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Thread: Dragon Age

  1. #1

    Default Dragon Age

    With Bioware’s Dragon Age III (aka Dragon Age: Inquisition) due to be released this October (or is it November?), I decided a few days ago to re-load the original game, Dragon Age: Origins, and give it another play-through. It has been a few years now since I have played the original game, I think it has been more than a year since I have even touched the sequel (Dragon Age II). It was easy to forget just how beautiful and immersive of a swords-n-sorcery type game that this is, although how quickly I signed up to pre-order Inquisition should have been all the reminder that I needed!

    So, I am wondering; who else has played and enjoyed this game?

    This is, to my best recollection, the third time that I have played through this game. The other two times, I played once as a female human noble warrior, and once as a male dwarf noble warrior.

    This go-around, I created a male human noble rogue, who I have specialized as a ranger who dual-wields weapons (currently a magic mace and a magic dagger), going by the name of Garrison Cousland.

    Garrison’s faithful Marbari war-hound is named Contessa. The game insists that the hound is a male, but anybody who takes the time to pet this creature and watch it roll around on its back in delight can quickly ascertain that it is actually female (despite how it marks its territory).

    Garrison has set his sights on romancing Leliana, the Orlais-born warrior-bard of the Chantry who believes she hears directly from the Maker. How she will react, however, when the game nears its end and the witch of the Kocari Wilds, Morrigan, offers Garrison ‘the big choice’...that we shall have to see. Garrison’s other main goal will be to harden Alister and set him on the throne of Ferelden. Oh, and I guess there might be a Darkspawn Blight to end, and an Archdemon to face off with, as well, lol.

    Garrison’s main companions, the ones he will travel with and fight beside the most, will be Alister the Templar/Grey Warden, Sten the proud Qunari soldier, and Leliana.

    I’ve, this time around, been playing for just a few days so far, but it already takes up far too much of my time to be ‘healthy’ for me, lol. I love a game where you can spend two hours of real time having your character wander around your campfire, talking to characters and asking after back-stories, giving gifts...what other game can you do that in, and be this entertained?

    Black Isle’s Baldur’s Gate will always be my favourite game to play, but Bioware’s Dragon Age (and its sequel, soon to be sequels) will be hard to knock out of second place on that list.

    For those who need to ask, I play Dragon Age on my pc, rockin’ it old-school (or just “old”, lol), and yes I am a sucker for all of the great Downloadable Content (DLC) as well.

    Join the fun discussion, if you are a fan of this great gaming series. Have you played it? How did you find it? Have complaints about it? Any memorable moments, or characters? Have you played the sequel, and are you excited about seeing how Inquisition plays out? Do you enjoy the world of Thedas? If this isn’t your favourite swords-n-sorcery game to play, what is?
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  2. #2

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    Dragon Age: Origins is in every way superior to the crap that was Dragon Age II.
    I played DA:O probably about six times.

  3. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tawmis View Post
    Dragon Age: Origins is in every way superior to the crap that was Dragon Age II.
    I played DA:O probably about six times.
    I'm going to both agree, and disagree, with you.

    I understand your sentiments. On first play, I was p!ssed off at DA2. The game seemed less-expansive and more restrictive than DAO was. And, even worse, going through everything you did with your character in DAO, and then not being able to continue with your character in the next game...a horrible decision.

    Since the end of that first play-through of DA2, I have come to appreciate it a lot more. No, it isn't the original; but, in many ways, it tried to distance itself from the first one, while still showing you an enjoyable time of game-playing in another area of Thedas. And I would expect Inquisition to both tie the first two games together a little more, as well as be as different as possible from both of them. That is both the charm of these games, and their curse as well.

    On it's own, as a stand-alone game (which, it some sense, it sort of is), it is a nice accomplishment, and a good game. Unfortunately, the two things going against it, are that DAO was such a high standard to set, and that DA2 did not give people what they were hoping for (which was more of the exact same).

    As stated before, I am a HUGE Baldur's Gate fan. The 2nd one sucked, compared to the first, for many of the reasons I have just listed here, but both are still very good games. Just one is a lot better than the other one (which is still very good).
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  4. #4

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    My main issues with DA2:

    In the city the attackers (whatever they were) just appeared out of thin air. Literally, when you first encounter them every time. Like they were jumping off from the roof tops.
    Exploding bodies when you killed them. Stupid and excessive.
    Every dungeon was exactly the same - it's just different doors were "closed/locked"
    No matter what choices you make - it does NOT matter in the end. The end is the same no matter what choices and what sides you choose.

    In every way, inferior, to DAO. In. Every. Single. Way.

  5. #5

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    In DAO, we were told that the choices we make, wouldn't necessarily affect JUST the ending of the game, but also the way the game interacted with us going forward after the game. And, iirc, that was at least somewhat true when playing DA2; those you interacted with recalled choices you made in DAO. So, i am expecting the same thing to be true of your DA2 choices when playing DA3. In that sense, it DOES matter what side you take and what choices you make.

    Exploding bodies happened in DAO, trust me cuz i was just grumbling about that to myself, all the abominations explode when you kill them.

    DA2 was like DAO, in that you get some incredible character interactions, which is one of the most fun and interesting parts of the game.

    Your other points, i find valid. It may be inferior, but if i were marking DAO as a 999 out of 1000, I'd give DA2 an 850. Still d@mn good.
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  6. #6

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    Okay, so it is looking like, of all of us regular visitors to this site, only Tawmis and I have played Dragon Age: Origins.

    I am Shocked.

    I work in a department with 13 other people, ranging in age from 24 to 70, and five or six of us have played this game.

    *shrugs* Oh well.

    Tawmis, when you played this game, did you have to use any internet walkthroughs for any of it? For me, there is NO WAY I can get through certain parts without using them. For instance, when you get trapped in the Fade by the Sloth Demon during the rescue of the Circle of Mages in the Tower...man, that took me two and a half hours of gameplay to get out of the Fade, and that was using a walkthrough. Without it, I would be trapped in that place forever. Insanely complicated.
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  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by Flightpath07 View Post
    And, iirc, that was at least somewhat true when playing DA2; those you interacted with recalled choices you made in DAO. So, i am expecting the same thing to be true of your DA2 choices when playing DA3. In that sense, it DOES matter what side you take and what choices you make.
    I don't recall that, especially since it's not like it imports your character.

    Quote Originally Posted by Flightpath07 View Post
    Exploding bodies happened in DAO, trust me cuz i was just grumbling about that to myself, all the abominations explode when you kill them.
    One thing, I can see exploding. But... EVERY. SINGLE. THING. Regular humans - exploded into blood piles, like they were vampires and you staked them with a piece of wood. If you got a critical hit or something, I could see it. But EVERY. SINGLE. DEATH. Got old. Really fast.

    Quote Originally Posted by Flightpath07 View Post
    DA2 was like DAO, in that you get some incredible character interactions, which is one of the most fun and interesting parts of the game.
    That alone, was it's only saving grace.

    Quote Originally Posted by Flightpath07 View Post
    Your other points, i find valid. It may be inferior, but if i were marking DAO as a 999 out of 1000, I'd give DA2 an 850. Still d@mn good.
    Perhaps because DAO ranks so high with me; I was expecting DA2 to be superior to it. And it failed, miserably. The ending is really, really, really what sets the sour taste in my mouth. If the middle had sucked, or if it had just been a few things like that - and a great ending - then, okay, I might have forgiven it. But when none of your choices matter to the end of DA2 (whether you side with Mages of Templars), then the ending is what you're going to remember. It's like those movies, that are really, really good - but at the end, the guy wakes up and it's all a dream - and makes the entire movie insignificant.

    Quote Originally Posted by Flightpath07 View Post
    Okay, so it is looking like, of all of us regular visitors to this site, only Tawmis and I have played Dragon Age: Origins.
    I am Shocked.
    I work in a department with 13 other people, ranging in age from 24 to 70, and five or six of us have played this game.
    *shrugs* Oh well.
    Don't be surprised. Alpha Flight is a small nitch. I am surprised that so few read ElfQuest here. So...

    Quote Originally Posted by Flightpath07 View Post
    Tawmis, when you played this game, did you have to use any internet walkthroughs for any of it? For me, there is NO WAY I can get through certain parts without using them. For instance, when you get trapped in the Fade by the Sloth Demon during the rescue of the Circle of Mages in the Tower...man, that took me two and a half hours of gameplay to get out of the Fade, and that was using a walkthrough. Without it, I would be trapped in that place forever. Insanely complicated.
    Actually, I used no walk through. The Fade was extremely painful and long. But it was nothing compared to the Dwarven Area (I can't recall what it was called now - but when you go underground and help them). That. Took. Forever. And there was so little scenery change. Nowhere (except for the crazy dwarf) to sell your items. But I have to say, the "Mother" you fight down there - as disgusting as she was, made it worth it. Great part right there.

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tawmis View Post
    I don't recall that, especially since it's not like it imports your character.
    Well, if you read up on the games, the developers do insist that if you have a saved game from DAO hanging around, it imports that into DA2 and the choices your character made in the first game affect certain things in the 2nd (depending on what choices you made, certain things in the world will be different, certain characters may make different conversation choices, etc). Its subtle, but it is there.



    Quote Originally Posted by Tawmis View Post
    One thing, I can see exploding. But... EVERY. SINGLE. THING. Regular humans - exploded into blood piles, like they were vampires and you staked them with a piece of wood. If you got a critical hit or something, I could see it. But EVERY. SINGLE. DEATH. Got old. Really fast.
    Honestly, that is based on your game settings. If your violence is set too high, then, yes, you will have a lot of fountaining blood and beheadings, etc.



    Quote Originally Posted by Tawmis View Post
    That alone, was it's only saving grace.



    Perhaps because DAO ranks so high with me; I was expecting DA2 to be superior to it. And it failed, miserably. The ending is really, really, really what sets the sour taste in my mouth. If the middle had sucked, or if it had just been a few things like that - and a great ending - then, okay, I might have forgiven it. But when none of your choices matter to the end of DA2 (whether you side with Mages of Templars), then the ending is what you're going to remember. It's like those movies, that are really, really good - but at the end, the guy wakes up and it's all a dream - and makes the entire movie insignificant.



    Don't be surprised. Alpha Flight is a small nitch. I am surprised that so few read ElfQuest here. So...



    Actually, I used no walk through. The Fade was extremely painful and long. But it was nothing compared to the Dwarven Area (I can't recall what it was called now - but when you go underground and help them). That. Took. Forever. And there was so little scenery change. Nowhere (except for the crazy dwarf) to sell your items. But I have to say, the "Mother" you fight down there - as disgusting as she was, made it worth it. Great part right there.
    Ah yes, the Deep Roads. That is where I am now. Insanely Difficult. I love how you encounter Darkspawn in clumps of 6 to 10, but if one of your characters moves just a little bit too far (and the Darkspawn tend to run and your characters tend to follow, so it is set up like this on purpose) then they will pull in another 6 to 10 Darkspawn, rinse and repeat, next thing you know you are in a spread out battle with 50 of the little buggers! The other times I played this game, I went to Orzammar and the Deep Roads near the beginning of the game - this time, I was smart, and i waited until I leveled up some before tackling it; makes all the difference in the world.
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  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Flightpath07 View Post
    Well, if you read up on the games, the developers do insist that if you have a saved game from DAO hanging around, it imports that into DA2 and the choices your character made in the first game affect certain things in the 2nd (depending on what choices you made, certain things in the world will be different, certain characters may make different conversation choices, etc). Its subtle, but it is there.
    I would call BS, because I can't think of a single thing in DAO that was even mentioned in DA2.

    Quote Originally Posted by Flightpath07 View Post
    Honestly, that is based on your game settings. If your violence is set too high, then, yes, you will have a lot of fountaining blood and beheadings, etc.
    Mine were at the default. I never changed it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Flightpath07 View Post
    Ah yes, the Deep Roads. That is where I am now. Insanely Difficult. I love how you encounter Darkspawn in clumps of 6 to 10, but if one of your characters moves just a little bit too far (and the Darkspawn tend to run and your characters tend to follow, so it is set up like this on purpose) then they will pull in another 6 to 10 Darkspawn, rinse and repeat, next thing you know you are in a spread out battle with 50 of the little buggers! The other times I played this game, I went to Orzammar and the Deep Roads near the beginning of the game - this time, I was smart, and i waited until I leveled up some before tackling it; makes all the difference in the world.
    Deep Roads, that's it. I always recommend new players to do that last, when it's available.

  10. #10

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    I loved Origins! Hated 2! And am super excited for Inquisition!

    In Origins when dealing with hordes, it's better to go tactical and put your team on 'hold positions' before battle. That way you can select your warrior to draw the nearest ones into a choke point, and dispatch them. Then you move the team up a little and get any AoE's going, then target with ranged. Another large group will get heavily damaged on their way to you. My favorite thing in the world though is specing out an assassin rogue and taking Zevran with. Have the mage hang back just past the Tank who you put in a choke point, and put them on Hold. Then I have Zevran and the Warden scout ahead to find and assassinate any particularly dangerous enemy. As soon as their moves are triggered, I have my tank draw attention while my mage supports in some manner. Most of the enemies rush the tank and we clean up from behind. Rogues get the most DPS out of any build so long as you use them right. They got a bad rap in Origins, though, due to console players who struggled with the inferior controls in the console port.

    I also love the interaction with the characters and sense of consequence in Origins. In Origins if you pissed off party members enough they just might try to kill you! In 2 everyone just follows you like a dumb puppy no matter, and you can even 'rivalmance', which is just ****ing stupid. This was done so that players wouldn't miss out on content, but trying to prevent people from missing content due to in game choices undermines the whole idea of multiple play throughs and role playing all together.

    As to stuff from Origins carrying over to 2.... it's SUPOSED to... but there were a lot of bugs as well as incorectly flagged dialogues during cameos. So while decisions you made were supposed to, for instance, effect whether you meet Happy King Alistair, Pussy Whipped King Alistair, Grey Warden Alistair, or Slobbering Drunk Alistair, your decisions may not have ported correctly.

    The things I hated most about two were the fact that the combat was turned into hack n' slash cluster****s with little to no opportunity for strategy. On the rare occasion you're in a dungion with a decent set up, the lack of tactical camera and overly flashy fast moves left you fighting the controls and camera angles more than your enemies! Then there was the pointless 'waves' of enemies spawning out of walls, thin air, or jumping out of the ceiling. Higher difficulty level just means they throw an extra wave of randumb at you. God awful level design! I understand the copy paste issue was due to time constraints imposed by EA, but that doesn't excuse the designs being so ****ty from the get go.

    Other issues I had were complete lack of in game logic... Yeah, I'm a mage but no one says **** to me, Anders mouths off to Sir Cullen, and Cullen notes that he is an apostate but does **** all about it... Stupid stupid stupid. Now, this was somewhat a problem in Origins, too, but in Origins they had the sense to gloss over it with the fact that you are a Grey Warden during a Blight and everyone needs your god damn help. In Kirkwall you're just a damned errand boy. Then there's the fact that no matter what you do, the outcome of a quest was almost always linear in 2. Even in the endgame when you have to choose between siding with Mages or Templars, it makes literally no difference. You still have to fight both the Templar boss and the Mage boss. And the magical mcguffin from the deep roads was so stupid. My first instinct was to throw it in the lava. Everyone realizes the thing seems like bad news but 'luls, have to bring it anyway just cuz!' Then there's the really messed up dialogue wheel that is so unpradictable at times, and the really ham handed writing on characters like Anders and Merril. I couldn't get through a full playthrough and was grateful I only played a borrowed copy.

    Now, to give credit where it's due... I think it WAS cool that they added some more cinematic effects to cut scenes... though they were still pretty cringe worthy (Anders sitting on the box moping, and if you choose to kill him you just stab him in the back. lame) I liked how the characters had their own lives more so than in Origins... they weren't just sitting around a camp fire waiting for orders. That's neat. In fact they form relationships of their own with each other. So that was the one game play improvement. Aesthetically facial rendering improved but elves became deformed aliens... But the armor and clothing... now THAT was A+ work far exceeding what was done in Origins. ONE guy did a knock out job. lol

    I'm really glad that after 2 bombed, EA went hands off. You could tell DA2 wasn't the game they wanted to make, especially when you see how excited the devs are this time, and how they've been consulting with fans through the whole process. They seem like they are really getting to make a dream game this time, and I'm pretty optimistic about it. The controls look better than in ether previous game, the graphics are phenomenal, and we're literally getting more of everything we liked. It would be hard for them to **** this up, from all the clips I've seen of gameplay.

    Also, this time you can download a program called 'The Keep' for free in order to address porting issues. The Keep allows you to go through lists and select what decisions you made in the previous games.
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  11. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by EccentricSage View Post
    Also, this time you can download a program called 'The Keep' for free in order to address porting issues. The Keep allows you to go through lists and select what decisions you made in the previous games.
    Said program - PC only?

  12. #12

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    Hey 'Sage, good to hear from you again!

    For me, the very worst part of DA2 was Merrill. World's most annoying character, with no redeeming qualities.

    Best parts of DA2? Besides what you mentioned, there are the pirate captain and the rogue dwarf, two of the most entertaining characters ever designed. Its a shame Isabella won't be a companion-character in DA3.

    Also be nice to have a look at what Morrigan has been up to, since the end of Awakenings.
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  13. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by Flightpath07 View Post
    Hey 'Sage, good to hear from you again!

    For me, the very worst part of DA2 was Merrill. World's most annoying character, with no redeeming qualities.

    Best parts of DA2? Besides what you mentioned, there are the pirate captain and the rogue dwarf, two of the most entertaining characters ever designed. Its a shame Isabella won't be a companion-character in DA3.

    Also be nice to have a look at what Morrigan has been up to, since the end of Awakenings.
    Agreed! Merrill struck me as Autistic at first, which would have been fine.... But she wasn't well written so it's just 'teehee I'm such a cute little blood mage aren't I?' Her only great influence on the story is that she got Anders and Fenris to agree on something.

    Yeah, I love Varric and Isabella. Isabella's romance kind of sucks, but these two are fun. They are used a lot in the comics, and Varric is going to be a party member in Inquisition, too. I just hope archery won't suck this time. Archers have been my least favorite build... their 'moves' never make any sense and they're so vulnerable to attack. I'm looking forward to Cole... a spirit with sort of an assassin skill set we'll get as companion... He MIGHT be a demon... it should get interesting. Iron Bull seems ****ing awesome, too. A chill Quinari? About damn time. Also looking forward to offing Lelliana AGAIN, and seeing how Cullen is developing as a character. Cullen is going to be one of the council members who plays a big role and will be romancable. He's intrigued the hell out of me.

    Crossing my fingers for a Zevran cameo.


    Tawmis, I think it's currently available for PC only. I don't know what they are going to do about the consoles. There might be more info on their site.
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  14. #14
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  15. #15

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    As great a game as DAO is, I pity anyone who played it without playing the expansion set Awakening. I understand why DAO ended where it did, but Awakenings gives you the True Ending of the story.

    Oh, and I have also heard rumours that the release of DA3 is being delayed by nearly two months, back into late November-ish now. Not sure if it is true, or merely rumour.
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