peterb0y said:can someone definitively give me an answer about the difficulty of this game? The only way I purchase this if "easy" is actually "easy"- So far everything points to no, game looks too fucking hard
bengraven said:Instead of [Persuasion] or [Cunning], it says [Premium Content] in the dialogue tree.
Seriously.
Number 2 said:Thanks :lol i had to turn off the persistent blood though because i would kill 2 rats and end up looking like i was slaughtering Bajorans all day for Gul Darhe'el. :lol
HotZeliard said:Wtf.
I'm listening to the latest PC Gamer US podcast and they're talking about Dragon Age, and one of the guys said that you can order your dog to lick the blood off your armor and such if you don't want to be all splattered in blood after a battle. First time I've heard of that. :lol
Zeliard said:Wtf.
I'm listening to the latest PC Gamer US podcast and they're talking about Dragon Age, and one of the guys said that you can order your dog to lick the blood off your armor and such if you don't want to be all splattered in blood after a battle. First time I've heard of that. :lol
Zeliard said:Yeah, that's fairly lame. I don't really like it in the journal either. I obviously appreciate that they separate the DLC quests from the other ones, but did they really have to stick them under the label "Premium Content" (which uses that same sort of classical font and design as the rest)?
Zefah said:I can confirm this. I played offline for the first 15 hours or so and never encountered the DLC quest merchant dude. As soon as I registered my CD keys and logged in he popped up in my camp, though. I still don't like how they have advertisements in the game, but oh well.
One thing that kind of annoyed me is that I found the guy in my camp, he told me about Warden's Keep and I agreed to help him out, but a few hours later I decide to go do the Stone Prisoner content and I run into the guy again and he introduced himself as if we had never met.
sendu said:What should they do instead? Hide it, as if they were ashamed of it? If I just paid for something I'd want it to be really obvious how to access it.
sendu said:What should they do instead? Hide it, as if they were ashamed of it? If I just paid for something I'd want it to be really obvious how to access it.
And if I didn't want to pay for something, I'd also want it to be immediately obvious that a certain quest isn't for me, so I didn't waste time with that NPC.
And if I did want to get some DLC, having an NPC there with a clear option that is otherwise well integrated into the game would be wonderful.
Zzoram said:The blood is ridiculous! It's pretty messed up how everyone will talk casually while they are splattered in blood.
Number 2 said:How about put it in the main menu?
Kintaro said:I love the blood splatter personally. I hope a mod comes out that just removes it from your face during cutscenes. I mean, shit, after some of these missions and quests, why wouldn't your armor be caked with blood? Most would just wipe it off their face or eyes and keep moving. I don't think they would whip out the brush and scrub it off after every battle.
Nif said:For some reason, after playing for too long, the game will start to take much much longer to load than usual (15-20 seconds). If I restart the game, the same areas will load in a 3-5 seconds.
sendu said:What good does it do you there? We're talking about a quest description here. Are you suggesting people save, exit the game to the main menu, go into the DLC menu and read, every single time they want a reminder about or update on the progress of their quest? Ludicrous.
Tenks said:That's kind of lame that the PC version of normal became easier. I honestly thought the difficulty was just right. It made you act strategically instead of just bum rushing. Kind of sad to hear about this.
Zeliard said:Yeah, it's mostly the blood on the face that bugs me. It's especially silly when it ends up all over their lips and they talk as if everything is normal. :lol
LCfiner said:I disabled persistent gore after a couple hours. it really is silly. it detracts from any attempt at emotional resonance they might be going for in the cutscene.
Oh, and one more swipe at the mute main character and how it weakens the game. it's not just that he/she doesn't talk. it's that the facial expression NEVER, EVER changes. all your party members will smile or sneer or look bored or excited at various times. but you, the main guy? nothing.
blank stare into space. no expression. you look like a fucking doll.
THAT's what gets me. If they could at least change the facial expression based on your dialog option you choose. That would help the immersion so much for me.
as it is now, I can't help but hink my character is some kind of idiot savant type. I'm worse than The Tranquil Mages.
Zeliard said:I agree, why does the guy basically never open his mouth? Always the same close-mouthed stare, which is completely nonsensical since the facial animation in the game literally has an emotional range. You can even see it on your own character during the portrait stuff in the creator, and you can end up giving him some fun smarmy sneer there that you'll never see in the game itself outside of the portrait.
Zeliard said:It breaks the immersion. It's talking about "downloadable content" in a world featuring elves and dwarves. My main issue with it is the wording. The demarcation between DLC content and regular stuff is fine, but they could have worded it in a way that doesn't hurt the sense of place the game so otherwise effectively achieves.
LCfiner said:I disabled persistent gore after a couple hours. it really is silly. it detracts from any attempt at emotional resonance they might be going for in the cutscene.
Oh, and one more swipe at the mute main character and how it weakens the game. it's not just that he/she doesn't talk. it's that the facial expression NEVER, EVER changes. all your party members will smile or sneer or look bored or excited at various times. but you, the main guy? nothing.
blank stare into space. no expression. you look like a fucking doll.
THAT's what gets me. If they could at least change the facial expression based on your dialog option you choose. That would help the immersion so much for me.
as it is now, I can't help but hink my character is some kind of idiot savant type. I'm worse than The Tranquil Mages.
worst example I've seen so far. In Lothering. I'm in the chantry and I just finish a quest and, as a reward, I ask (weak spoiler)I know the scene was supposed to be awkward but this was much worse than what they must've intended. at least have my character close his eyes and put on a douchey grin or something.for a kiss. NPC leans in and my glassy eyed stare never changes as she pecks me on the cheek.
more than anything else, that's what Mass Effect does so much better than this game. Shephard is a person, not a mannequin.
Number 2 said:Then you take the quest description and put it in like a real quest if you bought it from the main menu? Make the category its under The Warden's Keep and make no reference to Premium Content.
sendu said:But then it's just like a normal quest, and easy to be buried in a mountain of other quests. So we get back to the benefit of easily finding the special stuff you paid for.
It's hardly an immersion breaker. It's very well integrated. If the idea of bringing up a quest log at all doesn't break your immersion...
Zzoram said:I agree.
Zeliard said:I agree
GarthVaderUK said:Eurogamer gave the 360 version 6/10:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/dragon-age-origins-xbox360-review?page=1
Edit: it's same guy who did the PC version review.
He must have quite the raging yeast infection.GarthVaderUK said:Eurogamer gave the 360 version 6/10:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/dragon-age-origins-xbox360-review?page=1
Edit: it's same guy who did the PC version review.
Eurogamer said:Steering your own highly individual course through it - directing the ebb and flow of its plotting and its characters' relationships through word and deed - you'll be enticed by its openness.
Unfortunately, you'll also be alienated and a trifle bored by its dry setting, rote side-quests, lifeless and bloated dialogue and clumsy attempts at edginess, like a college professor trying to act cool. That it draws you in regardless is testament to its craft.
Zeliard said:This strike anyone as contradictory? The good majority of the choice-laden plotting and character interactions, which he praises, is conveyed and executed purely through dialogue.
Kintaro said:He gave the PC version a 8/10. If the 360 version features graphics, sound and controls that are worse, did you expect it to score the same?
Hey look, a console gamer who'd prefer to just bitch and moan about a score rather than actually y'know, explain what he disagrees with. Of course, he probably hasn't had the ability to compare the two versions and see if it really is cramped and lacking key features, but that should never stop someone from speaking their mind. After all, Eurogamer are bias.Jayge said:He must have quite the raging yeast infection.
That's pretty much how I feel so far. The choices themselves may be good, and offer you different ways of solving a problem, but they're presented in text that really isn't all that great. It's the same way you can say the writing/story is good, but the script sucks. In this case though, I think the blame doesn't lay with the script entirely (though it doesn't help). A big problem is the lifeless "delivery" of your lines, and the high-fantasy cliches that litter the world. Scottish dwarf? I NEVER!This strike anyone as contradictory? The good majority of the choice-laden plotting and the character interactions, which he praises, is conveyed and executed purely through dialogue.
Doytch said:Scottish dwarf? I NEVER!
Kintaro said:Nope. You can direct the interactions and plotting to a large degree, but the dialogue itself can be a bit boring and lifeless to that person. A customer gave me this complaint last night. He liked how open it was, but thought that it was still boring to read/listen to.
There are six totally different opening depending on race and class. After the first few hours of gameplay they all end up in the same place through different circumstances.L0st Id3ntity said:How different does the game start depending on your race and class? Is there a point where it all connects no matter what you're playing?
Kintaro said:He gave the PC version a 8/10. If the 360 version features graphics, sound and controls that are worse, did you expect it to score the same?
Number 2 said:Not if the graphics dont detract from the game experience. We arent talking about a huge gulf in quality. This isnt VGA vs CGA here.
Zeliard said:Right, but he's calling the dialogue "bloated" when it's tasked with doing so many of the things in the game that he praises - offering player choice, establishing character personalities and backgrounds, establishing and maturing character relationships, moving the main plot forward, splintering off into side-plots, quests, and other interactions that you can miss, etc. There has to be a great amount of it by default in order to accomplish this. Planescape Torment, while featuring superior writing and dialogue (to this game and any other), went for the same sort of things and had an even more enormous script (which wasn't frequently voiced).
I'd say "wordy" rather than "bloated" if I was writing it. It also seems like it's wordiness for its own sake. I actually turned on subtitles so I could just read it quicker than the VA and skip to the next line. I don't usually like to do that, either.Zeliard said:Right, but he's calling the dialogue "bloated" when it's tasked with doing so many of the things in the game that he praises - offering player choice, establishing character personalities and backgrounds, establishing and maturing character relationships, moving the main plot forward, splintering off into side-plots, quests, and other interactions that you can miss, etc. There has to be a great amount of it by default in order to accomplish this. Planescape Torment, while featuring superior writing and dialogue (to this game and any other), went for the same sort of things and had an even more enormous script (which wasn't frequently voiced).
Doytch said:Hey look, a console gamer who'd prefer to just bitch and moan about a score rather than actually y'know, explain what he disagrees with. Of course, he probably hasn't had the ability to compare the two versions and see if it really is cramped and lacking key features, but that should never stop someone from speaking their mind. After all, Eurogamer are bias.
The 360 version looks only slightly worse than the PC version, imo. And even then.. worse than what? Would the PC version of DA run better on a $199 computer? i somehow doubt that.Kintaro said:There's no question the graphics and framerate are worse on the console versions. Factor in the overhead camera on PC and there's no contest really.
Kintaro said:I really love the game, but bloated could be used as well. There are some points where you're talking to a character and they just won't shut the fuck up with their story that goes on well past its point in both presentation and any sort of character/world development it may have had. However, I haven't dived in completely yet so I don't know to what extent this is true.
No one could've read that as sarcasm, especially after people just bitched about the score. I love the pot-kettle bit about calling someone a douche after just commenting on someone having a yeast infection (even in sarcasm), though.Jayge said:Hey look, another presumptive douche on an internet message board using his misunderstanding of (upon reflection, clearly understated, my bad) sarcasm to shove his foot so far down his throat it comes out his ass! :lol
This is a pure preference, but if they were gonna not voice the main, I'd've preferred they didn't voice anything and just had the dialogue system used in Storm of Zehir. Seriously, the only VAs I've liked are Alistair and Duncan.To each his own, of course. I think the dialogue is one of this game's strengths, partly because it does a very solid job with character interaction, and I don't think that would be at all possible were the dialogue "lifeless". I don't think the characters and their relationships to each other can be interesting if what they say to each other isn't, which is why I considered that statement a contradiction.
In the good majority of games I can barely even pay attention to the story and characters because they're so incredibly poorly-written, but I find myself interested in a lot of what these guys have to say. Doesn't hurt that the voice acting for your companions is pretty excellent across-the-board (though Leilana does sound a bit odd), as well as with most other characters in the game, especially the major ones. I have no issues with the writing in this game - it's not especially unique, but it's very solid by videogame standards, particularly as of late. Certainly a major leap over Bethesda's stuff.
Mud crabs. Vile creatures. :lolA freshly laid pile of dogshit is better than Bethesda's stuff. I just can not get into their games. Lifeless describes their writing perfectly.