Dragon Age - Preview @ VideoGamer

VideoGamer has a preview of Dragon Age, following Dan Tudge's demo at Leipzig. Apparently they're a little disappointed it isn't a fantasy makeover for Mass Effect:

So, if you're looking for Mass Effect with a fantasy skin, then look away now. Dragon Age is more like Baldur's Gate with a Lord of the Rings skin. At least that's the overriding feeling we get from the demo.

The game's set up - you choose a character class and battle against the evil Blight as you rise through the ranks of the elite Grey Wardens warrior group - is classic fantasy fare and will be instantly familiar to the genre's fans. The pseudo real-time combat, which can be paused at the players' whim, allows you to seamlessly switch between members of your party, dish out commands and cast spells - just like you did in Baldur's Gate back in the day. It all feels, well, a little old.

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More information.

This makes me laugh

We hate this because it's not Mass Effect with Swords

But we also hate Fallout 3 because it is Oblivion with Guns

Personally I can't wait for this game - classic "old skool" (as I believe the youngsters call it). Then again I'm also looking forward to Fallout 3. (and NWN X2)

It all feels, well, a little old

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I too laugh, because the company's goal was to make an "old skool" game, but they've made one that is built on the feeblest efforts of NWN, and basically looks like another (and these were old in 1998) LotR/D&D clone.

And they're calling it 'Origins', like it's the start of a WHOLE new generation of the same old shit. Why doesn't it DIE already?!

I'm not giving the turn-based-with-pause fantasy clones any more chances.

We dont like it because its not Mass Effect ?!

Ok...i wish that they stop giving FPS players job of reviewing RPG...

Can you remember infamous Eurogamer review of "The Witcher" , where reviewer himself admits he didnt like the game because he does not like RPGs in general!?


Dragon Age is what true rpg fans have been waiting for years now. Let FPS players play Oblivion with guns and Mass Effect. And give us good old

RPG TACTICAL GAMING BACK !!!!

This preview gave me some hopes in this game.

screeg said:

I too laugh, because the company's goal was to make an "old skool" game, but they've made one that is built on the feeblest efforts of NWN, and basically looks like another (and these were old in 1998) LotR/D&D clone.

And they're calling it 'Origins', like it's the start of a WHOLE new generation of the same old shit. Why doesn't it DIE already?!

I'm not giving the turn-based-with-pause fantasy clones any more chances.

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Why don't you try lying down on the floor, beating it with your fists, and screaming? I hear that helps if you do it vigorously enough.

The more that previews describe the game as old fashioned, and non Mass Efect-like the better. I mean even "new-school" FPS Action real-time RPG fans want some variety in the gaming world right? It seems unbelieveable that journalists and "new school" fans would want all CRPGs to all look, feel, and act super-future-next-gen-graphics-bloom. That every new CRPG would be a clone is bad, you get it already? All games don't have to "look" like Crysis to "be" good. For people who aren't willing to open their minds and grow, it would be best that they not comment on things they do not understand and therefore accept. Of course those sentiments are as old as the world, and many are to stupid to follow it, thus we have "what we have".

I've noticed this with adventure game reviews as well. If it looks and plays like a high-resolution version of a classic point-and-click adventure game, not being "innovative" enough is blamed on it. Apparently, an entire genre that's still loved by a significant group of people if disregarded as "stale" and "dead" because not enough has changed over the years that it existed.

Well, guess what. Some people think there's nothing wrong with the genre and want to see it used more often. That is not to say that new and innovative ideas should be ignored, but not everything needs to significantly change for a game to be fun to play. Some of those ideas are still sorely missed in today's offerings.

The day all games resemble Mass Effect is the day I quit gaming for good.

Dragon age is nr 2 on my waiting list.

People and the fans have been screaming and demanding, yes demanding that Bioware made another Baldur's Gate game. And know they do. And yet, still people are complaining ?

As for the LotR/D&D look; on the surface this game looks like a D&D or LotR clone. However, when you look beneath the surface you will soon discover that it is not. There is good or evil options as such; kill a prisoner and pay the price, feed the prisoner and do not get the item he's offering to you.

Get involved with the King, meet Morrigan - play as a mage - get treated like your the scum of the earth; play as human Noble - get treated with much respect.

I don't think the prewiew/rewiev actually stated that the guy who wrote the preview didn't like the game; just informing the readers that DA: Origins is a different game than Mass Effect - in the style of Baldur's Gate.

To me - this is very good news indeed

aries100 said:

People and the fans have been screaming and demanding, yes demanding that Bioware made another Baldur's Gate game. And know they do. And yet, still people are complaining ?

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If you have played as a game master, then, you can see the core of the problem: The more players, the more tastes. How many people do you think Bioware deal with?

I am looking forward to the game greatly and its sad that reviewers dish a game if its not the next new shiney.