Unregistered007
Banned
HK-47 said:
Dragon Age engine ????? people stopped developing for xbox1 long time ago.
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Dragon Age: Origins |OT| Letting The Fade fade out of memory
- Thread starter EviLore
- Start date
Dragon Age engine ????? people stopped developing for xbox1 long time ago.
DangerousMali
Member
ok, is the DLC content final fight as tough as the story ending archedemon fight ?
So I just beat Awakening last night. Overall I was a bit disappointed by it.
I cleared it in 11 hours, level 33, did all the board missions, all characters quest, upgraded the keep to the max, and crafted the 3 items with the blacksmith. The length was quite good for an expansion.
What I didn't like is that for me the game felt like a beta version of DAO. The fact that you can't talk to party members directly was a huge minus for me. Instead you have to click at random stuff from statues to trees in a forest to get some dialogue with them or give them specific gift. Amaranthine is supposed to be a big port, a strategic point in the orlesian invasion and yet it looks like some random village. It's chantry is a copy paste of lothering's chantry (even the bookcase and armoire are at the same place). I didn't like that you had to buy all the new specialisations via book. Some allies come with some of the new ones (it's tied to their background) and yet they can't teach it to you. New allies seems shoddy compared to the Origins since you don't interact with them as much as in DAO and because the game is shorter.
Runecrafting was not balanced at all. I made 4 paragon level runes in my game and it costed roughly 400 sovereigns (gold). In the end it was not worth it much aside the paragon stout rune. It's really clunky to get all the tracing and upgrade runes in the order of journeyman->expert-> Master-> Grand Master-> Masterpiece-> Paragon. To get a paragon level rune you will need a whopping 40-50 journeyman runes to start with and 99 blankstone and 99 etching agent if you want to minimize trips to the seller. Then it's button mashing/clicking a bunch of time in your runes list. They should have added a wizard to make the final level rune for you once you have enough of the starter ones. There are litteraly no runes in chests, nor the monsters drops them so either you bring a lot from DAO or you spend all your cash buying them in Awakening.
Story wise there are huge potential for sequels since they explored the origins of the blights and darkspawns. Yet the plot felt rushed a lot. Once you reach the final area there is quite a ridiculous plot twist.
I think there is a total of 3 choices from DAO that carry in awakening and only one affects cutscenes. There seems no point in playing as the Orlesian Wardens (aside if you mysteriously lost your save). I think from what I've seen it changes 2-3 dialogue in the game. They never talk about your previous exploits. It seems they ran out of money to create an ending. As soon as you land the killing blows you get epilogue panels with text.
The QA for this was also rushed a lot. There is a lot of bugs in it. In my 360 version I started without weapon because I had a DLC staff equipped. Shouldn't they give me a replacing one? One of my friend was completly naked when he loaded his save :lol . During cutscenes the screens sometimes turn to black when characters are talking. My codex is filled with blank slots. Some of my items name are very file like, for example some of my items are named nsp_002_itemname. One of the merchant in the keep appeared before I saved her. I then met her later on the road, saved her and she reappared at the keep. My sentinel armor is bugged, only the helmet has the correct graphics, the rest have the appearance of the warden's commander armor. It's possible to lockpick the door to the mines before recruiting a certain characters even if the door is labeled as impossible to pick. Randomly when I enter a room, the ennemies stand still and don't attack me even if I spam arrows and magic on them. The expansion loads a lot more than the original, cutscenes are laggy too.
It's also quite bad that you can't use the new items/abilities/specialization in Awakening. To make sure they will never make it work they put requirements for the new ability line. For example to get the one of the new final spell from the mage you need to be level 28 and have 61 magic.
On the plus side, the pacing was a lot better. No longer you need to spend 5-6 hours in the same dungeon without being able to get out. Much of the area are smaller and they are less painful to explore. It is more action packed than the first. In this one it's mostly battles after battles.
Overall I enjoyed it but I was not satisfied with the price I paid for it (45$ CDN). It really should have been a 25$ game but I guess the consoles licences were expensive. I would give it a 7/10.
For some reason the game is really easy too. I've never got the game over screen in Awakening. I know we are stronger and we are the hero of Ferrelden but it seems the game required a bit more balancing.
As for other DA expansions, I'm not sure we are gonna play with our wardens (see SPOILERS below if you completed both DAO and Awakening). I
STORY + ENDING SPOILERS
I cleared it in 11 hours, level 33, did all the board missions, all characters quest, upgraded the keep to the max, and crafted the 3 items with the blacksmith. The length was quite good for an expansion.
What I didn't like is that for me the game felt like a beta version of DAO. The fact that you can't talk to party members directly was a huge minus for me. Instead you have to click at random stuff from statues to trees in a forest to get some dialogue with them or give them specific gift. Amaranthine is supposed to be a big port, a strategic point in the orlesian invasion and yet it looks like some random village. It's chantry is a copy paste of lothering's chantry (even the bookcase and armoire are at the same place). I didn't like that you had to buy all the new specialisations via book. Some allies come with some of the new ones (it's tied to their background) and yet they can't teach it to you. New allies seems shoddy compared to the Origins since you don't interact with them as much as in DAO and because the game is shorter.
Runecrafting was not balanced at all. I made 4 paragon level runes in my game and it costed roughly 400 sovereigns (gold). In the end it was not worth it much aside the paragon stout rune. It's really clunky to get all the tracing and upgrade runes in the order of journeyman->expert-> Master-> Grand Master-> Masterpiece-> Paragon. To get a paragon level rune you will need a whopping 40-50 journeyman runes to start with and 99 blankstone and 99 etching agent if you want to minimize trips to the seller. Then it's button mashing/clicking a bunch of time in your runes list. They should have added a wizard to make the final level rune for you once you have enough of the starter ones. There are litteraly no runes in chests, nor the monsters drops them so either you bring a lot from DAO or you spend all your cash buying them in Awakening.
Story wise there are huge potential for sequels since they explored the origins of the blights and darkspawns. Yet the plot felt rushed a lot. Once you reach the final area there is quite a ridiculous plot twist.
I think there is a total of 3 choices from DAO that carry in awakening and only one affects cutscenes. There seems no point in playing as the Orlesian Wardens (aside if you mysteriously lost your save). I think from what I've seen it changes 2-3 dialogue in the game. They never talk about your previous exploits. It seems they ran out of money to create an ending. As soon as you land the killing blows you get epilogue panels with text.
The QA for this was also rushed a lot. There is a lot of bugs in it. In my 360 version I started without weapon because I had a DLC staff equipped. Shouldn't they give me a replacing one? One of my friend was completly naked when he loaded his save :lol . During cutscenes the screens sometimes turn to black when characters are talking. My codex is filled with blank slots. Some of my items name are very file like, for example some of my items are named nsp_002_itemname. One of the merchant in the keep appeared before I saved her. I then met her later on the road, saved her and she reappared at the keep. My sentinel armor is bugged, only the helmet has the correct graphics, the rest have the appearance of the warden's commander armor. It's possible to lockpick the door to the mines before recruiting a certain characters even if the door is labeled as impossible to pick. Randomly when I enter a room, the ennemies stand still and don't attack me even if I spam arrows and magic on them. The expansion loads a lot more than the original, cutscenes are laggy too.
It's also quite bad that you can't use the new items/abilities/specialization in Awakening. To make sure they will never make it work they put requirements for the new ability line. For example to get the one of the new final spell from the mage you need to be level 28 and have 61 magic.
On the plus side, the pacing was a lot better. No longer you need to spend 5-6 hours in the same dungeon without being able to get out. Much of the area are smaller and they are less painful to explore. It is more action packed than the first. In this one it's mostly battles after battles.
Overall I enjoyed it but I was not satisfied with the price I paid for it (45$ CDN). It really should have been a 25$ game but I guess the consoles licences were expensive. I would give it a 7/10.
For some reason the game is really easy too. I've never got the game over screen in Awakening. I know we are stronger and we are the hero of Ferrelden but it seems the game required a bit more balancing.
As for other DA expansions, I'm not sure we are gonna play with our wardens (see SPOILERS below if you completed both DAO and Awakening). I
STORY + ENDING SPOILERS
We learned that the architect was behing the blight. He tried to do a ''reverse joining'' to free the darkspawn from the calling of the old gods. In the epilogue it is said that the deep roads and darkspawns were not seen for many years if you spared him. It seems for a while there won't be anymore blights (so no use for the wardens?). It's also much more precise in the timeline than the ending of DAO. It is said that for 20 years they rebuild amaranthine/Vigil's Keep and explain the evolution of the arling, grey wardens and their armies for many years. There are no hints at sequels either for our warden. In DAO they said some darkspawn has been sighted in Amarantine but that is another story, It was not the last time that ''Your Name'' has been heard in Ferelden and that Morrigan was seen in Orlais but her story would be a mystery for now. You don't even get a final save in Awakening unless it's hidden like ME. Your character is god like at the end, you can prepare master potion that restores your heath and mana 100%, you pretty much have all the spells/talent you wanted from the list. It seems we reached in the end of the line with our characters unless they pull a ME 2 and find a stupid reason to loose all of our skills and we build a new one with a completely new system (DA 2 maybe?). With new ennemies possibly the old gods?
DangerousMali
Member
Edgeward said:
then it's brought, thanks mate
Basileus777
Member
There's no need for a post-epilogue save because there is no DLC for Awakening. That was the only reason it existed in Origins.
But yeah, I doubt we play as this Grey Warden again except in another expansion, though the epilogue still implies that his journey isn't over. It makes little sense for DA2 to be centered around the same character.Dragon Age isn't Mass Effect where it's about the story of your main character. The sequel will probably be in a different location, in a different time, and be about a new character.
All I know is that if they don't explain
What happens to Morrigan and the demon baby (if you made that choice), I'm gonna be pissed. Part of the reason chose it was because it had the most interesting of implications should you choose to do so. OR at the very least, just more Morrigan...
But yes, you are too powerful by the end that it doesn't seem likely you can go anywhere after this, unless they find a way to strip you of your powers. Wouldn't be the first time Bioware did it.
But yes, you are too powerful by the end that it doesn't seem likely you can go anywhere after this, unless they find a way to strip you of your powers. Wouldn't be the first time Bioware did it.
And yet, that does seem to be the formula Bioware's been running with when they have sequels.
Had they been designing KotOR 2, I think you probably would have still been playing as Revan.
Of course, on the other hand, few of their other games have offered optional endings as final and fatalistic as DA:O did. I guess Jade Empire let you just surrender and be killed...
But then, back to that first hand, it's still Dragon Age: Origins.
I don't know. I guess we'll see.
I also wouldn't be surprised if we ended up with Morrigan's baby as the protagonist in a future title.
Very Bhaalspawn-esque.
Had they been designing KotOR 2, I think you probably would have still been playing as Revan.
Of course, on the other hand, few of their other games have offered optional endings as final and fatalistic as DA:O did. I guess Jade Empire let you just surrender and be killed...
But then, back to that first hand, it's still Dragon Age: Origins.
I don't know. I guess we'll see.
I also wouldn't be surprised if we ended up with Morrigan's baby as the protagonist in a future title.
Very Bhaalspawn-esque.
JayDubya said:
To be honest there were very BG II esque part in the story
I was half expecting the architect to do the same experiments as Irenicus. In the end he didn't want power but to end the conflict. I wouldn't be surprised if in DA 2 you end up kidnapped by him and he stole all of your powers.
As for using the same character again, they will have to rework the skills and Talent system. They have reached the limit with the preparation of the ultimate healing potions, ultimate poison and traps and runes. You have all the talents you want by the end. It's not like the evolution form BG->BG TotSC-> BGII -> BG II : ToB. The D & D lore gave them a large pool of abilities and spell to implement gradually. Now they have to reword these if they want us to use the same character over and over. As for DA 2 do we really know if it's really in another time period? Because it will no longer be the ''Dragon Age'' since an age lasts about 100 years
Edgeward said:
The feb date is quite soon to be honest. If it's really DA 2 (which it seems the way they are hyping it up with the insert) they developped it really fast. At the same time it's maybe a new game in the DA universe or an expansion. Maybe the announcement will be expansion for both ME 2 and DA (aka let the milking begin) if the card and the countdown are linked.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Fuck yes awesome black red demon eyes armor thing !
If you disable Warden's keep the Vigilance Sword and Sentinel armor should be fixed.
Well considering most of the time initially spent was creating the engine and lore, creating another sequel/expansion shouldn't take as long as evident by Awakening. And despite Dr Greg's claim that the next DA will have hot graphics, considering how crippled the games are on consoles already, I have my doubts. And I don't think they will re-tool the engine like they did for ME2.
Vamphuntr said:
Well considering most of the time initially spent was creating the engine and lore, creating another sequel/expansion shouldn't take as long as evident by Awakening. And despite Dr Greg's claim that the next DA will have hot graphics, considering how crippled the games are on consoles already, I have my doubts. And I don't think they will re-tool the engine like they did for ME2.
Edgeward said:
But if you do disable Warden's Keep (I tried) the save is corrupt and can't be loaded. And I'm not playing anymore until they fix it. (360 version btw). It would only work if you disabled Wardens Keep and then started a new game. Great job Bioware.
It's a minor thing, I know, but it bothers the hell out of me.
Basileus777
Member
Edgeward said:
Awakening took a year to make, though it did have a small team and a small budget.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Vamphuntr said:
Nope, i haven't got any of the add ons installed (360 version btw).
Also the Vigilance sword seems to be all right in my game as well, maybe previous add on's really do screw things up?
Tokubetsu
Member
Vamphuntr said:
It'll only be a little less than the time between BG1 and 2 I believe which was only like 2 and half years ish. I don't think it will be in a different age just maybe a decade or two after the first game.
EDIT: Also, WOULD IT HAVE FUCKING KILLED BIOWARE TO PUT SOME MORE GOD DAMN LIGHT ARMOR DESIGNS IN THE GAME? REALLY? It is seriously dampening my enjoyment of Awakenings =/
Slackbladder
Member
Indeed.Lime said:
Actually, ever since patch 1.03 Dragon Age Origins started becoming unstable and will CTD every so often, usually when spells are flying about in combat. The same happens in Awakenings. And the really stupid thing is that before that patch DA:O was rock solid. I could play for hours no sweat. Now I have to save before every battle in case I get a CTD. Really poor. And I'm not holding my breath on a fix just yet. Maybe sometime in April or May considering all the fixes that need to be done (and on multiple formats).
I gotta agree with what someone said above regarding the party interaction, I'm not a fan of the direction Bioware is taking with their games. Instead of being able to directly talk/chat with our characters while out exploring, its now degraded into a "find overlook and push A for team member X's opinions"....
I mean come on, how hard is it to let us have the normal convo trees we have when not questing?(ala on the Normandy or in the camp in DAO)
I mean come on, how hard is it to let us have the normal convo trees we have when not questing?(ala on the Normandy or in the camp in DAO)
Son of Godzilla
Banned
Ugh. I got a new HDD since beating this game, only bothered to move over the last save of the character I wanna do Awakenings with. Only to find out now that it's actually saved just before the Archdemon, not after. That ain't terribly inconvenient, so I decide to load it up and beat the game again. Error: Game requires DLC shite to continue. Fuuuuuu...
And here I decided to crack open Awakenings specifically because I wouldn't be able to take my console online for a while.
And here I decided to crack open Awakenings specifically because I wouldn't be able to take my console online for a while.
Ok, I'm posting on here because I'm desparate. LOL
Apparently I lost my save in this game!!! 60 hours down the drain!!!
If I don't find a save (PC version) that's somewhat similar to the one I had, I'll probably never play this game again because I'm that discouraged. I even had the badass Star Fang sword and was one major town away from beating the game.
So I played a Noble Warrior that made good decisions,
Does anyone have a save remotely like that? If so, would you be willing to share it? I hate that I played the game for this long and I'll never know what happened. I tried googling it and had no luck finding a site that has save files available (which surprises the shit out of me to be honest).
If anyone could help I'd really appreciate it!
Apparently I lost my save in this game!!! 60 hours down the drain!!!
If I don't find a save (PC version) that's somewhat similar to the one I had, I'll probably never play this game again because I'm that discouraged. I even had the badass Star Fang sword and was one major town away from beating the game.
So I played a Noble Warrior that made good decisions,
killed Morrigan's mom and gave her the book and had Alastair meed up with his sister, and I was at Orzammar and just beat the tournament and sided with Harrowmount this was the last area before I beat the game.
Does anyone have a save remotely like that? If so, would you be willing to share it? I hate that I played the game for this long and I'll never know what happened. I tried googling it and had no luck finding a site that has save files available (which surprises the shit out of me to be honest).
If anyone could help I'd really appreciate it!
Ponti
Member
I mostly enjoyed Awakening but this was the most annoying part for me. Been playing DAO fine since it was released without any crashes whatsoever, installed Awakening and I CTD'd 3 times in one night.Slackbladder said:
The memory leak still hasn't been fixed either (which I thought was something they sorted out in 1.03). Seems like it actually got worse in Awakening. Hate having to stand around for about a minute after the fight for quests to update or bodies to become lootable. In larger fights it feels like I'm playing a laggy online game with heals taking about 10 seconds to actually heal someone after its been cast :lol
SO Bioware right. Right?
They are the masters of RPG development right?
Been doing it for years right?
So all that being the case, why the fuck do I have to go online to figure out what "Items" I received for various quests? I mean fuck me its annoying. For instance, in Awakening in the offering to Korth thing there are 4 options. Every fucking option I get an "Items Received" message.
WHY CANT YOU JUST TELL ME WHAT ITEMS I RECEIVED BIOWARE EFF U
Yeah Im annoyed. Some obscure weapon gets placed in my inventory. Just fuckin tell me what the reward is.
FFS
They are the masters of RPG development right?
Been doing it for years right?
So all that being the case, why the fuck do I have to go online to figure out what "Items" I received for various quests? I mean fuck me its annoying. For instance, in Awakening in the offering to Korth thing there are 4 options. Every fucking option I get an "Items Received" message.
WHY CANT YOU JUST TELL ME WHAT ITEMS I RECEIVED BIOWARE EFF U
Yeah Im annoyed. Some obscure weapon gets placed in my inventory. Just fuckin tell me what the reward is.
FFS
Rufus said:
Well yeah I realise both those things. Ordering the inventory by newest first is a good idea.
Its just the idea of going through page after page of stuff is so annoying. Not saying I have heaps of weapon or armor just sitting there but enough to not being able to tell really easily straight away. Especially if I hadnt done a recent purge to junk.
Then you have the possibility that the new item landed in any of the other categories like accessories or the rune page.
I know why they didnt code in the names of the items you receive... because it would have taken fricken ages compared to the nice 'n' easy catch-all term "Items Received".
Stahsky
A passionate embrace, a beautiful memory lingers.
Don't talk bad about Bioware, you fiend!
Also, I'm not sure if people already know of this or not, but the EA store has some promo deal thing going on. I picked up Awakening for 20 bucks with this:
If you interested in buying a new game, and a little low on cash, consider using the following code PAXEAST842 to save $20 off any videogame with at least a value of $39.95 at the EA Online Store. Free shipping included.
Still works I believe.
Also, I'm not sure if people already know of this or not, but the EA store has some promo deal thing going on. I picked up Awakening for 20 bucks with this:
If you interested in buying a new game, and a little low on cash, consider using the following code PAXEAST842 to save $20 off any videogame with at least a value of $39.95 at the EA Online Store. Free shipping included.
Still works I believe.
hateradio said:I'm towards the end of DAO ... I don't want it to end; more than 60hrs played, been challenging at times but it's so good
So, is there no way to keep Wynne if you're aor you decided to get theBlood Magespec?Reaver
Specializations have nothing to do with anything. Unlocking the second one does get Wynne pissy because of what you do, but all you have to do is unlock it and reload. Specializations stay since they're by account and not save file.
And if you're playing the PC you can just download a mod that automatically unlocks all specializations. Nice option if your mage playthrough was your first and you skipped blood mage.
HadesGigas
Member
http://eastore.ea.com/ enter code PAXEAST842 at checkout for $20 off games $39.95 and up.
Works on every edition Awakening to bring them to $20. PC Origins is $36 standard, so can't get the discount. Digital Deluxe Edition drops to $45. PS3 Origins drops to $25, 360 to $20.
Haven't checked out the shipping costs.
Works on every edition Awakening to bring them to $20. PC Origins is $36 standard, so can't get the discount. Digital Deluxe Edition drops to $45. PS3 Origins drops to $25, 360 to $20.
Haven't checked out the shipping costs.
Vamphuntr said:
Thanks for the impressions. I also found ME2 to be very buggy, I got stuck on the environment at least 10 times. I hope Bioware improves their quality for their next release.
From reading those impressions, I think I will hold off on Awakening till I can get it for super cheap.
Do the new specializations change the combat? The battle system is the best part about DAO, so new gizmos and talents to explore in combat would be worth the cost of admission. If it is largely the same skills/rolls, meh.
dionysus said:
The new skills you get are really great and make you really overpowered. Like an aura blast freeze spell, regaining all lost stamina, AoE backstab move (not really great but way cool looking), etc. Some of the specialization themselves are good, Keeper is amazing, but others I've found to be a waste, Spirit Warrior ugh.
But all of the new additions do really enchance the combat and because your at high levels, you have a good amount of mana/stamina reserves to play around with them. It's hard going back to Origins to the beginning of the game and using attack for most of a fight.
TigerUppercut
Member
Awakening has some truly awful NPC's. The elf wizard being the worst. Your other companions reactions to her are all so bad.
You went on a huge murdering spree against innocent merchants but damn you got yourself a nice rack seems to be the theme.
You went on a huge murdering spree against innocent merchants but damn you got yourself a nice rack seems to be the theme.