Dragon Age: Origins and Choice 2.0

[theultimateend]

Meh.

Seriously, so many other games have described story elements like that, some even done it better. Yet when it comes to the crunch, it's not all they crack it up to be.

Unfortunately true.

Usually (in the games I've played) because they have voice actors instead of just text.

A story that could have been nicely written and done in a day ends up taking months because of voice overs for everything.

Aww man, I was totally sold on this game after reading Susan's article...then I noticed that Bioware was the developer.

*sigh*...

And that's a bad thing?

I'm the only person left on this Earth who doesn't like their games, it seems.

Well, now I'm curious -- what don't you like about them?

I'd describe it as "playing their games puts me into a coma of boredom".

By request of friends who love KoTOR and Mass Effect, I played both games at different times, and experience equally disappointing results. I'll admit that I probably didn't give Mass Effect its proper time, but after playing KoTOR and absolutely abhorring the combat system and endless dialogue trees, I was impatient.

Maybe I'll try Mass Effect again some other time, but I can't say I'm too enthused. Unless all other Bioware titles are radically different than the two I played, I'm subscribed to the fact that their games aren't for me.

Well what're you looking for in an RPG?

Something like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. or Fallout 3. A game that can be extremely open-ended and expandable, but with more fun factor than watching paint dry.

In that case you probably won't find much to love about Mass Effect, it's pretty wordy as well. Have ya tried Oblivion?

I have.

I still wonder how "Oblivion" was chosen for that game, when a more apt title would have been "The Elder Scrolls IV: Let's Go For a Walk".

I think Oblivion is referring to what happens when you Alt+Tab in any Bethesda Game. Don't blame them though, its not like games 10+ years old were able to do that safely. Or it is referring to the fact that if a single piece of hardware or software in your PC so much as looks at their games wrong they crash without even the slightest sign of provocation.

I mean, I loved them once I modded them to take out the suck, but overall it's like playing a game with a live grenade pinned between my asscheeks, worrying that I'll giggle and blow up.

 

[ValentineMocker]

Wow, that sounds great! I'd probably take all of the ashes, even though there's a part of me (a small part) which does value cultural relics. But then you throw in the party members, and the fact you will probably have to kill the Brother (small speedbump, but straight up killing an innocent person is hardly super-good), AND the fact that it might serve as a beacon of hope. AWESOME.

 

[Elf Defiler Korgan]

Reading the opening I thought 'as if Arendt'. Yet that is quite the choice. Surely taking it though will be a bad idea, and mean its eventual theft in a world-shattering ha! thought you made the right choice didn't you! Saving lives and avoiding the tragic cost of war is doomed to failure. Any cautious leader would take two pinches (one to keep in a smelly old pocket for emergencies) and destroy that quick smart. Even better would be, that if you delay, an evil strike-team arrives. Meaning you have to hurry with your decision or escape.

I'm sold.

P.S where is the option to poison the leader with the supposed grail and hand the real thing to the side of eviiiiillllll.

 

[Susan Arendt]

Aww man, I was totally sold on this game after reading Susan's article...then I noticed that Bioware was the developer.

*sigh*...

And that's a bad thing?

I'm the only person left on this Earth who doesn't like their games, it seems.

Well, now I'm curious -- what don't you like about them?

I'd describe it as "playing their games puts me into a coma of boredom".

By request of friends who love KoTOR and Mass Effect, I played both games at different times, and experience equally disappointing results. I'll admit that I probably didn't give Mass Effect its proper time, but after playing KoTOR and absolutely abhorring the combat system and endless dialogue trees, I was impatient.

Maybe I'll try Mass Effect again some other time, but I can't say I'm too enthused. Unless all other Bioware titles are radically different than the two I played, I'm subscribed to the fact that their games aren't for me.

Well, I'm sorry to say that I don't think you'll much enjoy Dragon Age, then, as it's a natural evolution of BioWare's style. To me, it feels like a perfect blend of Baldur's Gate and Mass Effect. KOTOR was a very talky game, and I understand folks who didn't enjoy the combat (I personally loved it, but I can definitely see why others don't). I loved Mass Effect, too, but it definitely has its flaws. The little I've played of Dragon Age seems to improve dramatically on both of those games, but it's definitely got that BioWare feel to it.

 

[Grunker]

I'll believe it when ZP says so.

That's hardly a good idea

Don't get me wrong, he's the best game critic right now, and easily one of the only ones actually living up to the term (the other ones not using criticism very much), but he does have a hatred for the RPG-genre, and he's not too shy to let his personal opinions shine through.

In other words: The guy is freaking fantastic, but when it comes to his review of (non-action)RPGs, I laugh but I don't listen.

Being a player that has gameplay as the #1 priority, he has a tendency to ignore other aspects. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't dream of calling choosing a dialogue option a "gameplay mechanic," and by that alone, RPGs will have a very hard time convincing him of anything

 

[moza]

The little I've played of Dragon Age seems to improve dramatically on both of those games, but it's definitely got that BioWare feel to it.

Then I'm sold. Roll on November.

 

[BensonSVU]

Can someone tell me why the HELL I cannot heal myself or other party members with 'potions'? this just started happening after redcliff. help!

 

[ItsAPaul]

Its definitely immersing to have hard decisions rather than "save the orphans" or "murder a town" as your two options. I hope Yahtzee touches on this.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

I'm thinking this segment either changed since the article was written or the game examines how you reacted in various conversations leading up to reaching the urn, because I literally had one option, which was to take a pinch of the ashes and then leave the urn alone. From the achievement lists I've seen it's apparently possible to side with the (extremely crazy and totally in need of butchering wholesale) cult, which I assume would probably give you other options, but you would think that you would still get the option to take the urn even if you haven't sided with the insane cult.

 

[Alex_P]

I'm thinking this segment either changed since the article was written or the game examines how you reacted in various conversations leading up to reaching the urn, because I literally had one option, which was to take a pinch of the ashes and then leave the urn alone. From the achievement lists I've seen it's apparently possible to side with the (extremely crazy and totally in need of butchering wholesale) cult, which I assume would probably give you other options, but you would think that you would still get the option to take the urn even if you haven't sided with the insane cult.

Same here. Having butchered the cultists because I'm not about to ally with a bunch of dragon-worshipping psycho hermits, I was disappointed to discover that I could not, in fact, continue being my pragmatic sanctimonious self by just taking the damn magic urn.

Heck, one option makes you a knightly Champion while the other fills you with the sadistic power of a Reaver -- I'm not sure how much more good-vs.-evil you can get there.

(The other place where I felt an obvious option had been missed, so far: as a Grey Warden, why can't I invoke the Right of Conscription to send Jowan to the battle lines instead of just handing him off to the Circle?)

-- Alex

 

[Amnestic]

I'm thinking this segment either changed since the article was written or the game examines how you reacted in various conversations leading up to reaching the urn, because I literally had one option, which was to take a pinch of the ashes and then leave the urn alone. From the achievement lists I've seen it's apparently possible to side with the (extremely crazy and totally in need of butchering wholesale) cult, which I assume would probably give you other options, but you would think that you would still get the option to take the urn even if you haven't sided with the insane cult.

Same here. Having butchered the cultists because I'm not about to ally with a bunch of dragon-worshipping psycho hermits, I was disappointed to discover that I could not, in fact, continue being my pragmatic sanctimonious self by just taking the damn magic urn.

Heck, one option makes you a knightly Champion while the other fills you with the sadistic power of a Reaver -- I'm not sure how much more good-vs.-evil you can get there.

Spoiler: Urn of Andraste Questline

I'm fairly certain you can actually learn both - take a pinch of the ashes and then dump the dragon's blood into the Urn. The cultists teach you Reaver, then you go back and heal Arl Eamon and he should teach you Champion.

Just don't do it near Wynne or Leliana. They get angry and try to kill you. That put a real crimp in my love life, let me tell you.

 

[Slycne]

Spoiler: Urn of Andraste Questline

I'm fairly certain you can actually learn both - take a pinch of the ashes and then dump the dragon's blood into the Urn. The cultists teach you Reaver, then you go back and heal Arl Eamon and he should teach you Champion.

Just don't do it near Wynne or Leliana. They get angry and try to kill you. That put a real crimp in my love life, let me tell you.

Well Wynne is a rather sweet grandmotherly figure, but whatever floats your boat I guess.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

[Amnestic]

Spoiler: Urn of Andraste Questline

I'm fairly certain you can actually learn both - take a pinch of the ashes and then dump the dragon's blood into the Urn. The cultists teach you Reaver, then you go back and heal Arl Eamon and he should teach you Champion.

Just don't do it near Wynne or Leliana. They get angry and try to kill you. That put a real crimp in my love life, let me tell you.

Well Wynne is a rather sweet grandmotherly figure, but whatever floats your boat I guess.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

If I play nice with her, she let's me and Sten eat as many cookies from the jar as I want. Oh how we laugh while gossiping about Alistair.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

The other place where I felt an obvious option had been missed, so far: as a Grey Warden, why can't I invoke the Right of Conscription to send Jowan to the battle lines instead of just handing him off to the Circle?)

-- Alex

Well that one sort of makes sense since neither you nor Alistair know how to go about performing a Joining, so you couldn't actually make Jowan a Warden even supposing you wanted to.