Dragon age origins

[NathanielxWv4]

So i just purchased this, because i want to play Number 2, so i wanna start from begining, can you let me know what its like, as i have to wait for it to be delieverd from ebay, i did buy the Ultimate edition so i get all DLC. Whats peoples thoughts on this game? i will also write a review on it aswell, but i am aware its a lil old now :D. Thanks

[Switchblade]

Hey mate, I have this game a few dlc's and awakening. I also have number 2. It's a good game yes. I thoroughly enjoyed it yes. Love the deep conversations you can have with characters with so many choices throughout game gives it replay value right there. You can be good, neutral, bad etc with your decisions affecting gameplay. An example is an assassin comes to kill you, you cannsend him away, kill him, or have him join you etc, but be careful, as they may turn on you later etc. You can fall in love, or hate a character and both has consequences. It may not excel on the visuals but you will enjoy it trust me. Awakenings is an entire new story on from origins which again is really good. The Dlc's are ok, bit simple and easy, but then it's only extras.
Now we move in to Dragon age 2. Don't buy it. Dungeons are identical to each other so you are like 'I've been here before', you can't even equip your fellow team mates with armour as it's upgraded automatically at certain intervals in the game, and the interactions with your team mates can only happen at key times in the game, where as origins, you can talk at any time with them about things that have happened. It's a let down number 2 mate. Stick with origins and awakening as they are fantastic. I still play thm now while number 2 acts as a coaster! Enjoy!

[NathanielxWv4]

cheers mate, i cannot wait now :)

[ROFLBRYCE]

I loved the game itself. Play the in-game DLC as you go along, but don't play any of the "Start a new game DLC" (Witch hunt, hurlock chronicles, leliana's song, etc) until you beat the game.


There's so many different outcomes of the game, I just love it. Be careful of the decisions you make ;) Best money I ever spent.

[Saph]

(Note that I'm not trying to say that all who like DAO have bad taste, I'm not, I'm just letting you know my opinion on it :) Disclaimer epicness right there)

I personally think that Dragon Age: Origins is one of the weakest wannabe RPGs out there, as it really only has the bare basics required to be an RPG, such as a lore, a storyline that greatly includes the character you play, and said character can be customized and named to your liking, even make it look like you! And you can interact with NPCs and kill NPCs etc. etc. all of this it has, but to me it LACKS so MUCH!

DAO is barely even an RPG to me, and here're my reasons why I really hated DAO:
(Note that I do also own all of the DLCs etc. and I have completed the entire game, since I REALLY wanted this game to be likeable, but alas, to no avail)

1) DAO is named after its tutorial style beginning, Origins. Each race and class has a set 'origin', some with only 1 choice(IE Mage) while most others have 2(Elves, dwarves). You can choose to be a dwarven prince destined to become king of the entire dwarven kingdom, or you can be an elf, and be a lower caste city elf living in squalor, OR you can be a low caste thug dwarf who works for a huge crime organization, or be a woodland elf who values freedom and lives in the forest. It is your choice to make, and this is really cool, as you decide how your game starts, and where it so does!

But here's where it sucks: Every origin has 1 set time span, meaning the total time it'll take to finish it. I have managed to complete every origin in the game in as little as 30-40 minutes. The sad part here is(And mind you the game is NAMED after the origins feature)that once you complete the 'origin tutorial' as I like to call the beginning of each game, you will be thrown into the standard game timeline, which all of the classes and races, no matter what you chose, you'll always end up with the same storyline after the first 40 min of gameplay. This sucks, as the game is actually NAMED after this, it should have a bigger impact on your game, and not just decide how your game begins.

2) A big part of enjoying an RPG to me, is freedom. There's a reason why its called an RPG(Role Playing Game) And it includes the ability to take FULL control over a customized avatar that you made yourself. And after said fully customizable avatar is made, I can walk into a world where I could literally walk for hours, seeing sights and cities and little villages and meet people and get mugged by highwaymen all just cause I'm taking a stroll on the main highway, or run into a forest and not be seen for months only to emerge as a forest dwelling beast. An RPG to me, is freedom, if I wanna go and do my own thing, or do a side story quest, or simply do the main quest and be done with it, that's my choice, rather than for example Call of Duty where your role, looks, and mission is set, and your only job is to complete it.

In DAO, it is more like CoD. Your 'world' is UNPARALELLED in its tinyness, and traveling is literally none existant(Instead of traveling on a road, you'll be staring at a map of this unaccessible world, your path taking on said map represented by a trail of droplets of blood leading from 1 accessible location to another, marked by little logos. Your goal is laid out, and there're very VERY few side quests to do, as everything you need to see, and do will happen as you do the main quest.

3) Combat in DAO is just like #2 on my list. I enjoy the freedom, and I enjoy being able to run up to ANY guy I want and start beating his face in. But in DAO you can't even pull out your sword and admire your combat moves. Combat is almost arena like in its style, you have yourself and a small group of companions that you choose yourself upon leaving your camp, and you can then control every 1 of them, and tell them what to do. You even have a pause button to give your companions orders before pushing play again. Only a few spells and abilities are capable of being used through a hotbar. Actually, it is EXACTLY like World of Warcraft in the combat UI and system. Automated, with only a few buttons to press to get a sense of freedom in a game genre based on the idea of freedom(Role playing anyone)

4) Incompatibility is a problem, as Bioware has gone crazy with advertising their games' abilities to transfer a character from 1 game to another, they even released a character creator before the game itself released, so people could customize their characters EXACTLY the way they wanted them, and then, when the game is out, they can transfer their month long project to the DAO game, and that was cool, but with the newer games that is no longer possible, and the huge advertising they made with this has fallen apart, and people are angry that they infact DO have to start all over again in the newer titles. Don't promise something you can't keep.

5) Lacks things to do, and everything looks the same. You can't take a job to make some extra bucks, you have a very limited supply of side quests to keep the game fresh and entertaining, and you can't really customize your avatars appearance, he can't get a hair cut or a shave or different hair color, and your clothes is not really that special, as all of the gear looks the same as other gear for its category(for example all leather gear has the same texture model, but different colors), so this means that your character will look almost EXACTLY the same throughout the game, only the color of your clothes changing as you go, and the colors aren't even that good either, from for example rust red, to bog green, to sick yellow, to faded blue. There's not a single black or white that I've seen, and there arent dyes available to customize alittle bit. You are literally stuck with whatever gear your character wears. Weapons also fall under this issue.

6) interest factor drops quickly in DAO. Your first play through is extremely entertaining and fun, and you have a great time doing it, I certainly did, I loved the game in the beginning, and I was a common appearance on the games forums. But then I completed the game only after about a week and a half on the 2nd hardest setting(Bioware swore up and down that the game was gonna get its length from its shere difficulty, and I found no such thing in it).
Note: The problem here is that the death system is overpowered, unless ALL of your characters die, all of your characters come back to life, and you dont have to try again, so its VERY rare that all your characters die, especially since the healer is seemingly ALWAYS the last to stand, who can then resurrect fallen companions
And after I completed it the first time, the only interesting things to do after was to try different classes and race combinations, and different origins to go with them. I completed the game 3 times, but I had like every possible class/race/origin combination possible(Not really that many at all :S), and I tried to complete every origin as every race with every class, and at this point I had done it all. After about 3 weeks of gaming in total, DAO had officially run out of gas, and the only thing left to do was to get the DLC. The DLCs are fun, but they're not completing to the game, they're just an extra few things to do untill the next Dragon Age game was released, but yet again Bioware seemed to miss calculate the time it'd take to complete them. I completed every DLC in a few days, and I was back where I began, even after spending ALOT of money on trying to get the game to be more fun than it actually is.



BUT, its not all doom and gloom, for the points above are solely my opinions, and as sure as I am that there're those who agree fully, and also only partially, there're also those who disagree fully, and also only partially. Some good points that I can say are for example:

1) Very interesting lore, and the storyline is flawless and draws you in like a good book. Despite the lacking freedom, you really do feel like a grey warden, and it is your destiny to give your life in order to save your world.

2) Huge selection of companions, each with their own unique personality. The voice acting in DAO is amazing, and really helps the realism set in.

3) Social freedom. Gay? Bi? Straight? Doesn't matter, you can have a relationship with pretty much any of the companions you meet(except the old and those made out of stone, duh :p)

4) Thrilling combat. Despite the combat NOT being my taste, I could see how the strategic aspect to the idea of 1 brain trying to make a handful of minions work as a team, it gives a sense of control, kind of like a general on a battlefield. Bioware successfully combined a 3rd person RPG, with a birds eye view Strategy game, almost as if it was mated with League of Legends or something, really, but where you control the whole team. It is a good combination that I can understand why it got so popular with the fans.


That's my opinion on DAO, and even though I personally dislike it, the game is such a crossroads of prefference, that there're those who like it one way, those who dislike it another, and those who both like and dislike it in yet another, plus a complete fourth that I can't wrap my brain around at the moment XD

So I'd say that if you like games such as Oblivion or Fallout, and expecting DAO to be something like it? You'll be gravely disappointed.

If you however enjoy strategy games, and more streamlined 3rd person RPGs(Sortof like the first Fable Game, not so much Fable II or III as they're both much more open worldish)Then I'd say you're gonna love it.

And yes, DAO does explain pretty much the entire lore, so I'd say to ANYONE who're thinking about trying the Dragon Age games, start with the Origins game, and work your way up, using the release dates as a guide to what order to get them in.

[NathanielxWv4]

thanks for the reply, it will arrive tommorow, and i have the day off, so i get a whole day at it, ive seen so many reviews that i cannot wait, but i need to finish this before i evan think about getting number 2. CANNOT WAIT!

[Saph]

thanks for the reply, it will arrive tommorow, and i have the day off, so i get a whole day at it, ive seen so many reviews that i cannot wait, but i need to finish this before i evan think about getting number 2. CANNOT WAIT!

Is it safe to assume that you probably got discouraged by the length of my reply and decided to just give a default reply to it instead?

If you truely did read it? Hope you enjoy it! :D

If you didn't? I'd really read it all, cause there's some pretty important and pretty true points in there.

[paecmaker]

Is it safe to assume that you probably got discouraged by the length of my reply and decided to just give a default reply to it instead?

If you truely did read it? Hope you enjoy it! :D

If you didn't? I'd really read it all, cause there's some pretty important and pretty true points in there.

I read it, and even if I liked the game some points made me think.:p

[Saph]

I know right? Normally people who dont like a game just spew profanities at it and think everyone who likes it suck(try out Black Ops on various forums :S Damn thats nasty)

But seriously DAO is an awesome game, hands down, BUT, there're so many cons that I can think of that I think DAO had loads of potential, possibly potential to become bigger than Oblivion on some fronts(thats putting the marker high, Oblivion was the closest to perfection I've seen). But Bioware, in my opinion, took the game in a direction that didn't FIT with it...It just felt ODD and staged and out of place throughout the game...Only the origins made me feel like I was playing an RPG, but the rest to me...well...just felt like a glorified game of Warcraft III really...

[NathanielxWv4]

Well i recieved it yesterday, and got to play it for about an hour, and my first impressions are WOW..... Like really. I did read your post properly and yes ive already spotted a few cons, but overall for my first hour it has been pretty amazing. The voice acting, the movement, the combat. ( although press X too many times makes him say "do you want a ladder to get off my back" is rather annoying. But so far it is awesome and i cant wait to put in some serious hours. I never played oblivion, it didnt look all that, and it was first person right? not for me.


But overall i love it, i can see me losing my week holiday in cornwall to it. You will have to play through it 10 times i can see to actually get 100% out of the game. 5 back grounds + doing all 5 as good and bad.

I need to get some more game time in it, but i will have a review for it by the end of the week, now i know number 2 is out, but i like to write reviews for every game i play so i will be doing one and i will post it, if an admin lets me get review status.

Overall i am really enjoying it so far.

[Synge]

But here's where it sucks: Every origin has 1 set time span, meaning the total time it'll take to finish it. I have managed to complete every origin in the game in as little as 30-40 minutes. The sad part here is(And mind you the game is NAMED after the origins feature)that once you complete the 'origin tutorial' as I like to call the beginning of each game, you will be thrown into the standard game timeline, which all of the classes and races, no matter what you chose, you'll always end up with the same storyline after the first 40 min of gameplay. This sucks, as the game is actually NAMED after this, it should have a bigger impact on your game, and not just decide how your game begins.

Yes, but different origins will have different effects (some quite large) on the game throughout; It's not like you pick a race and the game just forgets your role. You can't expect them to make an essentially entirely different game for each class/race combo..



2) A big part of enjoying an RPG to me, is freedom. There's a reason why its called an RPG(Role Playing Game) And it includes the ability to take FULL control over a customized avatar that you made yourself. And after said fully customizable avatar is made, I can walk into a world where I could literally walk for hours, seeing sights and cities and little villages and meet people and get mugged by highwaymen all just cause I'm taking a stroll on the main highway, or run into a forest and not be seen for months only to emerge as a forest dwelling beast. An RPG to me, is freedom, if I wanna go and do my own thing, or do a side story quest, or simply do the main quest and be done with it, that's my choice, rather than for example Call of Duty where your role, looks, and mission is set, and your only job is to complete it.

In DAO, it is more like CoD. Your 'world' is UNPARALELLED in its tinyness, and traveling is literally none existant(Instead of traveling on a road, you'll be staring at a map of this unaccessible world, your path taking on said map represented by a trail of droplets of blood leading from 1 accessible location to another, marked by little logos. Your goal is laid out, and there're very VERY few side quests to do, as everything you need to see, and do will happen as you do the main quest.

It does lack in the exploration department. I was a bit disappointed that fast travel was mandatory and I couldn't walk from location to location and see the sights, but you're exaggerating wayyy too much. Several of the towns and locations are fairly large and there are often branching paths to choose from.

And I'm not sure what you're talking about regarding lack of side quests.. Origin specific side quests, The Blackstone Irregulars (is that what they're called?), Chantry boards... there's certainly no shortage..



3) Combat in DAO is just like #2 on my list. I enjoy the freedom, and I enjoy being able to run up to ANY guy I want and start beating his face in. But in DAO you can't even pull out your sword and admire your combat moves. Combat is almost arena like in its style, you have yourself and a small group of companions that you choose yourself upon leaving your camp, and you can then control every 1 of them, and tell them what to do. You even have a pause button to give your companions orders before pushing play again. Only a few spells and abilities are capable of being used through a hotbar. Actually, it is EXACTLY like World of Warcraft in the combat UI and system. Automated, with only a few buttons to press to get a sense of freedom in a game genre based on the idea of freedom(Role playing anyone)

This is the bit that boggles my mind most about your post. This game is loaded with spells and abilities, and you can extend your hotbar to stretch the entire length of your screen.. The only 'automated' aspect of the combat is the fact that players you're not directly controlling will 'choose' what abilities they perform, but you can set combat tactics to determine what abilities they're more apt to use, and as you said, pause the game to queue up the attacks of every party member.



*something about all armour looking the same*
Yeah, the armour in this game is just lame, probably the biggest let down for me. If I'm playing a third person RPG, character in front of my face for 50+ hours, I wanna look cool.

Legion tank armour was probably the only set I thought was well done.

[Saph]

Yes, but different origins will have different effects (some quite large) on the game throughout; It's not like you pick a race and the game just forgets your role. You can't expect them to make an essentially entirely different game for each class/race combo..

Well I'd say that it is actually exactly that. I mean sure if you're a dwarf and you come back to the dwarf city there're some minor, not really that relevant hints on that you used to be a thug or a prince or whatever, but you don't get any special quests or any special ANYTHING for that matter for any origin you pick. They even make sure that it's not super obvious by for example:

The human origin: Your entire family dies except I believe your brother or something, who happens to have been in a coma or something throughout the game(I.E they didn't wanna bother working too much extra into it, so they killed everyone off and placed the last guy in a coma JUST so you had someone to remember from your origin times when you finish the game and stand in the throneroom...)

And why exactly can you not expect that? How can you not expect a game to BE ABOUT what it is NAMED after? Origins...multiple timelines, one for each person you decide to play, a different life, different scenarios, different behaviors. Why should you do anything BUT expect that?



It does lack in the exploration department. I was a bit disappointed that fast travel was mandatory and I couldn't walk from location to location and see the sights, but you're exaggerating wayyy too much. Several of the towns and locations are fairly large and there are often branching paths to choose from.

And I'm not sure what you're talking about regarding lack of side quests.. Origin specific side quests, The Blackstone Irregulars (is that what they're called?), Chantry boards... there's certainly no shortage..

I really don't think I exaggerated at all. The cities are deffinately not large compared to other cities you can find in other games. I mean in the main city(which according to the map is HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE) you can only be in a small handful of locations within that city, such as the market, the elven squalor area, the brothel(go figure), and a few backalleys for experience purposes. Later on you can get access to a castle and some mansions in there too, but during the vast majority of the game, you can't really do much in the main city at all, heck, you can't even go and explore it :S Not when the only exploration fix you get(mind you it IS an RPG, which I think entales a must in exploration?)consists of spatters of blood on a parchment to mark the path your character takes while you wait(the blood spatter also functions as a loading bar). Various other small towns are really not that large at all either, they really are just the size of for example the market district in the main city, and no larger then that.

I have no recollection about origin specific side quests, none whatsoever.



This is the bit that boggles my mind most about your post. This game is loaded with spells and abilities, and you can extend your hotbar to stretch the entire length of your screen.. The only 'automated' aspect of the combat is the fact that players you're not directly controlling will 'choose' what abilities they perform, but you can set combat tactics to determine what abilities they're more apt to use, and as you said, pause the game to queue up the attacks of every party member.

I think you misunderstand what I'm trying to say. It doesnt matter how many abilities you have or which hotbar is biggest(lol). And what are you talking about? The whole combat system is completely automated:

- Point and click movement
- Point and click abilities
- Point and click autoattack
- Point and click 'use' funtion(opening doors)

Everything in DAO is point and click, and that is NOT manual, that is as automated as it can be. For example auto attack. You click once, and your character runs over BY HIM/HERSELF and begins attacking, untill you click a spell, which they perform, and goes back to auto attack. It is pretty much EXACTLY like a glorified Warcraft III game, just closer to the ground.

And just to say it: All of the ability animations in the game look the same as well.




Yeah, the armour in this game is just lame, probably the biggest let down for me. If I'm playing a third person RPG, character in front of my face for 50+ hours, I wanna look cool.

Legion tank armour was probably the only set I thought was well done.

Legion Armor did look awesome, but I just couldnt get around the fact that all gear sucked to look at(loved the witch robe or whatever, just cause there was cleavage...cant be cool? Be sexy then)

I got most of my cooler looking gear from addons and mods..Fan made gear who also thought that there were too many cheapass texture copy/paste thingies going on, so they decided to make some completely new looking gear, there're even some that change the texture of in game items just to make some uniqueness worked in there.



You didn't seem to notice my pros though! :( I'm not all mr.hatred for this game. I didn't complete the game and bought all of the DLCs while utterly hating it. A large part of it WAS fun, and despite me not really thinking it as an RPG(More a glorified strategy game), it was still a game that was fun to play. I just don't think you should expect as much as the WTF BOOOM hype let on when it first came out. I mean I preordered it and was a daily occurence on the Bioware forums talking about it, and I thought it was gonna be the most KICKASS RPG ever...And for the first week or 2 it was, untill the cons above began to get to me. Havn't played it since I uninstalled it, but talking about it has made me think about giving it another shot soon. DA2 is probably also gonna be on my list of future must tries...Cause normally, if the first one sucked, a sequel can fix some of those when the devs have gotten more like/dislike feedback.

[Synge]

Well I'd say that it is actually exactly that. I mean sure if you're a dwarf and you come back to the dwarf city there're some minor, not really that relevant hints on that you used to be a thug or a prince or whatever, but you don't get any special quests or any special ANYTHING for that matter for any origin you pick. They even make sure that it's not super obvious by for example:

The story plays out generally the same, yeah, but as I said, you can't expect them to make entirely different games for each origin.. But your initial complaint made it sound as if everything in the game will be exactly the same, no matter your origin, after the first hour of gameplay. Which isn't completely true. This game is heavily centered around relationships, and the conversations you have with your companions and others througout the story. These tend to change up based on your role. They didn't do as much as they could have, I'll agree with that, but I think they did well enough, especially when compared to games with similar features.



I really don't think I exaggerated at all. The cities are deffinately not large compared to other cities you can find in other games. I mean in the main city(which according to the map is HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE) you can only be in a small handful of locations within that city, such as the market, the elven squalor area, the brothel(go figure), and a few backalleys for experience purposes. Later on you can get access to a castle and some mansions in there too, but during the vast majority of the game, you can't really do much in the main city at all, heck, you can't even go and explore it :S Not when the only exploration fix you get(mind you it IS an RPG, which I think entales a must in exploration?)consists of spatters of blood on a parchment to mark the path your character takes while you wait(the blood spatter also functions as a loading bar). Various other small towns are really not that large at all either, they really are just the size of for example the market district in the main city, and no larger then that.

I have no recollection about origin specific side quests, none whatsoever.


Comparing this game to a corridor shooter (and stating, "its UNPARALELLED in its tinyness") is an exaggeration.




I think you misunderstand what I'm trying to say. It doesnt matter how many abilities you have or which hotbar is biggest(lol). And what are you talking about? The whole combat system is completely automated:

- Point and click movement
- Point and click abilities
- Point and click autoattack
- Point and click 'use' funtion(opening doors)

Everything in DAO is point and click, and that is NOT manual, that is as automated as it can be. For example auto attack. You click once, and your character runs over BY HIM/HERSELF and begins attacking, untill you click a spell, which they perform, and goes back to auto attack. It is pretty much EXACTLY like a glorified Warcraft III game, just closer to the ground.

"Only a few spells and abilities are capable of being used through a hotbar"

I was addressing this when bringing up the hot bar. There loads of spells and abilities. What games have you been playing that give you access to such a huge arsenal that you can refer to DA:O's quantity of abilities as "a few"?

This game supports WASD control, did you play the whole game zoomed out? The combat is point and click, yes, because it incorporates strategy elements and is deeper than you make it out to be. I don't see this as being automated or lacking freedom.. Are you saying games like StarCraft give you no freedom?

Also, just curious, what was your class? Maybe I see this game in a different light than you because I played a mage (started a human noble but haven't finished) and mages have a lot of freedom in how spells are cast and such.




Edit:


You didn't seem to notice my pros though! :( I'm not all mr.hatred for this game. I didn't complete the game and bought all of the DLCs while utterly hating it. A large part of it WAS fun, and despite me not really thinking it as an RPG(More a glorified strategy game), it was still a game that was fun to play. I just don't think you should expect as much as the WTF BOOOM hype let on when it first came out. I mean I preordered it and was a daily occurence on the Bioware forums talking about it, and I thought it was gonna be the most KICKASS RPG ever...And for the first week or 2 it was, untill the cons above began to get to me. Havn't played it since I uninstalled it, but talking about it has made me think about giving it another shot soon. DA2 is probably also gonna be on my list of future must tries...Cause normally, if the first one sucked, a sequel can fix some of those when the devs have gotten more like/dislike feedback.
I noticed your pros, but there's no need to argue the points I agree with :P

And had you ever played a Bioware game before? If you had you should have known what to expect.

DA2 isn't worth it I hear, I haven't even bothered trying it out, and am not really motivated to. However, maybe it'll be better for you because the combat is supposedly more in-your-face action-y.