This is great! Hope every story-based RPG will have something similar.
Celebrate it when we see it works. Sorry to be skeptical, but I'm skeptical.
This won`t be a day one buy from me . I will likely pick it up later or maybe not.....just depends . However I am concerned about one thing given Bioware`s past games concerning romances . By this I mean for example Mass Effect 1 and 2 and DA:O where you do a couple of quests for female party members and just out of nowhere it`s either her or me .....say what ? Or is not possible to have all loyal party members with or without bumping uglies in a virtual and pixelated sense ?
Because the point of these games is dating. Everything else (saving the world/universe) is secondary and serves as a background for relationships.
I can anticipate Inquisitorial torture becoming a sex scene with pixelated, clothed characters.
I'd expect exactly that to happen. It happens in most of their games and you have no idea how much of a priority it is for their fans, who literally want to know who they can bump uglies with before the game even comes out. I can recall the drama with Kaidan in ME1 that came out of the blue, so you can guess who got left behind on Virmire. B) If I get the game it'll be for the combat and MP.
The Keep is a good idea, similar to the animated flashbacks in TW2. Just surprises me with the 8 locked abilities and now you have to somehow predict the enemies you'll encounter ahead of time. That works fine in Witcher because preparation has been a core mechanic from the beginning, but it seems totally out of place in DA.
The Keep looks good but I feel the same as you. From the DA2 wiki: 18 import flags, 10 are book entries, 6 are bugged, 2 have zero impact and if your play through misses said bugs the choices you made often are just 1 or 2 sentences that amount to 'hey remember when that one thing happened?'
1. Connor lived or died during Arl of Redcliffe. This decision is supposedly recorded in Codex entry: A Study of the Fifth Blight, Vol. Two.
2. Mages or templars were recruited during Broken Circle. This decision is recorded in Codex entry: A Study of the Fifth Blight, Vol. One.
3. Dalish or werewolves were recruited during Nature of the Beast. This decision is recorded in the codex entry "A Study of the Fifth Blight, Vol. One".
4. Bhelen Aeducan or Lord Pyral Harrowmont ascended to the throne of Orzammar during A Paragon of Her Kind. This decision is recorded in the codex entry "A Study of the Fifth Blight, Vol. One".
5. Support Branka and save the Anvil, or support Caridin and destroy Anvil A Paragon of Her Kind. This decision is recorded in the codex entry "A Study of the Fifth Blight, Vol. One".
6. Andraste's ashes revealed or disappeared during The Urn of Sacred Ashes. Ashes can only be revealed by declining Kolgrim's offer and allowing Brother Genitivi to go back to Denerim. This decision is supposedly recorded in the codex entry "A Study of the Fifth Blight, Vol. Two".
7. Accept or decline Morrigan's ritual during Morrigan's Ritual. This decision affects #9 and #10. This decision is supposedly recorded in the codex entry "A Study of the Fifth Blight, Vol. Two".
8. Loghain lives or dies during The Landsmeet. This decisions affects #9 and #10. This decision is supposedly recorded in the codex entry "A Study of the Fifth Blight, Vol. Two".
9. The Warden/Alistair/Loghain kills the Archdemon during The Landsmeet. This decision affects #10. This decision is recorded in Codex entry: The Hero of Ferelden. This decision may also be recorded in the codex entry "A Study of the Fifth Blight, Vol. Two".
10. Who ascended Ferelden's throne (the Warden, Anora, Alistair, Anora with the Warden, Anora with Alistair, or the Warden with Alistair). This decision is recorded in the codex entry "The Hero of Ferelden". This decision may also be recorded in the codex entry "A Study of the Fifth Blight, Vol". Two.
11. If the Warden finds Shale in The Stone Prisoner DLC and she survives Dragon Age: Origins, Corff the Bartender will make an indirect reference by commenting on the declining pigeon population of Ferelden. In Origins, Shale can be killed during A Paragon of Her Kind if the Warden sides with Branka. Corff the Bartender's comment remains the same even when importing from a game without The Stone Prisoner installed.
12. Avernus or Sophia Dryden spared in Warden's Keep DLC
13. What the Warden did with King Cailan's body in Return to Ostagar DLC. Unknown impact in Dragon Age II.
14. Amaranthine, or Vigil's Keep, or both are saved in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
15. The Architect lived or died at the end of Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening.
16. Nathaniel Howe remained with the Grey Wardens or not during Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening. The only way to ensure Nathaniel remains with the Grey Wardens is to recruit him, ensure his survival, complete his personal quest and raise his approval rating over 75.
17. Whether the Warden leaves Morrigan, stabs Morrigan, or follows her into the Eluvian at the end of Witch Hunt DLC.
18. Whether Zevran Arainai lives or dies during Dragon Age: Origins.
Not at all excited for this game. It's hard to care when every game has a new cast, and the ones that return barely matter since they're not interacting with a character of yours that has some history. I also feel like this game is just one big social justice statement. I have no issue with people of different sexual preferences but it's pretty unrealistic that so many non heteros are in one group. I think purely heterosexuals are actually in the minority. Besides that, the characters seem meh. Dragon age 2 couldn't top the original cast, and they still won't. They should've stuck with the warden and kept the silent protagonist. And focus less on making everyone look so pretty. Even my man Varric looks like a pretty boy. Side note, Josephine is hawt, lol. So is Leliana, but I never liked her personality.
@Unkindled I don't mind the changing protagonist. In a world as big as that of DA, I would actually expect multiple heroes of varying origins and different points of view. Then again, I played multiple wardens, and I never endeared myself to any of them. And I'm not keen on silent protagonists. Yes, they might be more versatile and the devs don't have to pay for the extra voice work, but for me, they clash badly with an otherwise fully-voiced cast of characters; it just looks really awkward.
At this point, I'm WAY over BW's idea of romances, but at least they've gotten away from the lazy "playersexual" nonsense of DA2.
At this point, I'm WAY over BW's idea of romances, but at least they've gotten away from the lazy "playersexual" nonsense of DA2.
I'll give you that. A lot of times, the silent aspect of the warden is awkward. But to be honest, Hawke was a lot more awkward for me, but that had more to do with the story I think, more than anything else. Hawke just didn't sell the badass hero thing for me all that well, mainly because his accomplishments were meh, and the story was basically driven by his so called friends making mistake after mistake.
As for new player characters, my main issue with it is I don't have that same emotional tie in with the next game. Mass effect for me was great because throughout the game, we got to see what Shephard and his crew could do, and it was a joy to see old characters because you had history. Now, when I hear Morrigan is back, I should be excited, but really, I could care less because she doesn't know my character from a hole in the ground. You get attached to these characters, then you're forced to start anew. It's good for series' that need a different pov to stay interesting, but DA really didn't need that. Their characters were great, and could easily carry the series through three games, and more. When you don't have an emotional tie to characters, I think the series itself suffers when the main attraction, in my opinion anyway, is character interaction.
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Actually, yeah, I think DA does kinda need it. Unlike ME and its focus on the Reaper threat, DA's about a myriad crises (blights, veil tears, worldwide mage-templar war, and more likely to show up in DA4 and beyond if the series gets that far). I like that each protagonist has his/her own focus (warden -> darkspawn/blights, Hawke -> Kirkwall and its problems, inquistor -> veil tears). Can you really see any one of these protagonists being realistically able to handle all that crap by him/herself? I can't.
If Shepard could handle a reaper, die, be resurrected from the dead, defeat the collectors, then do the same to the entire reaper armada, then yes, I think they could have pulled off focusing on one hero. If they focused on Hawk, I might've even been fine with that. Despite not really liking them that much. He/She could be improved and could have been made into a truly legendary figure. But alas, he's just kinda meh.
But I think that this wouldn't have been an issue if the characters were truly as enjoyable as the original cast. They weren't really, and I don't like to judge a game before it's even out, but I have to admit, the new cast feels underwhelming. Especially the inclusion of the now hollywood esque "sexy" cullen. I think that's a consequence of being forced to invent more and more new characters every game due to a new protagonist. Though, Mass Effect had a lot of new characters too.
But I think that this wouldn't have been an issue if the characters were truly as enjoyable as the original cast. They weren't really, and I don't like to judge a game before it's even out, but I have to admit, the new cast feels underwhelming. Especially the inclusion of the now hollywood esque "sexy" cullen. I think that's a consequence of being forced to invent more and more new characters every game due to a new protagonist. Though, Mass Effect had a lot of new characters too.
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Except everything Shepard and co. did was focused on addressing the overarching threat of the Reaper invasion. You could actually compare Shepard's efforts and accomplishments to what the warden went through just to unite the four factions against the blight and the archdemon. The inquisitor will likely have to deal with a similar series of smaller scale problems, too, on his/her way to fixing the veil tears.
The point was that if the developers wanted to, they could have easily centered the story around one character. It didn't have to be about Kirkwall, but if they wanted, they could have sent us there. It's not that big of a stretch. The timeline would simply be different, and there'd need to be a reason for us to go there. They have deep roads, and that artifact. Both could easily attract the interest of the wardens.
Well, my point was that the devs certainly could have tried, but given the lore, I'm not so sure they could have sold me (or other players) on that narrative. More likely they would have lost me more than they already have. I'm on the fence with DAI as it is.
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If they could sell that mess that was Dragon Age 2's slapped together story that already pushes suspension of disbelief, I don't see how this would be such a big deal. They expect me to believe that Hawke could go on this long without being suspected as being a mage, and that Anders would be that stupid, and that the circle leader of Kirkwall would turn to blood magic now.... etc. They had plenty of issues that should have made people go "huh?" Especially Merril...
So they say. We'll see. I don't believe anything Bioware marketing says.
As for silent protag, the answer to that was to (almost) never turn the camera around on the Warden's face. The reason it's jarring is because it tries to use a third person perspective on a first person protagonist.
I am quite excited about being a leader of an organization for a change. Why do fetch quests when you do something more pressing and interesting and can order someone else to do them for you?
Still worry that many of the side quests will be FedEx chores. That they said it'll take 200 hours to complete all the game's activities doesn't reassure me.
Actually, I never thought about it until you wrote that, Corma. Being a general, I'll be really annoyed if I'll have to deal with wives looking for their husbands. No. Screw that. If I'm a general, then my side quests should be of big scale, not simple things. Let me feel as if I'm leading an army, not that I'm just a normal adventurer with nice skills.
Side quests for the sake of more play time is something that should be forgotten. I really hope that the secondary missions BioWare crafted for this game are in the right context - that is, you being an important leader of an important faction. If they just add a bunch of random tasks that ignore your role, I'll be disappointed.
Maybe the ability to send your agents to do quests can be cool. Not quests intended just for agents, but rather quests that you have the possibility to do yourself. Say you have three simultaneous missions, all limited in time. One is of diplomatic nature, the other about resources, the other about just plain ol' fighting. And you can attend to only one - so you have the option to send some of your agents to do the others, based on their skills, with the results being accordingly.
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Yes, but the problem here are (as inherent in Mass Effect) spectacle creep and amnesia.
Spectacle creep is something Bioware already does with almost every game. It's almost always about saving the world nowadays. But the premise is even worth if you already saved the world in the last entry of a franchise, e.g. in Dragon Age: Origins. The Grey Warden already defeated the most powerful enemy Thedas has ever seen. So what next? Two undead dragons in order to not bore the hero?
Here the other problem comes in: amnesia. Since Dragon Age is an RPG (and not something like CoD) you leveled your char up during the game. At the end of DA: Origin your char and party was incredibly powerful, more than everyone else in the world. That's a BAD starting point for another game, starting at (almost zero). Almost every franchise in the RPG genre solved that problem with amnesia, with the character loosing his memory and therefore his abilities and power. If you don't do that you even have way more spectacle creep than without. The problem wasn't that bad in Mass Effect since RPG mechanics were pretty "lite" in that game anyway. It was as much based on action-oriented shooting as it was based on RPG and leveling up. Nevertheless Bioware came up with the same old story in kind of new clothes (Shepard dead -> amnesia).
I personally think games based on spectacle creep and something like amnesia are kind of boring. They are overdone. I rather play something new (and someone new) in a world I know and like than being forced to follow given premises. Of course Bioware could have pulled of a similar approach in Dragon Age but I'm glad they didn't. Also in my experience most people love the NPCs and companions in Dragon Age much more than their own main char. That was different to Shepard who was kind of iconic for the game even after ME1 (to his credit). Mass Effect was mostly about Shepard and therefore they had to stick with him/her.
One of Bioware's biggest problems (from a story perspective) is that they already lost parts of their creativity and most of their games in the recent past had the same systemic story approach (think the classical hero's journey + companion gathering). Every "new" element is imo highly welcomed, even if it's just a new character...
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Basically this. We will probably have fetch quests either way, considering the scope of the game. I don't think a company could make every quest interesting in such a huge world, it's just too much work and they would probably have diminishing returns anyway. What we saw in the latest Witcher 3 video was part of the main quest, of course it was interesting, I expected nothing less. I think this commander formula would work in a smaller-scale, more condensed openworld game, like Gothic.
Even after all this time and previews the fact that DA:I and TW3 are open world games makes me uneasy.
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