Interesting, thanks for your impressions of the game. PC Gamer said that the PC version of Dragon Age: Origins differs from the console game; I'll be interested to see how the PC game compares with your impressions of the console version.Darksavior said:
I'm playin risen right now...but alas, I have the "torch problem". Just my luck, I had to have nvidia 7 series under which the game gugs a lot.It will be the same with Dragon age with my luck. Hell, maybe I'll torrent it first and check how it runs before I spend my limited budget on it...I wanted the game badly for years now!
It seems, that critics who are excited about DAO, did not ever play The Witcher. DAO is a good game. Not great. And it is not a competitor to The Witcher in any form or shape. Not even to the first part. It is an RPG. Well, duh. This is where it all starts and ends.I am playing it right now on PC. One word: BOOORING (as in some voice over in The Witcher). It is a direct successor to BG1, BG2, NWN, but there are so many things that are wrong with this game, it would take a review to mention them all. Among major points:Animation is on par with two years old The Witcher or ME. Nothing to write home about.Graphics is OK, but not something you would expect from 2009 game.Interface is an awkward mess. You get used to it, but this constant desire to reinvent the wheel is annoying. They made it right with the wheel in NWN. But no, here we go again.Gameplay: Sheer boredom.Yeah, you make choices. Nobody cares. I mean, really, nobody cares. Multitude of characters to choose from, spreads your attention. This multiple personality disorder annoyed the hell out of me in ME. I always end up playing with the same two companions the whole game and neither there nor here could I make myself care at all about their well-being beyond the fact that I needed them alive.Difficulty level is surprising. Playing as dual wielding city elf on a normal difficulty, every battle is a battle. And the first found tiny little dragon devoured my team in seconds. So, difficulty is fine, but it does not help the smoothness of the gameplay and the story.Navigation sucks. Toons move like retarded drones and no, you can't move freely around. What are we, back in 90s? Try the forest to see what I mean. It is like good old labyrinth, only in the forest with invisible walls. Camera. Oh boy. You _have_ to constantly move back and forse from high view to behind the shoulder view. Walls and obstacles. I would not recommend playing this game to people with any kind of dizziness.Map is a joke. I tell ya, it's a joke. Who the hell designed this crap and what practical purpose was it supposed to have? Quest system is even better. Make a quest active and then try to figure out where to go and what to do with it. And I especially liked the touch of "For more information look in the note from XYZ." Are you kidding me? My toon already read the stupid note, so show it to me HERE.All in all, it is a descent modern age classical RPG. Mountain gave birth to a mouse. 7.5/10 would be appropriate.The Wicther 2? CDPR has nothing to worry about and nothing to prove. The Witcher is still the king and still rules. EA spent gazillions on PR, but once the hype is down, couple of months from now, nobody will even remember about DAO. Oh, and looking at the upcoming ME2 game video previews, this is no threat either. The same schizophrenic wheel. 
So my collectors edition is on the way ;DI am stuck at this game every night since friday, it is an obsession, Witcher never did THIS to me! ;DI can say it is a great game, cause I NEVER played any RPG game (excluding Witcher, which was my very first "go and kill" game, only adventures till Witcher).The only thing I hate about it is that main character doesnt speak.Everyone (well not everyone, but a lot of people) want to have a better graphics - OK, but what is GREAT graphics for, if the story sucks? Many shooting games has better graphics than DAO, but it is only about SHOOTING, no thinking, well, what is it for? To me it is the same as movie, if the story is great, than I do not care if it is HD quality or having 5.1 sound, I can enjoy my movies on a small TV in stereo too, the inside matters, not the fancy outside ;D I really never though I would like this type of game.I guess every single one of us is just different and nobody can make the best for everyone ;D
I've been enjoying the game. It's kept me up 'til ungodly hours (on school/work days, no less) but I still don't think it holds a flame to the Witcher. Graphics aren't really an issue for me; It's not like it's terrible, but it's certainly not groundbreaking. I'd rather a good plot and characters, which DOA delivers. I already know I'm going to play again and I'm only halfway through, which is something, because I'm not big on replaying. It offers choices, but I don't feel like they hold the same weight as Witcher does. The consequences are minor, and if your companions don't agree with you, just give them a few gifts and you'll boost the relationship again. (So the lesson is that everyone can be bought!) If you don't like something you've done, you can reload and try again. I adore Witcher because you don't really realize the exact consequences until later on, when it's not plausible to reload 6+ hours back to change things. For example:
It would've been better to show your errors later on, which gives more finality to your decisions. I like that most of the fights have a good level of difficulty to them, whereas Witcher seemed easy, even on the hardest level. Trying to keep your team alive and figuring how to work out the tactics is fun at first, even on easier levels. Unfortunately, it becomes a bore and a pain in the butt to constantly have to worry if you have enough mana/potions to keep them alive. I'm so sick of battles, I just use a cheat to kill all the enemies, unless it's a boss fight or I actually feel like fighting. I never got tired of fighting in Witcher, even in the swamps, when you're constantly assaulted by drowners and bloodsuckers. It's actually fun to watch Geralt slaughter them, and I don't have to panic that he's going to his his butt handed to him. So um... difficulty is good, but it gets dull when it's life or death, even to kill simple enemies. But maybe I just suck at tactics. I really do like the companions. I love Alistair and Morrigan, Sten and the elvin assassin are enjoyable, and I loath the redhead. (A good character doesn't have to be someone you like, right?) I know I'll feel bad if something happens to them later on. I enjoy learning more about their histories and figuring out which choices they approve or disapprove of. They also have some funny conversations when you're just wandering around. In all, a good game with replay value, but it's not the orgasm inducing experience of The Witcher. eace:
In the Dwarven City, the king has recently died, and there's a deadlock between his youngest son and another influential man. There's some mudslinging going on, so it's a little difficult to decide who to side with. I choose the son and did all of his dirty work without question. In the end, you get a crown and choose who to give it to. Give it to the son and he immediately sentences his rival to death for fear of an uprising. I didn't like that so much, so I reloaded and gave the crown to the other man, who turned out to be much more level-headed and wise.
I really do like the companions. I love Alistair and Morrigan, Sten and the elvin assassin are enjoyable, and I loath the redhead. (A good character doesn't have to be someone you like, right?) I know I'll feel bad if something happens to them later on. I enjoy learning more about their histories and figuring out which choices they approve or disapprove of. They also have some funny conversations when you're just wandering around. In all, a good game with replay value, but it's not the orgasm inducing experience of The Witcher. eace:I LOVE this game very, very much. It's taking me away from writing my fan fic :wall:I'm on my second replay through. I play a mage with a specialization in Blood Mage (Laelithra). It took me an estimated 41-ish hours to beat. I did not do any Chantry Board quests (or any other quests like that) on my first playthrough. Second playthrough, I am about twenty seven hours into the game with about sixty six of the game complete. There is such diversity in this game. On my second playthrough, I do have the same conversations, but I feel like I am playing another game at some points because of the different origin stories. With a bioware game, I expected alittle more armor custimazation than there is to it. I saved up my hard-earned gold and bought a 92 gold robe. It's a recolored version of a 6 gold robe that I have Wynne wearing.This is the second time I posted about graphics today. Yet, it was on the Old Republic forums. Graphics do not really mean that much to me. WHile I could be impressed by them for alittle bit, if the combat or story is not engaging than I will find myself bored. They are not horrendous, at least on the X-box Game.Choices. I am one who will not reload when I do something. It's a moot point for me. There are some things that a player can do that will make certain party members attack you, like on KOTOR. Easiest way around this is to "predict" the companions reactions to the player choices. I start these games, including the witcher, with an "alignment" or faction outcome in mind. I try to stick to it as much as possible. For the witcher, it is playing the game through neutrally. For Dragon Age, my assassin/rogue/dualist was as close to Lawfully good as possible. It got to a point where she refused money. For my mage, she seeks power and will even make exchanges with demons to become more powerful. The ending was a tough choice for me also. I had two saves for the ending because I wanted to see both of them. The first one "choice" made me cry. The second made me question (and even ask my husband) if he would choose to do something like that. Also, the ending of the human nobility (start of the game) made me cry.The companions were very rememberable. I'm the exact opposite of Pudi. I loved Leliana, but I couldn't stand Morrigan. Yet, with one of them, I stumbled onto the same sex relationship arc. Who would have known telling one of them that they were a strong, beautiful woman would lead to it? lol. I didn't really find out until I tried to kiss my main romance arc, and I got minus six alignment with the woman. At one point, I was romancing all three romance options to me. Well, until one of them made me choose between all three of them. What can I say? My mage is a lover. My absolute favorite is Shale and followed by Alistair. I have known men IRL like Alistair, and they always made me giggle. I try to rotate out the companion characters, experiencing all of them. The party that I love to use are: Alistair, Wynne, and myself. I will rotate the fourth character to whatever I need at that point.Combat was a big problem for me in the beginning. Being a squishy mage and rogue, I found myself dying alot. I found the "Healer" out of mana most of the time. The "Tank" wouldn't do their job and protect the squishies. Figuring out the tactics had made it much easier for me. I tend to save very often (but never reload once I make a choice, besides the ending) so it is a matter of time reloading when I die and hitting myself against that brick wall. Fireball tends to be very overpowered. I have ALL the party members (including the golem) and have about 48% of the party damage. My greatest damage was 243. With friendly fire, I have done 1027 on Laelithra. The next highest damage was Sten for 101.The origin stories give it a high reply value alone. Each six archtypes have different comments throughout the main quest (and different starting zones/quests). Some skills are required to complete certain quests.I would agree with everyone though. It is a very fun game. Yet, the witcher is near and dear to my heart.EDIT: LOL. This just happened after I posted this. I was fighting an ogre alpha. It was close to death, but it grabbed me. Yes, I died because...well, the squeezing hurt my mage alot. As soon as I died, Alistair leaps up into the "ogre" finishing move. It made me giggle with glee? Is that wrong?
My absolute favorite is Shale and followed by Alistair. I have known men IRL like Alistair, and they always made me giggle. I try to rotate out the companion characters, experiencing all of them. The party that I love to use are: Alistair, Wynne, and myself. I will rotate the fourth character to whatever I need at that point.Combat was a big problem for me in the beginning. Being a squishy mage and rogue, I found myself dying alot. I found the "Healer" out of mana most of the time. The "Tank" wouldn't do their job and protect the squishies. Figuring out the tactics had made it much easier for me. I tend to save very often (but never reload once I make a choice, besides the ending) so it is a matter of time reloading when I die and hitting myself against that brick wall. Fireball tends to be very overpowered. I have ALL the party members (including the golem) and have about 48% of the party damage. My greatest damage was 243. With friendly fire, I have done 1027 on Laelithra. The next highest damage was Sten for 101.The origin stories give it a high reply value alone. Each six archtypes have different comments throughout the main quest (and different starting zones/quests). Some skills are required to complete certain quests.I would agree with everyone though. It is a very fun game. Yet, the witcher is near and dear to my heart.EDIT: LOL. This just happened after I posted this. I was fighting an ogre alpha. It was close to death, but it grabbed me. Yes, I died because...well, the squeezing hurt my mage alot. As soon as I died, Alistair leaps up into the "ogre" finishing move. It made me giggle with glee? Is that wrong? I am glad you are having fun with this game. The only reason I am even commenting on DAO, is because it was announced as the pinnacle, as the crown jewel, as the ultimate RPG of all times. Unlikely. If this game got 7.5/10 I wouldn't bother mentioning anything.You say graphics is not important, if the story is good. I am sorry, but this is a poor excuse for a "pinnacle". Video games are _all_ about the presentation. Yes, substance is important and substance is a must, but. Without visuals, we could as well stay with tabletop games.Besides, BG1, BG2 and NWN run just fine. Why do we need new games if it is not about the visuals? So, no. For a game that got 91 at MetaCritic it is _unacceptable_ to have so many flaws.BTW, average user score is 8.4, which is both a sign and a reality check. The Witcher EE got 86 metacritic and 9.3 user score. What do you know.And yeah, how could I forget about main character muteness. Another brilliant decision. Add to that size of the font which is comfortable only for laser corrected or equipped with microscope and you got yourself a winner. For sure.
The only reason I am even commenting on DAO, is because it was announced as the pinnacle, as the crown jewel, as the ultimate RPG of all times. Unlikely. If this game got 7.5/10 I wouldn't bother mentioning anything.You say graphics is not important, if the story is good. I am sorry, but this is a poor excuse for a "pinnacle". Video games are _all_ about the presentation. Yes, substance is important and substance is a must, but. Without visuals, we could as well stay with tabletop games.Besides, BG1, BG2 and NWN run just fine. Why do we need new games if it is not about the visuals? So, no. For a game that got 91 at MetaCritic it is _unacceptable_ to have so many flaws.BTW, average user score is 8.4, which is both a sign and a reality check. The Witcher EE got 86 metacritic and 9.3 user score. What do you know.And yeah, how could I forget about main character muteness. Another brilliant decision. Add to that size of the font which is comfortable only for laser corrected or equipped with microscope and you got yourself a winner. For sure.;D
- I guess it is also a matter of opinions, maybe to you they are, for others they are not ;D And presentation doesn't necessarily mean BREATHTAKING GRAPHICS. My most favourite game ever is Myst and it's graphic is really NOT a good one, well, OK, it is an old game, but the beauty of it works until today ;D It is very individual issue I guess..The font size bothers me a little bit too, I wear contacts during the day and when I take them of at home and I put my "evening glasses" on, it takes me some time to read it... also, subtitles at the top of the screen are...weird...BUT!!! NOTHING WILL BEAT WITCHER EVER!!! (maybe Witcher2....)
I started playing recently this game and all i can say is it rocks.Bioware oence more made game up to their standards with strong storyline , good characters and amazing graphic.This one with witcher are my fovourite rpg so far i ever played.And they are both unique and different .Witcher is more action rpg and this one is teambased old style rpg like Dd where.So for all Witcher fans outthere which havent tried this game i seriously recommend this game since its awesome as witcher is for its story and details.
Theres only been 2 other games in existance that I have completely lost my social life to and that was Baldur's Gate 2 and The Witcher.Dragon Age.....has me completely drawn in. I'm glad to see bioware has gone back to their roots of what made them bioware and non of this Mass Effect crap they've been doing lately.The characters and their personalities rock. The story is awesome. The gameplay is almost spot on to what it was in BG with the consideration they don't have the DnD rights. I love the world and the immersion of it.
I spent several days playing Dragon Age more or less nonstop and thought, "Yay, the Curse* is broken," but I got maybe three-quarters of the way through the game, then had to stop and work on "Medical Problems" again. That's more interest in another RPG than I've been able to have since March of 2008, so that means that Dragon Age is a really fabulous game. I hope that "Medical Problems" will let go of me long enough for me to finish the game, someday.So, I highly recommend Dragon Age -- great use of your gaming time while we're waiting for The Witcher 2.*laugh* I wonder what Bioware would think, if they heard that -- that their game is a nice time-filler until CDPR's next game comes along.Dragon Age is wonderful partly because it's not just killing things, not even just exploration, dialogue, leveling up, and killing things. There are riddles you need to answer correctly, puzzles you need to solve ... it feels both very familiar to those of us who played Baldur's Gate and very fresh, which is quite an achievement!And they've finally dropped the D&D rule that magic users have to memorize their spells, which means that you can use any spell you have enough mana for (with a cool-down period -- measured in seconds -- before the next use). I usually play mages, and I hated the memorization thing.*The one where I can't give time to any other RPG except The Witcher, though usually these days, that usually doesn't mean playing The Witcher; it means working on the new adventure I'm making for it.
I hope that "Medical Problems" will let go of me long enough for me to finish the game, someday.So, I highly recommend Dragon Age -- great use of your gaming time while we're waiting for The Witcher 2.*laugh* I wonder what Bioware would think, if they heard that -- that their game is a nice time-filler until CDPR's next game comes along.Dragon Age is wonderful partly because it's not just killing things, not even just exploration, dialogue, leveling up, and killing things. There are riddles you need to answer correctly, puzzles you need to solve ... it feels both very familiar to those of us who played Baldur's Gate and very fresh, which is quite an achievement!And they've finally dropped the D&D rule that magic users have to memorize their spells, which means that you can use any spell you have enough mana for (with a cool-down period -- measured in seconds -- before the next use). I usually play mages, and I hated the memorization thing.*The one where I can't give time to any other RPG except The Witcher, though usually these days, that usually doesn't mean playing The Witcher; it means working on the new adventure I'm making for it.I just had to defend and advertise The Witcher on the Dragon Age boards, now I'll do the opposite here. Dragon Age is wonderful, and it deserves the praise. That does not mean it's better than the Witcher in all aspects, quite the opposite, the graphics and attention to detail are very poor in comparison, but art has never been Bioware's strong side. The character design and animations are wonderful, but the area design is sloppy and boring. No wonderful details like in the Witcher, no living, breathing world with weather systems, day/night cycles, townsfolks with day jobs and ambient creatures... the Witcher set an example here that has yet to be reached by any other RPG I played so far. On other aspects of the game I think DA learned a lot from the Witcher, like Bioware finally getting rid of any stupid good/evil axis and making decissions hard, really hard. Getting over stereotypes and finally play with the players expectations instad of just serving them what they're used to, another thing Bioware might have learned from The Witcher. Actually, they don't even hide it, you'll find at least one strong hommage to TW in the game. Go check out the City Elf origin story, you'll find a NPC who might seem oddly familiar. But, where Dragon Age really shines and where no other game can reach Bioware's standards is again the storytelling and the depth of the characters, and Dragon Age did that bettter than any other Bioware game I played. I love my companions, the storyline is like an emotional rollercoaster, some decissions almost broke my heart, some reactions from my companions moved me deeply. I decided to go for a romance option not because I wanted to see what happens, but because I really fell for that character and wanted to know everything about her. On the other hand you have wonderful humor too, and surprises that made me laugh out loud - as I said, an emotional rollercoaster. I can only say everyone should play it. It's not a replacement for the Witcher, it's a different beast, but a wonderful one you won't easily forget. Play it now, you'll probably want to replay it again, and when it finally lets you go and you're ready again for another game, The Witcher 2 might be already waiting for you.
But, where Dragon Age really shines and where no other game can reach Bioware's standards is again the storytelling and the depth of the characters, and Dragon Age did that bettter than any other Bioware game I played. I love my companions, the storyline is like an emotional rollercoaster, some decissions almost broke my heart, some reactions from my companions moved me deeply. I decided to go for a romance option not because I wanted to see what happens, but because I really fell for that character and wanted to know everything about her. On the other hand you have wonderful humor too, and surprises that made me laugh out loud - as I said, an emotional rollercoaster. I can only say everyone should play it. It's not a replacement for the Witcher, it's a different beast, but a wonderful one you won't easily forget. Play it now, you'll probably want to replay it again, and when it finally lets you go and you're ready again for another game, The Witcher 2 might be already waiting for you.Dragon age is rly masterpiece and belongs to top 5 rpgs ever made.For my taste is as good as witcher is , i was actually sad to finish it, coz its story which did got most ppl deeply involved into gameworld and ppl had this joy in game till end , graphic which is rly good if you play on high details game goes smooth , voice acting is great ( i loved Claudia Black cover of Morrigan voice and Simon Templeman of Loghain especially).I dont look on this game as some ppl like its gonna be threat for witcher playerbase on the market.No i think differently i think both of those games are awesome and both have their place on the market , i mean lets be honest there havent been many rpgs quelity made lately , market is full of crappy fps games which i am bored of.I actually somewhere read guys from Bioware did work on this game for 5 years, and they made great game and rly good story .Someone mentioned that game is missing day- night circle , well with it game could be better but i dont see it as crucial part of this game since most gameplay is inside buildings , keeps , etc.Also bout Bioware taking ideas from Cd project, i think all good developers are also gamers and play various types of games , so they can get from other games ideas and use them in their future works.But Bioware is company which is famous for its tradition of making good rpgs , i mean in time of Baldurs gate or Kotor not many did know bout Cd Project , also gameplay style of both games are totaly different since one is more action rpg and other is Dnd teambase rpg game.
I'd like to remind those who have said that Bioware took ideas from The Witcher, that Dragon Age was 5 1/2 years in the making. That means that it is highly unlikely that anything was actually used from CDP Red.I'm still in the middle of playing DA:O and am thoroughly enjoying the game. It's more comparable to Baldur's Gate than it is to The Witcher, and I think they are both the best games made in a long time. Both can easily share the number one spot for me. I believe that Bioware and CDP Red share a friendship ( I actually first heard about The Witcher from Bioware devs ) and The Witcher was built using a modified version of Bioware's Never Winter Nights engine ( Aurora, I believe), so there's no need to pit the two companies against each other.I absolutely recommend Dragon Age to Witcher fans, just as I would recommend The Witcher to DA:O fans. I'm expecting Dragon Age to make Game of the Year.~ Roxy
OK, I have to admit, after finding a window to play DA-O, I am pretty interested in it. But, I still don't like RPG's much and I still think The Witcher is TOP!! eace:I wonder if I'll finish this? Maybe by the end of the year, but I think Christmas'll arrive before I do... literally.
eace:I wonder if I'll finish this? Maybe by the end of the year, but I think Christmas'll arrive before I do... literally. They did not steal, they took ideas, and it's pretty obvious even. In those 5 1/2 years they changed DA very often. There isn't anything wrong about that, quite the opposite, I'm glad they did and came up with what they did. Bioware aren't cheap, they don't have to steal from anyone, but every developer takes influences from others, that's just normal. Nobody at Bioware denied that the Lord of the Rings movies were a huge influence for DA, and I noticed that after The Witcher was so successful, Bioware forced DA much more into the mature and dark fantasy direction. And as I said before, look out for a homage to the Witcher in a certain part of Dragon Age. If you thought I meant to pit the two companies against each other, you misunderstood - we all know that Bioware and CDProject respect each other. I wouldn't have known about the Witcher if Bioware hadn't advertised the game on their own site, and from comments from CDPR employees we know this is a mutual friendship.RogueRoxy said:
I'm currently playing Dragon Age as I desperately need to fill some time before Witcher 2. I'm liking it just fine, although I think I want to restart because I screwed up on a lot of gift-giving/selling and I really want to improve my relationship with Alistair. Blast.The controls were simply awful at first but over time you do get used to it. The storyline is fantastic, as well as the characters and their stories. Sometimes if you're playing while tired though, I find there can be too much dialogue and the subtile position just sucks. LOL. The graphics are pretty mediocre but in the grand scheme of things I guess it's not a big deal. Still, I like pretty things. I'll perservere and see how it goes. It's entertaining at least.
I'll perservere and see how it goes. It's entertaining at least.