Dragon Age : Origins - An utter disappointment ?

[Kelethor]

Alright, it seems will simply have to agree to dis-agree.

Also, if you actually get to know Morrigan instead of judging her prematurely (As you did) you'd realize she is a scared, frightened woman, whos never really had a friend in her life, and puts on a tough front too hide away from people.

How utterly stereotypical of an "Ice Queen" character. Don't need to revise my statement as it was not a premature judgment. More of a comment on her character archetype. My initial comment stands.

And Allistair is one Emo mofo. Whiny and wussy throughout the entire game. He tries to put a brave face on through cheezy comedy (and fails horribly). He's way more emo than Cloud. (what exactly is emo about Cloud in FF7 anyhow?)

But really, tiny differences aside (one is or isn't an ancient demon god, who gives a shit) DA:O is a LOTR rip off down to its very core. There's even a wandering tribe of xenophobic elves for chrissake!

EDIT: Or did you miss the "I see you!" moments. Of course, there is no ring in DA:O, only Darkspawn Blood, which allows the Archdemon to keep tabs on the Wardens. "I see you!"

They are hacks that people seem to forgive for reasons unknown.

I gave this game way more of a chance than I would normally and it just failed in almost every respect. The only bit of entertainment were the all too short "origin" stories. Why couldn't they just proceed in that fashion instead of making every fucking character have identical stories after the first 45 minutes of gameplay? No, instead we get the identical join the Wardens, survive the slaughter and move from place to place gathering armies... boring, boring, boring.

Alright, it seems will simply have to agree to dis-agree. And Cloud's an Emo because he whines and whines when his girlfriend dies. even though characters have died hundreds of times before, and all have been brought back through an item I can pick up in the shopping mall.

 

[Starke]

Alright, it seems will simply have to agree to dis-agree.

Also, if you actually get to know Morrigan instead of judging her prematurely (As you did) you'd realize she is a scared, frightened woman, whos never really had a friend in her life, and puts on a tough front too hide away from people.

How utterly stereotypical of an "Ice Queen" character. Don't need to revise my statement as it was not a premature judgment. More of a comment on her character archetype. My initial comment stands.

And Allistair is one Emo mofo. Whiny and wussy throughout the entire game. He tries to put a brave face on through cheezy comedy (and fails horribly). He's way more emo than Cloud. (what exactly is emo about Cloud in FF7 anyhow?)

But really, tiny differences aside (one is or isn't an ancient demon god, who gives a shit) DA:O is a LOTR rip off down to its very core. There's even a wandering tribe of xenophobic elves for chrissake!

EDIT: Or did you miss the "I see you!" moments. Of course, there is no ring in DA:O, only Darkspawn Blood, which allows the Archdemon to keep tabs on the Wardens. "I see you!"

They are hacks that people seem to forgive for reasons unknown.

I gave this game way more of a chance than I would normally and it just failed in almost every respect. The only bit of entertainment were the all too short "origin" stories. Why couldn't they just proceed in that fashion instead of making every fucking character have identical stories after the first 45 minutes of gameplay? No, instead we get the identical join the Wardens, survive the slaughter and move from place to place gathering armies... boring, boring, boring.

Alright, it seems will simply have to agree to dis-agree. And Cloud's an Emo because he whines and whines when his girlfriend dies. even though characters have died hundreds of times before, and all have been brought back through an item I can pick up in the shopping mall.

Xander Alistair is an emo brat because you can't get him to stop whining and angsting about his daddy (and all the baggage that brought) his mommy or his widdle sister he never got to meet.

I always thought it was more of a Warhammer ripoff than Lord of the Rings. The Elves alternate between being shat upon by The Empire, some of them have split off and are predatory terroristic fuckers, chaos the blight is raising a massive army that corrupts or kills everything that comes into contact with them, magic comes from the warp the fade, realm of demons and source of chaos the blight, and mages run the risk of being possessed, basically at any time by a daemon demon, which has lead to the rise of a fanatical sect known as the inquisition the templars who hunt down all unauthorized mages and kill them on the spot... ect ect ect.

 

[Kelethor]

Alright, it seems will simply have to agree to dis-agree.

Also, if you actually get to know Morrigan instead of judging her prematurely (As you did) you'd realize she is a scared, frightened woman, whos never really had a friend in her life, and puts on a tough front too hide away from people.

How utterly stereotypical of an "Ice Queen" character. Don't need to revise my statement as it was not a premature judgment. More of a comment on her character archetype. My initial comment stands.

And Allistair is one Emo mofo. Whiny and wussy throughout the entire game. He tries to put a brave face on through cheezy comedy (and fails horribly). He's way more emo than Cloud. (what exactly is emo about Cloud in FF7 anyhow?)

But really, tiny differences aside (one is or isn't an ancient demon god, who gives a shit) DA:O is a LOTR rip off down to its very core. There's even a wandering tribe of xenophobic elves for chrissake!

EDIT: Or did you miss the "I see you!" moments. Of course, there is no ring in DA:O, only Darkspawn Blood, which allows the Archdemon to keep tabs on the Wardens. "I see you!"

They are hacks that people seem to forgive for reasons unknown.

I gave this game way more of a chance than I would normally and it just failed in almost every respect. The only bit of entertainment were the all too short "origin" stories. Why couldn't they just proceed in that fashion instead of making every fucking character have identical stories after the first 45 minutes of gameplay? No, instead we get the identical join the Wardens, survive the slaughter and move from place to place gathering armies... boring, boring, boring.

Alright, it seems will simply have to agree to dis-agree. And Cloud's an Emo because he whines and whines when his girlfriend dies. even though characters have died hundreds of times before, and all have been brought back through an item I can pick up in the shopping mall.

Xander Alistair is an emo brat because you can't get him to stop whining and angsting about his daddy (and all the baggage that brought) his mommy or his widdle sister he never got to meet.

I always thought it was more of a Warhammer ripoff than Lord of the Rings. The Elves alternate between being shat upon by The Empire, some of them have split off and are predatory terroristic fuckers, chaos the blight is raising a massive army that corrupts or kills everything that comes into contact with them, magic comes from the warp the fade, realm of demons and source of chaos the blight, and mages run the risk of being possessed, basically at any time by a daemon demon, which has lead to the rise of a fanatical sect known as the inquisition the templars who hunt down all unauthorized mages and kill them on the spot... ect ect ect.

...Okay, I get it, you made your point, you Don't like the game. The argument ended about a post ago.

 

[MechaBlue]

I mean your post. YOUR post. You weren't talking about whether the game did anything interesting with the material. You were just listing the material.

I thought I was the one who was listing the material.

and I kind of liked the story of Dragon Age, all right?

And there goes the last of your credibility. Not that you like bad writing, that's perfectly acceptable for an English major. It's that you defend bad writing. Yeesh.

Yeah, to take a Stephen King quote too far, there's nothing wrong with liking a literary Big Mac. If the cheese tastes good to you, it tastes good. But trying to pretend it's high cuisine just because it has ingredients in it isn't going to go over well.

 

[Enigmers]

I'm having a lot of fun with it, and finding it very immersive. I can see why you wouldn't like it, though.

 

[Starke]

...Okay, I get it, you made your point, you Don't like the game. The argument ended about a post ago.

I was responding to S69's post. I didn't mean to include you.

EDIT: Nevermind, the thing about Alistair was aimed at you. The rest was for S69.

By the way, just because I don't like it doesn't mean I'm going to stop bashing the everliving fuck out of it for your sake. I'm not being overly condescending towards you, and I'm not aiming to take your teeth out. So, if you have a problem with me posting in this thread, bite me.

 

[Starke]

I mean your post. YOUR post. You weren't talking about whether the game did anything interesting with the material. You were just listing the material.

I thought I was the one who was listing the material.

That's my recollection as well. Nelson's posting style is a kinda funky.

EDIT: well, I did just do a run-through a couple hours ago.

and I kind of liked the story of Dragon Age, all right?

And there goes the last of your credibility. Not that you like bad writing, that's perfectly acceptable for an English major. It's that you defend bad writing. Yeesh.

Yeah, to take a Stephen King quote too far, there's nothing wrong with liking a literary Big Mac. If the cheese tastes good to you, it tastes good. But trying to pretend it's high cuisine just because it has ingredients in it isn't going to go over well.

Omnomnomnomnom

On that subject I enjoy Mass Effect 2, but I'm under no delusions that the writing is horrifically hilariously bad.

 

[TheBlueRabbit]

This thread has reduced the Baby Jesus to tears.

OT: I like the game. That is LITERALLY all I give a damn about. I don't care if I'm the only one in the western hemisphere who did.

A Shakespere debate? Really, guys?

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

I loved (LOVED) my first playthrough of Dragon Age, but after going back to my 2nd character in the Dwarven area, I just couldn't do it again. I find myself straining to understand why I found it entertaining during my first play.

The story is good, the characters are great, the combat is alright I suppose... but wow, the RPG stats and items in this game are so poorly designed. There's virtually no gear progression in the game, and that's one of the primary reasons I like RPGs.

 

[Starke]

This thread has reduced the Baby Jesus to tears.

OT: I like the game. That is LITERALLY all I give a damn about. I don't care if I'm the only one in the western hemisphere who did.

A Shakespere debate? Really, guys?

Yeah, I've got no idea what the fuck brought that on.

Cookie for your enlightened approach to things?

 

[Littlee300]

Mass Effect is (fucking brilliant and) mainstream.

Dragon Age: Origins is (fucking brilliant and) not mainstream.

Right, see the problem is that it's an EA game. EA is the soul-sucking demi-god of pure, un-distilled evil. I'm almost certain they use the souls of orphan children to write data on their disks. Haven't found proof granted, but I know it's there.

Now as for Dragon Age, well the main bit is that it's a small expansion that's been showcased as practically Dragon Age 2 but the fact is, small expansion. It will give you a few hours of decent gameplay and storyline but in the end it's just another wannabe sandbox game that is really as linear as it gets.

Don't get me wrong, I love linear games. You start, you end. Simple. I just can't stand it when they try to say it's not, bugger off and be honest EA, we're on to you.

Words cannot describe how stupid this is. Literally. THERE ARE NO WORDS.

When did anyone ever say Dragon Age wanted to be a fucking sandbox? At least I can see where people are coming from when they pull that argument out for Mafia.

Jesus titty-fucking Christ, I'm actually in awe of you right now.

Dragon Age is largely mainstream, it's a top seller.

Yes, Mass Effect is fucking brilliant and I loved it, I still hate EA. Bioware has a record of doing very decent games and I did not say Dragon Age was crap. It has a rich storyline, lovely scenery and very decent characters. The classes are short and sweet and if you're up for a few hours of gameplay every once in a while, it's a bit of fun

Whaaaat? You don't fucking say your gonna declare way on the game then come up with 5 reaons why it is a good game.

 

[Jake the Snake]

Absolutely despised it. If it were a country I would've declared war on it by now.
Awful story I didn't care about, boring and disgusting looking game world, none too good graphics, and the talking, my dear God the TALKING. Fucking overdone. Yes, nice voice acting, I understand that, stop forcing me to listen to it! I want to play a game! Also, AMERICAN DWARVES. America.... just, no. This is too far. You've fucked up our Red Dwarf, our Life on Mars, our The Office, and now our Dwarves. You take the Inbetweeners and shitify it and me and two of my friends have vowed to declare war on you personally. /rant
The gameplay was significantly better than the rest of the game in that it was just alright. I liked the way it seemed like WoW, but condensed for the Xbox 360 controller.

Hey! The American version of the Office is way better than British one

OT: I think it comes down to personal preference in game genre. I like RPGs. I liked the origins story, and I liked the plot. Sure the game got kinda boring at the Mage's Tower, but I still liked it. I will admit the combat was a bit of a pain.

Besides, the same generalizations can be made about any game. "I played MW2 for a couple hours and it sucked ass. It's just the same shooting a target before it kills you and running around and squatting a few times over over and over again. Can someone please explain to me why everyone likes this game so much or any shooter for that matter?"

See? It's easy.

 

[TOGSolid]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.170030-The-Megachat-Presents-Megareviews-Dragon-Age-Origins#4624882

I already have filed my thoughts about Dragon Age elsewhere on these forums. It's an ok game. It's a good dungeon crawler, but it's total shit in the actual "role playing" department.

 

[Nolanp01]

Mass Effect is (fucking brilliant and) mainstream.

Dragon Age: Origins is (fucking brilliant and) not mainstream.

Right, see the problem is that it's an EA game. EA is the soul-sucking demi-god of pure, un-distilled evil. I'm almost certain they use the souls of orphan children to write data on their disks. Haven't found proof granted, but I know it's there.

Now as for Dragon Age, well the main bit is that it's a small expansion that's been showcased as practically Dragon Age 2 but the fact is, small expansion. It will give you a few hours of decent gameplay and storyline but in the end it's just another wannabe sandbox game that is really as linear as it gets.

Don't get me wrong, I love linear games. You start, you end. Simple. I just can't stand it when they try to say it's not, bugger off and be honest EA, we're on to you.

Words cannot describe how stupid this is. Literally. THERE ARE NO WORDS.

When did anyone ever say Dragon Age wanted to be a fucking sandbox? At least I can see where people are coming from when they pull that argument out for Mafia.

Jesus titty-fucking Christ, I'm actually in awe of you right now.

Dragon Age is largely mainstream, it's a top seller.

Yes, Mass Effect is fucking brilliant and I loved it, I still hate EA. Bioware has a record of doing very decent games and I did not say Dragon Age was crap. It has a rich storyline, lovely scenery and very decent characters. The classes are short and sweet and if you're up for a few hours of gameplay every once in a while, it's a bit of fun

Whaaaat? You don't fucking say your gonna declare way on the game then come up with 5 reaons why it is a good game.

I didn't declare war on Dragon Age, in fact most of my anger was directed at EA for being ..well EA.

 

[Fortesque]

I personally loved Dragon Age. My girlfriend, hated it.

I loved the dialogue, the settings, the character, the origin stories, the main storyline.. EVERYTHING!! (Except 90% of the hats/helms in the game... they look like ass).

On the other hand, my girlfriend hated the dialogue, thought it was boring. Said there wasnt enought fighting.

All down to personal opinion. And im my personal opinion, Dragon Age 2 will be fucking EPIC!

 

[Irshy]

Dragon Age is a niche game.

Its a game that attempts to create a "classical fantasy" setting with a few twists for originality and the more bleak, dark modern style that is prevelant today. With the elves being an overly oppressed race that lost their lore, dwarves being the last dregs of an empire and the humans being locked in a dark age and feudal politics.

In terms of the amount of dialog, I'm fairly impressed with how it goes. There is as little dialog as you can have if you choose to just blaze throught, without destorying the artistic intention of the writers. Or, huge buckets full of dialog.

As for the combat, if you're not enjoying it I'd suggest ttrying a different class. If that fails then clearly RPGs aren't your type of game, fair enough - doesn't effect if a game is good. Which goes both ways. One shouldn't stamp out "This is horrible" because the gameplay style isn't for them, nor should people scream "This is beter then sliced bread" because they enjoy that style of gameplay. A key thing to keep in mind is that the combat is designed to be challenging in a more tatical way, so if you play it on a lower level you wont get challenged. If you go through the whole game without pausing (if you can and enjoy it, then enjoy) then you're not really getting the challenge as intended.

Clearly OP, you sound like you want a game to pick up with pretty visuals, swords, fantasy and quick-intense action. Dragon Age is more a game with an intended feel/story and it fits it. The graphics fit the idea feel - artistic direction, I haven't played on 360 only PC and I liked the graphics quiet a lot. I think the problems you came across would've been that: visually they keep to a run down feudal world, so there aren't a lot of "WOAH" moments, the realm - Feraldon (?) isn't a huge nor overtly wealthy kindgom, its a border kingdom. Also, for game play reasons I would imagine the turn over on weapons and armour is low, so you're not switching them out a lot. That probably lowers you opinion of the graphics as if you get/see a new thing all the time then it tends to blow your mind. I like the approach for the most part, it doesn't stick a massive LOOK AT ME IM PRETTY in your face, yet the graphics never negatively impact on the game. They are there and there are a lot of pretty things to look at if you look for them. The dwarven areas are amazing I think, and I really liked snowy areas up north.

Its part of a genre, Baulder's Gate 2 and so on. And for what kinda of game that is, Dragon Age ranks very high I believe.

 

[Irshy]

Also ragging on EA is a bit like calling out Coldplay.

Yes, no soul. We know. Sure.