reason to finish those games.

I only said that it's silly to complain that you got bored of a game after "only" 200 hours.

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perhaps that wasn't the best choice of words. Also it shows how much I really do play games. Kind of scary to put that many hours into any one activity. Games can be very time consuming. Damn you Steam for keeping track of my hours. As I said above, I did have fun creating characters with different fighting styles. I just can't be bothered to complete the main quest in either game until the end. So I can't say I got bored of the games really, just the main questline. I do not find the writing quality of Bethesda games up to the level of other games from Bioware and Obsidian. It's a personal preference, and maybe some people do enjoy those stories.

Back to DA:I, anyone else playing the game can say if the story is worth playing the game? I'm surprised so few are playing the game here. I suppose DA2's quality is to blame for that.

Disgustipated said:

Back to DA:I, anyone else playing the game can say if the story is worth playing the game? I'm surprised so few are playing the game here. I suppose DA2's quality is to blame for that.

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Well, I seem to be the only one in this thread who is actually playing it. The story wan't that tight at the beginnind, but after 10-30 hours (depending how muuch time you spend exploring, collecting and doing side quests) it picks up.
I'm still not far eough to give a final verdict, but big things ave hapened. There were some cool suprprises and very Game of Thrones moments. Some people might be bothered that magic is capable of more than you would think after playing Origins. It's either a retcon, or they it was always planed and people (including mages) were just ignorant in universe.
I'm still figuring out how much I can write here without poiling anything.

I plan to buy it, just not at $60 (which is because I never buy anything at that price, not because I want to stick it to BioWare or anything).