vs Dragon Age?

To me the DA and Drasang battle mechanics were very similar, but with a major difference when it comes to magic use. Your spells simply take too long to cast in Drasang.
My main was an elementalist, whith whom I eventually gave up casting direct spells and just started concentrating on buffs and conjures.
Magic use in DA is fun, fun, fun.

I must say, that I've found DA much less "dark and gritty" than the marketing campaign would have led one to believe.

Agreed, Drasang does have a better and more varied "caste" system; and possibly slightly more depth with the levelling system, though hard to tell exactly, because the systems are slightly different.

On the other hand, I've found DA to be a much more immersive game than Drasang, the latter with which I soon became bored and had to force myself to continue, because there is no 'soul' to the game. DA just has so much more to offer as far as character inrteraction and a vibrant, dynamic world goes.

..so I'd say you've made a good choice, Oliver.

Of course he has. But that's easy if he only has a luxury problem.

I thought Drakensang was great but the voice acting and the writing wasn't very good. Well, it may have been in German but it seems to have lost quite a bit in translation. Dragon Age is obviously professionally written and acted and it makes a huge difference. Also there's grown up content and romances which Drakensang has not (that I recall).

And I like how in Dragon Age there are quests that take you back and forth to different places. In Drakensang you go to a new area, you complete it then you leave and you can't come back. I didn't like that at all.

If you're not really bothered about dialog then you probably won't mind Drakensang but it's very austere in terms of loot, even more than Dragon Age. I found this refreshing but you might not like it. High end loot like magic weapons and rings are very rare. And you'll probably find yourself using the same armour and weapon for most of the game.

I also found the dungeon crawling in Drakensang to be quite tedious at times. And there's repawn in Drakensang where there is non at all in Dragon Age. Personally I hate respawn and that really put me off.

Respawn? Where?

Originally Posted by Gorath
Respawn? Where?

I'd also like to know. Possibly the transition areas? The sewers, perhaps? The no respawn in Drakensang highly irritated me, since I tend to be a powergamer who likes to grind.

I forgot to say that I found the loot pretty abundant in DA. ..especialy when it comes to magic items, weapons and armour, as compared to the trivial type of loot you tend to find in Drakensang.

Another thing I like about DA, is the difficulty setting - 4 settings, where in Drsang you cannot set it. You struggle on at the same setting, right through.

Originally Posted by RivianWitch
I forgot to say that I found the loot pretty abundant in DA. ..especialy when it comes to magic items, weapons and armour, as compared to the trivial type of loot you tend to find in Drakensang.

Are you sure you're playing the same game I am? Magic stuff is pretty sparse in DA, compared to most fantasy crpgs at least.

Originally Posted by Gorath
Respawn? Where?

The forest around the blood Mountains, for example.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Are you sure you're playing the same game I am? Magic stuff is pretty sparse in DA, compared to most fantasy crpgs at least.

I meant compared to Drakensang. Name all the magic items you found in Drakensang? Perhaps I'd just forgotten..

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
The forest around the blood Mountains, for example.

You mean like the wolves and bandits? I hadn't realised those were actually respawn; I had just thought those were the ones I had missed.

Originally Posted by RivianWitch
I meant compared to Drakensang. Name all the magic items you found in Drakensang? Perhaps I'd just forgotten..

I wasn't talking about Drakensang, I was referring to DA in general.

I was real close to buying Drakensang this week actually, but ended up getting some new FPS games instead. I'm feeling a bit burned out on RPGs at the moment.

Originally Posted by RivianWitch
You mean like the wolves and bandits? I hadn't realised those were actually respawn; I had just thought those were the ones I had missed.

Yes, they respawned, because I had killed them only minutes before they reappeared again.

I don't remember other areas; but this only because I simply can't remember. It's too long since I "put it on hiatus", so to say.

Dragon Age only has three classes, but since each class has SO many skills, there is a lot of choices on builds in DA. By the end of the game you might have most skills, but the beginning 1/2 to 2/3 is always different.

DA has Arcane Warrior as the closest thing to a Battlemage. The AW is not nearly as proficient with weapons as either a rogue or warrior, but he can do some massive damage if you also cast the right buffs before going Tank. The biggest problem is going to be absorbing damage. A mage just doesn't have the HP to take many hits.

Drakensang was a game that I eventually just got tired of. I got about 2/3 of the way through before the lack of a decent reason to continue got me. I'd gladly play it again though. It was fun for several hours before the eventual boredom set in.

I really like both games, but honestly 5 years from now folks will remember DS whereas Drakensang will be like Nox, a fun and competent game that filled the gap. That isn't a bad thing, mind you …

It's the other way around for me. While DA was clearly superior while playing, in 5 years I won't remember much of it beyond the fact that it looked pretty and was made like a summer blockbuster. Ultimately I found Drakensang more memorable and positively whimsical, maybe because I make a subconscious connection to Realms of Arkania — you know, nostalgia and all that.

Games that usually get "only" 80+ ratings in mainstream reviews often turn out to be diamonds in the rough. DA on the other hand seemed more like a diamond with flaws to me. Long-term I prefer the value of hidden treasures.

That said, Drakensang could have been better, also in terms of the typical Dark Eye atmosphere. Still waiting to see how the sequel will turn out.

"whimsical" is exactly the word I'd use in describing what little I saw of Drakensang, from the demo.

I'm planning on picking up the sequel after I'm done with DA. I think it might be a more apt comparison, as the DraSa team will have had time to play DA and possibly make some adjustments to the sequel to reflect this. We'll see.

I am liking DA a lot at the moment. I'm quite pleased with how powerful I feel (as a mage) even so early in the game. It's promising. The story is excellent and a lot more involving than I was expecting, likely due to the sheer capability of it all. It's fluid and remarkably interesting. That said, I'd be willing to bet, that of my 5ish hours played, I've spent more time in dialogs than in combat.

Thanks to everyone here for your thoughts and recommendations.

Oliver

Originally Posted by oliverh72
as the DraSa team will have had time to play DA and possibly make some adjustments to the sequel to reflect this.

For future games, maybe, but not for Drakensang 2. The game is near to being complete.

The current stage seems to be merely testing & fine-tuneing to me.

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
For future games, maybe, but not for Drakensang 2. The game is near to being complete.

The current stage seems to be merely testing & fine-tuneing to me.

Maybe I missed it, but is there a release date yet?

For Germany (Switzerland, Austria), YES:

12th February.

For an English-Language release: NO.

Cool - hopefully some time next summer / fall then! Maybe I'll have caught up by then

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
For future games, maybe, but not for Drakensang 2. The game is near to being complete.

The current stage seems to be merely testing & fine-tuneing to me.

Drakensang 2 is almost out? Wasn't there supposed to be an expansion for the first game? What happened to that?