Dragon Age - Open Letter - Overview of the Launch

DArtagnan · November 11, 2009

Yeah, it was pretty obvious that they paid tribute to more than one sci-fi classics, as evidenced by the "film grain" mode and even the soft electronic music. I thought a lot of the atmosphere came from Star Wars, perhaps because of left-over KOTOR inspiration. It did have enough on its own to keep me interested and surprised. I guess I'm not as demanding as some people.

Without going into spoilers, I spotted a bit of Aliens, Total Recall, and the aforementioned Babylon 5.

But as long as they're not trying to pass it off as entirely their own "original" material, I see nothing wrong with it. I think it worked REALLY well in terms of establishing a great sci-fi atmosphere.

I already conceded this point, although I'm only just past the origin story with one of my characters. I really like the way the story is told, but Mass Effect's graphics and cinematic presentation were better. I kind of agree with Eurogamer that the graphics in the Xbox 360 version are not as good as they should be (for whatever reason). I'm even seeing framerate drops in talking head scenes (not necessarily the most graphic intensive moments, I'd assume). So in those departments I sooner think of Mass Effect as "art."

I've tried both versions, and this is one CLEAR-CUT example of the PC version being superior. It's not so much about features removed as it's about the control/UI and general gameplay structure.

There's no doubt that they tried hard to make a good console version, and in most ways it's probably very good in its own right. But everything flows much better on the PC if you've got a decent rig. It's very obviously made with that platform in mind.

Exactly. It's like reading a modern-day novel and complaining that there are humans in the book, just like every other modern-day novel out there. It's not a bad thing to have elfs that are elfs and dwarfs that are dwarfs in a book or video game; there's still a lot of room for characterization. Not every alien has to be totally original and inventive. It's just written for a certain genre.

It seems we very much agree on this bit about originality and innovation. Frankly, I care much, MUCH more about depth and meaning than I do about new ideas. New ideas CAN be great, but it's rare and often they're really just a variation of something old. I don't get why people have such a problem with established concepts that have been proven to work really well. As long as you don't use those elements in entirely familiar ways and do something clever with them - it's really not a bad thing.

You could be right, but I haven't seen enough yet to know that for myself. I hope you're right, so that I'll have something to look out for!

Well, I was not expecting anything great - so maybe that's a factor. I was expecting a lot from Mass Effect and was pretty damn disappointed by the things I mentioned.

Then there's the ever-present subjective factor. Either you like this kind of writing or you don't. To me, it's borderline brilliant because of the variety and the true RPG sensation it stirs in me. Not because it's all that profound or moving, but then again I tend to find such writing pretentious and more of a smoke-screen than actual quality writing.

Well, Mass Effect for me was largely "shoot myself through this section so that I can see the next part of the story." The getting stronger part was kind of fun, but obviously not the main attraction of the game. Although the powers were fun to max out, but not especially deep. I guess the player's biggest involvement in Mass Effect was the story and dialogue and the way that was presented. I think there was even more dialogue than combat in the game.

Yes, that's definitely what I came away feeling as well. It worked well as an action/adventure and some of the dialogue was also quite RPG'ish. However, as a true CRPG in the spirit of KotOR - I think it failed rather miserably, especially in terms of gameplay mechanics. If Mass Effect had been "Dragon Age in space" it would have been much closer to the kind of masterpiece I was hoping for.

That could be interesting. I'm guessing you mean the types of skills and upgrades you unlock in the game. I've not levelled up enough for the game to really open up strategically, but I have to wonder how much it will on the Xbox 360 version as it's more difficult to issue all kinds of individual orders (but certainly not impossible like Eurogamer initially believed). So I think this part of the game probably shines on the PC and might have lost something in the conversion.

Yeah, I'm talking about the gameplay being very demanding (in the best possible way) and the sensation of progress being VERY well done. You get new toys at a great rate, and all your choices matter. The loot system is pretty intricate as are the underlying RPG mechanics. The various stats and item values make a ton of sense, and you can plan your progress and tactics with great success. In Mass Effect, I was much less invested, because the fights were a mess and the scaling too extreme to make me care about progress. You just used a tiny handful of skills over and over, and the control of companions just didn't work as I wanted it to.

I actually like spoken text. It can be more laid back and I'm not a very fast reader. However, I'm guessing that Dragon Age is capable of having vastly more background in the Codex because of not having to voice-act every single line of text. I guess it's an evolution of the Codex in Mass Effect, playing a bigger role. I suppose that one could have largle done without it in Mass Effect without missing too much. I admit that at one point, I couldn't really keep up and lost interest. Maybe that will be different in Dragon Age.

I feel the same way, actually. I prefer spoken text and miss it in Dragon Age. But the fact that they didn't include it, means they cared enough about the depth of the background to ignore that it'd be hard to digest for so many people.

But given the choice between a LOT of background in text, and SOME background in spoken form - I much prefer the Dragon Age solution. I really appreciate the amount of work poured into the world and setting in general. It's like the computer version of Tolkien material, almost.

Oh, definitely, and I feel that I have much more influence on the outcome of things. I haven't played through a section multiple times yet, but I can see how certain things could have played out very differently. It just makes for more satisfying dialogues. I just love a certain canine that's made a certain reappearance.

Mhmm

Mass Effect is just a different design choice (i.e. more linear, restricted). I guess replayability is something your enthusiast would enjoy more than the non-enthusiast?

Probably, but replayability is relatively low on my own list. It's more about the first playthrough being engaging beyond simply the story/setting - and having the "illusion" of something truly spectacular and not "just" a piece of entertainment. For the reasons mentioned, and others, Dragon Age gives me that sensation and Mass Effect didn't. That said, it's an incredibly rare feat and I'm just really happy that it happened at all. I had all but given up on the industry in that way, and Bioware also.

Dragon Age - Open Letter - Overview of the Launch

DArtagnan

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