Dragon Age - Leliana Update

BioWare has updated the Dragon Age Characters with Leliana - here's Chris Priestly's introduction:

We have a new video and page up featuring one of the potential party NPCs: Leliana.

Leliana is a complex woman. On the surface she seems a devout member of the Chantry who is guided by the Maker to aid the PC in his quest. Yet, below the surface, there is much more to this seemingly pious sister.

You can check out her concept art, screenshots and video here: http://dragonage.bioware.com/characters/leliana

Thanks also to leth for a similar submission.
More information.

That loading screen with the head on the spike is the most juvenile piece of crap I can remember seeing.

With all this marketing, it's getting to be the point that I don't even feel the need to play this game… when it comes out I will know the whole plot, watched every scene via clips on the site… etc.

And I totally agree on the head thing. The whole marketing campaign comes across as "Dragon Age: Trying way too hard"

What's with all the blood generally? Jeez, this is supposedly the "spiritual successor" to Baldur's Gate, I don't recall huge spraying gouts of blood when I killed people (well, only very occasionally and a scattering of a few red 2d pixels is not really the same).

At first I thought you guys were overreacting with all the complaining, but then I watched the video….

They're trying way too hard to inject drama into this game.

Originally Posted by JDR13
At first I thought you guys were overreacting with all the complaining, but then I watched the video….

They're trying way too hard to inject drama into this game.

Blood = drama
Boobies = mature
Me = lowered interest again

I don't mind the blood and I like boobies

Yet I feel the Taint of Consoles… on the other side - not much competition for party-based RPGs around at the moment…

To be fair, to attract the average console crowd, you can't exactly show off with branching dialogs. And you can't really fit a plot arc in a short trailer.

Unfortunately, blood and sex is what sells to the "new generations." ( It is not just gaming industry though, just check out the "pop" music/music video charts…).

I think the previews like one done Gamebanshee does a much better job of representing DA.

Originally Posted by Fenris
Yet I feel the Taint of Consoles…

"Taint" might end up being an accurate description for this game.

Originally Posted by JDR13
At first I thought you guys were overreacting with all the complaining, but then I watched the video….

They're trying way too hard to inject drama into this game.

Even for my taste there is a little bit too much blood. It would fit if this was Bloodrayne 4 or some kind of horror or survival scenario. And what about the nudes? I didn't see any (even though i played a lot with the pause-button )

wtf, sheesh… to make a Samhain freak like me do a double-take at the blood, LOL. That's like Cannibal Corpse death metal-ville there, what the hell are they doing w/ this pussy Manson shit playing???

I can see the benefit of reading the book tho, recognizing the lore in people, places, etx. While it wasnt all that good, I'm glad that I read it in preperation for the game. Looks like I'd better bring a rain slicker tho

It is truly epic, dramatic, dark, gritty and mature. Bioware knows how to NOT keep me interested.

At least we had The Witcher and we'll have Risen.

I reccomend checking out:
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon_Age_Wiki

It gives you a good idea of how the game mechanics will work, skills, attributes, talents, spells, and how all those things will interact.

If you can look past the marketing, and look at the game mechanics, the choices and consequences, etc I think you will find that this looks like an awesome game, and quite different in a lot of (good) ways to what Bioware has done before. It looks like it will have a lot more free-roaming open world stuff, and some choices that have real impact on how things unfold with serious and often delayed consequences.

Some of the voice acting does sound pretty bad though. Not as bad as the voice acting for the nameless hero in Gothic 1 (in the English version, anyway) which I'm playing right now.

I watched the trailer and it's just so excessive that it looked like a joke, something from a Tarantino's film. And I think that's just what it's meant to be, a piece of humour not drama. So I think you are overreacting a bit.

Originally Posted by xSamhainx
wtf, sheesh… to make a Samhain freak like me do a double-take at the blood, LOL. That's like Cannibal Corpse death metal-ville there, what the hell are they doing w/ this pussy Manson shit playing???

Haha, indeed!! With all these people complaining about the Marilyn Manson thing, all I can think of is "why don't they use some proper death metal??"

I don't mind the blood/sex thing, it is what it is. I don't judge a game because of some ulterior motives a company may have (bigger audience). Maybe it'll be fun, maybe it won't.

Oh, and I'll probably get the console version (heresy!), because then I can sit on the couch and won't have to upgrade my PC!

blood and sex is what sells to the "new generations."

Blood and sex has always sold, across generations. If you think it only appeals to kiddies you're deluding yourself.

Oh, that is a pretty cool piece of concept art of Leliana.

The word is that the console version won't have the BG-style top down camera option.

The system requirements for the PC version are very reasonable, if you've been able to play any recentish 3D RPGs, you should be fine with DA.

Originally Posted by Badesumofu
The word is that the console version won't have the BG-style top down camera option.

The system requirements for the PC version are very reasonable, if you've been able to play any recentish 3D RPGs, you should be fine with DA.

Oooh, that would be a crime! I do hope that the gameplay isn't that different, even though everybody hopes for an old-school RPG experience (including me) and consoles don't really lend themselves to micro-management.

My PC is 4,5 years old with some upgraded RAM (2 GB) and a new videocard (a humble Radeon 4650). The CPU will make the difference; I fear it won't be enough. In any case, it will probably look better on Xbox 360 than on my PC.

Well, as I've said before, everyone I know who has actually seen the game was impressed, so I'm not paying any attention to the stupid marketing.

Originally Posted by Thaurin
Oooh, that would be a crime! I do hope that the gameplay isn't that different, even though everybody hopes for an old-school RPG experience (including me) and consoles don't really lend themselves to micro-management.

Mike Laidlaw said at the GC that the top-down mode had to be cut due to hardware limitations on consoles. Apart from that the games are identical.