Dragon Age - Preview, Interview and Videos

[Dhruin]

A handful of Dragon Age tidbits:

• PCGZine has an interview with Mike Laidlaw and a fairly lengthy hands-on preview, if you don't mind the .pdf format
• A video interview from Inside Xbox. The conversation is a general overview but there's a fair bit of footage
• A new trailer at Gametrailers showing a battle with giant spiders and a small dragon, with liberal pausing and use of Talents

More information.

 

[baron]

not promising, hey?
retarded ingame comments, pitiful voices, wowish interface and behaviour?..
overall childish, stereotyped and commercial.

a title to avoid.
________
Vapir No2 Vaporizer

 

[guenthar]

I looked at everything listed and don't understand where you got any of that from. The comments didn't really seem any different then what you got in Baldur's Gate and I didn't mind the voices. If having a shortcut bar makes it wowish then I guess being wowish is a good thing since that just removes the hassle of going into menus to do everything but if not that I don't know what you are talking about. The rest of what you said doesn't make much sense and anything childish has only been about the marketing and not the game itself.

PS. One thing I have liked from seeing the ingame videos is that you have to pay attention to your characters otherwise you die. I only got about half way through Baldur's Gate (I have a hard time staying interested with isometric games) but from what I played I didn't need to pay as close attention to survive as in this game.

PPS. It looks like this could be a good game and will play it and see if it is good. I hope it is better then Mass Effect.

 

[ToddMcF2002]

A lot of effort to make a game that pretty much looks identical to NWN2 with improved graphics. Lots of wiz bang effects.

Looks completely generic though.

 

[ortucis]

Is it just me or anyone else still finding it hard to get excited about this game? Since the day it has been announced (in whispers being PC exclusive then on MAJOR GAMING SITES OMGWTFLAME!!) I am still trying to figure out what is new or exiting in this game.

Nothing. Nothing is new or exciting. The moronic PR department didn't help with the excitement factor.


*tries watching another gameplay video to look for something new and fun*

 

[kroto]

PCGamer UK December 2009

Dragon Age: Origins
Verdict: A truly astonishing game. Vast, vivid and microscopically detailed. Dragon Age is the RPG of the decade. 94%

And now the last part of the review by John Walker:
"But coming out the other end of an epic 80 hours first playthrough, I leave with memories that feel like more than simply events in a game. The friendship I formed with fellow Grey Warden Alistair has an echo of a reality. His penchant for sarcasm, his sniping conversations with Morrigan as we explored, and his struggle to balance emotion and bravado, continue to resonate.

I’ve not only been to huge cities, but I’ve learned their past, their present, and been involved in shaping their future, This hasn’t felt like passing through a series of checkpoints, but having experienced a world. I know enough about the religion of the Chantry to preach their own Chants. My connection to the Grey Wardens is palpable, and the part I played an honourable one.

This is the most enormously detailed game world I’ve experienced, its history stretching back thousands of years, its cultures vivid, beautiful and flawed, the battles enormous, the humour superb. Roleplaying games now have a great deal to live up to."

 

[ortucis]

So did he mention any flaws? I mean, -6%, in RPG of the decade? (probably didn't want to give it a perfect 100%.. must.. resist)

 

[Remus]

Every game has it flaw. Anyway we get to check up the game itself within couple weeks, and more gamers could ascertain how good the game is.

 

[aries100]

From the rpg codex comes more of the PC UK gamer review:
http://rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=37336&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=175 (please look at Wderangred's post)

However, in a game with few flaws, theres one flailing giant (multiheaded?) one when it comes to difficulty settings. The pop up text suggesting that switching to easy will remove the need for micromanagement during fights is lying. There are difficulty spikes at certain points where getting through a battle on easy becomes stunningly hard, and requires frenetic fine tuning. Similarly if you chose to play a dwarf rogue, you'll find yourself forced to pick easy during the opening momentsof the game because you're simply incapable of surviving battles otherwise.

Later on, any class can hold their own with enough skills, But unless you're a mage with a cluster of healing spells you must be prepared to spam health poultices to get though many tough encounters."

Here's some info on you meet and dea with the Dwarfs' community:

It's abhorrent. Exploring the city's slums is distressing. But you're an outsider (unless you're playing a dwarf, of course) so how much is it your place to object? This is question the game asks. At one point you're challenged over whether to help set up a chantry in the city of Orzammar - among a race who believe in a completely different, completely incompatible religion. But what if the chantry might offer help to the casteless? What then? At the same time you're drawn into the dirty politics of which of two deadlocked candidates should be the new king, alongside exploring the Darkspawn infested abandoned mines and townships deeper into the mountain. And that's less than half of what happens here.

I especially like what the review from PC UK Gamer says about the difficulty.
That's exactly how it should be, in my mind

 

[kalniel]

A lot of effort to make a game that pretty much looks identical to NWN2 with improved graphics. Lots of wiz bang effects.

Looks completely generic though.

I think it looks much worse than NWN2, which had an amazing dynamic lighting system rather than the static on in DA:O.

However, DA:O should be a lot smoother.. and heck, why are we even talking about graphics? The gameplay for DA:O should be a lot more action filled than NWN2, the lore deeper, story more branching, NPC dialogues more complete, romances more available etc. etc.

The PC Gamer UK review is good, but my concern is the whole issue seems to be a bit of an EA love in, they even have an article extolling EAs virtues and saying they're the best in the world now etc.

 

[ortucis]

Heh if Difficulty spikes are the only bad thing about game then that could be fixed with a patch (which I am sure there will be considering it's BioWare, who always fix most of their games). It's not even that big of a deal. Even if the game is on Easy you would want a bit of challenge every now and then.

Hopefully we will see more reviews (from online gaming sites, don't buy mags anymore).