Dragonage Origins

[ChronoCupcake]

Hey guys Ill admit the title leaves a lot to the imagination so ill cut straight to the point .
Basically Dragonage Origins was one of those games that kinda slipped under my radar when it released, now with the pre release hype for Dragonage 2 starting to grow and my own interest piqued I was wondering is it important to have played Dragonage Origins to be able to understand whats going on in Dragonage 2. Whilst I could go pick up Dragonage origins ultimate edition itd have to be on console due to a busted graphics card, and ill admit im a little turned off by the dated visuals, not to mention I have a pretty hectic lifestyle and my free time is very sparse and Dragonage Origins is a behemoth of a game. So what do you guys think i should do play through Dragonage Origins or just read up the story on a wikia and jump on the Dragonage 2 bandwagon when the time comes. Lastly are the gameplay mechanics actually enjoyable I havent really played anything like baldurs gate so I dont really know what to expect, is the gameplay enjoyable enough to warrant a play ?.
Opinions greatly appreciated.
C-3

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Dragon Age 2 has a save import system...sooo...A lot of stuff in the first game is clearly going to be reference, at least.

It still runs fine on consoles. PC version is clearly superior, but the console versions are more than playable.

Going only through the main story with run you about 30-35 hours.
And if you can fit in 50 hours by March, you can even 100%.

The gameplay is very tactical and number-heavy, but worst comes to worst...Set it to "Casual".

As long as you give warriors Strength points, mages gets Magic/Willpower, and Rogue get Dexterity/Cunning, you'll do fine on Casual. And a tank helps, too. Always use a tank. DA1's tanks are Alistair and Shale, btw.

 

[ChronoCupcake]

Dragon Age 2 has a save import system...sooo...A lot of stuff in the first game is clearly going to be reference, at least.

It still runs fine on consoles. PC version is clearly superior, but the console versions are more than playable.

Going only through the main story with run you about 30-35 hours.
And if you can fit in 50 hours by March, you can even 100%.

The gameplay is very tactical, if you don't know what a "tank" is, you might want to stay away.

Ive played a lot of rpg's / mmo rpg's just nothing that plays like baldurs gate, is the plot worth a play through ?

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Ive played a lot of rpg's / mmo rpg's just nothing that plays like baldurs gate, is the plot worth a play through ?

I plays a lot like a single player MMO. Right down to auto-attacking.

You'll do fine.

And the plot is worth it. It's well-written and acted, with a few surprising twists.

 

[incredibleirish]

Admittedly I'm biased as I'm a huge fan of Dragon age and am eagerly awaiting the 11th of March, I would tend to agree with Onyx. If you have a spare 50 hours between now and march, then yeah go for it and you will be in for a treat. I'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone seeing as its dropped in price and well worth it in terms of replay value(in my opinion anywho.)


OT note to self, comment on more threads.

 

[meece]

I didn't enjoy it. The gametyle was like the RPG version of the MMO experience. I might be this jaded because I rolled an archer which wasn't exactly the most fascinating class ever because your combat is effectivly "hold autoattack until your target is dead - then release and repeat until all enemies are dead". I was expecting something like the oblivion archer experience but nope.

All the quests were MMO ones too: go here, talk to these people/kill them, come back for the reward, no thought of yours required. In fact just get Oblivion instead if you don't have it already - far better RPG (in my opinion anyway)

 

[Skoldpadda]

The save import feature won't mean shit, just like how it doesn't mean shit in ME, and this time you don't even play the same character in the sequel.

If you're a busy man, like you say, Dragon Age will annoy you, as it gets a lot of its supposed length from needless padding (like in the Deep Roads). And where it's supposed to be long (like in the companion quests), it's ridiculously short. Half the time you'll be wondering why you're investing your precious few free hours in this.

It's not a bad game, but it's easily Bioware's worst in my opinion, and it's hardly essential before playing Dragon Age 2.

 

[darth.pixie]

First the cons: Needless pacing, pretty bad, repetitive plot (gather the X of Y), no twist (that I could see...I could predict almost everything), and it's really annoying if you're a pragmatic person

Spoiler

What's that Alistair? You wanna leave? What the hell did Duncan teach you? Wasn't it supposed to be 'whatever it takes'? Argh!!...Needless to say, I liked Loghain and Sten to whom I could talk logically and didn't have the emotional stability of a teenage girl

The gameplay was so-so. The cutscenes really spoil planning ahead since it messes with character formation. Some quests are a joke. It's not all that epic.

Music made me want to weep. That is not war music.

Pros:

It's Bioware...so its worst is usually around normal. I've never been one to praise them but it's not that bad. Some quests are awesome. Characters seem alive though..annoying. Playing as a mage breaks the game so enemies just die before reaching you, so that would be a pro if you lack time. I liked the graphics. You get to have a dog. There are so many easter eggs that you start laughing out loud at least a couple of times. Amusing dialogue at times.

The Origin quests are easily the best feature of the game yet that is over so fast that by the end, you'll forget about it.

I'd recommend Dragon Knight Saga instead...if only because you get to be a dragon and because it's very fun at times (while sometimes boring in others).

 

[ChronoCupcake]

The save import feature won't mean shit, just like how it doesn't mean shit in ME, and this time you don't even play the same character in the sequel.

If you're a busy man, like you say, Dragon Age will annoy you, as it gets a lot of its supposed length from needless padding (like in the Deep Roads). And where it's supposed to be long (like in the companion quests), it's ridiculously short. Half the time you'll be wondering why you're investing your precious few free hours in this.

It's not a bad game, but it's easily Bioware's worst in my opinion, and it's hardly essential before playing Dragon Age 2.

ME's save import was more robust I havent even seen dragonage 2's sort of carry on features, but what is it really going to be a statue of a long dead character ? or maybe a descendent or something that you run into ?. Man i hate padding ... but im guessing Ill just pick it up secondhand and play a couple of hours whenever i get a chance, im a bit of a completionist so between the main campaign and the dlc this is going to be a major time vampire.

 

[Jenitals]

DA1's tanks are Alistair and Shale, btw.

Plus the dog. I found him quite effective at holding up whilst the rest of your party crumbled.

 

[DustyDrB]

Did they patch the game to make it easier or something? I had only played it offline, and started my 5th playthrough yesterday as an elven archer and it just feels a lot easier. And archery is pretty underpowered (especially early on) so I can't help but notice. There was a patch when I started it up (on the 360), so I have no clue what it did.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Did they patch the game to make it easier or something? I had only played it offline, and started my 5th playthrough yesterday as an elven archer and it just feels a lot easier. And archery is pretty underpowered (especially early on) so I can't help but notice. There was a patch when I started it up (on the 360), so I have no clue what it did.

Arrow of Slaying is a win button!

 

[trooper6]

I suppose it depends on the sort of player you are.

I loved Dragon Age: Origins. That game got me really invested in the characters--both NPCs and my own. There's some great voice-acting. I thought it was just great (I played it on the 360). I played as a Dwarven Noble Rogue, and I'm still mad at my how stuff went down during my origin--which is great.

That game was one where I ended up making in-character choices that I knew were bad choices...but I couldn't help myself, the storytelling was that good.

As for game length, it is a Bioware game...which means, while it can take up to 50 hours is you want to explore everything and do all the sidequests, etc....you can also just push through the main story quests and probably finish it up in 20 hours--though I'd think that would be a shame.

 

[Alien Mole]

I'd really, really recommend playing it on PC. Go for the console version if you just want the story (which as far as I've seen is pretty good, and I have seen most of it) but most of your concerns either don't apply on PC or can be modded out.

'Combat Tweaks,' I've found, makes the combat more involving and tactical (I'm playing on a modded Nightmare+ and even with a mage, one wrong move means total party wipe or something close to it) and the graphics can be significantly improved through the HD Textures mod. For example, Leliana is supposed to be an extremely attractive character; while I found her 'meh' in the vanilla version I literally spent two minutes gawping upon encountering her after applying a graphics mod.

Long story short: if you want the story, which is pretty enjoyable in itself, go for console. If you want the full gameplay and atmosphere experience I'd wait until you can actually play it on PC. Cheaper too, I think.

Long P.S.: If you do want to breeze through the thing as quickly as possible, play a Blood Mage/Arcane Warrior. Nothing beats being a heal-dispensing greatsword-wielding armoured battle-tank that shifts into other dimensions and makes their enemies' blood boil with a single gesture while absorbing any incoming damage with the power of their own mind. And that's not even touching upon the elemental chaos they can unleash.
Yes, I'm making it sound slightly more dramatic than it is but it's still pretty awesome and exactly as overpowered as I made it out to be. Good for cathartic potential though.

 

[DustyDrB]

Did they patch the game to make it easier or something? I had only played it offline, and started my 5th playthrough yesterday as an elven archer and it just feels a lot easier. And archery is pretty underpowered (especially early on) so I can't help but notice. There was a patch when I started it up (on the 360), so I have no clue what it did.

Arrow of Slaying is a win button!

Oh, yes. I'm working on getting to that skill as quickly as possible.
What's the better choice between longbows, shortbows, and crossbows (assuming their all on the same tier)? I like the armor penetration of the crossbows, but the slow firing is maddening.

This is my first go as an archer. I'm looking forward to the Awakening skills in it.

 

[Woodsey]

Saves get imported, although it's nothing as direct as in Mass Effect.

 

[ChronoCupcake]

I'd really, really recommend playing it on PC. Go for the console version if you just want the story (which as far as I've seen is pretty good, and I have seen most of it) but most of your concerns either don't apply on PC or can be modded out.

'Combat Tweaks,' I've found, makes the combat more involving and tactical (I'm playing on a modded Nightmare+ and even with a mage, one wrong move means total party wipe or something close to it) and the graphics can be significantly improved through the HD Textures mod. For example, Leliana is supposed to be an extremely attractive character; while I found her 'meh' in the vanilla version I literally spent two minutes gawping upon encountering her after applying a graphics mod.

Long story short: if you want the story, which is pretty enjoyable in itself, go for console. If you want the full gameplay and atmosphere experience I'd wait until you can actually play it on PC. Cheaper too, I think.

Long P.S.: If you do want to breeze through the thing as quickly as possible, play a Blood Mage/Arcane Warrior. Nothing beats being a heal-dispensing greatsword-wielding armoured battle-tank that shifts into other dimensions and makes their enemies' blood boil with a single gesture while absorbing any incoming damage with the power of their own mind. And that's not even touching upon the elemental chaos they can unleash.
Yes, I'm making it sound slightly more dramatic than it is but it's still pretty awesome and exactly as overpowered as I made it out to be. Good for cathartic potential though.

Ive only very recently gotten into pc gaming but Im still really undecided if i should get multiplatform games on the pc or the ps3, I just find it easier to sit in an arm chair and relax infront of a big tv whilst playing console, My pc is situated on a desk and i find myself having to strain and lean forward making gaming sessions uncomfortable. What kind of advantages and disadvantages would you say are associated with pc gaming you seem pretty ... experienced ?, So far ive only encountered a myriad of technical issues with pc gaming.

 

[Souplex]

"Flew under the radar"?! There was huge release hype, were you just in a cave when it came out or something, because I suppose then you might not have heard.

 

[Nimcha]

The save import feature won't mean shit, just like how it doesn't mean shit in ME, and this time you don't even play the same character in the sequel.

Eh, ignore this.

It's not a game if you're looking for originality. Not in terms of story or environment or characters. But what there is is very polished. My biggest gripe is indeed the lengthy corridors of meaningless enemies to plow through. But I didn't like the combat as much as other people might, so that might be less of a problem for you.

 

[Alien Mole]

Ive only very recently gotten into pc gaming but Im still really undecided if i should get multiplatform games on the pc or the ps3, I just find it easier to sit in an arm chair and relax infront of a big tv whilst playing console, My pc is situated on a desk and i find myself having to strain and lean forward making gaming sessions uncomfortable. What kind of advantages and disadvantages would you say are associated with pc gaming you seem pretty ... experienced ?, So far ive only encountered a myriad of technical issues with pc gaming.

For fairness' sake I'd have to admit I've been fiddling around with PCs and PC gaming for the better part of my existence so I'd at least possess the kind of experience that would make me not notice many of the issues as tinkering with all things IT-related is essentially the closest thing I have to a purpose in life. Which means you should take the following with a bit of salt.

The number one advantage with PCs is that you can generally customise anything and everything, for example with the mods I mentioned. They took me an hour or two to find, set up, and streamline but mainly only because EVERYTHING MUST BE NEAT UND TIDY (if you'll allow me to take a page from Yahtzee's book) If you're not that concerned with tweaking every last little thing to your preference you can be done in about twenty minutes, I think, but then again I have been doing this so long that I'm not entirely sure how intuitive it would be to a newcomer.

At any rate, if we're talking about Dragon Age specifically, I could send you links to the mods I'm using and an explanation of why I'm using them. I find they improve the gameplay significantly enough to merit the faffing about with dragging files into folders but that might just be me. The only other advantage PC users get over console owners apart from moddability is probably graphics. You can zoom out further, making the game more tactical as you've got an overview of the battlefield, and everything does look prettier, if that matters to you. If neither level of customisation or graphics matter to you, I'd definitely shoot for the console version if you're more comfortable with those.

The disadvantages are, as you pointed out, the technical niggles. First of all your hardware has to be up to par (if you're not sure and are considering DA on PC, I can help you out there) and second, PCs are inherently more complicated so there are more things that can go wrong. I enjoy making everything run just as it should, and like I said PC gaming doesn't have to be complicated if you're not entirely anal about things running exactly as you want them, but if you're entirely new to computers it can be a bit overwhelming, I guess. It is, however, a fun and relatively quick learning process if you're into technical stuff.

Don't know if that answers your question, but hope it does. I'm terribly tired (midterms) so I'm a bit vague and overly wordy, but you can always PM me if you have questions or such.

Oh, yes. I'm working on getting to that skill as quickly as possible.
What's the better choice between longbows, shortbows, and crossbows (assuming their all on the same tier)? I like the armor penetration of the crossbows, but the slow firing is maddening.

This is my first go as an archer. I'm looking forward to the Awakening skills in it.

Either longbows or shortbows - you can't modifiy crossbow damage by having higher stats, so I'm pretty sure they're not ideal for a dedicated archer. As for longbow vs. shortbow, I'm given to understand that a lethality-based dex/cunning build using shortbows is a good bit more powerful as it's both more damaging (crit-wise) and synergises better with bardsong, but they should be comparable enough to make them both viable and mostly a matter of personal choice and playstyle.