Dragon Age: Inquistion

[Agiel]

 

Apparently IGN did see tactical combat, also companion scripts are back in from DA:O.

 

http://au.ign.com/videos/2014/06/11/dragon-age-inquisition-hands-on-impressions-e3-2014

 

So that's probably a no to bioware lying and not implementing tactical combat. Whether or not it's good, is another question.

 

I think you can already see small chunks of it in one of the demos, probably IGN's in fact. Very little, but it looks like it's running on a xbone.

 

 

For it the be available on the XBone and not on the PC which lends itself far better to "strategic view" battle management would seem real backasswards to me.

Edited June 11, 2014 by Agiel

[Nepenthe]

 

 

Apparently IGN did see tactical combat, also companion scripts are back in from DA:O.

 

http://au.ign.com/videos/2014/06/11/dragon-age-inquisition-hands-on-impressions-e3-2014

 

So that's probably a no to bioware lying and not implementing tactical combat. Whether or not it's good, is another question.

 

I think you can already see small chunks of it in one of the demos, probably IGN's in fact. Very little, but it looks like it's running on a xbone.

 

 

For it the be available on the XBone and not on the PC which lends itself far better to "strategic view" battle management would seem real backasswards to me.

 

EHhh, if it's on the xbone, it's going to be on the PC, but obviously the more limited input options of the xbone are going to limit the way it looks in the demo.

 

btw. I never understood why people complained about the camera in DA2, but then I realized I had only played the game with a 2h warrior. The limitations were a lot more obvious with a mage.

[Agiel]

 

btw. I never understood why people complained about the camera in DA2, but then I realized I had only played the game with a 2h warrior. The limitations were a lot more obvious with a mage.

 

 

As whenever I play party-based cRPGs my first toon is almost always a mage, the lack of the zoom out camera was among the very first things I noticed.

[marelooke]

Apparently IGN did see tactical combat, also companion scripts are back in from DA:O.

 

http://au.ign.com/videos/2014/06/11/dragon-age-inquisition-hands-on-impressions-e3-2014

 

So that's probably a no to bioware lying and not implementing tactical combat. Whether or not it's good, is another question.

 

That's good at least, though I'm wondering how they'll make it useful and still work properly on consoles (which as I recall, was the problem with DA:O, they couldn't make it work so they just stripped it). Still, untill I've seen it I'm remaining cynical, though I've changed from pessimistically cynical to optimistically cynical

 

 

btw. I never understood why people complained about the camera in DA2, but then I realized I had only played the game with a 2h warrior. The limitations were a lot more obvious with a mage.

 

As whenever I play party-based cRPGs my first toon is almost always a mage, the lack of the zoom out camera was among the very first things I noticed.

 

That was probably one of the main reasons I stopped playing a mage in DA2 (the other being the extremly limited spell selection and *pew* *pew* mage staff swinging), I often ended up at such a range that the enemies were outside my screen, so I constantly had to move closer to be able to actually do anything.

[Nepenthe]

 

 

btw. I never understood why people complained about the camera in DA2, but then I realized I had only played the game with a 2h warrior. The limitations were a lot more obvious with a mage.

 

 

As whenever I play party-based cRPGs my first toon is almost always a mage, the lack of the zoom out camera was among the very first things I noticed.

 

 

It's been the 2h swordsman for me since bg2, at least as initial playtrhough. Not sure what it tells about me. Probably overcompensation.

 

OTOH, used to make mechanical sense to have the PC as a fighter type, since as the most powerful character, you can better try to fill a dual role of damage sink and dealer.

Edited June 11, 2014 by Nepenthe

[Zoraptor]

In the trailer the "impulsive", "anti-authority" elf was described as "reactionary".

 

wat.

You can have impulsive anti authority reactionaries. You don't usually, because the status quo is pretty much by definition conservative so those who want to restore it (ie classic reactionaries) may well be impulsive but are usually not anti authority- but they don't have to be. Unless you're playing Victoria2 or something

 

If you want a real world group which is arguably reactionary, impulsive and anti authority then you can look at the Tea Party in the US, they want to restore a status quo that they see as being fundamentally anti authority. Well, at least in theory.

[NOK222]

So she's a tea party Dalish?

[GhostofAnakin]

"Now companies seem to want to give you full bios of every character you'll meet in the game.  Ruins part of the experience for me."

 

NOW? BIO did it with BG2. It's not new.

 

It's new for me because I didn't follow BG2's development.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

So she's a tea party Dalish?

Keep your chantry hands off my tattoo ink?

[HoonDing]

She's apparently sapphic, too.

[Orogun01]

She's apparently sapphic, too.

I don't know if there's a woman alive that finds that face attractive; bonus points to BW if she's also a SJW.

[MrBrown]

 

 

btw. I never understood why people complained about the camera in DA2, but then I realized I had only played the game with a 2h warrior. The limitations were a lot more obvious with a mage.

 

 

As whenever I play party-based cRPGs my first toon is almost always a mage, the lack of the zoom out camera was among the very first things I noticed.

 

After playing DA2 and then going back to DA:O, I started constantly zooming to the same camera angle that DA2 had. It just felt better. For all classes.

 

To each his own, I guess.

[Azure79]

Opposite for me. I found DA2 zoom limiting for what I could see. I thought DAO's camera was pretty good. 

[Keyrock]

Opposite for me. I found DA2 zoom limiting for what I could see. I thought DAO's camera was pretty good. 

Co-signed.

[Agiel]

I switched between the two camera views plenty. For purposes of navigation I found the "Quarterback" view superior, but for placing large AOE spells I had to use the "top-down" view.

[NOK222]

I switched between the two camera views plenty. For purposes of navigation I found the "Quarterback" view superior, but for placing large AOE spells I had to use the "top-down" view.

 

Same here, that fireball grease combo. 

[Orogun01]

 

I switched between the two camera views plenty. For purposes of navigation I found the "Quarterback" view superior, but for placing large AOE spells I had to use the "top-down" view.

 

Same here, that fireball grease combo. 

 

Storm of the Century master race here.

[Nepenthe]

 

 

I switched between the two camera views plenty. For purposes of navigation I found the "Quarterback" view superior, but for placing large AOE spells I had to use the "top-down" view.

 

 

Same here, that fireball grease combo.

Storm of the Century master race here.

Yeah, it's really the only way to suffer through the endless filler combat.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

DAI would be better served if it didn't have any filler combat. It's predecessors were really bad about that.

[Nepenthe]

I have very high expectations on "overall design" based on the da2 dlc.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I didn't play them. I take it trash mobs were minimal?

[Serrano]

DAI would be better served if it didn't have any filler combat. It's predecessors were really bad about that.

 

I dunno, given that it's going to play more like an action rpg now filler combat will probably be more of plus than a negative or at least last longer before it becomes a chore. 

[tajerio]

I didn't play them. I take it trash mobs were minimal?

 

Not so much minimal as that the fights where you weren't facing bosses tended to have at least mildly interesting designs.  None of that parachuting enemies tripe, some interesting combat abilities, funky positioning, etc.

[Halaster]

I will never get the trash mob argument for DA:O. A game where each encounter was different, hand placed and lethal real quick if you weren't seriously paying attention and micro managing. Sure the game has its faults - classes are unbalanced, loot is uninspiring, art direction is controversial (some think bland) but not encounter design.

 

Almost all poeple that say "trash mobs" are those on consoles or who played on Normal. Anyone who says nightmare was boringly easy is lying because the game has too many cases where enemies get their aoes on you a split second before you get yours in (eg after a cuscene).

 

I replayed this game about 5 times on Nightmare just for the combat. Enemies have traps, terrain, scripting, class abilities, spells, teleports, resistances, elemental attacks. There are ice patches, oil patches, destructible barricades, dog pits you can open to help you, ballistas you can fire. Honestly there is no game I can think the term "filler' applies less to. Compare and contrast with 3 waves of functionally identical (insert enemy name here) mid air spawns in DA2.

Edited June 12, 2014 by Halaster

[Zoraptor]

You're more than entitled to like the combat in DAO, I do myself in general and though there was certainly room for improvement that is true of just about every combat system. But, the problem is that there is simply too much of it for many people and while it is certainly not all copy and paste groupings hand placing is irrelevant if the end result is the same basic encounter. And there is, generally, an encounter every 50 game metres despite the game levels being pretty large. If you have 20 (?) encounters per level in the Derp Roads they are going to become repetitive unless you really like the combat.

 

Ultimately, once you have worked out tactics against a mob of hurlocks/ genlocks or whatever then those tactics work against 95% of the groups you will encounter and it becomes a matter of hitting the relevant spells/ abilities as they recharge. It is not just autopilot combat but it is mainly a matter of making sure the AI doesn't do anything too stupid and hitting group heal or whatever at relevant times. Don't think I ever played on normal difficulty.

 

Still, I'd far rather have DAO's encounter design philosophy than the majority of encounter design in Baldur's Gate.