HoonDing

Cartoony graphics style is the only thing there's in common. Ultimately the game's story & protagonists didn't really drag me in like BG&E did.

Mother Cousland would've made an excellent Grey Warden herself. She kicked butt until a knight with a huge hammer knocked her out. I don't really care about damage, bashing people in the face with a shield is fun. My dog Laika can chew 'em all up. EDIT: oh, and the camera is driving me nuts during combat.

Venetica wasn't as long as I thought it would be. Basically one visits four fairly large hub areas in Venice, then there's a small d

I was just following my *Dutch* manual which doesn't even mention camera control with the mouse. So I assumed right-mouse button was only for attacking. Anyway, let's draw a line under this. Nothing to see here.

I followed the basic 4 instructions for Shale but it doesn't seem to want to download. Is this stuff really for free? Or did I mess up again?

I can zoom in/out, but not turn the camera with the mouse. Movement is like in Drakensang, but in Drakensang it was possible to control the camera with the mouse too by clicking & holding right-mouse button. I also think spell descriptions are a bit vague. Damage seems to be determined by Magic attribute, but how exactly? I wants numbers & mechanics. All the manual says is basically "higher is better" but I knew that already.

Human noble origin is nice. But I wish I could control the camera with the mouse. When I'm moving around my character, it feels like an old Tomb Raider game.

Ghoul Reavers have ridiculously high health & DR, it seems. Not even a sneak critical with the alien blaster kills them outright.

I has the game.

I hope the influence mini-game won't go too far. I hate sucking up to henchmen with diametrically opposed viewpoints that constantly whine about PC's decisions. I usually play good or neutral characters, so I'll be probably at odds with Morrigan. I have the feeling she'll find herself with an over-sized flamberg

Why's that? I'd venture to say he doesn't like the origin story.

It seems I'm getting the game tomorrow after all. And very conveniently tomorrow I don't have work due to a national train strike. Thank you, socialism.

I wiped the floor with the second boss in Venetica. It seems all boss fights consist of first a fight in the 'mortal plane' in which one needs to figure out the boss' Achilles heel, followed by a slugfest in the 'spirit plane' against a monstrous behemoth. I'm starting to like this game better than Drakensang, but it's rather light on the RPG elements. It's more of an action/adventure game where you gain new abilities/skills by killing enemies & performing quests. It's possible, though, to play good/evil and supposedly it would affect the ending of the game. Melee combat is dynamic & very fun, and is a huge breath of fresh air after the clunky crap from Risen. Most of the time success comes down to dodging & timing combos correctly like in Risen, but there's also the possibility of using some nifty magics like summoning a flock of ravens to peck the enemies or using fear. The only quip I have is that there are so many weapons, weapon skills & magics but not enough buttons on the quickbar to use them all efficiently. So one finds oneself remapping keys a lot of the time depending on the enemy one encounters (this wasn't a problem in Divinity 2 since in that game one would depend on only a handful of useful skills). I really like the art style of the game which is similar to the adventure game Ankh, and the graphics are sublime but the game performance in outdoor areas is generally low. There are no problems indoors or in dungeons, though. I purchased the German version but like the game enough that I'll also get the English version if the engine will be better optimized.

Ten seconds of snuggling people in medieval underwear. Hawt.

I'm getting the impression the Benelux version is delayed. I 'pre-ordered' but haven't heard anything yet and it's almost Friday, the supposed official release date.

It seems dexterity, cunning & willpower are pretty important for a tank too. Dexterity improves chances to hit, cunning improves armor piercing (?) & willpower gives more stamina for special skills.

"Yo BioWare, I'm real happy for you & I'ma let you finish, but Oblivion is the best RPG of ALL TIME!"

Is there a 'Battle of the Bulge' level in there somewhere?

Only humans & Elves can be mages, IIRC.

I'm near the end in the English version of Divinity 2 after ~16 hours of play. Playing as mage is much more fun than warrior... my high-level fireballs do more than 2,000 damage and take out entire groups of enemies. My magic blast does around 5,000 damage and only bosses aren't one-shottd by it. Also playing Venetica. Venice is h

I'll play as female human noble warrior, sword & shield. Party I'll most likely use is Sten, Leliana & Wynne (planning to kill Morrigan on first sight, if possible). I'll play on normal mode, but switch to easy if the 'friendly fire' gets into my face too much.

Now I only need a sequel to Heavy Metal: FAKK 2 & Oni and all's well.

So... is Dragon Age RPG of the decade?