Dragon Age: Origins

[Frag]

Actually, those tactics are only the default settings.

I could have been more clear, when I said Defensive/Ranged/Cautious I was referring to their behavior patterns, in opposition to Default, Aggressive, Passive. The options for those are in the upper righthand corner of the tactics UI and not the pre-set tactics of some of those names. Having either tactics or behaviors that have your party members charging off like Galahad is a good way to lose them.

Cheers,
~FragB)

[WarLocke]

For once, however, I'm going to shy away from playing any female characters— if romancing a partygoer is an actual option in this game, I'm not in the mood to go boy-chasing. In any sort of context.

You'll change your mind when you meet Alistair. :wub:

This game is swallowing my time. I've only played two of the origins (Human Noble and City Elf) but they were both awesome.

I also just bought a new monitor after my old one died, so I am enjoying this game at 1920x1080. Yes, that's my human noble stabbing an ogre in the eye with a flaming dagger. B)

[Jester]

This game is swallowing my time. I've only played two of the origins (Human Noble and City Elf) but they were both awesome.

From what I hear, checking out the Dwarven origins is definitely worth your time.

-Jester

[Frag]

From what I hear, checking out the Dwarven origins is definitely worth your time.

-Jester

They are, very muchily, they are.

~Frag:D

[Crusader]

I'm playing a dwarf noble fighter and having tons of fun. I just returned to my starting location and it's fun to see how the story proceeds with what happened there in mind. I also know that if I were playing an elf, say, I would get a different story presented there.

So far I started on Hard, but had to notch it down to normal difficulty. I notice that spellcasters have the advantage in this game. My dwarf noble is a 2 handed specialist that deals tons of damage, but without the constant stream of healing from the mage it would be over very fast. I think it's a shame that I need a spellcaster just for healing.

But the game is fun, the story a bit cliche, but the character interactions are great, the combat sometimes mindnumbingly hard (which I like) and the adult theme also is refreshing with the dubious moral choices I sometimes have to make which really affect the world. Fought my first dragon, or tried to, but had to make a hasty retreat to an earlier save and delay that fight a while. Also did some "weird" levels in the fade which were... weird.

What really draws me in is the adult and gritty themes. I haven't had a romance (yet, dwarf males get few possible companions it seems) but the copious ammounts of blood, the damright bastardly anti-hero choices that present themselves as viable and adult art (desire demon anyone?) are refreshing compared to other games out there. They should have made warhammer online like this.

[Rhydderch Hael]

The 'bedroom' montage I witnessed between my male human rogue and Morrigan last night was, in truth, disturbing. I can see why the game is rated 'Mature'— and it has nothing to do with preventing infantile minds from being exposed to such themes. Someone with even the slightest understanding of sexuality would have simply moved on and played the rest of the game— only the shamefully unprepared among us would remain transfixed at that save-point, thinking that that is as good as it gets.

To be succinct, it was like watching puppets making love. Nothing to write home about, for sure. You see it once, and you'll never be inclined to pursue it again, so just go back out there and plant your blade behind an ogre's collarbone. A far more entertaining endeavour.

As such, I can now transfer (psychically, if not physically) my favorite sociopathic blonde from TES IV: Oblivion into the kingdom of Ferelden without too much fuss.

[WarLocke]

I can see why the game is rated 'Mature'— and it has nothing to do with preventing infantile minds from being exposed to such themes.

When one of the possible origin stories consists of you and your cousin being kidnapped to be raped by an arl's son, and your betrothed dying trying to rescue you (City Elf Female)... Yeah.

Then there's the gratuitous gore and blood splatter (which I almost immediately turned off).

I really like the setting and the fact that they're addressing these sorts of issues, but this is definitely not a game I would let my nephew play.

[Nystul]

Someone with even the slightest understanding of sexuality would have simply moved on and played the rest of the game— only the shamefully unprepared among us would remain transfixed at that save-point, thinking that that is as good as it gets.

To be succinct, it was like watching puppets making love.

Suddenly I really want this game!

[Zarathustra]

Origins so far:

Human Noble (male rogue, melee): Wow. First one I played, and it reeled me in; gave me a true interest in pursuing the villians.

Elf Magi (Blood specialization, focus on Entropy and Spirit): Second playthrough. Definitely enjoyed it and I can see where the Circle is coming from.

Dwarf Commoner (male warrior): Awesome start. The seedy underbelly of the Dwarven world was an interesting place to start, as I'd saved it for last on my first playthrough.

Dalish Elf (female rogue, archer): Disappointing. It seemed over entirely too quickly and didn't reel me in like the others. I actually ended up at Ostagar saying "that's it?"


Overall, I'm really enjoying the game and loving the "damned if you do, damned if you don't" resolutions to quests. I've explored all 3 of the Redcliff choices regarding the "evil," and am eager to see how it plays out in the end (my Dwarf chose the quick and easy route this last playthrough). The more adult themes are refreshing in a world where it seems everyone's all about alluding to mature subjects without actually coming out and saying it.

And hey... Claudia Black as the voice of Morrigan? My curiosity was piqued right off the bat.

Definitely worth the buy, and it has all the replay value of the Diablo series in that I actually want to keep playing through it with different origins and character builds. My playthrough with the mage never even touched the Creation or Elemental trees, and I could see playing through with a second mage just to tinker with those. I've got the wheels turning on a few variants like a 2H-wielding, plate-wearing rogue that's capitalizing on ridiculous backstabs.... we'll see.

[Tris]

HLAs break everything, as do level 9 spells. With enough Time Stops, you can cheeze almost anything. Chain Contingency, OTOH, is border-line BROKEN. I'm actually a fan of SoA-level mage combat - although I also use Sword Coast Strategems, which makes enemy mages much more defensive then in vanilla.

Pre-buffing is not fun, yes - but (IMO) playing the "Find a way to strip that Spell Immunity: Divination, so you can dispel Improved Invisibility, so you can get a Breach, before your party gets fried" is an interesting chess match.

I miss BGII, have the exp disc, but the rest of it is long gone. FWIW, I liked Chain Contengency:) The only thing is, it works on offensive spells... which according to the documentation it shouldn't.

Can't remember the name of the big red dragon, but put lower resist on all my chained spells. Did a time stop, followed by the chained LR's, missles, lightning bolts, toxic clouds, etc. I don't think the thing got a single attack off.

But yeah, gnome illusionist/fighter FTW. In physical combat mode, when properly equipped, he had more HP than the above mentioned dragon:)

Kinda miss my Chaotic evil sorceror who loved summoning pit fiends in pubs:)

Soloed most of BGII and exp with: Gnome illusionist/fighter, Human Pally, Avenger druid, Sorceror. The end stuff became rather annoying and I gave up on much of the end ToB parts. Favorite single target direct damage spell = chromatic orb for its ability to give one-shot single target killing ability at a relatively low char level. Petrified trolls don't come back to life:) Much easier than trying to dowse with fire/acid after knock down.

[Jester]

Can't remember the name of the big red dragon, but put lower resist on all my chained spells.

Firkraag.

Soloed most of BGII and exp with: Gnome illusionist/fighter, Human Pally, Avenger druid, Sorceror. The end stuff became rather annoying and I gave up on much of the end ToB parts.

It was the ravager that finally beat me on my Gnome Illusionist. I think, with enough time and luck, I might have beaten him, and gotten to the final fight (I'd even planned my strategy - using Wish to refresh spells). But, having failed to beat the last boss even with a 2-man (Paladin + Fighter/Cleric), I wasn't optimistic. The last fight is actually really tough, unless you cheese it with a thief.

-Jester

[Chesspiece_face]

Despite the rather tactical combat, the main focus IS the story and... it's a doozy. Not sure if it's better than the 'stories of old', but up front, it's a lot more mature than they were. Oh, flirting... damn, it's funny, especially in a teenage-romance kinda way. It's embarrassing, full of humor and a funny way to blow off some steam.

Back to killing darkspawn with mah mind!:D
~Frag

I picked up the Xbox 360 version of this the other day and am about 15-20 hours in so far. I knew the game was built for the PC going in and that there were possible lacking areas as far as the console versions but any more I'd just rather play most games on the couch with the big screen and surround sound. The story so far is very engaging but the game play is some of the most bi-polar I've seen in a long while. The entire section with the mage tower and the fade made me want to stab myself in the face as well as gave me a migraine having to stare at a screen that was blurry for hours while playing that section.

And on the 360 version the auto-save feature is completely worthless and would have been better off left out of the game. (I don't know how it is on the PC.) There will be areas of the game where it will seem to auto save after every door you pass through and then other areas where I will play for hours criss-crossing the map and doing quests and not have it auto-save once. I know all PC-centric gamers will say "Save early, Save often!" (I've played my fare share of PC games as well as JRPGs) but the reality is that games are past this point. If you have an auto-save feature in your game that may not save for hours on end, you have a broken feature. And this is probably one of the worst travesties you can put in a game as it not only betrays the player's trust it can and most often will invalidate large swaths of the time they invest in your game. At least most JRPGs are up front and honest about the save system: You keep playing until you get to the next save point. By showing your players that there is an auto-save system working in the game you give them the expectation that at any point were they to fail they won't be put back too far. It also implies that the Save Game feature is less a constant necessity and more to be used at the end of a gaming session. Checkpoints are the norm for games anymore and unfortunately it seems as if the auto-save feature in this game is only there to make sure you have a fresh save before a boss fight.

[Swiss Mercenary]

Opinions so far (Finished the urn quest, not much else done):

The setting is... Underwhelming. Dark and Gritty could have been handled far better - instead, it seems uninspired, somehow. We've got the classic Bioware GOOD or EVIL solutions, with a bit of bait and switch. Some quests try to place you into a "Lesser of two evils" dillema... And then, make the right dialogue options, and you'll squeeze out the Goodie Two Shoes option, which is considered a valid solution, even when its nonsense. Spending a day and a half to travel to the Circle Tower to get lyrium, to save one person, while there's a demon loose, that's been killing people. Yeah, that sounds like a fantastic idea. What I get out of it is, sadly, "We don't want the player to be forced to commit an, eh, evil act. Let's give him a unrealistic goodie two-shoes option. Look! Dark and gritty!"

Here's the rub - it could have been justified if someone, anyone acknowledged just how stupid that option is (But if you really want to save the person in question, at the cost of other lives, you can take it).

I'd also love an explanation for why you can walk willy-nilly into Denerim, when everyone and their brother recognises you to be The Grey Warden, but doesn't bother to turn you in.

Now... There's legitimate plot devices that could have been used to explain that. Getting into the city, without being recognised could have been a quest. Yet, for some reason, the writers chose to place the PC's life into the hands of a guard who doesn't believe the "Official" account, and the collective lazyness of, uh, everyone else.

It feels that, plot-wise, the game is 80% there. Another step here, there, and over here, would produce the desired effect. Sadly, it's still following the Bioware formula of "You see a beggar. Do you: 1) Give him all your money. 2) Suck Out His Soul. 3) Meh." Except now, instead of a beggar, its a rape victim, courtesy of the mature setting. And option 1 only appears after a bit of dialogue. (Not a reference to the City Elf Origin)

The combat's great, but is definitely the high point of the game.

Speaking of auto-save, it's definitely inconsistent.

[Jester]

The setting is... Underwhelming. Dark and Gritty could have been handled far better - instead, it seems uninspired, somehow. We've got the classic Bioware GOOD or EVIL solutions, with a bit of bait and switch. Some quests try to place you into a "Lesser of two evils" dillema... And then, make the right dialogue options, and you'll squeeze out the Goodie Two Shoes option, which is considered a valid solution, even when its nonsense. Spending a day and a half to travel to the Circle Tower to get lyrium, to save one person, while there's a demon loose, that's been killing people. Yeah, that sounds like a fantastic idea. What I get out of it is, sadly, "We don't want the player to be forced to commit an, eh, evil act. Let's give him a unrealistic goodie two-shoes option. Look! Dark and gritty!"

I think the idea behind the writing was to add more realistic choices that the player can take, rather than just the "Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader" options. But if you simply wipe out the "Jedi" path, you alienate a very large segment of the audience. Most people playing through RPGs want to play a moral character, and if you don't let them, or make every choice an impossible moral dilemma, you're going to end up with a frustrated audience.

-Jester

[Swiss Mercenary]

I think the idea behind the writing was to add more realistic choices that the player can take, rather than just the "Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader" options. But if you simply wipe out the "Jedi" path, you alienate a very large segment of the audience. Most people playing through RPGs want to play a moral character, and if you don't let them, or make every choice an impossible moral dilemma, you're going to end up with a frustrated audience.

-Jester

*SPOILER WARNING*
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You don't necessarily have to wipe it out - but then you have to either justify that option. Off the top of my head, I could think of a few ways to do so - but instead, everyone just assumes that the demon won't kill anyone while I'm traveling to the tower.

What ends up happening, is that the dark and gritty themes have a brilliant set-up, but mediocre follow-through.

The temple with the urn was a good example of that. You either need to pass a persuasion check to get the good outcome, or you get a choice between two bad outcomes. All three are realistic.

Well, except for the part where I didn't kill the dragon. And despite my best efforts to convince the scholar that opening the place up for tourism is a bad idea, it didn't occur to my PC or anyone in my party to mention that little detail. That and the death traps. But that's nitpicking.

Once again, I'm not that far into the game - I may be seeing the exceptions to the rule, here.

[Zarathustra]

Into my third playthrough and I have to say that the game's strength is also its weakness.

The campaign is a lot of fun and I really enjoyed my first playthrough. On the second, I found myself hitting fast-forward more often than not through the dialogue.

Yes
Yep
Mmhm
No, you're not a killer
I agree
Yep
No, go no.
Okay.

Now halfway through my third playthrough (this time as a Dwarven warrior)... I'm fading. This focus on the story wears thin with multiple plays. More often than not I find myself trying ot hurry up through the story so I can get back to the combat and see how the build plays against x creature or y boss. It was definitely worth the money and I could see revisitting it later down the road after I'm done with this third play, but it does not have the replay value I had anticipated. D2, it ain't.

[Thenryb]

Into my third playthrough and I have to say that the game's strength is also its weakness.

The campaign is a lot of fun and I really enjoyed my first playthrough. On the second, I found myself hitting fast-forward more often than not through the dialogue.

Yes
Yep
Mmhm
No, you're not a killer
I agree
Yep
No, go no.
Okay.

Now halfway through my third playthrough (this time as a Dwarven warrior)... I'm fading. This focus on the story wears thin with multiple plays. More often than not I find myself trying ot hurry up through the story so I can get back to the combat and see how the build plays against x creature or y boss. It was definitely worth the money and I could see revisitting it later down the road after I'm done with this third play, but it does not have the replay value I had anticipated. D2, it ain't.

I hear you on the tediousness of the dialogue, particularly during a replay. Frankly, I do not know why they felt it necessary to have those dialogues with characters like merchants (other than those who are an integral part of the story). I miss Griswold's simple "Whut can I do for ya?" The other thing about the game I have trouble getting used to are the cutscenes which precede major fights and leave you in a position where it is difficult to get your party members in the right position. They are usually bunched together and vulnerable to some big AOE spell. I know there are options for controlling the entire party and I have tried enabling that, and retreating somewhere to position them tactically but it generally does not work. I also wish there was a method for taking a party member and moving him to a certain position and making him or her stay there while you activate and move other party members. There may be such techniques but I am unused to these "pause and play" type games. For the most part I have enjoyed the game.

[Jester]

From the Codex, under "Magic and Religion" - "Fen'Harel: The Dread Wolf":

The legends say that before the fall of Arlathan, the gods we know and revere fought an endless war with others of their kind. There is not a hahren among us who remembers these others: Only in dreams do we hear whispered the names of Geldauran and Daern'thal and Anaris, for they are the Forgotten Ones, the gods of terror and malice, spite and pestilence. In ancient times, only Fen'Harel could walk without fear among both our gods and the Forgotten Ones, for although he is kin to the gods of the People, the Forgotten Ones knew of his cunning ways, and saw him as one of their own.

Fear me. :lol:

-Jester

[Frag]

Fear me. :lol:

-Jester

After seeing you back up off of a certain platform, NEVAH!

Hats off to your bro gettin' ya in there,
~Frag:D